6. Free 3D Modeling Software

Chapter 5, “First Print with the Simple,” demonstrated how easy it is to print a 3D object with the Simple. This process is fairly typical of most 3D printers and other 3D printing software you may use. I briefly introduced you to Thingiverse, a library of 3D objects that you can search and download the files needed to print those objects. Many 3D printer owners are as happy to just download free objects from Thingiverse and other repositories, but what if you’re interested in creating and printing your own custom 3D models? For creating your own 3D models, you’re going to need the special CAD software I mentioned earlier in the book. There are a lot of CAD software companies and even more CAD applications available. Some are extremely advanced CAD applications with hundreds of features and capabilities, and some are super-simple ones that have some limitations. Some CAD software companies offer training to show users how to properly use the software, and some are written by one individual, after hours, and come with almost no documentation at all. Prices can range from the super expensive to the completely free.

Fortunately, beginning 3D modelers do not need to spend a lot of money on CAD software. Some of the best stuff out there is not only free but also comes with a decent amount of tutorials or training material. However, designing objects with CAD is a skill, and your success (or failure) with a particular CAD application is going to depend on how much time you put into exploring, experimenting, trying new features, and so on. You may find as you develop your CAD skills that a particular application isn’t growing with you. When that happens, it may be time to investigate more powerful CAD applications.

In this chapter, I introduce you to a free-to-use “beginner” level CAD application called Tinkercad. (I put beginner in quotes because some CAD modelers can do amazing things with this application.)

Tinkercad is only one example, and you may already have a favorite or a CAD app that a friend has introduced to you that you enjoy using. That’s great! Just keep in mind that with any CAD application, you’ll want to make certain the application has the capability to save or export an STL file. STL files are the secret ingredient for printing 3D objects with a 3D printer, so if that’s your final goal, find and use a CAD application that can take your finished 3D model and save it as an STL file.

Tinkercad

Tinkercad is owned by Autodesk, a leading CAD application developer. The good news is that it’s free to use, although there are pricing plans that provide additional features.

Tinkercad is a web-based application, which means you need a web browser. But not just any web browser—it must support WebGL, a special bit of software that gives a web browser the capability to do special things with 3D objects onscreen (among other things). Not all web browsers support WebGL, so you can find out quickly by opening your favorite web browser and pointing it to tinkercad.com. If you see a message like the one in Figure 6.1, you’ll need to download and install a different browser if you want to use Tinkercad.

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Figure 6.1 Error message indicating WebGL is not supported.

Four free web browsers that do support WebGL are Opera (www.opera.com), Internet Explorer 10 (http://microsoft.com), Firefox (http://www.getfirefox.net), and Chrome (https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/). There is nothing wrong with installing two or more web browsers on a computer, so feel free to continue using your favorite web browser if it doesn’t support Tinkercad. Just open up Firefox or Chrome when you want to use Tinkercad.

I show you Tinkercad and point out some of its features in the remainder of this chapter. I really enjoy Tinkercad because I, too, am a novice 3D modeler and find Tinkercad to be very friendly and non-overwhelming when it comes to buttons and features. And I am slowly but surely learning my way around another free AutoDesk application called 123D Create (123dapp.com) and anticipate moving over to it completely as soon as my skills have increased and I find myself able to create more advanced models.

So, let’s take a look at Tinkercad. Its name is a play on the famous toy for children, Tinker Toys, which lets kids build more complex objects by attaching simple shapes (like circles and round beams) together. You’ll find that Tinkercad takes that same concept and applies it to creating 3D objects.

Examining Tinkercad

For my discussion on Tinkercad, I’ve taken screenshots from the Chrome web browser. As you can see in Figure 6.2, when you first visit tinkercad.com, you’re given a chance to create a user account. It’s free to create an account and absolutely required to use the tool, so go ahead and create one if you want to follow along.

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Figure 6.2 Create a free account to start using Tinkercad.

In Figure 6.2, notice the unusual 3D object displayed on the right. I’m hoping that single image gives you an idea of the power of Tinkercad. Someone has modeled (drawn) a circuit board that will be protected by a shell consisting of an upper and a lower piece. It’s those two pieces, upper and lower, that could easily be printed on a 3D printer!


