5 Tools Everyone In 3D Industry Should Be Using
3D printing industry is growing day by day. It needs lot of skills and efforts to print an object of your imaginations. Although there is a very important aspect every industry considers, that is the use of efficient and technology that ultimately leads to success.
Consider that you are in a cricket match and is on strike and you have to play a fast bowler and you are using a golf stick in place of a cricket bat.
Is this a good way to play cricket?
Definitely not.
Same as in 3D industry, you have to use a good and efficient pair of tools be it softwares or hardwares that leads your and your organisation to the ultimate success.
In the 3D printing industry, there is a crowed of softwares that can use in 3d printing, but you have to choose the most reliable and relevant to your goal.
Where real time Physics failed, software and computers came into the frame to create a virtual image of the scene, consider an example of movies like Bahubali, Avengers, Gravity, Man Of Steel etc. these movies involved a lot of graphics, virtual images and real time animations.
All these stuffs been made possible through the use of amazing next generation softwares like 3DS MAX, MAYA, AUTODESK etc. which makes absolute real time animation and gives users ability to mix real images with virtual images in such a manner that the audience won’t be able to differentiate between the real and virtual. All the science fiction movies involve the use of 3D printing softwares just to translate their imagination on the theatre. Some of the most using software are as below:
1. 123D Design: Autodesk 123D Design is a 3D CAD and 3D modelling
software created by Autodesk. Being part of cost software, it is a powerful yet relatively simple to use 3D creation and editing tool that can work seamlessly with most 3D printers.
It uses a simple and effective graphical user interface that places your toolbox on the top and the view tools right beneath it, with the design area taking the rest of the space. It also has assembly and constraint support and STL export. There is also a library of premade blocks and objects.
It can be used like a 3D CAD software, in case you prefer a technical 3D design approach. It is one of the best 3D modelling software for beginners who want to get a solid foundation in the 3D printing.
2. 3ds MAX: The 3ds MAX is one of the most used 3D printing software in present time. It is created by Autodesk. It is very popular among video game developers, visual effects artists etc. It comes with light simulation, cloth simulation engine and its own scripting language known as MAXScript and also with a plugin architecture that is continuously fed by a community of developers. If you are in the manufacurint department its good to have 3d printing pens. Make sure to read out 3d pen comparison chart before bying. It involves features like the NURBS based modelling tools that allows for both organic and mathematically precise meshes and it has the ability to create models from point cloud data.
Although it is very good software but it is not free and requires a professional user to use it firmly.
3. AutoCAD: It can be consider as the Daddy of the 3D modelling software, it comes as a desktop application as well as mobile application.
It has a wide array of features that is used across a wide range of industries like architects, project managers, engineers, graphic designers etc.
Although it is one of the best and most widely used software in the field of 3d printing technology, yet is not free and very costly that beginners cannot use it for 3d printing, it is best suitable for professionals and industry work.
4. Blender: If you are passionate about 3d modelling like creating animations, visual effects, interactive applications, video games etc. but don’t have money to buy an expensive 3d modelling software then this is the best suited software you are looking for. It is free, open-source 3D modelling software that allows you to do all the stuff mentioned above.
It involves features like texturing, raster graphics editing, rigging, skinning, particle simulation, sculpting, animating, video editing etc.
It is a free of cost tool that is being used widely but it is not for beginners only professionals are using this at this time. It is surely a jack of all trades for the professionals around the world.
5. Rhino 3D: It can be a perfect tool for mechanical designs. It is based on NURBS mathematical model, which focuses on producing a mathematically precise representation of curves and freeform surfaces in computer graphics. It can be used in CAD(computer-aided design), rapid prototyping, and reverse engineering in industries including architecture, industrial design, product design etc.
It needs a deep knowledge of NURBS and can use by professional and has an expensive cost.
6. ZBrush: It is a 3D sculpting software and works on the “Progressive
Detailing” in which a mesh is created in levels of detail step by step. It is huge competitor of MudBox and both work on same concept but ZBrush has more features and tools than MudBox. It is capable of creating a new model with a higher, uniform polygon distribution to counter the effects of polygon stretching.
If you are a professional and can invest a good amount of money you can use it or else you can go for the free Sculptris a program by same developers with fewer features.
Fusion 360: It is an expensive and loaded with features tool that can be used in industrial and professional work. It is a tool with professional capabilities and is far more user friendly than other professional solid body 3d modeling software. It involves the whole process of planning, testing and executing a 3D design.
Fusion 360 supports cloud-based file sharing, version control and import/export of common CAD file types.
It is one the best 3D modelling software tools for 3D design and engineering specialists, but requires extensive training and advanced knowledge of engineering to the make the most of it.
