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Fusion 360 is a design, editing and engineering platform. Autodesk developed the software in 2012 and released it for public release in 2013. The people behind Blender have built your network far and wide, including 3D modeling capabilities, STL export, animation, image and video editing, physics simulation and game development.įusion 360, on the other hand, is a much younger, much more specific software. It is designed to create 3D art, visual effects, animations, video games, and 3D printed models.Īll in all, if you want to do 3D work on your computer, Blender has what you need. Open source status means that the source code is freely distributed and open for customization, which has led to a wide acceptance of this software in the hobby community. We will make decisions between Blender and Fusion 360 based on several criteria, including:īlender (available since 1998), is an open source 3D computer graphics suite. In this article we take a look at two very popular CAD programs: Blender and Fusion 360.Įach CAD software has its own strengths and weaknesses. Simply put, CAD (Computer Aided Design) software allows you to create 3D objects and export them as STL files for printing. But what happens if you get bored with all the STL files you find online? Or a downloaded 3D model does not quite meet your requirements? In these cases you should look more closely at CAD software. This locks the cube to movement along the green Y axis, and allows you to move it with the mouse on a line.Many hobby designers will look for models for 3D printing on one of the many websites for 3D models like Thingiverse, MyMiniFactory or Pinshape. If you want to move the cube along the Y-axis (side to side), select the cube and press G > Y. Navigating is very much like plotting a set of coordinates. You can also use key commands to tell Blender what you want to do. You'll then see a list of available basic objects to add to the scene. If an object isn't available, you can create one by clicking Add > Mesh at the top of the screen. Practice this on the cube in the default scene in Object Mode. To Scale the objects you have selected in your 3D Viewport in Object Mode, use the S key. To resolve this, you have to think mathematically and change the parameters of your objects along fixed paths on the X, Y, and Z axes. You can do this by Moving, Scaling, and Rotating objects. Related: How to Use Mixamo to Animate Custom 3D Models What might look right from one angle may actually be miles out of place when you move your position!
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