What 3D modeling programs have you used? + advice for getting started

[lucas]

I think there are some people here who would be interested in learning to use 3D modeling software so what do you think someone should do to get started.  Also what programs do you have experience with?  I'll go first:


I used to play with Sketchup to draw things for my projects.  The learning curve was really shallow because the software is user-friendly and the software is really simplified.

I started off by drawing small mechanisms and then designing progressively larger things like trebuchets.  I sketched out and built my niece's bunk bed and helped a girlfriend by creating a model of her duplex so that she could visualize various color combinations and cosmetic upgrades.  The most detailed and precise model I made was a hipped roof, uh gazebo I think it's called maybe, for my uncle which he never finished... Anyhow I got a taste for basic modeling in 3D by playing with that free software.

Then I took a class at the community college for SolidWorks and I found the learning curve a little steeper.  It is the next level in complexity but with a little practice you can make very complicated shapes very easily.  Creating complicated or curved shapes in Sketchup can be nearly impossible, and usually completely impractical.

I work at a machine shop and there is a fair amount of 3D modeling that goes on.  I volunteered to help and I got to learn how to use a program called MasterCam. They paid for me to take a class at the community college to learn this software better.

Since then I transferred to university and I've taken a second class in SolidWorks and MasterCam and I am currently taking a class in Catia which is like five levels of complexity beyond SolidWorks (and not as user friendly) and is melting my brain a bit.

I get extra opportunities to practice using these softwares because I need to do part modeling for a few of my classes.  I still use Sketchup sometimes, like recently I drew a 2D floor plan of my work and the top-down view of the machines  we have so that we could plan out how we wanted to rearrange the shop.

There are pdf books to learn SolidWorks, the first class I took used a book called Engineering Design with Solidworks and that had step by step tutorials that would tell you exactly what to click on, which helped a lot.  The class was just an excuse to get practice time.  I highly recommend you get your hands on a student version of Solidworks if you can.

If you can't then go with Autodesk 123D and find some pdf exercise books and follow along.  That software is easy to use and it will get you started and is capable to model just about anything you would want to draw.

[ShowBizWolf]

About 6 or 7 years ago when I was in college, I learned how to use LightWave and had to do a couple of projects with it.

This is a sore subject for me because my professor was almost never in class and he taught us the bare bones (and I'm not exaggerating) of a program and then kinda just let us figure out the rest for ourselves.

The graphics lab computers were NOT hooked up to the internet so if we were stuck and had a question (and of course, he was nowhere to be found during class) we had to pack up and go to the library or somewhere that did have internet to google it or look up a tutorial on YouTube and then go back to class where the program(s) were installed.

Smh I honestly look back at my graphics classes and don't know how I managed A's and B's in them... I also wish I would have had a different professor... I would have learned so much more and maybe I'd actually be USING my degree instead of working in a lab. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job here at the Red Cross but idk it was an awful lot of money in student loans to just not be using the degree.

Honestly if I hadn't been lucky enough to get a copy of Photoshop 4.0 when I was in 8th grade and had fun messing around with it for hours and hours and days and etc (you couldn't get me away from the computer with that program I loved it) I don't think I would have made it through my graphics classes without that prior knowledge I gained on my own.

So yeah... sorry about the rant    The 3d program I used was LightWave and for other graphics and whatnot I used Photshop, Illustrator and Macromedia Flash.

I could have been so much more...  but my college experience burned me out and here I am 6 years later after graduation and I still have not regained my previous passion for art and graphics. 

[lucas]

Ouch.  Yeah getting bad teachers is such a wet blanket.

I miss being at the community college.  The teachers there were people who actually wanted to teach.  Now in dealing with a mixed bag of instructors and half of them are tenured and are primarily concerned with research and their graduate students and their projects...

Did you get an art degree?

[ShowBizWolf]

I did get my Bachelors degree in Fine Art... went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Campus was about 50 minutes from where I live so I commuted and I loved it!

I remember looking last year-ish on the website to see if that professor was still there and his name wasn't on the list so woot to that... hopefully nobody else will have to go through what I did and they will actually be taught.

