For those who have been curious about both 123D Design and its new online webgl version, checkout this video to learn about new tools and UI tweaks in this latest version.:
3D modeling on a browser is not exactly new. In fact, we now have the popular modeling program Tinkercad as a member of the 123D family. So what makes 123D Design online so unique? It provides tools for fine tuning and editing models that has been so far seen in products like AutoCAD, Inventor, and Fusion 360. You can now round and bevel edges, create a shell or pull faces out of any part, and all this with extremely natural interactions.
Speaking of natural interactions, all manipulations of the parts in the scene are done with very easily identifiable modifiers. If you have used image editing or presentation software, you will find very familiar interactions for resizing, rotating, moving and aligning elements. And since we are a 3D application, we have also introduced a really delightful experience for rotating and aligning parts against other parts in space, which we call cruising.
Making holes has never been easier either. The best of all is that we can also keep the whole history, meaning that if you have made a hole in a part using another element, you can always go back to the original elements, move them around, and see the new results without any additional operations….
Fabbaloo reports that he think that this is the best version so far:
The new version includes some very key features that were lacking until now:
- The ability to import existing STL files, critical for handling 3D scans captured elsewhere
- Text! You can include text in 3D on your model in seven different fonts, specifying the characters as either as a solid or a void
- Automatic “shelling” to create hollow objects – also important to save print material
- Ability to select the distance units (inches, millimeters or centimeters)
- An invisible history of all changes is recorded, meaning you can go back and change things you’ve done earlier and the change is cascaded through subsequent operations
We’ve long thought that 123D Design was perhaps the best of the free 3D modeling tools available today, and this announcement makes it even better.
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!
