Procedural 3D printing

Procedural printing means the object is produced by rules—noise, stacks, graphs, loops—rather than by drawing every surface in CAD. The design is a recipe you can re-run with new numbers.

The problem this answers

Makers who want rippled vases, lattices, or repeating toolpath motifs often spend more time in CAD than on the print. A procedural workflow treats parameters as the model: change amplitude, seed, or layer count and regenerate.

How people do it without 3dSynth

Grasshopper, Sverchok, or Python in Blender can emit meshes. OpenSCAD and FullControl describe geometry or G-code as programs. Those tools are powerful and general. They also assume you already live in CAD, a node editor, or a notebook.

How 3dSynth does it

3dSynth is a browser and desktop workspace aimed at FDM. G-code Sculptor stacks modulators on a height–radius profile. Node Sculptor and SynthBlocks are graph and block programs. Fabric Sculpt and Hex Grid generate paths from line recipes and painted tiles. Preview is live in 3D; export is G-code or STL depending on the module.

Example

Draw a cylinder profile, add Twist and a ripple, keep spiral vase motion, and export G-code. That is a procedural vase with no STL and no slicer for that path. Walkthrough: first profile print.

When it works

Single-wall or specialized toolpaths, parametric experiments, teaching path-as-design. Shared printer, material, and nozzle profiles stay with the project.

When another tool is better

Use Fusion, SolidWorks, or Blender for assemblies, fittings, and multi-body CAD. Use PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer, Cura, or Bambu Studio for supports, multi-part plates, and conventional infill. 3dSynth is not a general CAD system or STL slicer.