Note

Many books and online tutorials can train you to create these kinds of models. Don’t be intimidated when you see advanced 3D models. As you’ll learn as you invest more time into learning a CAD application, the objects you can design yourself will advance in complexity as your own skills increase. I include an appendix at the end of the book that lists various CAD applications, as well as books and online resources.


After you’ve created an account, go ahead and log in. After you log in, you’ll see a screen similar to the one in Figure 6.3. This is your personal Dashboard where you can view the models you’ve created (or are working on), the tutorials (they’re called Quests) you’ve finished, and objects that you’ve modified from other users (more on that in a moment).

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Figure 6.3 The Tinkercad Dashboard gives access to all your models.

Before I show you how to start creating your own objects, I want to introduce you to Quests. These are simple tutorials that explain some of the user interface elements. I highly recommend that you work through them all. To view them, click the Learn button at the top of the screen. Figure 6.4 shows the new screen that appears, listing all the Quests.

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Figure 6.4 Complete Quests to learn important skills in Tinkercad.

As you walk through a Quest, you’ll be given instructions in a small gray square with a Next button that you click to move to the next step. Go through as many as you can; the lesson called Die on a Workplane is one I found to be very helpful when using Tinkercad because it shows you how to focus on a specific surface of a 3D object, but all the Quests are valuable and should be attempted.

After you finish the Quests, you’re likely to want to stretch your wings and start using a blank work surface to create something of your own. I do just that in Chapter 7, “Creating a 3D Model with Tinkercad,” but for the remainder of this chapter I want to point out some of the tools that you’ll find the most helpful as you use Tinkercad.

First, on the Dashboard, click the Create Project button (refer back to Figure 6.3), and you’ll be given a chance to write up a description of your project (click the Add a Description link) before clicking the Create New Design button. See Figure 6.5.

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Figure 6.5 Name your project, and writeup a small description.

After clicking the Create New Design button, you’ll be provided with a completely blank workspace, as shown in Figure 6.6. Running down the right side of the screen is a toolbar; running horizontally across the top of your workspace are a few menu items and tools that I explain next. You may have noticed that Tinkercad provides a funny and unusual name for your project, but don’t worry—I show you how to change that later in the chapter.

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Figure 6.6 Familiarize yourself with the basic Tinkercad buttons and menus.

Starting from the right side of the screen, you’ll find a scrollable window that contains a variety of things: letters, numbers, shapes, and a few other items. Just above this scrolling list are six buttons that are nothing more than shortcuts to jump to particular items. For example, click the big A and the scrolling list jumps to the letters. The big numeral 1 will jump you to numbers. You get the idea. (And if you work through the tutorials, you’ll learn about the other buttons and what those category items are and how they are used.)

To the left of the shortcut buttons you’ll find a small number of tools that include Undo and Redo buttons, an Adjust drop-down menu, and Group and Ungroup buttons. Again, working through the Quests will give you some practice with these, but I also use most of them in Chapter 7 and explain them in more detail there.

At the bottom of the screen below the Group and Ungroup menu buttons is the Edit Grid button and the Snap Grid setting. These two items are very useful for the accuracy of designed objects, and I show you in Chapter 7 how to use the Edit Grid button to change the size of the workspace so it matches your 3D printer’s print bed size; this way, you’ll know that whatever you’re designing will fit within the allowable X and Y print area (length and width) of your 3D printer. You will need to monitor the height of any objects you design to make sure they are no higher than the maximum Z axis print size of your 3D printer. Right now, there is no way to limit the height of an object created in Tinkercad.

In the upper-left corner of the screen are a few more buttons that include Design, Edit, and Help. The Edit drop-down menu offers Copy, Paste, Duplicate, and Delete options (but keyboard shortcuts make performing these four tasks much faster). The Help menu provides access to a basic video tutorial and a Learn More About Tinkercad option. Unfortunately, neither of these are all that helpful; hopefully, AutoDesk might add some Help files and additional videos over time—and you’re likely to find more help by doing a Google search for Tinkercad assistance.

