So I've looked at potentially working with OpenSCAD before, but unfortunately had to go back to something like Autodesk Inventor before really starting. The biggest problem I have with all open source 3D CAD systems are the lack of parametric modeling.
If you're unfamiliar with this, this basically is setting constraints on your geometry. For example, you can say that edge A has the same length as edge B, and it mirrors across plane C, which is 10 cm away from the primary XY plane.
This is essential to my workflow in 3D modeling and makes most geometry based operations (such as specifying that edge A is 10cm and starts at 3,4) obsolete. It also allows easy assemblies: you can specify the axis of shaft A need to be coincidental with the axis of hole B.
Plain text based 3D modelling would be awesome as you can use reasonable revision controls and have reasonable merge strategies.. but the lack of parametric modelling, at least for me, is a deal breaker. I've looked into writing a library for parametric modelling in Python, but then I realized that you probably need to be a PhD in geometry to write a correct implementation with reasonable speed....
If you're unfamiliar with this, this basically is setting constraints on your geometry. For example, you can say that edge A has the same length as edge B, and it mirrors across plane C, which is 10 cm away from the primary XY plane.
This is essential to my workflow in 3D modeling and makes most geometry based operations (such as specifying that edge A is 10cm and starts at 3,4) obsolete. It also allows easy assemblies: you can specify the axis of shaft A need to be coincidental with the axis of hole B.
Plain text based 3D modelling would be awesome as you can use reasonable revision controls and have reasonable merge strategies.. but the lack of parametric modelling, at least for me, is a deal breaker. I've looked into writing a library for parametric modelling in Python, but then I realized that you probably need to be a PhD in geometry to write a correct implementation with reasonable speed....