TLDR = what’s a good next step after kid-friendly 3d creation tools?
Solved = Fusion360 is voted as winner, we even got a nice tutorial playlist.
Hi all - I’m still very much a new user. Highly skilled in IT but just getting my feet wet in 3D printing, since a month or so. I love the possibilities! I can physically create anything I can image, it’s amazing.
So far, I’ve used mostly TinkerCad and done lots with it. The learning curve is practically non-existent, and it has sufficient features to do a lot.
But of course it’s not perfect. Obvious example: can’t do fillets, except in roundabout ways using negative blocks.
I’ve tried OnShape, OpenScad, Fusion 360, but found them quite a steep hill to climb.
Are these good choices, or is there something in-between that would make it easier for me to advance?
Yeah! Once I learned a few basics and how to think in parametric it didn’t take long until I could make things that were in my mind which felt like a huge accomplishment. It still blows my min every time I think of something and then am holding it in my hand an hour later, it’s definitely worth the time.
I ended up just paying for the basic fusion license because I quickly had more than 10 ideas I wanted to work on hah. I know it’s expensive but compared to the other options it is by far the most reasonable, especially if you ever want to sell anything you design. I also felt like I would spend that much on a physical tool to do a project if I needed it so :shrug: but the free version is definitely workable.
The other thing that frustrated me was manipulating the view and to solve that I finally broke down and bought a space mouse which is an absolute game changer, I shouldn’t have waited so long and I will never go back haha. I found a deal on one on eBay but there are also a few DIY printable projects like this one which look awesome and I might build anyway.
ETA: The space mouse works in many applications, it even works in Bambu/Orca slicer!
An hour later?? Either you have a really fast printer, or you build really small things 😅 My MINI+ needs longer than that for a matchbox. But yes, 3D printing is as mind-blowing as color TV, or the first time I used a scanner in the early 90’s.
manipulating the view - yes, I agree with you on that, too. The mouse-scroll-to-zoom works the wrong way round (compared to every other tool I’ve tried, or even compared to friggin’ Google Maps) and it irks me that there’s no setting for something as fundamental as that. Also turning my viewpoint needs **Shift+**middle-mouse-button, which is immensely annoying. I might fire up some custom-made AutoHotkey scripts to tune that.
That mouse is awesome … if you’re literally a rocket scientist. For home use, it’s way out of my league.