Blockscad Quick Start Guide

Byadmin,August 09,2016

Tag:    beginner

  1. Go to https://blockscad3d.com/editor
  2. Select the “simple toolbox” under the “Help->options” menu
  3. Click on the ‘3D Shapes’ Tab on the left side of the screen
  4. Click and drag the “sphere radius 10” block into the workspace
  5. Click the “Render” button
    blocksCAD block graph
  6. Congratulations! You’ve made a sphere! You can click and drag to rotate it in the render space, use the mousewheel to zoom in or out, or right click to drag your point of view around the sphere.
    BlocksCAD sphere
  7. You can change the size of the sphere by typing a new number into the space that says '10'- the radius is the measurement from the middle of a sphere to its edge, so a sphere that has a radius of 10 millimeter will be 20 millimeters wide.
  8. Try adding another shape... a cylinder or a cube.
    • See how the new shape is in the same space as the old one? We’ll get to translation in the next section.
    • You can get rid of either shape by selecting it and clicking delete on your keyboard.
    • The cube and the cylinder both have more measurements that you can change. See how changing individual measurements changes the shape.
      cube intersecting sphere

Build Complex Shapes with 3D Primitives and the Translation Function

  1. Pick out two 3D shapes- they can be the same or different.
  2. Open the 'transformations' tab on the left side of the screen.
  3. Click and drag the 'translate' block into the field- if you drag it to another block it will snap itself around that block.
    • This block lets you move a shape via coordinates.
      Z is up and down (entering a negative value [such as -10] in the space will move it down, while a positive value will move it up.
      Y is forward and back. (back is the negative value)
      X is right and left. (left is the negative value)
      Can you stack one shape on top of another?
      cube above sphere
  4. Try some of the other Transformation tools. See what shapes you can make!
  5. Save your project by selecting “Projects” and “Save blocks to my comput- er” OR register for an account to save your project in your BlocksCAD account.

Have a 3D Printer? Click the “Generate STL” button at the bottom of the render window when you want to create a file that can be 3D printed.

Troubleshooting:

  • If you ever lose sight of where you are in the render window—click “reset view” button at the top of the render pane.
  • The workspace is only about 200 tall by 200 wide by 200 deep—if your sphere has a radius that is too big, you might not be able to see it because you are inside of it.
  • If you change your mind, click the 'undo' button in the top middle of the workspace. If you change it again, you can click 'redo' to restore the last change.

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