At the end of the one semester, teacher evaluations were passed out. The last day of class after he read them all, he sat us down and said, "I want you guys to know that this isn't kindergarten... I am not here to baby you or hold your hand. This is college."

I was thinking like wtf dude this is costing all of us thousands of dollars and you should at least be in class for us to ask questions to. You should also actually teach but evidently you aren't interested in that. If I wanted to teach myself how to use these programs I'd stay at home and do it and save the money ffs. 

[lucas]

Good riddance!

[dgyver]

Been using SolidWorks for the past 10 years. Design plastic injection molded parts and related tooling as well as related assembly equipment. It has been the easiest to learn and use. Probably the most widely used 3D software. Trained on Catia before SolidWorks. Did not use it professionally. Played with ProE and Mechanical Desktop. Not a fan of AutoDesk's 3D programs. But we like what er know. Still use AutoCAD for the past 25+ years, mostly for facility layouts and legacy drawings. Hard to list all of the other 2D CAD programs I have used over the years.

[Tekime]

Great post lucas, thanks for sharing your experiences and the software you use/have used!

I learned AutoCAD on Release 12 back in middle school, then apprenticed briefly with a local company, did some tutoring for an architect and a few summers work designing estate furniture (mostly transferring from hand drawings to digital). Back then architects were still commonly drafting with pencil and paper and slowly going digital. I veered away from CAD/3d modeling in high school but do continue graphic design work. I use Blender on occasion for modeling and have dabbled a bit with other apps; most of my graphic work is 2D web/print.

The last few years have found me very interested in fabricating parts/products using Delrin or ABS plastics, so it has sparked my interest in 3D once again. I've yet to determine if 3d printing, machining or injection molding (or a combination of these) are going to be a practical route for my harebrained projects... but I'm tinkering with software options.

I'd love to learn my way around SolidWorks, but that price tag is pretty hefty.

ShowBiz, that's too bad about your professor. Actually, he sort of IS there to hold your hand, he's a teacher for crying out loud! I've had similarly terrible institutional experiences. In fact I'm nearly 100% self-taught, at least as far as higher education goes. Just have to do what works for you I guess.

Dgyver, this is a little off the topic, but can you recommend any software & fabrication systems (injection molding/3d printing/tooling) for a shoestring-budget project involving fabrication of Delrin or ABS plastic parts with high strength/impact ratings; eg. not crap? Kind of out of left field but I'm looking for any expertise in the area just to help me brainstorm.

[dgyver]

....

Dgyver, this is a little off the topic, but can you recommend any software & fabrication systems (injection molding/3d printing/tooling) for a shoestring-budget project involving fabrication of Delrin or ABS plastic parts with high strength/impact ratings; eg. not crap? Kind of out of left field but I'm looking for any expertise in the area just to help me brainstorm.

We use Protolabs.com for our 3D printing. We looked into buying a 3D printer but for the small size parts and the tolerance we require, it was too costly. Injection molding tooling can get expensive depending on the design and material of the part as well as the cavitation of the mold. $100k+ is common for some of our molds but then we run millions of parts. There are options to print 3D metal tooling for molds, medical is big in this.

[Tekime]

We use Protolabs.com for our 3D printing. We looked into buying a 3D printer but for the small size parts and the tolerance we require, it was too costly. Injection molding tooling can get expensive depending on the design and material of the part as well as the cavitation of the mold. $100k+ is common for some of our molds but then we run millions of parts. There are options to print 3D metal tooling for molds, medical is big in this.

Thanks! Wow, that's a hefty price tag for the molds. Obviously I'm not looking at million+ runs and probably simpler parts, but wow.

Most of the affordable 3D printers I've looked at have size/tolerance limitations that might be a problem. The tech is very close though.

[user11235813]

I started using Zrush about 17 years ago at v1.13 it has grown into a truly remarkable piece of work it's now up to v4R7 and all updates have been free of additional cost. It must surely be the best supported software of all time. Plus it's a lot of fun to use.