Whenever we talk about 3D CAD software, the only term that clouds our minds is AutoCAD. CAD stands for Computer-Aided Design. It’s a program that helps you frame designs with the help of a computer. If you want to know more then let’s dive into this topic and learn about it.
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What is CAD Software?
CAD is a useful way to create mechanical or industrial plans and blueprints. It assists you with designing 3D objects and preparing a blueprint in an orderly fashion.
CAD software is used in different industries including aerospace, architecture, 3D modeling, mechanical designs, automobile industry and many more spaces.
Several tools help you render various functions like creating, contouring, applying textures and many more. If you want to enhance your 3D design skills.
In this guide, we have compiled some of the best CAD software for 3D printing and modeling for both beginners and advanced users.
What is the Best 3D CAD Software For Beginners & Professionals?
1. Nano Cad
If you are looking for CAD tools that come with the complete “.dwg” support, then Nano CAD is what you are looking for.
You can enjoy the premium features including SNAP, ONSAP, precision tools along with Command Line Tool. Whether you are new to 3D CAD software or are a professional architect, you would find NanoCAD extremely useful.
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The free version comes with several features and provides a good base for the new users thereby making it an excellent 3D CAD software for beginners. But if you are a professional then you need to pay to unlock the professional features.
Nano CAD supports Windows.
2. 3D Crafter
3D Crafter is a real animation and 3D modeling tool that allows you to plan out your 3D models on the computer. The easy to use drag and drop option is something that makes it a must-have tool.
It comes with built-in 3D shape crafting tools and primitive utilities that help you create complex designs and models easily.
This software also allows you to apply animation and effects on the models and shapes. You just need to place the object at each point thereby, making sure that the animations are smooth.
3D Crafter is compatible with Windows.
3. Adobe Dimension CC
Adobe Dimension CC is a part of the Creative Cloud Suite that brings new dimensions into your project and design.
The features such as lighting and high-quality models allow you to build and craft some engaging 3D models easily within seconds. The navigation options along with the drag and drop features make this app, one of the best CAD software for 3D printing.
You can easily craft superfine 3D prints using an image or vector graphics onto a model. Adobe Dimension CC delivers unbeatable performance by helping you create realistic three-dimensional images with perfect texture, contour and lighting effects.
Adobe Dimension CC is fully compatible with macOS and Windows 10.
4. Daz Studio
Daz Studio is a free-to-use 3D CAD software that is full of features and is geared more towards professionals.
Besides these features such as morphing, animation after-effects and posing, the software also enables you to enhance your skills with a list of in-app interactive tutorials and learning modules.
Daz Studio runs seamlessly well on Windows and Mac OS X platforms.
5. KiCAD
If you are looking for ways to design your next Printed Circuit Board (PCB) then KiCAD will do the job. It is one of the best free CAD software systems that is loved by engineers and electricians around the world.
It is an open-source PCB design software that comes with a built-in project manager and four powerful utilities including a printed circuit board editor, schematic editor, footprint selecting tool and the GERBER file viewer/editor.
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There are a few additional features that include:
Two library component editors that allow you to create and edit the schematic components.
A 3D viewer and editor to render your PCB in 3D space.
KiCAD performs smoothly on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Ubuntu.
6. Autodesk 3ds Max
It is a function rendering and modeling program that offers tons and tons of 3D modeling options and tools. You can create, design and animate 3D characters and models for HD games.
This is one of the best 3D CAD software that comes with some features that help you in:
Modeling hard surfaces.
Applying contour.
Creating animations for 3D effects.
Applying after effects.
Texturing to create superfine designs.
This software comes with many learning modules you can use if you want to learn the basics of 3D modeling.
Auto Desk 3ds Max supports Windows, Linux, and iOS.
7. Solid Works
Solid Works is a 3D CAD software that comes with tons and tons of powerful features making it one of the best 3D modeling software.
