Cool Instructable about using free and open source software (SketchUp and Inkscape) to design in 3D and then layout your pieces for 2D laser cutting.
Posted by Forrest
Wings is another piece of open source software available for Linux, OS X, and Windows.
Here’s what a recent reviewer said:
Wings is a great modeler that I have been using for years now. Don’t let the UI put you off. Similar to Blender, tt is fully cross platform which is why it doesn’t fit in to any OS. Unlike Blender, Wings’ method of editing meshes doesn’t take years to learn and years more to master. After learning the basics, enabling advanced options in the menus, and learning a few…repeat FEW hotkeys, I was off an running. Also, unlike Blender, all of Wings’ buttons and windows work like any user would expect.
Posted by Forrest
Another piece of nifty 3D modeling software. Open-source. Runs on Linux, OS X, and Windows.
Quote from the website:
Art of Illusion is a free, open source 3D modelling and rendering studio. It is written entirely in Java, and should be usable on any Java Virtual Machine which is compatible with J2SE 1.4 or later.
The current version is 2.6, released April 30, 2008. This version is both stable and powerful enough to be used for serious, high end animation work. Many of its capabilities rival those found in commercial programs. Some of the highlights include subdivision surface based modelling tools, skeleton based animation, and a graphical language for designing procedural textures and materials.
Posted by Forrest
I ran across a post this morning at MAKE Magazine (which is a great mag, by the way) that explains different 3-d printers that are currently available, including both commercial and open source projects.
In the last few years Rapid Prototyping(RP) has become more automated and much cheaper. Machines suitable for offices and academic environments have appeared on the market and have been christened 3D Printers. A range of different RP technologies exist and two companies have come to dominate the market, Stratasys & ZCorp. A quality 3D printer from either of these two will cost in the order of £30,000. Each has its advantages but to me the color capabilities of the ZCorp 510 makes this easily the most desirable machine. It is the machine currently used by the majority of the top UK 3D print bureaus. Also Bristol Fine Print Research have a couple of ZCorp machines. If you had a larger budget (£100,000+) then you could look to go to the high end Rapid Prototyping machines again from Stratasys which can build to a much larger size and precision and also use a bigger variety of build mediums. There are also some cheap and cheerful approaches you could take with a budget of a few thousand pounds.
14 3-d Printers [via Fabbaloo and MAKE]
Posted by Chad
Posted by Chad
