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!

  • finalarbiter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 days ago

    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

    Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or workstations) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design.

    CAD is an important industrial art extensively used in many applications, including automotive, shipbuilding, and aerospace industries, industrial and architectural design (building information modeling), prosthetics, and many more. CAD is also widely used to produce computer animation for special effects in movies, advertising and technical manuals, often called DCC digital content creation.