ABCCAD

• GIF

  Demo of the undo / redo function

• 

  The five current block types

• 

  The 7 current colors

• 

  ABCCAD

The Story of ABCCAD

ABCCAD was born from a simple question: what if creating 3D objects could feel as natural as building with LEGO or placing blocks in Minecraft? As someone who loves making things, whether 3D-printed inventions, prototypes, or YouTube-worthy engineering experiments, I’ve always felt that traditional CAD software creates an unnecessary wall between imagination and creation. Tools like SolidWorks are powerful, but for beginners they can feel intimidating, rigid, and full of rules that interrupt creative flow. After years of teaching CAD both in person and online, I’ve seen firsthand how many people give up simply because the software feels hostile.

So I set out to build something different. Something playful. Something intuitive. Something that would let anyone, kid, maker, hobbyist, or engineer, reach out and build in 3D the same way they already know how: by placing blocks.

ABCCAD is the result of three full attempts to bring that idea to life. I tried in Unity. I tried in Unreal. Each time, the vision stayed bigger than the tools. It wasn’t until discovering Godot 4.5 that everything finally clicked into place. Godot made VR development feel natural, and for the first time, I could actually build the CAD-inspired creation tool I had imagined for years.

In ABCCAD, creation is tactile and instant. You simply reach out, grab a block, and place it. You build the same way you did as a kid, except now you’re in VR, and those blocks can become real designs ready to 3D print, prototype, or simply play with. It’s CAD for everyone, designed to remove the fear and complexity that usually come with learning 3D tools.

The development journey has pushed me in ways I never expected. As my first full Godot project, it required me to rethink how I build games from the ground up. The things I expected to be easy weren’t, and the things I expected to be difficult often surprised me. I spent countless hours chasing bugs, redesigning systems, and learning the quirks of VR development, but each challenge strengthened the project. Seeing ABCCAD featured on Hackaday was one of my proudest moments:
ABCCAD Is Voxels Meets Legos In AR.
It showed that this idea resonates with real builders and makers—people who have been waiting for a tool like this.

And people are already connecting with it. In-person demos have shown how quickly new users “get it,” and thousands of online views have confirmed that the simplicity and accessibility resonate far beyond my own circle. The Hackaday article was an incredible milestone and a huge encouragement.

And I’m just getting started.

ABCCAD will grow with more tools, more block types, more materials, and more ways to build. I want to support 3rd-party controllers like the MX Ink and continue expanding the experience so that the barrier between imagination and creation gets thinner and thinner.

The dream is simple: to empower anyone to make 3D objects without fear, complexity, or an engineering degree. If you can place a block, you can create.

Built With

• godot