3D Slash Software is Aimed at Non-Designer Users

Sylvain Huet

Sylvain Huet is a French engineer and entrepreneur who invents, produces, and disseminates innovative technologies. He’s participated in the creation of a dozen tech startups, and his latest invention, 3D Slash, received the Gold Medal at Concours Lépine, the legendary French contest for inventors.

Now Huet has announced a series of partnership deals with 3D Hubs, i.materialise, and Sculpteo to let the world know about 3D Slash, his 3D modeling software aimed at non-designer users.

“Efficient and fun, very different from the usual CAD software, it helps anyone in creating useful things and reworking 3D files or 3D scans,” Huet says. “With these partnerships – and our new free web-based version of 3D Slash – we’re delivering on the promise ‘Create and be ready to print in no time.’”

Huet says 3D printing “radically changes our relationship to the material.”

“It’s more than just a revolution in industrial processes, it finally gives each individual a power over matter: think of an object and you get it,” Huet says. “However, for this revolution to happen, we needed a 3D design tool used by all. Try to open Solidworks, or even Blender, and you’ll understand the difficulty.”

According to Huet, he wanted to address the idea that, while most 3D models available on the internet are trinkets designed by others, the average user has simpler needs like the repair or replacement of household parts.

That’s where 3D Slash comes in. Huet says a tool useful to the general public must be able to create shapes with very precise dimensions. So as he watched children playing Minecraft, the idea came to him: 3D software based on a primitive “add or remove a cube” functionality.

As the typical mass-market 3D printer can print objects of 10 x 10 x 10 cm with an accuracy of 0.1 mm, the software needed to be powerful yet simple to use. So Huet says 3D Slash introduces several cube sizes with a particular arrangement between the cubes of different sizes, and that users will find the simple interface an intuitive tool that allows for all kinds of objects.

The suite includes a downloadable application for Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, and Android and available at www.3DSlash.net. There’s also a web platform which serves as a backup cloud for your work and file sharing. The files are saved in the new “.3dslash” format.

You can check it all out at the website by simply clicking on “Get Started!” to launch the web-based tool and clicking anywhere on the colored cube. Once your object is ready, users can click on the “3D printer” icon and export it to one of the partners or download the STL file for local use.

What do you think of user-friendly 3D printing software like 3D Slash? Let us know in the 3D Slash forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video below of 3D Slash in action.