BlenderCAD for Technical 3D CAD Modelers
This is to help collaborate the efforts of implementing a way to get more technical CAD modelers involved with Blender. I believe we should start from a simple approach first and add to Blender in future updates. On Blender Live Today, I suggested we should start with a pencil or cursor that's capable of drawing a polyline with the option to close and extrude. I also noted that Blender 2.82 is not too far from having CAD Modeling features. With a little improving, Blender already has snapping, coordinates, units and measuring.
Not everybody can draw like an artist, but with coordinates and a pencil or cursor, their project can quickly get done.
I saw some awesome ideas, whether if they were meant for add-ons or packaged with Blender or not, let us please come together with all of our ideas. We're calling all those that are interested in the BlenderCAD portion of Blender to submit your ideas. Let's just start with what's available, polish it up and work our way until we have a nice finished product. Those that already have ideas, we want to make sure it's not a complicated unfinished 'Back to the Future Prototype', but a finished user-friendly interface and product for everyone only with powerful background features.
I was explaining in one chat room when I begin with AutoCAD ver. 1, it was with a line, polyline, circle, rectangle, and an arc. -- now look at it AutoCAD today. Let's make Blender the most powerful yet 2-3 meg 3D suite app in the world.
BlenderCAD - We can make this happen!
8 Comments
This is it: blendermarket.com/products/construction-lines
@Jason van Gumster: Oops
I would prefer a solution where Blender is able to import/export from a real CAD tool like FreeCAD or Sketchup, or whatever. The workflow of Blender is totally different from a CAD tool, and a lot of tools are missing from Blender (Section cuts, dimensions, views, graphical document production, ...)
* @pcsd24 * That's good. I was speaking very, very basic tools for now. I do a lot of exporting and importing. I've been working with both, FreeCAD and Sketchup. I better stop discussing this because Jason said this was the wrong platform for discussion. It sounds like you do the kind of work I do, how can I find you in the chat room?
Unfortunately, this site really isn't the best place for this kind of post. This site is for posting specific, actionable proposals for new features in Blender. You say you want Blender to have more CAD-like tools, but you're not being specific and you're not clearly describing the workflow you envision. There are a lot of CAD applications out there and each has a uniquely different approach to asset creation. So even saying you want a pencil or cursor isn't clear enough... after all, Blender is already perfectly capable of drawing with a variety of different tools.
* @Jason van Gumster * @Jason van Gumster: I apologize for choosing the wrong platform this discussion, but I will explain to you and be more specific in a video when I get a chance. I'm still getting familiar with the Blender community (chat rooms, posting, etc).
Check out some of these ideas:
blender.community/c/rightclickselect/QTbbbc/
devtalk.blender.org/t/making-an-add-on-for-precision-modelling-cad-tools/8637/198
Should this project begin here or should we have our own area? Any ideas?