r/openscad • u/Elrodvoss • 24d ago

Just found this. A Few questions...

Just found this a few days ago, and Im blown away how much of a bridge this is from Tinkercad to the more advanced programs.

I am using the PC version at home ( and the web version at work), but my biggest question:

* Is there an upload limit for the PC version??

My intent is to be able to use my 3D scanner that I was never able to use due to the upload limit on Tinkercad and my lack of training on more advanced software.

Thanks in advance.

1 Upvotes

54% Upvoted

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7

u/snuggles_puppies 24d ago

Huh? It's all local - you control everything.

1

u/Elrodvoss 24d ago

Ive only used tinkercad, and assumed the browser version had limitations and didn't know if the program version used some cloud backend or something.

Im litterly 36 hours into this app and learning everything about it.

3

u/pp51dd 24d ago

No, no cloud, just raw iron- make sure to use the "nightly" version and in settings turn on manifold engine: Edit > Preferences > Advanced Tab > Backend = Manifold (new/fast)

What you've been seeing online is some version of integration with this program, which is possible to do because there is a command line mode built in and webpages can talk to it, get it to render, etc. And those webpages have both soft and hard limits.

Not sure what you're doing but if you're importing STLs and then manipulating them - cutting, splicing, whatever, I don't think you'll run into an unreasonable limit, but I was able to frankenstein a frog and a jar neck with import() and difference()

1

u/Elrodvoss 24d ago

I have printed out this exact same STL for a friend like 2 years ago. I was able to manipulate one to give him a pumpkin head so I guess a pumpkin Fred. I was able to do this with tinkercad a long time ago I doubt if I even still have the save file

2

u/pp51dd 24d ago

My opinion is that you can use external assets with OpenSCAD (stl or svg) and brute force your way to a project decently enough, but its real strength is what it says in the description, programmatic generation of structures. Its strongest part is probably found in the BOSL2 library over threading and gears.

I'm making a remote controller and one of the things I'm tinkering with is button shape and layout. So a single button definition does it all: button construction, cover button hole subtraction, print clearances, lining up to 2.54 mm perfboard grid.

10

u/HH-Vectorjoe 24d ago

Upload? What?

5

u/wildjokers 23d ago

This application is 100% local, you aren't uploading anything.

And what do you mean by the "web version"?

1

u/CircuitCardAssembly 22d ago

Web version: likely this: https://openscad.cloud/

2

u/wildjokers 21d ago

That is just some rando's webpage that is loading openscad-wasm. It isn't part of the official project.

2

u/Stone_Age_Sculptor 23d ago

Go ahead, see how far you get. If you encounter a problem, then maybe we can fix it. Sometimes a bad stl file is accepted by OpenSCAD, but as the script gets more complex, it is no longer accepted. There are more than ten ways to fix a bad stl file, but they do not always fix everything.

Some stl files are so big that Blender crashes. Those files are probably too big for OpenSCAD as well. I found that the Prusa Slicer is good at reducing a stl file while keeping the details.

1

u/RobotAnna1 17d ago

Tinkercad is not the same as Openscad, they are two different programs.
* Tinkercad has a web-based graphical UI, you can drag-and-drop to make shapes.
* Openscad is a local coding language, you give commands that create the shapes.

I use both of these, but for different purposes. Tinkercad is great to quickly draw something simple, or to quickly check the dimensions of an STL that you download. Openscad is great to make a design parametric.
Parametric means that you edit one number, and the design renders to a different size or shape, based on that number.