It seems like Inkscape is a mature vector graphics tool which is comparable to AI and CorelDraw, but it still seems to be mostly a graphics tool.
A lot of people are using vector graphics editors to control CNC machines and design parts.
It seems like all the knowledge can be put towards a powerful open source 3D modeling software like Rhinoceros and Autodesk Inventor.
Does anyone know if there is though for going in that direction?

I have no idea why people force tools to do simply everything.

Art of Illusion works with Inkscape, and is used with projects like RepRap. Scripting allows for such things as tessellation.

I'd genuinely like to see you try and do that in Inkscape.

The cyberspace is the only place where using a hammer to thread a needle and build a ship in a bottle gets loud applauds.

You may now start the "Yes but I've already learned Hammer ...and just what have you got against Hammers anyway" part of the thread.

As an Open Source program, Inkscape is entirely created by very talented volunteers. You might get a better discussion (or more technical exlanation) by posting the question on the developers' mailing list.
http://inkscape.org/mailing_lists.php?lang=en

I agree with DC1 to a degree. I suppose we mustn't lose sight of Inkscape's intended purpose, an SVG editor...and a pretty good one at that. However, it doesn't and shouldn't stop people from finding creative ways to use it. Cripes! I use Inkscape to edit PDF's (like Adobe Acrobat) which I'm sure wasn't the intended purpose in the beginning either.

Regarding 3D features, such as, extrude and revolve like those found in Xara and Illustrator...well, those would be nice. However, do we really expect Inkscape to be a 3D modeler on par with the likes of Autodesk Inventor or Blender (I am a user of both of those apps, btw)? I mean if it happens someday, great, but I just don't see it happening any time soon. I don't think Inkscape is moving in that direction.

Perhaps a better workflow would be to use Inkscape to handle all 2D profiles, Blender to convert and extrude those profiles into a 3D model, and your CAM software to create the g-code. One could even cut Inkscape completely out of the picture and do most of the sketching in Blender. In that case perhaps Blender is what you are really looking for. Incidentally, Blender costs just as much as Inkscape.

Inkscape is an SVG editor and SVG doesn't accommodate 3D (not true 3D) and is unlikely to. There are other formats for describing 3D.

If you want open source 3D, check out Blender.

Blender is quite good - I've used their models and "traced" it using inkscape. As my definition of art is my own, I am satisfied.

Starting with Blender 2.49, Inkscape created .svg can be imported directly into Blender. Although the importer was listed in earlier versions, it either worked poorly or not at all. With 2.49, you can import a path from Inkscape, convert it to a mesh, and spin or extrude it to create a 3D model. 'Very handly.

the issues concerning 2D illustration are not the same as those concerning 3D modeling and animation.

on the surface, it may appear that a 2D vector program is 80% of the way to becoming a 3D app, but in reality they are different beasts in almost every way.

3D applications incorporate some of the tools used in 2D apps, such as bezier curves and nodes (often called by a variety of other names) yet 2D draw tools incorporate almost none of the tools and functions found in real 3D programs.

Even the actual Adobe Illustrator with it's "3D" tools behaves like a drooling idiot compared to a real 3D app. Not only is it extremely poor at handling and rendering the 3D data, it doesn't begin to offer the toolset and capabilities of modeling, surfacing, animation, etc.

Then there's the actual "rendering" part. Complex algorithms which render optical properties simply don't exist in 2D applications. At best you get something that kinda looks like plastic, maybe, if you've had a few beers.

Inkscape is nothing short of wonderful in the 2D drawing category, as Blender is in the 3D category.


Both are worthy creative tools deserving of your time.


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