PTC supports Creo, SW, and Autodesk (three CAD brands by different companies).
SW is owned by Dassault Systemes.
SW is owned by Dassault Systemes.
Personally I have few problems representing geometry because I write scripts calling either one of my own ways of representing geometry (my main interest is numerical simulation not engineering drawings) or, increasingly, the Open Cascade geometry engine which is one of the small number of "industrial strength" geometry engines. CAD packages tend to wrap one of these geometry engines and implement a subset of the capabilities in their own GUI way of doing things. An effective way to bypass many of the limitations of CAD packages is to work with a geometry engine directly using a script. It requires the user to be comfortable writing scripts and working at a lower level closer to how geometry is represented mathematically. It is not the best solution for everyone but it can be open, free, flexible and reliable at the price of some operations being less easy for a user. What seems to be happening now is CAD scripting packages are starting to appear (e.g. OpenSCAD) that wrap a geometry engine with their own limited and proprietary scripted way of doing things that is presumably intended to be easier for the user.
The history of CAD is a pretty weird one given how simple and straightforward the underlying task is and how overly complex CAD software tends to be driven by considerations such as how to gain and keep users, how to make large sums of money,...
I know this is an old question...
I went through the pain of grasping several 3D CAD programs, FreeCAD, AutoCAD, SketchUp, many others. I found that a program called Onshape was by far the easiest to learn without scrificing features. It is truly maybe only a 2 day effort to be making STEP files that you can send out reliably for CNC work as well as the format needed for 3D print outsourcing. Onshape is totally online, runs very fast, totally free, no software to install, use it anywhere you have Internet and it has tons of support on youtube. It does simple things like designing a chassis all the way to designing a space station.
https://www.onshape.com/en/
FreeCAD is now at RC4 for V1.0 release and seems to have reached much better stability and consistent user interface.
It also has assembly now, though I am still learning that part.
That's interesting. Just yesterday someone offered to do the design for me using OnShape. He even teaches it.
I installed it and it looks a lot like Fusion 360 (which is logical - such programs in some way all have similar look and feel of course)..
I will visit him next week, see how it goes. My project was much delayed as you can see ...
Jan
Thinkercad is the easiest to use modeling software I've seen so far, with the advantage of being online without needing to install any software. Also very useful if you want to print the parts yourself on a 3D printer.
"Everything is easy for the man who doesn't have to do it himself." — A. H. Weiler
Jan
Jan
Last edited by a moderator:
For me, it is still is as unusable as ever.
Just wasted another complete work day trying to get along with it for a really simple task, but no way.
Well ... I am sure there are many 3D design software options out there but I have for many years been using MoI3D. An acronym for "Moment of Inspiration 3D" I find it to be very intuitive to use and also very stable (complex 3D shapes need some training though - but I suppose it is so for other 3D softwares as well).
It is not for free though but given its ease of use - which is a key criteria for me - I have found it well worth the cost.
Cheers, Jesper
It is not for free though but given its ease of use - which is a key criteria for me - I have found it well worth the cost.
Cheers, Jesper
hi,
i am already a dj there is no bad mixing software, you have to try and take the one that suits you best
for 3d it's the same, at work we have solidworks, but for home and the 3d printer, i looked for a freeware software, oneshape and the one that suits me best.the main advantage is that there is no program installation. everything happens in the internet browser. it's light for the computer.if you have internet you can use it everywhere on any computer.
i am already a dj there is no bad mixing software, you have to try and take the one that suits you best
for 3d it's the same, at work we have solidworks, but for home and the 3d printer, i looked for a freeware software, oneshape and the one that suits me best.the main advantage is that there is no program installation. everything happens in the internet browser. it's light for the computer.if you have internet you can use it everywhere on any computer.
I'm also using OnShape and am getting slowly up to speed. With a little help from a friend ;-)
Jan
Jan