[Module Request] Affinity 3D

[Muirén]

Rounding out the Affinity suite with 3D modelling would be a dream come true. I believe a 3D module that is highly integrated with the rest of Affinity, featuring the platform functionality of Blender with the ease of use and aesthetic language of the Serif Ui/Ux design team would continue the trend of shaking up the design software market.

Please make it so.

[2ddpainter]

@Muirén

this may interest you
with ConjureSDF there is also a Blender Version
 

 

 

[Muirén]

I've worked with Blender for over a decade and as everyone knows, the Ui design is suboptimal.

There are endless videos on the subject by some of the most experienced professional artists and designers of the industry, and even member of the Blender team admit as much, and share what they believe is holding back improvements of Blender interface and user experience.

To be clear, I'm never going to be an advanced user and that lack of improvement and ease of use in Blender's Ui and very discouraging.

My use case is technical illustration, additive (3D printing) and subtractive (CNC milling & Routing), augmented reality interface design, static and animated, interactive presentation. I'm not a professional illustrator, learning and practicing just enough to be a competent communicator with the real designers, engineers, and technicians I work with. To make Blender in combination with Affinity Design requires almost a dozen plugins that further complicates an already cumbersome user experience.

Regarding the post you shared, an Extrusion feature that mimics the 3D look in 2D was once a really popular feature in CorelDraw, and I agree that certainly has a place in Affinity Design, I would assume Extrusion would be added to the Warp Group feature, maybe combined with the Shape Maker Tool.

I'd also like to see an easier way to recreate the Blend feature in CorelDraw; however, I don't miss Corel Extrusion or Blend enough to pay an annual Corel subscription fee, after going through the work of transitioning the Affinity software suite.

Redirecting us back to the topic at hand, I made this post because I see the need for a product that has professional features without the steep learning curve of Blender, is not astronomically expensive or deliberately crippled like Fusion360, and is compatible with Affinity's file formats and workflow.

[2ddpainter]

@Muirén

My post wasnt mean to use Blender and i have nothing
against a Affinity 3D Modeling App.

I would only show this SDF Modeling approach as this
make 3D Modeling easier for Beginner. There are a few
Tools with this approach in the work. Project Neo from
Adobe is the one that offers SVG Vector Graphics Export.

Btw you could try it for your self. Womp 3D is free to use
only a account is needed. There is also a Pro Version.
The free Version offers also the download of your models
as .obj and other formats. As a online Tool it is a bit sluggish
but okay for to try that kind of modeling.

I did some 3D Modeling in the past and know a few programs.
I also know CorelDraw Extrusion Function, own a 2021 copy.

Actually i just use MagicaCSG (also SDF, i am a Patreon of the Dev)
he made also MagicaVoxel. Still have a older Version of Cinema 4D
and I have "MOI 3D" a lovely Nurbs Modeler made from one of the
Dev from "Rhino 3D". Some Users of "MOI 3D" use it for (CNC milling & Routing).

[Muirén]

I'm planning to check out the latest major Blender update, 4.1, so I'll use it as an opportunity to try the ConjureSDF plugin.

PS: I'm going to hold off for a few days. I was just told Blender 4.2 is about to drop and has even more QoL or quality of life improvements.

I just experimented with Adobe Neo and found it can be used to easily play with 3D perspectives of an entire presentation and save them as 2D images in SVG, import and edit in Affinity Design. So something like that would be an outstanding intermediate step toward a true full 3D Affinity app.

I checked out Womp 3D and there doesn't appear to be anything now or on their roadmap to create images that could vector editable, and no provision for creating close volumetric files that can be 3D printed, which was the same problem in Blender until plugins were created to make it work.

MagicaCSG looks great, examples of work I see in the Patreon are beautiful, though common to most of these development communities, I search and find no interest in design for practical augmented reality application, specifically for Ui/Ux, nor discussion on extrapolating 3D images for real-world, reliably 3D-printable objects.

I have Fusion360 to use when working with engineers, but it's as much work to use as previous versions of Blender while being far less adapted than Blender to creative expression of any kind. I would prefer a Rhino 3D license over Fusion360 because several experimental design communities I follow mostly work on that platform.

MOI 3D is new to me, so I'm downloading and trying that out.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It seems unlikely, but I do hope Canva/Serif gives serious thought to an Affinity 3D module.

[2ddpainter]

@Muirén

your welcome

some additional Infos

Moi 3D did have also a Node Editor
made by users. Search the Moi 3D Forum.
Not like Grasshopper in Rhino but usable.

Plasticity 3D also a relative new Nurbs Modeler
https://www.plasticity.xyz/

Here the Link to a big Thread in Blender Artist Forum
about SDF Modeling from "Metin Seven" he is a great
MagicaCSG Artist.
https://blenderartists.org/t/the-big-magicacsg-and-sdf-modeling-thread/1293075

Related to Blender there exist also a fork/Version
of Blender with a UI more related to Artist
call "bforArtist" where just the UI is different.
https://www.bforartists.de/the-differences-to-blender/

 

 

[Muirén]

Sadly, I cannot justify the cost of Rhino/Grasshopper. I need tools and skills just good enough to communicate concepts and work with people who have real talent without wasting their time and getting on their nerves.

Anyway, I see Plasticity has a Blender bridge, so there's that, and it's not terribly expensive.

Signed up with the MOI forums and found some n00b accessible MOI YouTube tutorials for safely creating 3D solids for 3D printing. I was bummed to learn MOI doesn't have parametric scaling features, or at least I haven't found a community add-on that enables that like in Blender. There are a remarkable number of improvements in Blender 4.2 and maybe parametrics are now baked in, instead of requiring a bundle of plugins.

Thanks for pointing me to bforArtists. I've downloaded it looking forward to seeing what that experience is like. If I can use what I've learned in Blander, but with an easier to use interface sounds great.

[2ddpainter]

I think Parametric Design is hart to find
in that price range

Ask Michael Gibson the Dev of Moi for deeper questions
about Moi 3d. I think for Moi exist also such a Blender
Bridge.

As much as i am interesting in generative Designs
e.g. Modeling with Nodes in Grasshopper it is
also to expensive too me.

Yes, is a little strange that "BforArtist" get so little
Attention. I tried it once and liked it.

thats all have a good time
 

[Peter Werner]

There is little to no overlap in functionality or internal object model between a 3d modelling software and the current Affinity apps. Given the complexity of such software, it would also take a significant investment and probably a decade of development to be competitive with established solutions.

Adobe has tried many times to create a 3D tool for graphic designers and aside from Dimensions (the one with an 's' at the end), those attempts didn't really gain much traction (Adobe Atmosphere, Adobe Dimension, several radical rewrites of Photoshop's 3D tools, and now they are working on something new again)..

But I could see some 2.5D features like Adobe AfterEffects, Autodesk Flame or Cavalry have them, as well as import of existing 3D models and extrusion being a useful addition to the current toolset. It has always been mind boggling to me that Photoshop didn't allow moving layers in 3D like After Effects.

[myclay]

4 hours ago, Peter Werner said:

Adobe has tried many times to create a 3D tool for graphic designers

Adobe then successfully bought a french company which made multiple great 3D tools(for colourizing) and now Adobe is failing all of its customers due to their abhorrent ToS.

EDIT:
a couple years ago a picture was shared which teased some 3D Painting capabilities in Affinity Photo.
That would have made more sense than a 3D modeling solution.