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If someone who was artistically inclined wanted to jump in the deep end of the 3D cad design and printing, what would be the best software package to start with in terms of: 1 - ease to learn and use, 2 - cost of software purchase, 3- compatability with companies providing 3D printing services?

What companies can provide economical 3D printing services on small runs?

Really I would love to slowly develop a small portfolio of miniatures that I have designed and be able to have small runs printed.

I don't think you can get away with printing minis to use economically, you'll be better of printing a master (at cheap resolution) then manually cleaning it up/smoothing it off then having it cast in metal or resin

have a browse in the P&M section there are a few threads were folk are sculpting /printing eg

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/586294.page

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/577541.page#6500862


etc

There are some excellent professional digital sculptors who post on Dakka who might be able to recommend programs to try (or what not to use which is probably just as useful

Hector Moran who's done minis for Kingdom Death, Mierce and more has a P&P blog that's worth a look, and might be able to suggest programs

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/597588.page

Andrew Rae of Statuesque Miniatures is also a great digital sculptor who's active on the site

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/467809.page

he's also got a blog that may be interesting

http://www.khorosho-productions.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Thoughts%20and%20Ponderings

I do my own models for Epic and print them at home.


http://brumbaer.de/index.php/epic-armageddon/35-orks
http://brumbaer.de/index.php/3d-printing

[edit]
I use Cinema 4D R15 for the modeling and an B9 Creator for printing
[/edit]
There are 3D programs a plenty and I find it difficult to recommend one.
Depending on your background, preferences and projects some might suit you better than others.

The "professional" programs are all very expensive, but for most of them, there are Educational versions available, which are much cheaper than the regular version.
But the license usually does not allow you to use them for "production" purposes.

There are free ones like Blender, which has seemingly a steep learning curve.
There is a free version of Sketchup and there is Autodesk 123D.

There are packages for parametric design and others specially suited for "sculpting".
But it's not only about the features, you must be able to use them i.e. your mind must be able to translate the image in your head into a process that crates a model of it using those tools.

I think it is best, decide on a project to realize, start downloading different software packages (free and test evaluation versions) and see wether one of them "talks" to you.

I'd start looking
at Blender, because it's free and has a large community.
SketchUp for the same reason
FormZ
Rhino

or use Google to find the best 3D modeling software, just to get an idea what else is available, than decide on one and give it a try using free and trial versions.
Depending on your personal preferences look for video tutorials or books about the software to get started.

Shapeways is probably the most common printing service and should get you started quickly.

I print at home, but you can print a lot of miniatures at shapeways until you have spent the price of a printer suited for miniatures.

Hard surface models tanks armor and such I use and recommend Rhino, it is a Nurbs molder, which can make it more difficult to use for a beginner.

For Organics or soft sculpted forms I highly recommend Z-Brush. The interface is very different from other CAD and it will have a bit of a learning curve because its not very intuitive on the menu end. It lacks certain true CAD features which you will need, such as tools to define the size/scale that your model and the details will be but you can get around that by importing the file into a program with those features.

Just be prepared for a 3-6 month period of frustration before either software really starts to click with you.

Printers will require a closed .STL in a very high density mesh. You need to become familiar with what will be needed for the best print and how to check and fix problematic meshes.

Have fun!
Mark

The trial version of Rhino lasts for 90 days before saving is no longer allowed, but by then you should have an idea about whether or not you like the program. Its pretty user friendly and isnt terribly taxing on your CPU. (my old AMD 4200+ dual core ran it fine) The student licence is $195, full retail is about $1,000.

 TheLionOfTheForest wrote:
If someone who was artistically inclined wanted to jump in the deep end of the 3D cad design and printing, what would be the best software package to start with in terms of: 1 - ease to learn and use, 2 - cost of software purchase, 3- compatability with companies providing 3D printing services?

Blender or Sketchup.

1) Blender community is huge, the only software that has a larger community is 3dsMax. Which mean you can find tutorials everywhere. Blender *used* to have a steep learning curve, and lots of shortcuts, but since 2.50, the interface changed radically and is much, much more intuitive. Can't remember that Dissolve Vertice shorcut ? Just press space, type "dissolve" and voilà, you've got all the corresponding commands.
Sketchup could be fine for a beginner, the interface is great, the software is pretty easy to use. However, it's very, very limited.

2) Blender and Sketchup are free.

3) Both can export to STL files.

 TheLionOfTheForest wrote:
What companies can provide economical 3D printing services on small runs?[/url]
Shapeways.

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to try blender and a free trial of rhino. I am still a student and can still qualify for a student rate if I like it. Thanks again!

Blender is a nice program, for printing I recommend shapeways or moddler.