Antimony:
i used this last year and i like it better now. i appreciate the ability to create shapes and then subtract them, squish them, and morph them like really precise clay. its very intuitive and i like that it calculates all the math to make it solid. i definitely saw the value of parametric design when creating an array for the fan blades, after amking a minor adjustment to one (union of 6 circles), and all were adjusted equally.
biggest thing::: remembering to save as i go...
it would be great if antimony could have the ability to open multiple graph windows and one could copy and paste between them. another downside to antimony is that it dis-installs itself from my computer making for slight inconvenience when working with tight timelines. ooverall though i like the wat it works the best in terms of allowing me to go from thought to sketch to computerized version of that original thought and is fun to play with.
Click here for the antimony file.
i also mocked up the basic shape as a 2-D sketch in Photoshop, which uses a raster function (based on pixels) although there are ways to translate into vectors as well. i have some familiarity with the photoshop suite and so this was a step to go between tthe pencil sketch and the 3-d model.
Click here for the file.
i spent the most amount of time doing tutorials, learning and practicing in Blender, since this is a program i have never used. there are tons of options on what can be done within their scenes, and i was looking forward to animating my object. there was also a learning curve for me in the way of key strokes, placement of icons in the workspace, flow, and i ran out of time just before something really cool was about to happen.
Click here for the blender file.