I wanted to make dumb merch for my dumb game to see if I could. Turns out I can, and the next time they’ll be better. I think they turned out great!
I wanted to make dumb merch for my dumb game to see if I could. Turns out I can, and the next time they’ll be better. I think they turned out great!
I was being facetious about the literal use of a computer
This exactly what I’m arguing against. Parametric CAD like Solidworks and whatever you’d call AutoCAD don’t get to own the term.
What I was trying to say, and was not very clear, is that CAD is an umbrella term for a wide variety of programs that generate digital models for use elsewhere, whether that’s manufacturing or animation. There are different subdomains, like surface modeling (blender) and parametric modeling (solidworks), but no single subgroup is necessarily the ‘true’ CAD. They’re all computer-assisted design programs, just specialized with different approaches for different purposes.
But why muddy the terminology, when there is already a clear distinction between the two major factions? where CAD isused to denote the traditionally engineering oriented, and 3D modeling is for the traditionally organic model design tool, do you need to mix the two? They each serve distinct specialized purposes and their definition are widely recognized within industry in general already.
Blender, Solidworks, AutoCAD, Catia, and any other modelling software of your choice all ultimately do the same thing: build digital representations of objects based on our understanding of how they might exist in physical reality. They differ in the workflow to get there, which is why we have terms like surface modelling programs and parametric CAD to differentiate their function or workflow.
OP literally used Blender to manufacture a physical thing- the qualification of Blender as “not CAD” is what’s actually muddying the water. If it isn’t a CAD program, how could they have physically manufactured their design?
To suggest that only some types of programs that do this are CAD is unnecessarily reductionist and doesn’t actually help anyone understand the difference between them. There is legitimate differentiation to be made with things like CAM programs, rendering software, etc., where you are now using that digital representation to achieve some end goal. CAD is about creating those digital assets that could ostensibly exist in the real world, regardless of whether it’s meant for animation, manufacturing, simulation, or whatever else.
Edit: Blender is even listed on the CAD Wikipedia page