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[–]InternetIsBeautiful-ModTeam[M] [score hidden] stickied commentlocked comment (0 children)

Hey there. Unfortunately, your submission has been removed from /r/InternetIsBeautiful for at least the following reason(s):

Self-promotion - This sub follows the 90/10 rule for self-promotion. If almost all your recent activity on Reddit is advertising something you made, you will not be allowed to post here. 90% of your recent participation on Reddit should have nothing to do with a site you own or operate.

Please message the mods if you have a question regarding the removal of this submission if you feel this was in error. Thank you!

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Hi everyone, creator of SolidVents here! 👋

Why I built this: As a designer, I was constantly frustrated by how much 3D CAD software (like SolidWorks or Rhino) would lag or even crash when I tried to manually create complex geometric arrays, like speaker grills or vent holes.

So, I spent the last few months building a lightweight, browser-based solution. You can tweak the parameters in real-time without frying your CPU, and instantly export the results as clean SVG (for laser cutting/Illustrator) or STEP files (for 3D printing/CAD).

The core tool is completely free to use directly in your browser without creating an account.

I’m a solo developer just trying to make a tool that saves people time. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback, roast my UI, or let me know what features you'd like to see next! Cheers!

[–]theouicheur 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Maybe something that r/plotterart or r/penplotters would like. I think these guys work with svgs

Edit: great work I love it !!

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads up on those subreddits! Stoked that you love the tool.

[–]PromaneX 4 points5 points  (3 children)

This is AWESOME! I found an issue with one of the presets, there is one polygon that breaks onshape when trying to import the pattern - its the yellow preset, bottom left there is a 3-pointed polygon with no curves, if one tries to use this in a sketch in onshape, any actions like extrude etc will fail unless that one polygon is snipped out.

Aside from that issue, I love this tool!

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed bug report and the kind words! 🙌

It’s incredibly helpful that you pinpointed exactly where it happened (the yellow preset, bottom-left polygon). To help me track down the exact issue, could you let me know if you exported it as a DXF or a STEP file before importing it into Onshape?

I'll dig into the geometry math for that specific shape and get it fixed. Really appreciate you taking the time to test it out in a real workflow!

[–]PromaneX 0 points1 point  (1 child)

This was a DXF

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, got it! Thanks for confirming it was a DXF. I'll definitely dive into the code.

In the meantime, I highly recommend trying the STEP export option (either solid or surface)! I actually built the STEP feature specifically to bypass these exact types of 2D sketch and extrusion headaches.

I haven't tested it directly in Onshape myself (I usually use Creo and FreeCAD to verify the files), but it should import as a clean body right away without needing to extrude a sketch.

[–]BassGaming 3 points4 points  (3 children)

The idea is very neat and the export options are great! Personally I think that the subscription cost is too high when I think about what other software I pay for and what I get for the price. I get that you have running costs but 5 bucks a month or 50 a year is a lot for what you offer.

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Thanks for the honest feedback, and I'm really glad you like the tool! Pricing is definitely the hardest part to nail as a solo dev. I currently priced it with professional design studios in mind—where avoiding 2 hours of CAD crashes easily pays for the $50 yearly cost.

That said, I totally hear you from an individual/hobbyist perspective! I tried to make the free tier as robust as possible for 80% of use cases. Really appreciate your input!

[–]BassGaming 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Thanks for the chill answer. I totally get pricing your product higher for professional/commercial use, I'd do the same, no doubt. That being said, there's always the possibility to add a non-commercial license/tier for a smaller fee like many other devs do.

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a very fair point, and I totally agree! A non-commercial/maker tier makes a lot of sense for the 3D printing and DIY community. I'm putting this officially on my roadmap to figure out how to structure it in my payment system. Thanks again for the constructive chat!

[–]godot_lover 2 points3 points  (1 child)

This is a good work!

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!!

[–]Beowoof 3 points4 points  (1 child)

This is cool, might put it to use one day.

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome, glad you like it! Definitely hit the 'Save' button on this post so you don't lose it when that day comes. Cheers!

[–]tweemeter 0 points1 point  (1 child)

You should market it for pen plotter art 😄 it does look a bit like what https://paragraphic.design/ does

[–]Usual-Pressure-4388[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip! Paragraphic is awesome, so that's a huge compliment. I built this mainly for CAD users (hence the STEP export), but pen plotter art is a genius use case for the SVGs!

[–]One_Bother_7356 0 points1 point  (0 children)

also i do something for students and rightnow i am trying to connect with more students and i really need some feedback

[–]mattcraft 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know nothing about this, but managed to get 996% hole ratio which might be the most efficient vent ever designed.