cross-posted from: https://feddit.ch/post/417300
Like the title says. My dad was trying to get into designing since hiring people for it was getting expensive. we use linux(debian 12) and he has very basic computer knowledge and can’t afford the industry grade software(too expensive in our country)
We tried blender with Jewelcraft but it was getting too complicated for him. If you guys have any suggestions please let me know. It will be of great help!
Could you explain a bit more about what designing jewellery involves? What end result does you Dad need? Do they just need a model they can look at on screen, something they can 3d print, some sort of plan, or something else? Sorry, I don’t know much about designing jewelry, but a bit more information might spark an idea for someone.
Blender does seem to be the ‘default’ way of designing 3d models, so it might make sense for him to learn how to use it in general before trying Jewelcraft if he has the time/energy. It should also be easier to find general tutorials that suit him. Once he’s confident with the basic Blender system, adding Jewelcraft shouldn’t be as complicated to understand.
Well my dad basically needs something to make his own custom designs as well as cut costs. He will be 3-D printing them using silver and gold since that is his primary business . We wont be 3-D printing at home tho. He has people who can do it if we have the design in .stl format with much better accuracy. Ofcourse setting the dimensions would also be a problem i think in blender. he says he will be designing earrings and pendants, nose rings etc whose designs we buy from other people. I searched around a bit and found that rhino would be more suitable but it’s paid plus proprietary and there’s no guarantee it will run on linux with wine
I’ve decades of computer experience been working with 3D on and off for years. IMO, there’s really no magic bullet solution that will likely offer the level of quality and detail he needs given his experience level. There are of course other 3D modeling softwares out there, but for something like custom jewelry I don’t expect they’d be much easier to pick up than what you’ve already tried. However, a combination of tools might do the job better for him:
If he’s good at math, then you might instead consider a mathematical based modeling software such as OpenSCAD to build components by formula/code, and then maybe Blender to put stuff together. OpenSCAD has generally been my go-to fit designing parts etc with known dimensions.
A third option might be a good 3D scanner, turntable, and modeling clay etc. He could create the component pieces as real models, scan to a computer for, then touch up, combine, or modify the scan results to build a final product.
Last suggestion, even if he won’t be printing the final product, it may be a good idea to pick up a small printer (depending on the size of the jewelry) that does decent detail, so he can do mock-ups and see what things should look like. Even given the cost of a printer (which for a decent small one shouldn’t be onerous), catching a flaw in a model done in plastic is probably going to save you money in the long run if you catch it before it gets to the silver and gold stage :-)
As I said, I don’t know much about designing jewelry, so I’m probably missing some subtleties. I’ve had a look at Jewelcraft, and it looks like 90% of what you need to know is standard Blender. Once you start adding components to your asset library it looks like it becomes quicker and easier too. Blender can certainly handle settimg the dimensions on parts, and exports to STL ready for printing. If Rhino feels like a better fit though, they do have a 90 day free trial, so you could see if it works under Wine. It’ll have just as much of a learning curve as Blender though, and your likely to find more help for an open source system like Blender.
I know zero about jewellery design, but any new software requires always learning and Youtube has zillions of tutorial videos for any application. Your father needs to spend just 2-4 hrs watching those tutorial videos for Blender and he’ll master his new tool already.
He can’t master basic touchpad on laptop and needs to use a mouse lol. And english is not his first language so he has difficulty understanding them. I can’t design it for him but since i am preparing for competitive exams. Most of the stuff seems easy enough to me bcuz i was exposed to tech from the time i was 12 years old. Also the people at youtube explain things a bit fast and use shortcuts which are hard for my father to follow. Do you have any suggestion for learning how to use linux based desktops and how things work around(not command line stuff) maybe that will help him
You could try out onshape. It’s a browser based cad software. It is not open source, bit it is free for individuals.
Wings3D is less daunting for newbies. But you’ll have to evaluate for the jewellery requirements.
Besides Blender, the only other software I could find that can handle jewelry designing would be LibreCAD.
But it only works in 2D. It does offer an isometric view function though so it could still work out if he wants to design jewelry.
I did not find any tutorials where people use librecad for jewellery but i will check out if it’s suitable for jewellery designing. since it’s 2D i am not very sure
Would FreeCAD work?
I will check it about. heard a few people use this with blender. Tho what i am mostly hearing is that paid tools are unmatched for making jewellery
I’ll add my +1 for FreeCAD. It can export to stl (you mentioned that in another comment). Though, if it is a good fit for your father’s needs is highly dependent on the kind of designs he’s trying to achieve. FreeCAD is good for “geometric” designs, not so good for “organic” shapes. As any tool, it comes with a learning curve.
