Linux viewer/designer/unfolder?

[davelant]

I have found tha Pepakura Viewer in Wine only works for me on systems where I have the proprietary video drivers, and even then, it's slow and erratic, so I'm not expecting Pepakura designer to work well in that environment. What are the good options for 3d design, viewing, and unfolding in Linux?

[Oldenburger67]

Hello Davelant,

the best program for designing and unfolding in Linux is Blender 3D.
Just google about it. I know, Blender is discussed quite controversial.
Some really hate it, because on the first view it is quite tricky, but if you have gotten familiar with it, you'll love. It'll take some time to learn how to use it, but afterwards you won use any other program. And it's absolute free, no fee at all!!!!!
for unfolding you can use B-paperizer.script, you download it (just google it) and copy it in in the script directory of Blender.
With this script you can also export the unfolded meshes as svg.files, so that you can import them into Corel, or better in Inkscape or Gimp, as you us Linux!
Thereś also a free book out in the net, about designing cardboardmodels with Blender.
Here is the link:

Free Paper Model Design eBook2 by ~PixelOz on deviantART

There is all you want to know about Designing with Blender, and there is also the B-Paperizer script .

I hope i could help you .

Good Luck

The Oldenburger

[imcold]

The Oldenburger said it well; Blender is fine. I find Wings3D easier for modeling though; its context sensitive menus are very comfortable and easy to learn for a beginner. I use Wings/Blender/Inkscape/Gimp toolchain both on Windows and Linux and I'm quite satisfied

[greymalkin]

Hello imcold,

Do you find Wings3D has advantages to Metasequoia? Is it better or easier to learn? I am a beginner in 3D modeling. I was intimidated by Blender and just couldn't make any progress with it. Now, I am slowly trying to learn to make models with Metasequoia. Thank you for your opinion.

greymalkin

[codex34]

What's wrong with dual boot?
These operating systems are just tools that allow you to do different things, I don't rate the preference for one OS over another arguments, it's the ability to use them that counts. You can't just throw 10 years of software development out with windows simply because you like penguins
I think pepakura is GL based so it probably running in software rendering mode, which will really slow things down within an emulator.
As said already, blender is your best bet for linux, it's a little more involved and it now comes with and undo function.... (used to not have undo which is why it got it's bad reputation)

@grey Wings3D and milkshape are both good 3D apps.
Metasequoia is good, it just lacks decent tutorials, my docs for it have been stolen and are on this site if you want them. Rs-Datmaker And Rs-Poser

[imcold]

I haven't really used Metaseq, so you'll have to compare them for youself.
Few points about Wings I like, though:
-the workflow of Wings is different: left mouse always selects primitives - points, lines, faces, objects, nothing. Right btn brings up menu with tools/ops available for the given primitive. Example: nothing selected -> new objects, Point selected -> move, Face selected -> extrude.
-you can define your own shortcuts
-flatten operation - aligns all selected faces/lines to one plane, so you can easily avoid twisted faces on your models
-sliding of points along lines, which I do a lot - often more useful than just plain moving
-more tools in general?
-all objects have volume - you can't create just a flat square/triangle. Also, making holes through objects can be tricky sometimes. While it may seem a limiting, it mostly isn't - and it prevents flipped faces (normals opposite of what you expect)
-free/opensource, maintained and multiplatform

But it's best to try it out on your own and pick what suits you.

[greymalkin]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I am sorry that I interrupted a thread on designing in Linux. I do not post very often and do not always do it correctly.

[imcold]

No problem at all.