That's true, understanding the common concepts and tools across different 3D modeling software can make the learning process easier. It’s all about getting familiar with the basics and knowing where to find the tools you need.

Interesting! Openscad seems quite versatile for your needs. It's great that you can use it alongside Blender for specific cases. A real Openscad scanner would definitely be a game-changer.

That makes a lot of sense. Lightweight mixed reality glasses could definitely drive the adoption of 3D apps for productivity. It's exciting to think about how this technology could change our work environments.

Visualizing data is definitely a great application. I wonder if there are other creative uses we haven't thought of yet. Maybe project management or collaborative workspaces could benefit from 3D as well.

There were multiple tries for that that failed.

Yeah, there have been a few attempts that didn't work out. It's definitely a challenging area. Maybe with better tech and user feedback, we'll see more successful implementations in the future.

Absolutely, Blender and Fusion 360 are powerful but definitely tough for beginners. It’s great to hear that tools like these can serve as a good entry point into more complex programs. Thanks for sharing your perspective!

Yeah, Blender's shortcuts are a hurdle, and Fusion 360's interface can be confusing. I'll check out Tinkercad, thanks!

Yep, especially for beginners like me, paying before I have learned how to use doesn't seem appropriate.

I get where you're coming from. FreeCAD has come a long way recently, especially with the realthunder branch which improved a lot of the parametric modeling features. It's still not as polished as SolidWorks, but for open source, it's impressive. You might not need custom scripts for basic stuff, but it's definitely not as seamless as SolidWorks. Worth checking out if you're okay with a bit of a learning curve and occasional workarounds.

Thanks for sharing! I’ll check out your tutorial series. I’ve heard great things about Blender's community. Starting with a quickstart guide sounds perfect to avoid getting stuck on the basics. Appreciate the help!

Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely check out Fusion 360's free plan. It sounds like a good option for product design. Do you find it easier to transition to Blender later on, or do you stick with Fusion 360 for most of your projects?

I've stuck with Fusion 360. It's good enough and I'm not trying to learn it deeply, I'm just doing occasional one-off designs for myself.

Because it's owned by Autodesk, I expect that Autodesk will eventually discontinue or reduce the free plan until it's unusable. Hasn't happened yet, though, and as long as one is not married to Fusion, I don't think it would be any harder to switch later (and maybe something else will exist by then).

Yep, that makes sense. Fusion 360 does seem pretty solid for personal projects. Thanks for sharing your experience! Hopefully, by the time any changes happen, there will be even better tools out there.