Comment by tra3
1 month ago
Have you tried using "traditional" modelling tools?
I've been trying to learn how to model using Fusion 360. It's not clicking for me. Probably lack of practice. Wondering if OpenSCAD would be a better solution. Goal is to be able to design useful things for 3d printing..
Tinkercad is what “clicked” for me. I found that it’s very easy to start making simple functional designs, but when you are trying to make something more advanced (pain point: triangles with rounded edges) it’s a bit lacking. Plasticity seems to be the next step in this direction, but it’s pricey.
It's probably the lazy way, but I found that after I understood just a few primitives (basics of sketching, extruding, constraints, and getting down some of the vocabulary) I can tell ChatGPT what I want to do (and often including screenshots) and it does a pretty spectacular job of filling in the blanks for me.
SketchUp always felt very intuitive to me. More so than Fusion360, which I think also suffers from being a clunky Electron app that’s trying to do too many things. I prefer FreeCAD to Fusion I think.
It depends what you are creating but for all I do Openscad (3d printed components in the lab) is very usable.