Have you wondered how to choose between all the many different 3d modeling applications? What makes them different from each other? Here is some info about what is out there, and what their models are used for.
Rendered models:
Think Pixar movies. These are large polygonal models for rendered animations, using bones, shaders, nurbs and many many polygons. They will be rendered with fancy lighting and effects that can take a long time to compute. Computational time is not an issue here, though, within reason.
Think Pixar movies. These are large polygonal models for rendered animations, using bones, shaders, nurbs and many many polygons. They will be rendered with fancy lighting and effects that can take a long time to compute. Computational time is not an issue here, though, within reason.
Some Apps: 3dStudioMax, Lightwave, Maya, Blender
Real-time models:
Think flight simulators and games. These are also polygonal models. This model type is made to look great but render fast, to be used in interactive simulations. They are streamlined for most efficient rendering; the modeler tends to know each polygon so well that they have individual names and hand-made, lovingly applied textures. The driving criteria for efficiency change with the power of the hardware, but always are a balance between efficient use of polygons and textures, a well laid-out hierarchy, and good levels of detail so the model fidelity will change with viewing distance. The model is a bundle of tricks used to make them look more detailed than they really are.
App: Creator
Think flight simulators and games. These are also polygonal models. This model type is made to look great but render fast, to be used in interactive simulations. They are streamlined for most efficient rendering; the modeler tends to know each polygon so well that they have individual names and hand-made, lovingly applied textures. The driving criteria for efficiency change with the power of the hardware, but always are a balance between efficient use of polygons and textures, a well laid-out hierarchy, and good levels of detail so the model fidelity will change with viewing distance. The model is a bundle of tricks used to make them look more detailed than they really are.
App: Creator
CAD models:
Think blueprints for houses or rockets. This is a precision model, and is not made of polygons. A circle is defined by a formula, and is round no matter how far you zoom in on it. The models are solid, or "air tight". Dimensions and constraints control the shapes of the objects. Models are used to make manufacturing drawings and are sent to a shop to make, or the models are used to create CAM routines so automated machinery can produce hardware directly.
Think blueprints for houses or rockets. This is a precision model, and is not made of polygons. A circle is defined by a formula, and is round no matter how far you zoom in on it. The models are solid, or "air tight". Dimensions and constraints control the shapes of the objects. Models are used to make manufacturing drawings and are sent to a shop to make, or the models are used to create CAM routines so automated machinery can produce hardware directly.
Some Apps: ProEngineer/Creo, Autodesk Inventor, Solid Edge, Rhino, FreeCAD, Alibre
Update: Go try Onshape!
Update: Go try Onshape!
There is, of course, crossover. 3d printers use polygonal model formats to produce parts. The models must be closed in order to print correctly. They can be produced from CAD or from polygonal applications. Apps like Open SCAD produce solid models through scripts, rather than visually. Programmers find this more accessible, and there is capability for making some very exotic formulaic shapes that can't be done with conventional CAD tools. Sketchup produces models by visually manipulating geometry, making numerical input optional. The models are more CAD-like, although they are not required to be "air tight" solids, and they are not numerically driven like CAD.
Apps: Sketchup, OpenSCAD,
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| Sketchup model |
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| 3d print of parametric openscad models |
Direct Modeling is a new CAD movement appearing from all the major CAD apps, and also the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) crowd is joining in. It appears very much like Sketchup for CAD models, regardless of the native model format. Direct Modeling reads in the files, and frees the user from the hierarchy. It is handy for modifying models that someone else made. Time will tell if it can replace traditional Parametric CAD. For now, Direct Modeling is marketed as an additional app in a suite including Parametric.
Choosing an app depends heavily on your budget and what kind of models you want to make. The price is as low as free, and goes up to the thousands with additional yearly fees for support and upgrades. There are certainly many apps that I did not include, and I'm sure there are quite a few niche apps that I don't really touch on; hopefully this will be helpful as a starting place for your search. I will be posting more articles about the direction I am going. FreeCAD looks promising.
UPDATE: FreeCAD still in development
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