With version 4 of Blender the programmers changed the user interface and its behavior slightly. The majority of the builtin addons (no called extensions) are now hosted on their internet repository so internet access is required to install them.
So old tutorials are slightly out of date now due to different actions/window options required. That includes my own.
So for folks that use my workflow on converting height maps to STLs, I made an updated tutorial. Let me know if there are any questions.
Personally, I dislike most of the changes but on flip side they made digital sculpting 4x times faster. I’ll take all the changes for that upgrade alone with a big smile.
Zbrush still provides better digital sculpting performance than Blender but the delta is significantly smaller.
For folks new to cnc pattern making:
And alternate way to convert a height map to an STL is to use a 3d slicer software like Cura. You have less control but it is about as easy as it can get. Drag and drop height map, set a few parameters, and save as STL.
I am assuming you are referring to geometry nodes. There are multiple node systems utilized in Blender in different fields (materials, compositor, animaton,…etc).
Geometry nodes are a relatively new (a few years old) parametric way to model within Blender. It is actually being updated almost monthly if not daily.
It is a powerful way to model with a lot of capability which continues to grow.
I have not delved into too much. I can barely keep up with the normal way I 3d model, but for folks with a strong math sense its a great system to learn.
I recommend Ducky3d on Youtube to get a feel on what it can do.
I forgot to mention, geometry nodes, though it can do some basic 3d modeling it is still way more efficient to just box model (polygonal modeling) and it is really not great at complex models.
The amazing strength of geometry nodes is animations, simulations, repeating geometry, and motion graphics.
