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0 pointsjustinclift5y ago0 comments

Uh oh, I thought that was the correct one.

We might need to ping the patch author "xueke pei (yuzukyo)" to make sure I have that correct... and make sure I'm pointing at the correct thing. :)

https://developer.blender.org/p/yuzukyo/

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Blender doesn't really have any presence in the CAD/CAM space because (my understanding) is the geometry Blender uses isn't "solid geometry".

Because it's not solid geometry, Blender isn't able to export to any of the widely used file formats in CAD/CAM. eg STEP, IGES, 3DM, etc.

Nor even to other OSS packages (eg FreeCAD), as they too use solid geometry.

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Solid models are used in industry (CNC, plasma, waterjet, etc), somewhat similar to how STL files are used in 3D printing.

With 3D printing, the model file (eg STL) is turned into a gcode action plan for printing by a slicer. eg Cura (https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura)

In industry, the model file (eg STEP) is turned into a gcode action plan for the machine cut out the part by CAM software. eg MasterCAM (https://www.mastercam.com)

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With that branch (D6807), my understanding was it enables proper in-depth NURBS (solid geometry) support.

The commit comments in that branch indicate it also allows importing of Rhino (3DM) and subdivision surface (subd) files.

If that's the case, it's the needed foundation piece to allow for creation of importers and exporter for widely accepted CAD/CAM formats.

The second an even basic STEP exporter is functional in Blender, it will start pulling users across from the expensive proprietary CAD/CAM systems. As almost no-one actually wants to use them, it's just a "lack of choice" problem. ;)

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3 comments · 2 top-level

ingenieros5y ago· 1 in thread

I use both Rhino and Blender and I for one am glad that both packages exist. Part of the problem (from my POV) w/ Blender is that it tries to do a bit of everything and understandably ends up coming up short on those other things it tries to do. Sure, it's somewhat convenient to have it bundled with a video editor, but besides some really basic functionality what purpose/segment does it really serve? Before the release of 2.80 it even shipped with a built in game engine which very few people ever really used so why devote valuable engineer resources for such a small niche user base? Why not focus on improving its core features rather than try to compete w/ specialized tools such as Solidworks or Catia when their core user base is not interested in modeling planes or rockets which can actually fly?

justincliftOP5y ago

Personally, I'd rather use Blender instead of having to fork out many thousands of $ for Solidworks, or Catia (where even available).

Especially when the other parts of Blender (animation, grease pencil) are already very complimentary to modelling and already support the right workflow(s).

You personally might prefer to use Rhino. But the vast majority of new users who come to the CNC places I frequent (eg PrintNC Discord) would easily choose a functional Blender over any non-OSS modelling package.

justincliftOP5y ago

I've looked for an email address for the patch author, but haven't been able to find one. :(

That being said, I don't have an account on developer.blender.org.

Is someone with an account able to contact them somehow?

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