3D Printing

Cubify Sculpt to simplify 3D printable model design

Cubify Sculpt to simplify 3D printable model design
Cubify Sculpt is an new application that lets users create 3D printable designs more naturally
Cubify Sculpt is an new application that lets users create 3D printable designs more naturally
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Sculpt allows users to tweak designs with a freehand technique and then print their designs on a 3D printer
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Sculpt allows users to tweak designs with a freehand technique and then print their designs on a 3D printer
A mirror features allows users to create identical patterns on both sides of the virtual clay
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A mirror features allows users to create identical patterns on both sides of the virtual clay
Bending and patterns can be molded freehand with the mouse cursor or with line tools
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Bending and patterns can be molded freehand with the mouse cursor or with line tools
Shaping models in Sculpt is like molding with digital clay
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Shaping models in Sculpt is like molding with digital clay
The paint feature is optimized for Color Jet Printing on 3D Systems' Projet X60 printer
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The paint feature is optimized for Color Jet Printing on 3D Systems' Projet X60 printer
Cubify Sculpt brings a new opportunity for customization to CAD
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Cubify Sculpt brings a new opportunity for customization to CAD
Cubify Sculpt is an new application that lets users create 3D printable designs more naturally
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Cubify Sculpt is an new application that lets users create 3D printable designs more naturally
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3D Systems, the creators of the Cubify 3D Printer, has just released a CAD-like application that allows users to shape models like they were digital clay. Cubify Sculpt gives users the opportunity to freeform shape objects, giving a more natural feel to the design process and making it more accessible to the less-experienced designer.

Because it's powered by 3D Systems' volumetric CAD engine, which is used by professional engineers, the system has the ability to create complex, intricate designs that can be exported directly to a 3D printer. The exporting ability also allows for traditional CAD files to be created, such as STL, OBJ, PLY, CLY, and ZPC, according to Alyssa Reichental, media relations manager at 3D Systems.

"For makers and DIYers, Cubify Sculpt is the easiest and most complete design tool for customizing existing STLs," says Reichental. "Its extremely powerful for mash ups, smoothing, deforming and reforming, adding textures, and painting - for full–color prints." The program does mesh correction automatically, making it useful when integrating different designs.

Cubify Sculpt is a voxel-based CAD program, which, according to Reichental, means everything you design is water-tight and 3D-printable. "This is very powerful for both beginners and experienced users alike. For beginners, it takes away some of the challenge and concern over how to make their design printable, and for the experienced, its a quick band-aid for any overlooked flaws."

The paint feature is optimized for Color Jet Printing on 3D Systems' Projet X60 printer
The paint feature is optimized for Color Jet Printing on 3D Systems' Projet X60 printer

Sculpt lets users start with a design from a box, sphere, or cylinder of virtual clay. Utilizing varying push, pull, embossing, and paintbrush tools, the program has the natural feel of molding with Play-Doh, only with a mouse. Sculpt also manages to combine many tools that engineers and designers traditionally have to import and export between multiple programs to get the desired end result. "Cubify Sculpt simplifies the process all in one, affordable program," says Reichental.

The program has a paint feature that gives a little color to those usually drab, somewhat unrealistic CAD files. "The paint feature is optimized for Color Jet Printing (CJP) on [3D Systems'] Projet X60 line of printers," she explains.

"[Sculpt] is more intuitive to use and learn for beginners, unlike many traditional CAD programs," Reichental explains. 3D Systems plans to integrate this new software with its other Cubify products, as the goal seems to point in the direction of keeping the system feature-rich without making things too complicated.

A free trial of Sculpt is available on the Cubify website and the video below is a quick introduction to the application's interface.

Source: 3D Systems

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2 comments
2 comments
Mzungu_Mkubwa
...or you can just use Blender (www.blender.org) which now comes with some handy tools to help the user produce 3D printer-friendly models. And it's an Open Source, multi-platform, mature application that also happens to include animation, a "photo-real" rendering engine (cycles), video sequence editing and a game engine (among other things). [okay, fanboy mode: off ;-) ]
Kris Lee
Make it support Linux (you do not have to support all of them, enough is one or two more popular distributions) and I will buy it.