3D Printing
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Shapeways
Shapeways will print your 3D models in the material you choose, and you can set up a shop with them to sell your own designs.
Sculpteo
Sculpteo will print your 3D models in the material you choose. However, as far as I can tell you don't have the option of setting up a shop with them to sell your models to others.
Make XYZ
Make XYZ lists people with 3D printers in your area who will print models for you if you don't want to invest in a printer of your own.
3D Apps
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Sketchup
Sketchup is one of the easiest cross-platform 3D design apps to learn.
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros is a more professional cross-platform 3D design program. It's a cross between AutoCAD and Sketchup in the way it works. Rhino is my primary modeling program. It does offer education discounts.
SolidWorks
SolidWorks is the top of the line for 3D modeling in the industry. It is only for Windows computers but they have cloud-based solutions that work within the browser on any computer.
Blender
Blender is a powerful cross-platform program. It can be used for animation in movies and games or 3D printing. I find it overly complicated and annoying as heck, but I do need it occasionally for 3D sculpting STL models.
Meshlab
Meshlab is a pretty powerful tool for working with 3D models. It is not a modeling program but it can be helpful for a variety of tasks. It comes in handy sometimes for reorienting and quick views of models.
Meshmixer
Meshmixer is made to send jobs to a 3D printer. I mostly use it as a quick and dirty way for hollowing meshed models I have not created. *NOTE* This program seems to be in the process of being killed off by Autodesk. The Mac version has ceased to be offered and has been taken from the website, the PC version is still available for free but might be killed off soon.
Webdesign
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HTML Goodies
This site walks you through a simple free course they suggest to be taken over 7 days. I highly recommend that you learn coding from scratch before you let the apps do the work for you.
HTML & Basic CSS Integration
After basic knowledge of HTML you also need to understand Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) because it is essential for all modern websites today. This site will teach you the basics of CSS.
W3 Schools
W3 Schools helps you learn coding in: javascript, php, SQL, XML, etc. They have invaluable sandboxed areas where you can play around with the code and see the results as you learn coding. They teach you the current standards.
Multiplatform Favicon
You know those little icons in the browser next to the web address? They are Favicons, and here is a nifty generator to create them for your site on multiple platforms from just one image. Maybe not the most important thing on a website, but it just makes it that much more complete.
Webdesign Apps
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If you are wanting to start creating websites you will need apps to help you actually design them. Once you are a well established coder there are many apps you can pay for which have features to make your life much easier, but many free ones are just as good. Here are some that I have used over the years or might be helpful for you (free apps are marked as free):
- BBEdit - Free Mac coding App (has paid version)
- Brackets - Free Mac coding App
- Phoenix Code - Free cross-platform coding App
- Nova - Mac Coding App
- Notepad++ - Free PC Coding App
- Phase 5 - Free PC coding App
- SynWrite - Free PC coding App
- Cyberduck - Free Mac FTP file transfer App
- Filezilla - Free cross platform FTP App
- Gimp - Free cross platform photo editor
- Pixelmator Pro - Mac photo editor faster and less expensive than Photoshop
- Affinity - Cross platform full design suite, less expensive than Adobe Suite
- Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator - Cross Platform photo editing Apps
Requested Links
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The links below have been requested for me to post on my site by other companies. While I may not have personally used these sites for my own projects, they may be of help to you in your endevours:
First Site Guide
This site has a lot of helpful information and guides to get you started, teach you about topics you need to understand about webdesign, and help you get your site noticed on the web.
Hubs
Hubs offers multiple options for parts manufacturing including: milling, 3D printing, and sheet metal manufacturing.
Skill Share
This site offers classes and resources (for a fee) to help you develop your skills, hobbies, or imagination beyond your current level in various different creative categories including: Animation, Design, Business, and Writing.
I am neither affiliated with nor paid to post links by any of the sites I am linking to on this page.