Making with 3D Printers
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Discusses different software and apps available for creating 3D printable files.
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Making with 3D Printers
- 1. MAKING WITH 3D PRINTERS
- 2. PROGRAMS FOR MAKING: AUTODESK 123D 123D Catch
- 7. 123D Catch
- 8. OTHER PROGRAMS FOR MAKING OpenSCAD
- 11. OpenSCAD
- 14. PLACES TO FIND MODELS
Editor's Notes
- 123D Creature is now 123D Sculpt+
- 123D Sculpt+ incorporates 123D Creature and 123D Sculpt into one app. It starts with different base model that looks like they are formed from clay from stickmen and human heads to dinosaurs and animals to cars and airplanes. The app is fairly intuitive. You can add appendages, pose the limbs, re-proportion any body part, change the angles, and adjust the length of individual segments. Once you’re happy with the initial design of the creature, you bake the skeleton.
- After the creature is baked, you can sculpt it as you would sculpt with clay. You can even add colors and visual textures. While these do not translate to the 3D printer, the objects created in 123D Sculpt+ can be uploaded for use as avatars. Once an object is made, you export it to the cloud in order to work with the creature on the computer in one of Autodesk’s other programs. There are tutorials on Instructables for how to make a variety of items using 123D Sculpt+, including a Minecraft Creeper. You can also add a photo to a sculpture, which might be a way to offer the mini-me program.
- You can create new content in Tinkercad using different geometric shapes, letters, numbers, symbols, and holes. Tinkercad is also incredibly useful because it allows you to add a base to an already created model. Without a base, most of the items created in 123D Creature do not stand on their own. You can not touch up or change a model in Tinkercad.
- Similar to Tinkercad, 123D Design allows you to build things using pre-created items. Instead of simple geometric shapes, letters, etc., 123D Design has more complicated items, such as the parts for a bicycles, space vehicles, and train engines.
- 123D Catch is a program and an app. It is supposed to be able to create an object, in 3d, if you upload photos of the item from multiple angles. This program is one that I was initially really excited about, because I thought lots of patrons would be interested in creating mini-mes of themselves and their children. However, as you can see from this image, I haven’t had great luck getting a 3d image that looks enough like someone for anybody to want to print it. I also tried using it on a small inanimate object, but that didn’t work much better.
- There are many other programs that can be used to create 3D models. They have varying degrees of difficulty. Each of these programs is usable on a computer. 3DTin and Cookie Caster are both online programs, while Blender, SketchUp, and OpenSCAD must be downloaded to a computer before you can build in them. SketchUp and Blender both offer paid versions as well as free versions. OpenSCAD, 3DTin, and Cookie Caster are all free.
- Sketchup is another program with a free version that allows you to make something from scratch. The program has a significant focus on architecture and you mostly build using straight lines, geometric shapes, and angles. From my experience it has a moderate learning curve, but could be fun for an ongoing program. Things created in SketchUp can be printed on a 3D printer.
- Blender has a steep learning curve. Although I’ve played with it a little bit, I haven’t been able to figure out how to do anything with it. All the items you create in Blender can be used online as avatars or for use in games and movie making. I haven’t tried to download anything from Blender for printing, but from what I’ve read this is possible.
- OpenSCAD is a free program that can be used on a computer to create 3D models. has a gallery where you can access items made by other creators. In OpenSCAD, you create using code rather than with drawing instruments or pre-created shapes. OpenSCAD has tutorials on the website.
- 3DTin has many of the same functions as Tinkercad and 123D Design. It allows you to create content using both geometrical shapes and premade components. 3DTin has a library from which you can access models designed by other creators.
- Cookie Caster is a simple online program where you can draw a cookie cutter free hand using straight lines, or you can trace an image. You can upload your own image, or search for one using their Inspire Me button. When you trace, you can use the pen option which allows you to draw with straightl ines or you can use the magic trace option that does some of the work for you. Once complete, the cookie cutters can be downloaded as stl files for 3D printing.
- Almost all the programs and apps presented today have libraries where you can access models made and shared by their creators. These are almost always free for others to use, download, and manipulate. The other two main places to look for premade items are Thingiverse and Solidoodle. Thingiverse is a forum maintained by MakerBot, while Solidoodle is maintained by the 3D printer company Solidoodle. Both Thingiverse and Solidoodle allow users to download items from their sites for free, and the items download as stl files. My Mini Factory and Cubify have items you can download for free to print on your own, or you can purchase the print of through their sites. GrabCAD is a 3D community specifically geared toward mechanical engineers. YouMagine.com has the same structure as Thingiverse and Solidoodle, but it was started in 2013, so there aren’t many items on the website yet. Bld3r looks a lot like a Pinterest board. It is an online community of makers who like to share their creations. The community can vote on their favorite creations, so popular items rise to the top.