Creating simple objects in Tinkercad doesn’t get much easier. You drag and drop basic shapes on the workspace, as shown in Figure 6.7. Simply click and hold on a shape from the scrollable window on the right (such as the Box) and drag it to the workspace before releasing your mouse button.

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Figure 6.7 Drag and drop objects on the workspace.

Shape sizes and orientations are modified by clicking an object once to select it. As you can see in Figure 6.8, an object displays certain smaller icons that are used to resize, rotate, and perform other tasks. (Note that I’ve zoomed in on the cube for greater detail—use the + and – buttons on the left side of the screen to zoom in and out.) To resize an object, you click and hold the small white squares that appear on two edges and on the top surface of an object and move them to adjust a dimension. The small white square on top of an object lets you increase or decrease the height of an object.

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Figure 6.8 Use the small squares to resize the selected object.

If you place your mouse pointer over one of the small squares on the edge of an object, you’ll see the dimensions of that object appear, as shown in Figure 6.9. You can click and hold a small square to drag it; dragging a square will let you adjust the selected dimension.

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Figure 6.9 Change the width and length of an object.

If I hover my mouse pointer over the small white square on top of an object, I can view the object’s height. If I want to increase the height of that object, I click and hold that small square and drag it up. Dragging up increases the height, and dragging down decreases the height. Figure 6.10 shows that I’ve increased the height of the box.

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Figure 6.10 Change the height of an object.

Rotating the object left or right involves clicking and holding on the small circular arrow shape indicated in Figure 6.11. Using this arrow, you can rotate an object on the Z axis. You’ll see two other similar circular arrows near the top of the object—each lets you rotate the object on the X and Y axes.

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Figure 6.11 Rotate an object by using the circular arrows.

Note that a small circle appears that helps you to fine-tune your rotation using 0–360 degree notation, as shown in Figure 6.12.

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Figure 6.12 Fine tune a rotation in 1-degree increments.

Two other circular arrow controls are available, as shown in Figure 6.13. Both allow for additional rotation (if you want to flip an object upside down, for example). Depending on which you choose, the object rotates with respect to the X axis or Y axis. As with rotating an object left or right, you’ll be given a numeric indicator that will help you fine-tune the rotation angle.

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Figure 6.13 Rotate an object in 1-degree increments along X or Y axes.

If you want to increase or decrease the size of an object but keep its dimensions at the same ratio, you can hold down the Shift key before you click one of the small squares. Then, when you drag your mouse pointer to adjust the size, all dimensions (height, width, and length) are “locked” and adjust at the same ratio. Figure 6.14 shows that I shrank a Box object (that’s also a Cube because its three sides are of equal value) by holding the Shift key down while dragging the width box. As you can see, the cube is tiny, but the height, width, and length all stayed equal in value. If I hadn’t held the Shift key down, the width would have shrunk but the height and length wouldn’t have matched.

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Figure 6.14 Use Shift to shrink or enlarge an entire object at a consistent rate.

Take a look at Figure 6.15 and you’ll see two triangular objects. Notice that they are not centered together (where their center lines match up) nor do they share a similar edge (where one edge on each object lines up).

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Figure 6.15 There’s an easy way to line up objects.

You’ll have times when you need objects to share a center line or an edge, and to do this, you use the Adjust drop-down menu. First, select the objects you want to line up. To do this, press and hold down your mouse button and draw a selection rectangle around the objects. As you can see in Figure 6.16, I’ve selected both objects—you can tell because both objects are surrounded by a dotted line.

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Figure 6.16 Select all objects that you wish to share an edge or center line.

Next, click the Adjust drop-down menu and choose the Align option shown in Figure 6.17.

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Figure 6.17 Use the Adjust menu to choose an alignment for selected objects.

The Align option puts a number of lines and dots on the workspace, as shown in Figure 6.18. (These can be a little tricky, so I encourage you to drop in a couple of shapes and try out this Align feature to see how it works.)

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Figure 6.18 Align objects along edges or center lines.

