Additive manufacturing is a growing industry and new 3D printers and CAD programs are being introduced into the market. A few years ago, this technology wasn’t popular with many people, but currently many hobbyists, schools and industries are adopting 3D printing. 3D printer prices have also been reducing drastically and we believe that many people will afford a 3D printer in the coming years. New CAD programs are being designed too like SelfCAD which we’re going to look at in this article.
SelfCAD is an online 3D modeling and slicing software that has a simple intuitive interface. It was designed by Aaron Breuer in 2015 and launched in late 2016. Since its release, SelfCAD has been improving, new features are being added and the beta release was launched early last year. It is the only 3D modeling software that has combined technical, 3D printing and artistic features all under one program. The users can be able to model, sculpt, animate and even slice without the need for additional software or extension. SelfCAD was designed for STEM, Hobbyists and also professionals in 3D modeling.
Key Features of SelfCAD
SelfCAD Editor
SelfCAD is CAD software that has a really simple, user-friendly and unique interface and this makes it easier for one to master all the features easily. The average number of tools has been greatly reduced and only those that are useful to the users are included and most are reusable.
Drawing and sketching tools
There are both 2D and 3D drawing and sketching tools that allow you to design models easily from scratch. They have real-time boolean.
Animation
SelfCAD is one of the easiest 3D animation software. With the SelfCAD animation feature, you can be able to create simple animations easily. The car below was modeled and animated in SelfCAD.
Sculpting Tools
SelfCAD is a great sculpting tool. The sculpting brushes allows one to sculpt the model easily. You can bring your ideas to life without much struggle or taking much time.
This design was sculpted in SelfCAD.
You can check out this video tutorial to learn more about the Sculpting tools of SelfCAD.
The Stitch And Scoop Tool Of SelfCAD
This is one of the most important tools of SelfCAD. The stitch and scoop tool has four different options which, namely:
- Difference
- Union
- Extrusion
- Intersection
You can use each of these options to modify your model based on your requirements. Creating holes, gaps or joining models is much easier and simple.
In-built Slicer
SelfCAD has an in-built Cura-based slicer that allows one to generate the G-Code that you can send to your 3D printer for printing. One doesn’t need additional software. In most 3D modeling software, after one has modeled their designs, they usually switch to other programs in order to prepare them for 3D printing. But with SelfCAD, everything is done in one cloud platform. There is also the Magic Fix tool which allows one to fix their models and ensure that they are printable before slicing.
There are other important tools of this software like:
Follow Path tool- An interesting multi-purpose tool that can be used with the drawing and sketching tools. One can use it to create a model by extruding along with profiles or even designing them from scratch.
Easy Selection modes- There are simple and easy selection modes that helps one to select parts or whole object with ease and make it easier to modify.
Image To 3D Tool- If you’ve got an image that you would like to convert into a 3D shape, it is of great help. You can turn any image into a 3D shape at a click of a button.
Reference Image Tool- You can draw or sketch your 3D model on paper, take a picture and use this tool to import it to the workspace of SelfCAD. Then you can trace around it using the drawing or sketching tools. You can then convert the drawing or sketch into a 3D model using the Fill Polygon tool.
Those are just some of the important tools of SelfCAD, but there are others like the Cut, Loft, Extrusion, etc, which you can use to bring your ideas to life.
SelfCAD is still being improved and soon rendering features will be added. This will be helpful to professional artists. If you’re a beginner in 3D modeling this tool is of great help and it will help you have a solid foundation in 3D modeling and you don’t need to switch to other CAD software later on. This is because you can design complex models in SelfCAD too.
This article has been written by Sammy Ekaran, from SelfCAD.