Blender 4.5 brings big changes
(lwn.net)90 points by pykello 3 hours ago
90 points by pykello 3 hours ago
I've never been an artist but I love 3d printing. So 5 years ago I went through the struggle of learning to use Blender. Best choice I ever made. I still struggle to understand even the most basic CAD app.
I probably spend more time for some projects in blender than I would in a proper cad environment, but it's a toolset I understand somewhat deeply now.
So far, Blender is one of the most successful open source projects I've ever worked with in the last 30 years. Even with major changes, every change has mostly been for the better. The introduction of geometry nodes completely changed my workflow a few years ago. So much room for activities after that.
Unlike any other modern software package, I have no regrets or doubt when I upgrade to the latest Blender release.
If you're on the fence about picking up Blender I highly recommend taking the deep dive.
As someone who has modeled in 3DSMax and Blender using the mesh modeling approach and in Fusion360 and FreeCAD using the CAD modeling approach, for 3D printing I really recommend learning CAD modeling in FreeCAD.
The ability to make models precise, constrained and and parameterised more easily allows going back to previous steps to make adjustments.
For 3D printing it is very helpful to be able to change a defined variable and have the whole model recalculated. I often use variables for clearance, screw hole diameters, etc.
Recently FreeCAD has become very good and I have switched to it. And there are a lot of great FreeCAD tutorials on Youtube.
to be fair, I did do exactly as you described, and im glad I had both under my belt. But the amount of bs you can get when doing exactly that, "going back and changing a previous step" can be very annoying. Changing dimensions or previous sketches is usually fine, but anything more complicated often results in everything in your stack breaking with strange errors, leading it to just be easier to re-create the model. For many of my more complex mechanisms, ive made the entire thing three or more times
I use OpenSCAD for parametric stuff and it has served me very well, even if it has a learning curve and some serious limitations. The trick is to stop thinking interactively and to treat the shapes you want to make in a more generative manner. For instance, you could try to fillet or chamfer an edge, or you could create that edge using a sphere or a shape tracing a path and then tying it all together with a hull. But it can take a while before you become adept at seeing how shapes decompose into simpler shapes.
Going back in history works better in Fusion360 than FreeCAD currently, but...
In FreeCAD it works but you have to think a bit how you approach it. For example, if you reference an edge that you later on go back and delete, of course it will break things. Also if everything is not correctly constrained and you go back and edit it, it will likely break things. And then there are some bugs as well, but it's free and open source so I am not complaining. :)
Similarly as with mesh modeling, where correct modeling style is needed for smoothing not to break things, with CAD you also have to get used to certain approach to modeling, you can't be as chaotic.
But the more you do it, the better you will become and in my opinion learning proper CAD modeling approach is easier than proper mesh modeling in Blender.
Blender is great, but it still can't replace a CAD program. I tried using it for simple CAD tasks (before geometry nodes were released), but the experience was so poor that I quickly switched to FreeCAD. It was worth it, even though it took some time to learn how to use the new program.
FreeCAD is pretty buggy, confusing, and sometimes limited, but its workflow can't really be replicated with Blender. Once you have worked with a CAD program for a while, you realise that certain things that are almost impossible or annoyingly difficult in Blender can actually be pretty easy.
It would be great if the two programs could be merged. Blender could benefit from better CAD functions, and FreeCAD could benefit from everything else Blender provides.
CAD modeller are good at producing parametric 3d models. You can make use of spreadsheets and constraints to create a piece, that will later super easily be changed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constraint_(computer-aided_des...
Spiritually, Blender is to FreeCAD what Gimp is to Inkscape or what BMP is to SVG. With Blender you're massaging piles of anonymous polygons so they look right aestheticallY, while with CAD you're composing geometric primitives to make a precise blueprint for a 3D object that just happens to be rendered with polygons. The former is better for art while the latter is better for manufacturing.
If you try OpenScad-style adding and subtracting volumes, the syntax is pretty horrific. It is impossible to script objects that way. Quote Gemini:
However, implementing a full OpenSCAD-like syntax and robust CSG system from scratch in Blender Python is complex due to Blender's mesh-based nature versus OpenSCAD's mathematical description. Blender's boolean operations on complex meshes can sometimes lead to topological errors.To be fair though, OpenSCAD works best too if you do this during the generative step and not after the fact. I've used it to remix existing STLs so it definitely does work but you really have to watch the areas where two shapes get close to each other, especially if there is a lot of fine detail.
