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3D Design Software


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I have seen BIG Trev using SketchUp (Have noticed the Pro Version is ~$700US)

 

What other design software are people using and what are your thoughts on it.

Please clarify if it's Commercial Software or free/open source.

 

<Updated>

I started using SolveSpace but have since moved to FreeCAD.

* FreeCAD has a sheet metal workbench which is great if you need to design any sheet metal parts.

* FreeCAD also ties in with KiCAD model generation if you need to create some basic (or advanced) models.

* Newer versions of FreeCAD (0.19 and greater) have fixed referencing issues. This is a must have update.

Edited by ozfalcon
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  • 1 year later...
Any more thoughts on software? I’ve had a quick look at sketch up and it looks like it’s going to be steep learning g curve for me with 3D software- I struggle even with 2d cad! I like that sketch up (if I understand correctly) can be used in a browser although at the moment my computer is so old none of my browsers support it :D
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I'm enjoying FreeCAD.

 

Slight learning curve to understand how it's structured, as it does a lot more than 3D modelling, but once you jump that hurdle it's quite simple to use, rather powerful and very feature packed.

 

+1 for FreeCAD. Its very powerful and in my case, also works on Linux which is my main OS. I think all the decent CAD/CAM programs are going to have a reasonable learning curve to them if you have not used parametric modelling software previously.

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Was a bit a bit sick today ( ;) ) so I spent most of the day at home getting my head around Sketchup. Hurt my head somewhat but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Just wondering if its worth sending the file I made to a 3D printing place for starters? Anyone done this? Expensive? My man cave is still some time off so I worry about more stuff kicking around without a proper place...
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Problem I have with sketchup right now is that I am very literal. But every time I look at a tutorial, what I am seeing in the tute doesn't look exactly like the version of sketchup I have. That makes it quite hard for me to learn step by step. Might be because it is web based they keep changing small things. Or it might be that I'm not all that smart. I am thinking I might be better off with a downloaded program

 

Meh: Just noticed a panel on the right in the tutorial that says 'select your version'. FFS, only took me an hour to notice that! I should stick to just using computers for porn...

 

****en....

 

THIS is the tute I need.

 

https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/getting-started-sketchup-web

 

Geez, I shoulda taken a whole WEEK off work to try and work this shit out.

 

Ha! Funny to look at my posts once that red fog of rage lifts :D

 

Looks like if I stick with SketchUp I'll need to pay for the features I need.jyst put my tax in so we'll see...

Edited by danny_galaga
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Important updates for FreeCAD

* Newer versions of FreeCAD (0.19 and greater) have fixed referencing issues.

 

shaise commented Jan 7, 2018

What you describe here, is a fundamental flaw in freeCad's cad engine. This is not only a problem of sheet metal. When any part is created, freecad assign numbers to each face (face1, face2 etc..) when you are working with part design and attach a sketch to a face (such the one of bend3) freecad actually attach it to say "face24". Same for bends - if you start a bend from face5, this is what freecad will remember - that the bend is attached to face5. Now when you go back and change anything up the tree, as long as it does not change the total number of faces (say: change slightly thickness of pad, or make one bend longer), this will work ok. However, when adding a "gap" to bend 2, it will create a step that creates a new part with more faces. So now after the new numbering, the same face selected for bend3 is now on a totally different place and thus breaking the part.

Ref: https://github.com/shaise/FreeCAD_SheetMetal/issues/18

 

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Mate try Tinkercad. Free cloud based design software. I have been using it heaps lately to design things to print myself. If I had more time I’m sure I’d get my head around the better more complicated options available like fusion but I just don’t have that much spare time right now. With Tinkercad I knocked out some great designs within a couple of hours. Just made a wall mounted 20c coin dispenser so my 1 year old daughter can’t eat my stash of arcade credits. Having a printer is tops! What are you designing? Is it a difficult print?
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Mainly 3D Printing use for me:

  • Tinkercad
  • FreeCAD
  • Blender

For speed of design, Tinkercad is hard to beat for even complex arcade parts. I dislike web apps, so this was a hard win for Autodesk 🙂 I have exceeded the workspace with very involved exploded designs, with thousands of primitives. Free

FreeCAD, it's great, I find the interface slower to use than Tinkercad for my uses. Free and Open

There is nothing Blender can't do. A natural choice if you want to both make a 3d part, and a movie of design. Say for a puzzle, where you show the parts moving to the solved position. Complex to learn for 3d part design, and spectacularly complex once you move in to rendering, but the results are quite fabulous. Lots of great tutorials, many specifically for 3d design and print. Free and Open

A note on Sketchup - when I looked at it years ago, I recall the licensing of the free tiers prohibiting commercial use, including derived use (printed / CAM things), so that may be of interest.

An example of a Tinkercad design.

image.png.ee461620a877bcebd7c059f65077be54.png

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