Nomad Sculpt is developing amazingly well. The upcoming tablet update looks fantastic. Huge respect to @stephomi for all the work!
I have a few additional ideas and suggestions for possible future improvements.
I’m not sure how many 3D printing enthusiasts are here, but I use Nomad Sculpt mainly to create models intended for 3D printing. It’s already a fantastic tool for this, but I think it could be even better. There are a few features that I’m currently missing that could make the whole design process much easier.
Overhang Analysis
This is probably the most important feature for me, and something that currently can’t really be achieved directly in Nomad.
It would be great to have a visualization of surfaces that may require supports based on a selected overhang angle, for example 20°, 30°, etc.
Currently, if I want to check whether a particular surface will require supports, I have to export the model, import it into a slicer, and visualize the overhangs there. Then I go back to Nomad Sculpt, make some adjustments, export it again, check it in the slicer again, and repeat the whole process until I get the result I want.
It can be very time-consuming.
It seems like even a relatively simple visualization filter could help a lot. Something that highlights surfaces depending on their angle relative to the build plate. For example, it could show all surfaces that are at an angle of 20° or less relative to the build plate.
Would something like this be technically possible in Nomad?
Everything below is just some additional suggestions and thoughts. ![]()
Section / Cross-Section View
A quick cross-section view without having to use Hide would also be very useful. Ideally, there could be a movable clipping plane that you could slide through the model and see the cross-section update in real time.
Currently, something similar can be achieved using Hide, but it’s not particularly convenient when you want to inspect the entire model section by section.
For example, it would be great to move the cross-section plane smoothly from 0 to 100% through the model and quickly spot walls that are too thin, internal geometry issues, unwanted cavities, or other problems.
Nomad Sculpt + Slicer
For me, as someone who creates models specifically for 3D printing, the ultimate solution would be some kind of combination of Nomad Sculpt functionality with basic slicer functionality, for example something similar to Bambu Studio.
Imagine being able to create and modify a model in Nomad Sculpt and then immediately preview how it would actually be sliced for 3D printing, with visible layers, potential problems, overhangs, supports, etc. Without having to constantly export the model to another application.
Of course, I realize this is probably more of a dream than a realistic feature request. ![]()
But if I had to choose just one feature, overhang angle visualization would definitely be the most important one for me. It would make designing models specifically for support-free or support-minimized 3D printing much faster and easier.