All Glossary

3D Modeling

3D surface modelling tools enable the creation of objects by starting with a basic shape having polygon surfaces and then subdividing, pushing and pulling the quadrilateral or triangle polygon meshes to form shapes.

Key phrases linking here: surface modelling, 3d modelling, 3d modeling - Learn more

Details

3D design is divided into mechanical drawing (CAD) and modelling. The former is the domain of the left-brained, it is about parametrics, history lists and geometric precision. The latter is about right-brainers pushing connected polygon surface meshes around to make things that look good. Software packages specialize in one of these and dabble in the other to the extent needed (the extent to which they do both increases the complexity of use). Working in CAD tools involves a lot of sketching, dimensioning and constraining in 2D. Parts of sketches are then extruded, revolved and swept along a path to create 3D shapes that can be combined or intersected. By contrast, work in modelling tools is spent in a 3D environment (without parametrics or history). 3D objects created by CAD lend themselves to 3D printing much better because they are easy to hollow out, have flat surfaces to sit on and offer multiple positioning and even slicing-into-pieces options (for easier and faster printing). Modelled objects are normally the product of creative and visual artists whereas mechanical drawings come from engineers and technicians.

3D modelling demands powerful computer hardware that can track the positions and shapes of millions of interconnected polygons - and recalculate thousands of them in real time as a surface is pushed around. But now, even our phones have enough power to satisfy its hunger for memory and processor power. Some popular apps work on all three platforms (phone, tablet and desktop) and you can view and edit models that are stored in the cloud. Tablets, especially iPad, are becoming the platform of choice for doing many types of modelling.

In 2023 Plasticity 3D, built on the ParaSolid engine, is becoming more popular, it is targeted specifically at sculpting, modelling and 3D printing. Nomad 3D is another option for iPad. Blender 3D for desktop is taking animation and CGI by storm as a do-it-all tool, it is strikingly powerful yet free (the add-on ecosystem it spawns has created a profitable industry of seemingly unlimited potential). It is a surface modeller, it is not parametric (without an addon), and it is difficult to learn.

Apps used in industry and pro media creation are well established, but of course they are also expensive. For movie making and VFX there is an additional heavy emphasis on surfacing. ZBrush (and its many competitors) specialize in that. Do you use a modelling app that you think should be listed on this page? Please let us know about it and why it works well for you.

Related Information

Blender, the king of 3D modelling

Blender has really advanced in the past few years. They had a big injection of investor cash and the product has been on fire since! It seems there is nothing it can't do! Although focussed on sculpting and animation (thus its popularity in movie making) it nonetheless is useful for 3D modelling. People keep saying it is a jack of all trades and thus not a master of any. But the developers keep proving them wrong. Just booting this app and seeing the detail of the user interface is an incredible experience! It exists because of the incredible power of even consumer computer workstations today.

Blender is free. This is difficult to believe. Their business model is to create a free part that is at the centre of an ecosystem of add-ons that sold by thousands of companies. Fortunately, the free version is well beyond what most hobby or home users would ever need.

Plasticity - A new player the 3D modelling space

The targeting of this makes it promising for sculpture, modelling and 3D printing for ceramics. It is not subscription-based so you own it (although it is difficult to see how long they will be able to maintain this stance and remain profitable). It claims to have "unparalleled fillets" - this might seem an odd feature to highlight as the most important capability. But this is an in Fusion 360. Contours in ceramics are almost always rounded (concave and convex), and Fusion 360 is often unable to make them. They also claim it is "optimized for creativity" - this is also a tempting feature because Fusion 360 is targeted at mechanical drawing (so its sculpting modes is more clunky, or at a minimum less supported with tutorials).

Nomad 3D modelling and sculpture on iPad

This is what I had within 20 seconds of starting the app for the first time (having read no instructions or watched any videos). It starts with a spherical clay ball in the middle of the page. It is also set to mirror anything done on one side over to the other side (perfect for head). Notice the zoom-in on the upper left - this makes it clear that working within this app is about pushing and pulling polygons. iPads now have the computing horsepower to handle this task. To 3D print hollow objects one needs to export from Nomad into either a CAD program (like FreeCAD) or a slicer.

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Fusion 360, my choice for 3D mechanical design in ceramics

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