I think you are mixing up general 3D modeling (the act of doing whatever to get a good visual result) and CAD (designing something to be made physically).
Blender is not a CAD tool and wasn’t designed to be. Likewise, CAD tools will never be used to make a movie scene.
There's a bit of overlap in practice though - and people are interested. Some are interested enough to make things like https://www.cadsketcher.com/ https://blender-archipack.org/ and others.
Those really blur the lines.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Would you mind sharing a bit more about your workflow? Do you export to obj/stl? What slicer do you use?
Five years is a decent amount of Time, and I'm sure you have much hard-won knowledge (and gotchas) to share.
(Personally, I'm stuck on the mental block of "I know I should just get and learn Fusion360" but I cannot bring myself to knowingly tie myself to a subscription-based piece of rentware.)
Thanks in advance!
Edit to add: my motivation is 100% to use this for 3d printing.
I was in the same boat as you and sounds like others in this thread, >1000 hours in Blender over the past few years, but learned Fusion360 to be able to get parts lasercut and machined so had to go to proper parametric CAD format. The simple answer is use both - some things like making a simple bracket or fixture are just much easier in CAD. For organic shapes with lots of complexity, sub D modeling is far faster and easier IMO in Blender than the ways to achieve that in CAD (like T splines in Fusion).
The space between those 2 things is where you have to decide what you are really trying to accomplish. The program you use will have an impact on what your result looks like, you see this in the evolution of product design alongside the evolution of design software (boxy cars in the 80s, soap bars in the 90s, and the last few decades of cars with flowing designs with body line defining creases which modern A surface modelers seem to draw you towards). I find parts made in Blender with my workflow often look a lot more interesting and visually pleasing, using edge crease/bevel modifiers and sliding loops around vs. using fillets in CAD for instance, they both aim to soften an edge, but look far different in the end. If you are only ever going to 3D print parts and never CNC, you are already fast in Blender, and part strength vs mass doesn't matter much (especially to a degree where you don't care about FEA), Blender is plenty viable to make printed parts with.
You can footgun yourself easily with both programs, but I find Fusion to be worse for this, half because of the UI, but using tools like sketch projection for me has caused really diabolical issues in the timeline. The whole trick to CAD is being very careful with the design intention as you progress forwards, which is hard to learn coming from 3D modelers where that doesn't matter much and you can just shuffle around non destructive modifiers. This might just be due to my own experience difference in the programs though, I definitely remember going down some roads in Blender I never returned from on meshes when I was learning, normally by either applying subdivision modifiers, doing too many loop cuts, or using a tri/n-gon somewhere thinking it wouldn't be an issue or I would fix it later.
Yah.
My workflow is hard to describe.
Over the years I updated my base project files when new Blender versions require rebuilding my geometry node graph when old stuff gets outdated. That being mentioned, the updates are worth it. It's a hobby so time is free and a learning opportunity.
It's something I accept as cost of learning, which so far has resulted in better end results.
I was totally in the same mental space with Fusion. Here's what I did.
I don't like hard to understand UI.
I don't like a product whose company constantly changes the rules.
I don't like not being in specific control of mission important software I use.
I also tried open source alternatives to CAD. There are non that are anything approachable from a user perspective. Until the FreeCAD project gets some help from Blender, I'll stand by that.
I don't maybe have any specific modeling scenarios to recommend. Not a professional, just a hobbyist.
I tune my printer. Use the 3d toolbox plugin for Blender. Make sure your model is manifold. Get to learn how to spend dozens of hours editing 3rd part "printable" models into something that's actually printable. Ain't manifold, ain't printable. If you "borrow" models from games to print, you'll spend a lot of time making them printable. They aren't yours even at that point. Don't try to sell them or give them away for free. Not yours. Respect the artists.
Geometry nodes have SOOOOO many options. I'm not kidding, it's awesome the team keeps adding nodes that address old and new issues. But figure out a basic workflow wherever you're at. Only update if there is some required or otherwise very specific advantage
Blender 4.5 discussion from July:
I have been using Blender for video editing recently, and 5.0 is going to bring compositing nodes to the sequence editor. Now all I need is automatic video stabilization.