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Autodesk Tinkercad

Score6.7 out of 10

12 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Autodesk Tinkercad?

Autodesk offers Tinkercad, a 3D modeling and design tool available free for educational purposes. Shapes are the building blocks of Tinkercad. Users can add pre-existing shapes, or import them. To adjust objects, users can rotate the workplane to adjust shapes or change views and input exact dimensions with the ruler. Custom shapes can also be created by combining elements.

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

What users are saying about Autodesk Tinkercad.
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Students tinker with tinkercad!

Incentivized
Karee SmithView profile
Stem teacher at Minnehaha Academh (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It is a great introduction to 3D modeling and design for students during our stem challenges at school. We use it with the upper elementary, and others use it with middle school students. Great for project-based learning and helping students bring their prototype ideas to life, and it mimics real-world stem careers.

Pros

  • Simple 3D tools
  • Free and online and accessible
  • Has tutorials

Cons

  • The tutorials could be more easily readable and easier for younger students
  • Sometimes confusing how to use the mouse tools vs on an iPad
  • Less professional, not often used in career fields

Most Important Features

  • Free/cost/accessible
  • Easy to use for teachers and students
  • Compatible with our devices

Return on Investment

  • Helping students prototypes and ideas come to life
  • Connecting to math and science and engineering standards
  • Great thing to “advertise” to prospective families that we teach at our school

Alternatives Considered

PTC Creo

Other Software Used

Schoology Learning, Canva, Google Drive

Low Price with Low Features, but Probably Perfect for Most Users

Doug MancoskyView profile
Chief Science Officer in Research & Development at Hydro Dynamics, Inc. (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Tinkercad is a great tool for simplistic design. It is perfect for anyone without a CAD background with a simple and intuitive interface. I've used this to make simplistic objects that were then easily exported for 3D printing. This is also great for kids as sort of a first CAD program.

Pros

  • Intuitive Design
  • Make 3D printing files
  • Learn basic CAD skills

Cons

  • Best for simple parts
  • Seems more of a toy compared to more professional software
  • Hard to tell measurements sometimes

Most Important Features

  • Great Price
  • Easy to use
  • Easy to export

Return on Investment

  • Doesn't require a lot of training
  • Fast design
  • Fun

Alternatives Considered

SOLIDWORKS

Other Software Used

Autodesk Inventor, SOLIDWORKS, Adobe PhotoShop

The perfect starter CAD program

Incentivized
Nathan MorimitsuView profile
Social Media and Marketing Adminstrator in Corporate at H2 Manufacturing Solutions (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

  • Simple, easy to use 3D Design
  • Quick rendering and output of 3D Files for printing

Cons

  • The ability to save files locally instead of having to export them would be nice
  • The randomly assigned default names given to files can be confusing

Most Important Features

  • Easy to use
  • Free
  • Fast

Return on Investment

  • Autodesk Tinkercad has enabled us to engage our customers further by offering enrichment programs for their children which will help to inspire them into STEM careers

Alternatives Considered

AutoCAD LT

Other Software Used

Autodesk Fusion 360, Google Forms

Tinkercad is a fun way of 3d designing and modelling for STEM

Oral TosunView profile
Business Owner in Corporate at MiniFabrikam (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

  • Tinkercad is very easy to use. Most of the 3d design software have steep learning curves.
  • It is compatible with 3d printing. It is a proper tool which gives you solid 3d files needed for 3d printing.
  • Tinkercad is fun to use. There are tones of 3d models created by the community. You could share your designs or even collaborate on designs.
  • Must have tool for STEM teachers. It provides both electronics and coding features in a proper way.

Cons

  • Tinkercad is an online tool. If the internet is off then Tinkercad stops.
  • Tinkercad is mostly for beginners and students of 3d design. Its capabilities have a limit. Besides Tinkercad touch screen device capabilities are also limited.
  • Rendering options are very limited, nearly none. There is no lighting feature. You could only give plain colours to your models.

Return on Investment

  • I should definitely say that Tinkercad has no negative impact on my business.
  • It shortened my 3d design process for my many simple projects.
  • Tinkercad is a free tool, no investment needed.
  • I suggest it to my customers who don't know 3d design, but desperately needs a 3d file for their projects.

Other Software Used

Fusion 360, Onshape

Tinkercad, Great for new CAD users and Classrooms!

Incentivized
Melissa HillView profile
Adjunct Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

  • Tinkercad is a great baseline CAD program. This program is easy to implement and train people in.
  • After on a short period of time my students are able to create complex forms using Tinkercads pre-generated shapes and holes.
  • The Tinkercad provided projects aid in pushing the learning experience even further and reinforce the ideas that I train on and help my students explore the program before designing their own complex sculptural forms.

Cons

  • The Tinkercad provided projects were upgraded in some aspects but the text for the projects has not and can cause confusion.
  • Tinkedcad works best in Google Chrome on a windows machine but most of my students have Macs and even when using Chrome they run into issues that Windows users don’t
  • Tinkedcad is browser-based but, to have a program that would be tablet compatible would be invaluable. So far it has only really worked on a Surface Pro 3.

Return on Investment

  • Tinkercad is free. I have had students start with me in Tinkercad and eventually work their way up in skill and purchase other Autodesk products because of the enjoyment and opportunity that Tinkercad provided.
  • I Don’t make any money off the program but the enrichment it provides my students is invaluable.
  • I started out with Tinkercad myself and it was so easy to learn that I have been able to use it to plan my own work and that is irreplaceable.

Alternatives Considered

Fusion 360, Maya and AutoCAD

Other Software Used

Box, Dropbox, Weebly