Simple 3D modeler and export of .egg

General Discussion
1

Hi,
I’ve been trying to decide on a 3D model editor.

There’s blender, of course, but i don’t think it qualifies as “simple”. However I know that it’s UI has had extensive changes lately so it may be better (i tried to use it a couple of years ago and gave up).

I know how to use openscad really well. It will export .dxf files, and Panda3D has a DXF coverter, but DXFs are a 2D format so i’m not sure how that works. I was actually quite surprised that it even had a converter, but i assume that it’s really handy if you do need 2D surfaces of some sort. Regardless, I was wondering if anyone has used openscad to generate models for use with Panda3D.

Last, but not least, is wings3d. I’ve only used it a little, but it’s pretty easy and can generate vrml files, and panda seems to have a vrml converter.

So just looking for opinions on what i should use. if blender isn’t too bad then i’m inclined to just push through the learning curve and learn to use it. however if i have an option with openscad or wings3d then i would rather at least start with them until i get things figured out with blender.

my models are very simple geometric “aggregates”, i.e. gluing spheres to cubes and cylinders, that sort of thing. that’s one reason openscad is such a good option since it has CSG operations.

Thank you!

2

I can tell you right off the bat, forget any CAD formats. They are not intended for rendering, there is no possibility to use textures, colors, and so on. You can consider a 3d editor option that allows you to export glTF. Panda supports importing this file.

3

ok. that makes a lot of sense.

so wings3d or blender sound like my best options.

I didn’t know about glTF, so I’ll take a look at that.

edit: wings3d can export glTF which is great. it’s also quite easy to use. i’m still going to give blender another try.

4

If it’s just simple model primitives you want to create, then you might want to check out my own Panda3D Studio project. Nowadays you can easily align and snap objects to one another, even while creating them interactively. And it exports directly to .bam so you don’t need to convert anything.
It doesn’t do any CSG operations, though. (But if you want unions, you can add the polygons of one or more models to the geometry of another model.)

Its documentation is lacking, but I’m willing to guide you through the creation process and other things if you have any problems; just ask :slight_smile: !

5

I would consider the quality of the pipeline as an important aspect. The VRML import isn’t really used that much and it may not support all features of the modelling program. Whereas Blender is a popular choice in this community and there is a range of exporting tools available, including the recommended option blend2bam, which is well-maintained and supports all the most important bits.

That said, if the glTF exporter in Wings3D is good quality and supports all of the features you need, it may be an option as well.

I recommend using panda3d-gltf to import .glTF files into Panda. The built-in option is not very good.

6

I had the exact same problem a few hours ago my solution is simple
I found a 3d modeling program in python on github Here
just download the file and unzip run main.py and modeler will turn on. Super useful
exports directly to .bam