These lines and dots represent different edges that can be used to align the selected objects. For example, if you want to have the two objects lined up using their front edges, you can hover your mouse pointer over the dot indicated in Figure 6.18. When you do this, you see an outline of the triangular object on the right that has been shifted to align with the front edge of the object on the left. If you choose to implement the suggested position change, click the dot and the change is made, as shown in Figure 6.19. (Note that you can click the Undo button once and the change is reversed.)

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Figure 6.19 The objects are lined up along a shared edge.

The Align tool is very useful. With it, you can have two different shaped objects line up in a number of ways. For example, what if you want to stack two different shaped objects on top of one another but make certain they are centered? To do this, you first need to adjust the height of one object. Here’s how you do it.

Click one of the two objects to select it. Notice the dark arrow floating above the object shown in Figure 6.20.

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Figure 6.20 Raise and lower an object when you wish to stack objects.

That arrow enables you to adjust the position of the object above or below the workspace. Try it out! Drag it up and the selected object floats up above the workspace. Notice in Figure 6.21 that as you drag, you’ll see a changing value that indicates how far above or below the object is relative to the flat work surface. (You’ll also notice a shadow effect below the object that lets you know it’s floating up higher.)

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Figure 6.21 Use the height value to determine the proper raising and lowering of an object.

With one object above the other, you can use the Align feature to stack them perfectly. First, select both objects so you can view the control dots (refer back to Figure 6.18). Notice in Figure 6.22 that the workspace is rotated so you are looking slightly down on the two objects. Hovering the mouse over the specified dot will show you what the stacked objects will look like. If you like it, click the dot to make the change.

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Figure 6.22 It is easier to confirm centered objects when looking from above.

The two objects are centered along one center line. If you rotate so you are looking from slightly above and to the front of the top object, as seen in Figure 6.23, you will see that the objects are centered down the selected center line.

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Figure 6.23 The objects are centered along one axis.

Although the objects now appear centered, it’s not centered along the other axis. You can rotate the view so you are looking at the objects from the side to verify this. Figure 6.24 shows the result.

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Figure 6.24 Not centered along the other axis.

As you can see, they may be centered when looking from the front, but they are not centered from the side. But that’s an easy fix. Select both objects, click the Adjust menu, and select Align once more. Click the dot indicated in Figure 6.25 to center the two stacked objects along this center line.

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Figure 6.25 One final alignment is needed to stack the objects perfectly.

The result is shown in Figure 6.26. I’ve rotated the camera view so you can see that the two stacked objects are indeed lined up perfectly on the Z axis (up/down). The camera view is looking up from underneath the flat workspace; imagine the workspace as a glass table surface that you can see through, and you’ll get the idea.

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Figure 6.26 Perfectly centered.

You can use a number of other tricks (such as the Align method for centering objects) to create 3D models within Tinkercad, and I show you more in Chapter 7 when I create an object to print out with the Printrbot Simple.

Keep in mind that when you create an object with Tinkercad, your object is saved if you close down the web browser; it’ll be there waiting for you when you next open the app and log in to your Dashboard. But as good practice, always leave Tinkercad by clicking the Design drop-down menu and selecting Save. You can also use the Properties option to change the name of your file, as shown in Figure 6.27. You can select Public from the Visibility drop-down menu if you want other Tinkercad users to see your object and be able to copy and modify it. (Click the link for Attribution if you need more information about making your objects usable by other users and how they can use them.)

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Figure 6.27 Save your object and set its viewing properties.

Wrapping Up Tinkercad

With Tinkercad, you can create some amazing objects with a minimum of tools. Don’t believe me? Before you exit Tinkercad and move on to Chapter 7, click the Discover button on your Dashboard, and you’ll be able to browse hundreds of objects that have been submitted by other Tinkercad users. You’ll see a lot of simple objects, but scattered among them are dozens of much more detailed objects. I hope this gives you some ideas, inspiration, and proof that Tinkercad may be the only CAD application you ever need for your 3D printing needs.

Next, I go through the entire process of taking an idea out of my head, turning it into a 3D object with Tinkercad, and then printing it out. Along the way you learn a few more Tinkercad tricks, as well as how to save and export your object to an STL file suitable for printing. Let’s go!