2D software
I am familiar with Inkscape and will be using that for my 2D design. It is a fairly nice software and I use it with my middle school students because they can download it at home or school for free and play with it even after I leave. It is very similar to Adobe Illustrator other than a few hotkeys. Here is the Little Robots file created using inkscape. It has a useful cloning function that makes parametic slots easy. This function is nice to use for any press fit laser cut set.
3D software
SketchUp - If you want to pull your hair out use this software. The navigation is horrible. This software was originally designed for use making houses to show in Google Maps. Because it was not intended for 3D printing it's easy to make silly mistakes and have manifold edges and unprintable parts. Avoid at all costs.
123DDesign - This is a free software. I like the Navigation better in this one. It can be difficult to understand some of the editing functions but it is over all much better than SketchUp. There is a learning curve but it's not too steep.
OpenSCAD - OpenSCAD is one of my favorite design softwares. It's ability to use variables to create parametric designs is really handy. It can be difficult to use for more complicated design but not impossible. From and educator's point of view this is a great software to use as enrichment when teaching mirroring, rotating, and translating functions in graphing. Also, it's "surface" function is the fastest bitmap to 3D file pathway I've found yet. Below is a screenshot of a parametric knitting needle design I made a while back. The 3D printed needles worked nicely for quite a while.
My file can be found here: Customizable Knitting Needles .
Rhino - My first at Rhino was fairly clumsy. The program has an interesting combination of a GUI interface and command line controls. I've since learned that this program works in surfaces rather than solids which it why is was so confusing.
Sculptris - Sculptris is a free, downloadable software from Pixologic. It is a great software for the creation of organic designs. In this software you start with a shape and form the shape into what you need using tools like "push", "pull", and "pinch". The modeling process works like clay and is very intuitive. The first object I ever 3D printed was designed in sculptris and it only took me an hour and a half to model a nearly anatomically correct skull from a picture in this software. It is great for young students as well. Recently I was running a workshp where students had some down time and I allowed them to play with this software. One student who was mildly autistic and has been unengaged in previous school activites took off with this software and created a multitude of fun and creative creatures in half an hour.
My file can be found here: Skull Designed in Sculptris .
