
Your choice of software tool(s) for use with your students will depend on a variety of factors: There is no shortage of free or commercially available software at your disposal. The GCode tells the MakerBot how to print the object. The software that slices a model is called SkeinForge, and it is incorporated into ReplicatorG, which translates the 3D information into GCode, the common name for the widely used computer numerical control (CNC) programming language). Once you have a STL file, the 3D model needs to be sliced into layers in order to be printed. Using a digital design, it prints objects by melting layers of plastic, one on top of the other, to form three-dimensional objects. These infrequent sponsored emails help us to provide our Xpresso newsletter for free.The MakerBot 3D printer is an inexpensive machine that can be either put together or purchased preassembled and allows anyone to participate in personal fabrication and rapid prototyping. Follow the links in the newletter footer.Īdditional Opt-In Content From Architosh.Įmails on relevant new technologies and special offers just for Xpresso readers, only from our trusted partners.

This is photogrammetry and we’ve written about such products here at Architosh in the past.

With 123D Catch you capture photographs of an object you are interested in from various angles and create a 3D model from the photographic data.

Autodesk 123D Catch is the new name for the old Autodesk Labs Photofly technology and is only for Windows at the moment. These flat plates are then assembled together to create a physical 3D model. A Young and Rubicon study puts the DIY (do it yourself) market at $700 billion.Īutodesk 123D Make is Mac OS X only at the moment and allows you to slice up a 3D model into flat plates or sheets which can easily be cut out by hand or via a laser cutter or similar device.

These join 123D Sculpt and 123D.Īutodesk sees the maker movement as a key step in the next industrial revolution, whereby local manufacturing and product making becomes a growing industry. The company has recently introduced two new products for the 123 family of software: Autodesk 123D Catch and Autodesk 123D Make. Autodesk has been busy expanding its new “maker”-oriented product line of 3D software products.
