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Beginners guide to OpenSCAD
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:06 pm
by Chris Muncy
http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/01/19 ... the-setup/
I'm going through this right now and trying to learn. This might be the best thing to start to design your own things to print, like boxes, covers.....
Re: Beginners guide to OpenSCAD
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:31 pm
by johnoly99
Hey Chris, have you tried autodesk 123D? I HATED autocad, but this seems like it's easy stuff to get working with 3D precision models?
Re: Beginners guide to OpenSCAD
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:07 pm
by Chris Muncy
Actually I have and I am starting to like it. The learning curve is still a bit steep. Some issues I was having was, for example, getting a hole centered correctly in a square. PITA. I still haven't quite figured that out so it's 100% reproducible.
Re: Beginners guide to OpenSCAD
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:37 pm
by Dave_Sohlstrom
I saw some interesting things on Thingiverse so I DL SCAD. I could not make heads or tails of it. Never did get it to work for me.
I think my main problem is that I work with Alibre 3D CAD all the time and have no patience for other CAD software.
Re: Beginners guide to OpenSCAD
Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 9:39 am
by skrubol
Open SCAD is an interesting beast. It's great for those of us who are less visual and more numbers/programming.
I still haven't really made a useful model in it yet.
(I'm also trying to learn 123D simultaneously)
Re: Beginners guide to OpenSCAD
Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 9:44 am
by michaellatif
Agree with you Skrubol, I find that OpenSCAD so much more easier to program/design in then a traditional CAD environment.
Maybe because I come from a programming background?
I like the fact that some (if not a lot) of projects on Thingiverse come with SCAD files to allow you to manipulate and change to your hearts desire!
Re: Beginners guide to OpenSCAD
Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 1:21 pm
by Polygonhell
I can knock something simple up faster in open OpenSCAD, than most CAD packages, especially if I want to drive dimensions from component sizes.
As things get complex, like a lot of programming you need to have a good plan of attack.
My only issue with it is some of the syntax is brain dead stupid like no local variables.
I also miss the concept of assemblies for visualizing components made out of subcomponents
I was really interested in implicitCAD which is much the same thing but using Haskell as a host, but it's still a bit too early, and without a preview window it's hard to work.