[candu]

I'm surprised they don't mention OpenSCAD [1], which in conjunction with a decent vector graphics editor works wonders for a wide range of objects.

Yes, it has a programming interface, but I'd argue the visual/spatial context makes it much easier to pick up than most programming languages. I've seen it successfully taught to people who otherwise have little to no coding experience.

(If I had to gripe about something in OpenSCAD, it would probably be lack of spline support.)

[1] http://www.openscad.org/

[joshuapants]

OpenSCAD is great, I went from no 3D modeling experience to making the part I wanted in a about a weekend. I could see it being a bit cumbersome for large parts or dealing with assemblies of parts (can it even do that?), but it was really much easier than I thought it would be.

[trumpetpunk42]

And http://openjscad.org/ is a nice way to try it out without messing around with installing anything.