The extraordinary progress of 3D printers has multiplied interest in software for creating three-dimensional models. Needless to say, the price of some packages can be frightening, but if the goal is to take the first steps at no cost, Tinkercad stands out as the first stop. Tinkercad works directly in the browser, is relatively easy to use, and offers a healthy number of online tutorials plus guides for gaining new skills.
We know very well that cost is one of the most complex issues to resolve in the near future of 3D printers. Slowly, manufacturers are managing to reduce their prices, albeit with different trade-offs along the way. 3D printing still walks that narrow path separating art from science, and failures with advanced equipment remain frequent. Beyond the initial investment and technical details, there is also the need to know 3D modeling tools a bit better. Anyone can download finished projects and tell a printer to reproduce them, but the best part of 3D printing comes with the creation of our own models. Whether they are decorations or replacement parts for other devices, once you get on that train, practically no one wants to get off.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/KCaenAGeK_QWhen it comes to starting to model, it is not entirely correct to immediately look for the best software but rather the one that can teach us the most (and best). Many online tutorials point to Tinkercad, and for good reason. Tinkercad was an independent project until May 2013, when it came on Autodesk’s radar and was acquired. You will need to create a free account to access the platform (or log in with equivalent accounts from Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft), but if you do not want to do that yet, its official YouTube channel has dozens of videos as an introduction, not to mention the extensive videos published by users. Tinkercad is a definitively visual resource, and that makes it much easier to assimilate.
Tinkercad supports importing designs in STL format, and once our work is done, we can download a copy to print it with our own 3D solution, import the content into Minecraft, save a copy on Thingiverse, or order an online 3D print. Sooner or later you will surely discover some limitations in Tinkercad, and that may be the signal to look for more complex tools, but if there is something we must grant it, it is that it makes modeling and 3D printing much less intimidating.
