Free 3D Modeling Software - 3D Printing: Build your Own 3D Printer and Print your own 3D Objects - page 102

Tinkercad
Tinkercad is owned by Autodesk, a leading CAD application developer. The good
news is that it's free to use, although there are pricing plans that provide additional
features.
Tinkercad is a web-based application, which means you need a web browser. But
not just any web browser—it must support WebGL, a special bit of software that
gives a web browser the capability to do special things with 3D objects onscreen
(among other things). Not all web browsers support WebGL, so you can find out
quickly by opening your favorite web browser and pointing it to tinkercad.com . If
you see a message like the one in Figure 6.1 , you'll need to download and install
a different browser if you want to use Tinkercad.
Figure 6.1 Error message indicating WebGL is not supported.
Four free web browsers that do support WebGL are Opera ( www.opera.com ) ,
Internet Explorer 10 ( http://microsoft.com ), Firefox ( http://www.getfirefox.net ) ,
and Chrome ( https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/ ) . There is nothing
wrong with installing two or more web browsers on a computer, so feel free to con-
tinue using your favorite web browser if it doesn't support Tinkercad. Just open up
Firefox or Chrome when you want to use Tinkercad.
I show you Tinkercad and point out some of its features in the remainder of this
chapter. I really enjoy Tinkercad because I, too, am a novice 3D modeler and find