Eh, I think the weakspot in any 3d printing will be the software. As a hobby engineer, I use Solidworks which is several thousand dollars (luckily already on some of my employer's computers so they foot the bill).
But at home, I tried FreeCad, Cubify Invent, and several other free or cheap options and I find them invariably terrible, at least as far my limited experience can discern. FreeCad in particular, asides from UI nonintuitive issues and heaps of bugs (various cuts and operations simply disappearing f
CAD is recognized by the FSF as an area with a lack of suitable Freely-licensed software. It's been on the priority list for awhile now, but I guess not enough companies are funding the projects that are out there.
In the long term I am confident something will come out. As far as I've been able to tell, new versions of AutoCAD just tweak the UI a bit and add 'cloud' intergration or whatever the fad is. The core of the program hasn't changed much.
So, eventually the Free alternatives will be able to catch up.
CAD is recognized by the FSF as an area with a lack of suitable Freely-licensed software.
Really? What is wrong with FreeCAD [freecadweb.org]? It is a full parametric 3D modeling system. It can be scripted in Python. It exports industry standard STL. I find it far easier to use than AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or any other CAD program I have used. I have used it for dozens of projects, and have run into no limitations. I have also used it with a 3D printing class at an elementary school for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. They also had no problems with it. The license is GPL.
Well... I just got FreeCAD running last night. Been using QCad for several years and recently started OpenSCAD for some 3D modeling. So you want a new FreeCAD user's prospective?
I have spent the last 4 nights, 3-4 hours each night, trying to build and install all the dependancies for FreeCAD v0.14 on a CentOS 6.5 box. It was an absolute nightmare. The build documentation is crap and lists multiple things as requirements that have changed to something else (i.e. PyQt4 -> PySide), dependancies claimed to be optional but are infact manditory (i.e. GtWebkit [or, as I did, get fed up and rip out the code... why in the hell do I need a download models option in the open menu? Why is git/svn/etc. demanded in an end-user executable?]), hardcoded -python2.7 version dependancies. This comes after all the mess of compiling half-a-dozen different 3D libriaries each with their own compiling problems.
The first thing after finally getting it open.... the interface is a mish-mash of a dozen different modules with no indications of what to really use... The user has to go and learn every single one, then try to figure out what to use. Examples were installed... but who the hell knows where, there are no example libraries in the menu structure. And python? Why would a end-user want to learn Python just to create an object?
So I try to open a pretty basic STL I made earlier in OpenSCAD (disc with some bolt holes and a flange).... it takes 60+sec to import the STL object, but atleast it looks right. Kind of have the construction tree for the object in panel, but no obvious way to edit the code. I move it a bit, rotate the object around... and then suddenly its gone with a stream of "array[-1]" errors in console... Not a good way to start.
I have spent the last 4 nights, 3-4 hours each night, trying to build and install all the dependancies for FreeCAD v0.14 on a CentOS 6.5 box.
I had no problems at all installing on Ubuntu. At the school we installed onto several old Macbooks, and had no problems there either.
The build documentation is crap
Well, duh. It is open source, so of course the documentation will be crap.
And python? Why would a end-user want to learn Python just to create an object?
You don't have to use Python. It is just an option if you want to write macros or script repetitive tasks. All serious CAD programs have some sort of scripting, and using Python is much better than using some quirky, buggy, customized hack like AutoLISP.
Where will decent software come from? (Score:5, Interesting)
Eh, I think the weakspot in any 3d printing will be the software. As a hobby engineer, I use Solidworks which is several thousand dollars (luckily already on some of my employer's computers so they foot the bill).
But at home, I tried FreeCad, Cubify Invent, and several other free or cheap options and I find them invariably terrible, at least as far my limited experience can discern. FreeCad in particular, asides from UI nonintuitive issues and heaps of bugs (various cuts and operations simply disappearing f
Re: (Score:0)
CAD is recognized by the FSF as an area with a lack of suitable Freely-licensed software. It's been on the priority list for awhile now, but I guess not enough companies are funding the projects that are out there.
In the long term I am confident something will come out. As far as I've been able to tell, new versions of AutoCAD just tweak the UI a bit and add 'cloud' intergration or whatever the fad is. The core of the program hasn't changed much.
So, eventually the Free alternatives will be able to catch up.
Re: (Score:4, Interesting)
CAD is recognized by the FSF as an area with a lack of suitable Freely-licensed software.
Really? What is wrong with FreeCAD [freecadweb.org]? It is a full parametric 3D modeling system. It can be scripted in Python. It exports industry standard STL. I find it far easier to use than AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or any other CAD program I have used. I have used it for dozens of projects, and have run into no limitations. I have also used it with a 3D printing class at an elementary school for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. They also had no problems with it. The license is GPL.
Re:Where will decent software come from? (Score:4, Interesting)
Well... I just got FreeCAD running last night. Been using QCad for several years and recently started OpenSCAD for some 3D modeling. So you want a new FreeCAD user's prospective?
I have spent the last 4 nights, 3-4 hours each night, trying to build and install all the dependancies for FreeCAD v0.14 on a CentOS 6.5 box. It was an absolute nightmare. The build documentation is crap and lists multiple things as requirements that have changed to something else (i.e. PyQt4 -> PySide), dependancies claimed to be optional but are infact manditory (i.e. GtWebkit [or, as I did, get fed up and rip out the code... why in the hell do I need a download models option in the open menu? Why is git/svn/etc. demanded in an end-user executable?]), hardcoded -python2.7 version dependancies. This comes after all the mess of compiling half-a-dozen different 3D libriaries each with their own compiling problems.
The first thing after finally getting it open.... the interface is a mish-mash of a dozen different modules with no indications of what to really use... The user has to go and learn every single one, then try to figure out what to use. Examples were installed... but who the hell knows where, there are no example libraries in the menu structure. And python? Why would a end-user want to learn Python just to create an object?
So I try to open a pretty basic STL I made earlier in OpenSCAD (disc with some bolt holes and a flange).... it takes 60+sec to import the STL object, but atleast it looks right. Kind of have the construction tree for the object in panel, but no obvious way to edit the code. I move it a bit, rotate the object around... and then suddenly its gone with a stream of "array[-1]" errors in console... Not a good way to start.
Re: (Score:2)
I have spent the last 4 nights, 3-4 hours each night, trying to build and install all the dependancies for FreeCAD v0.14 on a CentOS 6.5 box.
I had no problems at all installing on Ubuntu. At the school we installed onto several old Macbooks, and had no problems there either.
The build documentation is crap
Well, duh. It is open source, so of course the documentation will be crap.
And python? Why would a end-user want to learn Python just to create an object?
You don't have to use Python. It is just an option if you want to write macros or script repetitive tasks. All serious CAD programs have some sort of scripting, and using Python is much better than using some quirky, buggy, customized hack like AutoLISP.
Re: (Score:0)
Hipster software needs hipster OS, likes hipster hardware.
Re: (Score:0)
You need to install systemD.