Skanect VS BRL-CAD

I use Skanect with my high school students. Like others said, it's pretty blobby, but works for miniatures that I make the kids. I'm not sure if it still exists after the buyout, but the "try" version used to be free with the caveat of only being a 5000 poly export (I usually export at around a million for my models). Source: almost 2 years ago

Skanect works the best, but you also need to install the OpenNI2 drivers. Skanect is also a paid program, in theory, although you can eternally use the trial version just fine if you know how to be creative with the options the trial version freely offers., last I knew. I liked it enough to purchase the most recent version after skimming by with the workarounds for a while. Source: almost 3 years ago

I got the pro version of Skanect 1.11 from: Https://skanect.occipital.com/. Source: almost 3 years ago

If computer graphics is of interest, BRL-CAD (https://brlcad.org) is very welcoming to new contributors and has lots of projects you could take on. Source: about 1 year ago

Mike Muuss[0] approves of this message. 0: https://brlcad.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago

Join an open source community that is welcoming to newcomers (e.g., BRL-CAD, Haiku OS, OSGeo, ..) and work on a little bit of code every day. It can be a simple feature, specific bug, or something new you want to achieve. Many open source groups are very welcoming to newcomers if you do the work and ask smart questions. Source: about 1 year ago

You could also try out free AutoCAD alternatives like libreCAD (2D), or brlCAD (2D&3D, I believe). Source: about 1 year ago

So, uh ... Learning curve. If you want anything and everything under the sun, go with BRL-CAD. It was designed for ballistics testing and simulation, but it can do pretty much anything. The learning curve for BRL-CAD is immense. Otherwise, I recommend OpenSCAD. Source: about 1 year ago