Why using Plasticity instead of Blender for design ? And what software do you use, for which use ?

[u/Crazy-Plant-192]

This is just a picture to illustrate design, not linked to the question.

[u/hu_hu_cool]

For manufacturing? Fusion or solidworks are my preferred programs. Blender for mocking up a concept quickly. Plasticity is on my list to learn

[u/kkiz11 → u/hu_hu_cool]

Just to add on to this,

1. Learn (at least) one parametric modeller (Solidworks, ect)

2. Learn the basics of a visualisation software (blender, maybe rhino depending how you use it)

3. AI. I hate to say it but the reality is our concept work especially, is going to be disrupted in a big way soon. Learn to combine your skills from 1 and 2 so that you can control the ai to visualise YOUR concepts.

Maybe I’m wrong, I hope I am, but if AI doesn’t reach some kind of ceiling soon, we need to be ready.

Our value does not come in the form of a CAD model. We understand humans, the way we use things and why, our design goes so much deeper than a “pretty” render or model.

I obviously don’t have a crystal ball, but, I think we would be smart as designers to position ourselves at the front of AI.

I’ll add one final thing, learning WHY a design is good is going to be one of our most important skills in the future. At the end of the day (hopefully) things will still be designed FOR humans, and hopefully we can still guide that.

Good luck my friends, stay strong

[u/PhilJ223]

I use Solidworks and sometimes Rhino for making parts and Blender to visualize it.

[u/iswearimnotabotbro]

I don’t use plasticity. But the key difference is that it doesn’t use mesh geometry like blender does. Plasticity is more like CAD.

So, if you are designing a product with tons of bevels and inset shapes etc, it’ll be a lot easier in Plasticity to just do it. As opposed to having to really pay attention to the mesh as you would blender.

[u/Crazy-Plant-192 → u/iswearimnotabotbro]

Indeed it is more similar to blender than a CAD software. The piece is less parametric than a blender piece since there is no constraints nether modifier.

Plasticity seems to me like a better sketchup. It is quit similar in the functionment.

The no lack of a boundary between solid modeling and shape design makes me very disapointed. I clearly find blender more precise because the solids are clearly separated and you can easily change one of them.

In fact, I feel better to use a CAD software for precision or Blender for creativity, the paper is also a good thing for ideation.

The only point on which Plasticity is better than Blender is the fillet.

[u/2veed]

İm still a student but I use rhino due to its being my school's most preferred/encouraged program

[u/Bedenetto]

Autodesk Alias, Rhino and keyshot

[u/rosarinotrucho2]

You can do basically everithing with rhino+solidworks+keyshot. I only use blender if I am working in live configurators but that is not design per se.

[u/AdvantageNorth1032]

Plasticity feels more direct for hard surface stuff. Blender’s great but too bloated for quick mechanical iterations.

[u/Dshark]

I can get away with alllmost everything with Fusion. I step out to C4D on occasion, and then I use keyshot because it’s so friendly.

[u/Iluvembig]

Why waste your time with blender when rhino is just as fast

[u/Fireudne → u/Iluvembig]

I like blender, it's a handy tool especially with the right plug inside. SubD's quite different from cad, generally speaking not anything you'd use to make something but i like it for renders and unwrapping. Arguably better materials editor than Keyshot but requires a bit more technical knowledge and wrangling. Maybe not AS fast to add materials.

[u/carboncanyondesign → u/Fireudne]

Rhino has a version of Catmull-Clark subds (limit surfaces) that outputs true surfaces instead of polygons like Blender. I've used those surfaces in production. CATIA has a module Imagine & Shape that also uses subd limit surfaces, and I've used those in production as well. Subd limit surfaces are definitely used in CAD.

If you can build subd models in Blender, you can build subd models in Rhino. The difference for me is that Blender has better mesh modeling tools. I use both, but for concept modeling I think Blender is much faster.

[u/Fireudne → u/carboncanyondesign]

Hm, i knew about Catia I haven't really messed around with rhonos subD. Blender also has some nurbs tools now too but idk how well those work.

[u/xtinction14 → u/Fireudne]

Been trying to get into Blender for years now, learned both Blender and Rhino around the same time but I found Rhino to be a lot easier to understand, so much so that I've been ON and OFF when it comes to learning Blender, feels like too much knowledge to process every time I open a tutorial. Still trying though.

[u/VEC7OR]

Alibre > Keyshot.

One is easy to draw geometry in, the other is easy to render it.

[u/golgiiguy]

I don’t think there is such thing as designing something in anything other than a true industry accepted solid parametric modeling program. This isn’t NAM.

[u/Crazy-Plant-192 → u/golgiiguy]

What do you mean by NAM ? but I agree with that.