Autodesk 123D is here!

General Forums Blender and CG Discussions
41

Maybe the free version will have a watermark on the plastic cog, rendering it useless :wink:

I think you guys have the wrong picture of this tool, it´s not a 3D-CAD tool, or a modeler. The way I see it it´s for rapid prototyping, and quick product creation, with a buildin pipeline to actually produce this model, be it a Toy or a spare part. I just read the other day the first 3D homeprinter is going into massproduction, and not the foam or gluecrap but one that hardens a polymere liquid with laserlight allowing 0.20 mm (IIRC) precision

I would hope the new 3D printers would support standard file types, making software choice moot.

42

Jay

this is the free version and there will be no water marking.

As arexma noted this is for builders but if they only want to serve the RP scene then they would not need
to build this app and attach a model store print shop to it.

The problem is that Pro-E as SolidWorks are not only used because they have a parametric modeling system
but mainly also because they have access to plug-in physics engines with which you can do material stress tests
belt actions etc.

That costs a lot of money and no builder really needs that. Home RP printers are still very expensive, and their
resolution is still coarse compared to what I print.

As cool as 123D is for modeling it also lacks essential high end surfacing features - such as variable fillets.

Think about Orange Country choppers - while they use SW for stress tests, they could easily use this software
to build the design or machine parts. At the end they do not research technology but build choppers based on their
experience with what works and what will break.

In terms of free there is nothing on the market comparable to 123D.
Powerful Solid CAD moderers are not that easy to build like a polygon modeler which explains why there is not any
mature app. Most professional systems also license solid / nurbs kernels which are perfected.

43

It depends if they also support mesh data, if not you´re bound to solid data, where you got .iges or .step for instance.
Many 3D Printers require parametric data and a closed solid model, although there are services that work with meshdata, but you still have the trouble of delivering a mesh the machine accepts. They´re kind of princesses there.

However, as Claas said, 123D is an alternative to the current tools many Designers have to use. Most engineers I work for, use Unigraphics NX or CATIA. They work with solids and parametrics, but that’s not even remotely intresting in this tools. Those abominations come with thermal stress simulation, vibration simulations, computational liquid dynamics, can calculate the whole structural analysis/static of a machine or part, have physical material properties, libraries for bolts and screws and stuff like that.
No Designer/Artist needs that - but they need/want the solid, parametric and nurbs modelling.

That´s also why Claas said “lightweight”.
If you compare tools, you got to compare them within their domain.
Sure you can compare the size of Blender against 123D - the problem is, Blender can´t do any of the things 123D. 123D comes with a functionality tailored specifically towards a particular user base with clear requirements. Most here never will have those requirements, and others might not know yet that they have them and struggle with their projects in Blender. :wink:

I also don´t need its functionality, but to me it is a great asset for collaboration.
It can open .step and .dwg and it can export .stl
Up to now I usually had my clients export their parametric stuff to meshdata, but either it took up to 20-30h because the exported all at once, or they delivered 2gb stl, vrml or obj files no normal tools could read or whatever and many of them have no idea that there´s a difference between their and my 3D models.
Often I just got the NX or CATIA files, and had to find one of my mechanical engineer friends around here with the right tool to convert it - which is a PITA, but you can´t use trails for commercial work, nor will you buy a few thousand dollar “file converter”
Now I can tell them just drop me the .step and I can export and convert how I need it, which in the end of the day makes life easier on both ends.

One could say, 123D is more meant for the artists and not for engineers.
And it is most likely free because compared with the other tools from that family its functionality is almost trivial.

44

Hey

do you use Magix? When we send files to the printers we mainly actually use STL.
We run it through Magix to fix naked edge or normal issues.

I love Catia the idea and tool set is so great. Having good polygon SDS modeling integrated with NURBS surface and solid modeling.

What a dream - the T-Spline plug-in for Solidworks is great but man it is 1k just for the plug-in.

45

Sorry so late on getting in on this convo…

arexma, as an FYI, HeeksCAD, since it uses OpenCASCADE libraries, allows STEP and IGES import and exports to STL. Not sure as to the quality or integrity of these conversions, but as this is an OSS solution (that has pretty cool CNC stuff in it, too [heeksCNC], if you’re into that stuff!) you won’t have to worry about any Autodesk EULA “gotchas” that may be waiting in the wings… :slight_smile:

My other interest is to see whether or not Dassault Systemes finally takes the bait and comes up with an “entry level” CAD tool (for 3D parametric solids, to compliment their 2D offering, DraftSight). I was sad to see Alibre’s free offering fade away - I thot they had a good thing going with their “pay-per-feature” paradigm. Oh, well.

46

Haven’t tried 123D, but it looks pretty interesting. I use Rhino 4.0 for my NURBS needs right now, which seems to do what I need it do fairly well. For 3d printing, I’ve either sent off a STP file or an STL, which I’ve even exported from Blender (so it IS possible to print Blender models already).

Having NURBS within Blender would be an amazing step forward if the editing and workflow would be the same/similar to Blender’s mesh modeling in terms of speed and hotkey efficiency. Also having both NURBS and meshes side by side would save much time and hassle with meshing and exporting/importing from other programs (Rhino’s meshing sucks, or I just haven’t learned how to properly use it…).

Anyway, maybe I’ll have to give 123D a shot, see what it’s all about…

I’ve never used Catia, but the videos I’ve seen have been more than impressive! Comes with a PRETTY hefty price tag, though… Claas, do you use it often? I hear Maya also has SubD-to-NURBS-and-back capabilities? I don’t think I’ll be buying the t-spline plugin for Rhino, too pricey at the moment…

47

Any way to contact those in charge of this? I’d like to possibly donate and at least show my interest. I use NURBS a lot for architecture and some other design-oriented projects and strongly support the appearance of a NURBS system in Blender!

48

123d as far as I can see, this is a beta version. does anyone know the time limit on it. will it stop working after 6 months ?.

49

this program makes me think of autodesk inventor

50

It works for exactly 123Days :smiley:
jk

51

playing with this software for some minutes now, i think its amazing and indeed what i said earlier, it uses some features from autodesk inventor

sweet

52

@arexma
L.O.L.
So nothing has really changed with autodesk then

53

There use to be a free gMax ,$500 XSI xtra lite.
Free Truespace ,use to be $500.
in 1998 softimage $20,000 ,Max $3,000 ,Lightwave $2000
now max owns softimage. n Maya.
in 2011 the 3 are Max ,C4D ,LW.
In the 3Dapp wars Max never droped there price.
I’d be willing to bet Max will be around as long as CGI is.

54

you guys can talk about software companies
or make use of tools which are given away for free
in case they fit your need.

For my needs it is way to primitive - but has a good start
and I am sure it will do the job for those who do not need
so much surface control as I do.

55

Anyone have experience with Blender’s .stl export and 3D printers? Any showstoppers?

56

Make sure your normals are all OK and that there are no holes or glaring errors in the mesh, and you should be fine. I’ve printed preeetty exact parts from Blender’s STL files.

57

Thanks for the feedback StompinTom.

58

Blender SLT is pretty good as long as you make you sure model has not holes.

In addition you can load your stl into meshlab and search for holes to check that
and if found fill it.

Claas

59

Due the way it is presented in time this will come comercial. It is “beta” and *free , that rings one bell and this is like G-MAX was for 3D modding and how XSI for modding is. A limited software.

I like Blender interface. I hate the way it is the interaction in 123D , not intuitive to much clicks to much everything. I bet Blender with nurbs integration will kill this one in first day.

Happy blending! :slight_smile: