I-OpenSCAD isofthiwe yokudala amamodeli aqinile e-3D CAD. Isofthiwe yamahhala futhi iyatholakala ku-Linux/UNIX, Windows kanye ne-Mac OS X. Ngokungafani nesofthiwe eminingi yamahhala yokudala amamodeli e-3D (njenge-Blender) ayigxili ezicini zobuciko zokumodela kwe-3D kodwa kunalokho igxile ezicini ze-CAD. Ngakho-ke kungase kube uhlelo olufunayo lapho uhlela ukudala amamodeli e-3D ezingxenye zomshini kodwa ngokuqinisekile akuyona into oyifunayo uma unentshisekelo enkulu ekudaleni amamuvi apopayi ekhompuyutha.

I-OpenSCAD ayiyona imodeli esebenzisanayo. Kunalokho kuyinto efana ne-3D-compiler efunda efayeleni lombhalo elichaza into futhi linikeze imodeli ye-3D kusuka kuleli fayela lombhalo. Lokhu kukunikeza (umklami) ukulawula okugcwele phezu kwenqubo yokumodela futhi kukwenza ukwazi ukushintsha kalula noma yisiphi isinyathelo enqubweni yokumodela noma wenze imiklamo echazwe ngamapharamitha alungisekayo.

I-OpenSCAD ihlinzeka ngezindlela ezimbili eziyinhloko zokumodela: Okokuqala kunejiyomethri eqinile eyakhayo (eyaziwa nangokuthi i-CSG) futhi okwesibili kukhona ukukhishwa kwezinhlaka ze-2D. Amafayela e-Autocad DXF angasetshenziswa njengefomethi yokushintshanisa idatha yezinhlaka ezinjalo ze-2D. Ngaphezu kwemizila ye-2D ye-extrusion kuyenzeka futhi ufunde imingcele yokuklama kumafayela e-DXF. Ngaphandle kwamafayela e-DXF I-OpenSCAD ingafunda futhi yakhe amamodeli e-3D ngefomethi yefayela le-STL ne-OFF.