Python for 3D Printing

Book excerpt: Python is quickly becoming the world's most popular programming language, for everything from quick-and-easy hobbyist calculations to running some of the biggest online websites such as Google, YouTube, Dropbox, Reddit, and many others. OpenSCAD is a powerful 3D modeling language for creating 3D printed plastic parts for hobbyists and engineers. Python for 3D Printing enables the reader to leverage the power, versatility, & simplicity of Python to enhance & super-charge the already powerful capabilities of OpenSCAD for Makers, Engineers, & anyone who wants to create 3D shapes for 3D printing or manufacturing. Both Python and OpenSCAD are free software tools that run on Windows, Macs, and Linux machines. The symbiotic use of these two tools enables a MUCH SHORTER LEARNING CURVE than when using the expensive software packages, and it puts you in control of your designs instead of your designs controlling you! The complete source code Python listing for driving OpenSCAD using easier-to-remember and easier-to-use commands IS INCLUDED WITH THIS BOOK, along with creative examples of the use of all new commands. You'll see how easy it is to integrate these two tools such that you'll see results instantly on your screen when your Python code runs. Table of Contents of Python for OpenSCADIntroduction...About Python...About OpenSCAD...OpenSCAD Limitations...Python to the Rescue...How Python was added to OpenSCAD...How to Get Started...Where to Get Python...Where to Get OpenSCAD...How to Learn from this Book1 - Spheres2 - Color3 - Boxes4 - Cylinders5 - Tubes6 - Cones7 - Triangles8 - Animation9 - Polygons10 - Polyhedrons11 - Regular polygons12 - Text13 - Translate and Rotate14 - Scale15 - Resize16 - Rotate extrude17 - Spiral18 - Hull19 - Minkowski20 - Mirror21 - Projection22 - Slice23 - Offsets24 - Difference, Union, & Intersection25 - Assemblies26 - Gears27 - Mason bees28 - Surface29 - Platonic solids OpenSCAD is an amazing program for designing 3D parametric models for 3D printing, most often by creating industry standard STL files to command 3D printers. OpenSCAD is unlike most of the expensive software packages you perhaps have heard about or used. First, it's an open source, free program, instead of costing up to thousands of dollars. Another important feature is the way it works. Instead of interacting visually with a myriad of menus, sub-menus, buttons, complex settings, and parametrically driven object trees, OpenSCAD lets you drive the 3D modeling using a programming language all its own. It's a different way of thinking and creating, and once the few commands are understood, many people prefer it greatly over other programs. Even though OpenSCAD is driven by text commands, the results are shown in an interactive 3D window, complete with panning, zooming, and rotating. This instant visual feedback makes creating your 3D objects a breeze. By creating an interpretive Python syntax layer that translates to OpenSCAD, these and several other unique issues are eliminated or minimized. You are required to learn and use only a simplified subset of standard Python syntax, which you possibly already know. (If you're new to Python, just know it's great for many other programming tasks as well.) Python enables more complex OpenSCAD models to be created in a shorter time because of its shorter learning curve, extendibility, flexibility, and the overriding of some limitations and quirks of the OpenSCAD language. In short, the combination of Python and OpenSCAD provides a very powerful and flexible system for creating 3D models in ways neither programming language alone can provide. All while having you learn a simple subset of the syntax of only one programming language, one of the most popular & powerful programming language in the world.