3D Design Software for Jewellery

We are jewellery designers and planning to buy Form2 3D printer. Could you please suggest the best 3D design software for Jewellery that is compatible for Form2 3D printer ?

1 Like

I use Matrix 9 from gemvision. now a stuller product. I also own Rhino Gold also now bought by Stuller. these 2 programs allow you to do many styles of jewelry. in matrix there is no limits as is Rhino with Jewelry plugins. any Rhino plugin also works.

1 Like

Matrix 9 also includes stl repair functions so the models are perfect for formlabs form2 machine

Thanks George for your reply. Could you please let me know the licensing cost for Matrix 9 and Rhino Gold ?

Rhino Jewel has been around for a while but requires Rhino as it is a plugin…
On the non cad side you could use Zbrush which would be good for freeform organic geometry.

$5200 rhino gold and matrix is over $6000
not cheap but saves you many hours of work.

Thank you Ken for your response.

Thank you George

1 Like

I would be happy to give you an online demonstration of 3DESIGN CAD. This is designed with true parametric history with the aim of making your life as a CAD designer less frustrating than any other product. Regardless of what product you buy you should see a demo of several to be an informed consumer.

1 Like

I believe that jewelry design software has specific features for jewelry like the fittings and jewel sizes etc.

I use MOI 3d and FormZ Pro but more for mechanical work though you can do jewelry in them but it would probably be pretty tedious as it would in any other cad or cad/hybrid package.

FYI maker of MOI is the creator of Rhino. Pretty slick cost effective cad program but not a parametric modeler.

I am interested to know the 3D software that is compatible with Form2 3D printer. Matrix, Rhino Gold, MOI and 3Design etc. I am looking for the 3d jewellery software which is cost effective and easy to learn. Thanks

Just use Blender with Jewelcraft plugin. It’s free and it’s a lot easier to use that matrix if you are just starting out.
`

Could you please provide a demo of 3DESIGN CAD?

I would be happy to. Any day this week 9 to 3 Pacific time. Send me a message with your desired day and time and I’ll set it up with you. Next week I am at the MJSA show if you are in NYC.

3DESIGN is fully parametric and loaded with jewelry tools. It’s not inexpensive but still in line with the products in this industry. Not “easy” but easier than any other professional product.

I will be available on Saturday 09/03rd from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Please let me know your availability.

Thanks,
Vinod.P

As it happens, it has to be on a week day. No one is in the office during the weekend. Where are you located? Maybe we can work something out.

Bob

I do custom designed jewelry if you need anything made.

I tell you if I need.
Thank you.

I’ve been using Gemvision Matrix for years, and it’s in my opinion that there is nothing you can do in Matrix that you can’t do in plain Rhino when it comes to final output. Matrix in it’s simplest form is Rhino with a bunch of plugins that shortcut various steps in the design process, and it’s definitely not necessary to own this software for jewellery design.

There are plenty of Matrix users who will argue this point, as they are in the same position as me where they have invested thousands of Pounds/Dollars in to the software, but I believe those people feel the need to justify the amount spent and are lying to themselves (and others) about have essential Matrix truly is.
As someone in the position of using Matrix daily I don’t feel it is that necessary if you invest the time in learning Rhino solidly.

As with any workflow people use software differently, and I find myself having left most of the Matrix tools behind in favour of just going with standard Rhino commands.
I’m not dismissing Matrix and saying it’s bad, as I said it provides you with a lots of useful shortcuts for your modelling, some parametric/history based which is useful for time saving.

Like I stated this is only my opinion, and I’m not saying it as fact. But I do find a lot of Matrix users are very over protective of the software.

Further to George’s mention there is a very useful Mesh repair tool, but I still occasionally have output problems when loading in to Preform even when I run a model through it (so it’s not a perfect fix every time).

This biggest plus for Matrix is the time saving you will get from it in the beginning, but you may find limits to the tools and go straight to mainly using Rhino commands after a while like I did.

I use straight Rhino 3D, version 4. Early next year I will be able to upgrade at the scholastic price, so I am waiting for that. I wasted a year on an early version of another major jewelry CAD program. As another has said - Rhino can do anything. There is a huge community of Rhino users and many hours of tutorials, all of which I find lacking in other programs. I found some pre-drawn diamond shapes that I can just import as needed. Other tools? I haven’t done a pave’ piece in forever. Halos and such are easily done with “array”. I don’t need “size 6” because I just draw a circle to size. And Rhino is script based so you can write your own routines as needed. IMO there is nothing in the others that warrants $5000 extra cost. I’m not corporate so that $5K comes out of my pocket…True, you need to learn to draw…