It is a program that is developed by Dassault Systemes and runs on Windows. If you are new to three-dimensional modeling and design crafting, this software is not for you. A huge collection of tools and tons of features makes it a perfect choice for professional artists and architects.
This program is easy to use if you know the depths of designing and modeling. The PDF guides and essential options help you modify the quality of your designs and models.
Solid Works runs smoothly on Windows.
8. Blender
Blender is a free-to-use open-source CAD software that assists you with 3D designing, shaping and modeling and rendering functions, thus making it a versatile program.
You can do much more than just handling projects, animations, applying after-effects, three-dimensional printing and whatnot. This is undoubtedly an excellent CAD software for 3D printing.
You can also install certain add-ons to unlock several functions, options and features depending on your assignment.
Blender is highly Windows macOS and Linux.
9. FreeCAD
FreeCad is a 3D CAD program that allows you to design real objects of any size in 3D space. It is a dynamic parametric modeling program and you can easily change the dimensions and parameters of your models or designs using its model history menu.
You can use this software to create:
Fantastic 3D characters, locations and areas for game projects.
Architectural models and designs.
Animations and after-effects.
Industrial designs.
There are some primitive options and features that make FreeCAD one of the best CAD software tools for professionals:
Sphere
Cone
Box
Cylinder
Torus
It is a multiplatform performer and can process multiple file-formats including DAE, STEP, IFC, OBJ, DXF, STL and many more. Snippetslab 1 8 5 x 4.
FreeCAD syncs well with Windows, macOS and Linux devices.
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10. Mesh Mixer
MeshMixer is a top-notch 3D CAD program that you can use for shaping and modeling excellent 3D designs. It is geared more towards handling professional models in 3D space, thereby making it a good choice for artists and architects.
You can also use it to build, edit and modify models from scratch as the program provides all the necessary tools.
If your assignment is all about 3D modeling, crafting and printing then this program will assist you in your projects. All this makes Mesh Mixer one of the best CAD software for 3D printing.
These are some features it offers:
Tools for brushing.
Tools for measuring thickness and stability.
Mesh smoothing tools.
Mechanical 3d Modeling Software Design
MeshMixer works well on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
So these are some best 3D CAD software systems to get if you are a civil engineer, architect, graphic designer or a 3D artist.
Bonus 3D CAD Software
Based on the recommendations and user ratings from our study we are also revealing an excellent CAD software for 3D printing.
3DReshaper
3DReshaper is a wonderful 3D CAD program that helps you in processing the models. If you are a professional artist with years of experience in modeling, after-effects and three-dimensional printing then this is the program you are looking for.
It is a flexible app that caters to several industries including shipbuilding, automobile, civil engineering, arts, gaming and many more sectors. It packs a punch of features and supports several scripts for hassle-free modeling.
Mechanical 3d Modeling Software Downloads
If you are interested in getting an app that can save your time and assist you in your complex projects, then this is one of the best CAD software for 3D printing
This is a unique program that easily processes 3D point clouds from various sources including:
Digital devices.
Laser scanning.
3D scanners.
Other sources such as UAVs.
Since point-cloud processing is the most difficult step to manage and handle, the software offers powerful tools and functions such as Automatic Segmentation to manage and process point clouds and Fusion to simplify your tasks.
3DReshaper works perfectly fine on Windows 10.
Conclusion
This brings an end to our guide and concludes the list of best CAD software. It is difficult to answer which CAD software is the best as each of the above-mentioned programs comes with its own set of advantages and useful features.
It is worth suggesting that running animation and 3D effects on your computer require powerful hardware. Most of the apps discussed in this guide are free and are undoubtedly the best CAD software tools for professionals that will assist you in your assignments and projects. We hope that you select the program that suits your needs and works the best for you.
I will talk about 3D modelling software that I have tried, and point to this page whenever somebody asks for this info. Omnifocus 2 7 1 download free. Comments are extremely welcome.
