5 ms·
With OpenSCAD your script is the model - there are no mouse-based modeling tools like you might be used to with Blender or other 3D software. The closest compar
by sprobertson 5y ago
With OpenSCAD your script is the model - there are no mouse-based modeling tools like you might be used to with Blender or other 3D software. The closest comparison I can think of is if each of Blender's geometry nodes were a single line of code.
- knolan 5y agoYou can view the source of each node in Blender, but that’s not the point. Writing a script is not fundamentally different form connecting nodes in geometry nodes and entering attributes. What I’m asking is how do the output and performance differ.
- tragictrash 5y agoIt most definitely is fundamentally different than dragging points around with your mouse. You can use recursion and complex maths. Plus, the way you approach designing an object is very different from doing traditional 3d modeling. Professional developers who excel at architecture and code organization will have a much easier time completing complex objects than someone more green. You should play around with it to find out. You will be disappointed though, because you're looking to compare a fish with a horse in a race.
- sidewndr46 5y agoThis is incredibly accurate. Once I learned OpenSCAD my entire process of thinking about physical design via computer aided tools disappeared. Gone is the process of memorizing dozens of shortcut, hundreds of menus and painstakingly selecting items and entering values into fields or dialog boxes. Instead I can create in just minutes what would take a huge breadth of knowledge to do using conventional point-and-click interfaces. There are some places where the point-and-click UI makes sense. For example I like how I can layout the parts on a simulated baseplate with Cura. But there is really no design or thought into that process. Just slap them onto the plate in a way they won't overlap and I'm done.
- tdeck 5y agoI had the same experience. I tried OpenSCAD after trying and discussing pretty much every other piece of CAD software that would run on Linux. FreeCAD's UI feels like a hot mess and Blender's UI is for power users only (plus Blender isn't really designed around creating physical objects based on specific dimensions).
- tdeck 5y agoShould have been "discarding", not sure what happened there.
- doctoboggan 5y agoThe new geometry nodes aren't dragging points around with your mouse, your are procedurally constructing a mesh using blender's different nodes (i.e, functions) I've used both OpenSCAD and Blender and can say that geometry nodes feel similar to OpenSCAD. However I prefer to use the python scripting API in blender. Either way it is important to point out that OpenSCAD is more for CSG, while blender is for surface modeling. If you are intending to 3D print your models you will ultimately need to get them in a mesh format so I see no problem using a mesh format from the get go.
- tragictrash 5y agoOk, I gotta check out blender now
- knolan 5y agoThank you, you articulated that better than I could. I've used a wide range of CAD software over the years, and they're often a clunky mess. OpenSCAD is something I'd like to explore but if I could achieve much the same outcome with Blender, which I know quite well then it may not be worth the effort. I've used the python API a lot and now I'm getting excited by Geometry Nodes.
- smaudet 5y ago> What I’m asking is how do the output and performance differ. From a non-technical perspective I was able to do (reasonably?) complex part design with almost no prior experience in about 3 days of work. This included debugging the model code, introducing various enhancements after realizing I would need them, completely changing the design a couple times after running real-world measurements. In blender, based upon past experience, I would have spent a week just figuring out how to do all that. Sure there is code and the like, but how easy is it to hook that up to your external editor? How well does the refresh cycle work? (Hint - in OpenSCAD it just worked and I could use my editor of choice on a second screen monitor). So the non-technical performance is pretty great. The technical "how fast does it go" - I'm not sure but I suspect Blender uses GMP under the hood as well, at that point it is somewhat arbitrary. I dont think the tooling is geared towards doing model designs, I get the impression FreeCAD is more the SolidWorks contender - which is next on my list to evaluate. Thanks for the tip about geometry nodes though!