3D design Apps
This page is where you can learn more about getting started with 3D design in your classes. You'll learn about software, web sites, and other ideas to get your classes started on 3D design and printing!
TinkerCAD is one of the best and most popular ways to get your students designing 3D projects quickly and easily. You can easily get your kids signed in, especially if your school has GSuite for Education (aka Google Apps for Education). If your kids already have a Google login, they can login using "Social Providers". (Click here for a quick tutorial on how to sign in this way)
TinkerCAD also has many resources for teachers, including the ability to moderate students, preview work, and more! There are also projects and videos to help you get started.
The Learn page on the TinkerCAD site has several tutorials and projects to help you and your students learn all about using and designing with TinkerCAD!
Sketchup is now available as a browser based program! The folks at Sketchup have created Sketchup for Schools to make it easy for us to deploy Sketchup to Chromebooks and Chrome Web browsers. This means that pretty much anyone can use Sketchup! Click the link above to go to their site and get your school signed up! (You may want to work with your school or district Google administrator(s) to get this set up for everyone) It's easy!
For more advanced users or higher grade levels...
Autodesk is one of the biggest innovators in 3D modeling and CAD software. (in fact, they're the creators of TinkerCAD) For more advanced users they offer free versions of programs like Fusion 360, AutoCAD, Maya, and more! Click the link above to explore!
BlocksCAD is another cloud-based 3D modeling app that really gets down to the nitty-gritty. Kids can learn how to "code" their 3D designs. BlocksCAD ALSO has Google integration making it easy to get your kids started and online.
3D Design with the iPad
These are the most popular ways in which folks are using iPads for 3D design. BlocksCAD and TinkerCAD are cloud-based, whereas Happy 3D and Morphi are iOS apps.