Expensive but Good
SolidWorks is almost an industry standard. I am personally pro-efficient with SolidWorks already even without formal training, which means it has a good intuitive user interface and great community support. It is very rich in features as well. Too bad it costs several thousand dollars. (if you are actually a student, learning SolidWorks is highly recommended, try to obtain an education version)
Autodesk Inventor is almost on par with SolidWorks with very similar features. I’ve tried it briefly. I simply do not have a reason to switch to Inventor from SolidWorks.
SolidEdge was used at one of the places I worked for. It’s not bad but definitely doesn’t shine above the other contenders in this classification.
Free and Good
By “good”, I mean it meets a few certain criteria: dimensions can be typed, can export to a format like DXF or STEP or IGES, and good general software quality.
I try to share STEP files or IGES files whenever I can, so if you need to open my files, try one of these software.
Autodesk 123D meets these criteria. The disappointment is that it is not “feature-based”, so the workflow might take a bit longer than using SolidWorks. It’s good to pre-plan your model really well before bring it to the 3rd dimension. (think about how to make your object in a “subtractive” method first, as if you were carving it out of wood, my point is: you don’t have many opportunities to fix mistakes)
Autodesk Fusion 360 is very similar to 123D but with more features. It is more forgiving than 123D in terms of letting you edit the thing you already created (it is sort of “feature-based”). It is It is free only for certain people, but hobbyists are apparently included so yay for that. It can import from and export to a ton of file formats. The paid version isn’t outrageously expensive.
DesignSpark Mechanical is similar to 123D, but with more focus on electronics and pushes products from “RS Components International”. It can export to DXF but not STEP, so it is not completely recommended (the DXF contains lines in 3 dimensions but does not describe solids, you end up with a wireframe model if you try to import it).
Free and Bad
Onshape, their free account is only a demo. The features are good, but the storage requirements are large, and your design will quickly exceed the free account’s limits. This is because they save every a copy of your file after every change so you can always revert back, but each copy counts towards your used storage. The file size required grows exponentially because of this. They explicity stated that they will not implement a “purge history” button to “prevent abuse”. Hence, it is unusable for any serious projects.
SketchUp is not recommended because I can’t figure out how to type in dimensions. Apparently it can be done easily in the paid version. So it makes me feel like the free version is just a toy, and the paid version doesn’t justify the cost. I know other people recommend this simply because Google has their hands in them, but I do not recommend it at all.
FreeCAD is very buggy, but otherwise meets my criteria, plus it is “feature-based” and parametric. The shear number of annoying bugs makes it unusable for me. There is an interesting Python scripting feature that I tried using, but the documentation and implementation are not up to the level of quality that I need.
Cheap and Almost Good
Cubify is feature-based and parametric with an interface that can compete with SolidWorks. It is cheap enough to recommend, except it only saves/exports to 2 file formats, a proprietary format and STL. If it cannot export to STEP or DXF (or similar) then I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it. Their customer support stated that there are no plans to add that feature. (I should note that importing STEP is supported, just not exporting)
SolidFace is feature-based and parametric with an interface that looks like somebody just stole SolidWorks icons and changed some colors, but the actual UI layout is terrible, and depends on a lot of keyboard commands. I couldn’t figure out how to edit the length of a line I just drew. I would not recommend this software.
Others
OpenSCAD, and similar languages, are great when they are really applicable to your specific situation. Keyboard pilot 1 9 0. But if you are a newbie, do not start off designing stuff using code as a learning step!
Mechanical 3d Modeling Software For Beginners
OpenJSCAD is like OpenSCAD except in JavaScript and can run in a browser.
Best 3d Mechanical Design Software
I do not do much “organic” modelling. I hear that Blender is a good free program. Personally, I’ve used Rhino 3D back when I was in high school.
Geomagic is basically the the old Alibre Design, except now they belong to 3D Systems. It’s in the same class as SolidWorks. (Note that Cubify is also owned by 3D Systems and has a backend based on Alibre Design)