Good 3D CAD/CAM software [modified]
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
Blender can sort of be used for this. There's a tutorial here: http://www.rab3d.com/tutorial.html#blender[^] It walks you through a couple of tutorials that use blender for precision modeling. And there are settings on Blender that will allow you to see various dimensions of things like edges, etc.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
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I'd add my vote for Blender. It's a bit of a steep learning curve, but it's very powerful once you get the hang of it.
There are three kinds of people in the world - those who can count and those who can't...
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I downloaded the trial version for SketchUp Pro. I clicked the Agree and Download button and the e-mail congratulating me on downloading it was received before I had a chance to select where I wanted to save the file. Google scares me sometimes.
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
Blender http://www.blender.org/[^] Wings 3D http://www.wings3d.com/[^] gmax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmax[^]
...cmk The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying. - John Carmack
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Blender http://www.blender.org/[^] Wings 3D http://www.wings3d.com/[^] gmax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmax[^]
...cmk The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying. - John Carmack
I'd add Open CASCADE http://www.opencascade.org/[^] but it's probably more advanced than what you need as well.
...cmk The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying. - John Carmack
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I downloaded the trial version for SketchUp Pro. I clicked the Agree and Download button and the e-mail congratulating me on downloading it was received before I had a chance to select where I wanted to save the file. Google scares me sometimes.
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
BRShroyer wrote:
the e-mail congratulating me on downloading it was received before I had a chance to select where I wanted to save the file. Google scares me sometimes.
I know what you mean. I'm currently participating in a transition from internal to MS-hosted Exchange servers for my work email. The project has been underway for a while now, with plans to complete in the next few weeks. In the meantime, various things will be breaking, but once it's all said and done we should all have roughly 10% of the functionality that anyone can get free with a GMail account.
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I'd add Open CASCADE http://www.opencascade.org/[^] but it's probably more advanced than what you need as well.
...cmk The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying. - John Carmack
I looked at OpenCascade. I liked it because it looked like you could write your own software to interface with it rather tightly. Either I missed something or didn't download the right thing because I didn't have a user interface after it was installed and the samples wouldn't compile.
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
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I second the SketchUp recommendation. From what you describe it fits the bill perfectly, and it's very easy to use. No 3D modeling software is really "easy" though from a dead start. If you need a boost, I'd also suggest [Google Sketchup 7 for Dummies] ...(um...yeah). If you really are a dummy and have a $400 kindle, well then the e-book will only cost you $10. I kid! Because I love!
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
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BRShroyer wrote:
the e-mail congratulating me on downloading it was received before I had a chance to select where I wanted to save the file. Google scares me sometimes.
I know what you mean. I'm currently participating in a transition from internal to MS-hosted Exchange servers for my work email. The project has been underway for a while now, with plans to complete in the next few weeks. In the meantime, various things will be breaking, but once it's all said and done we should all have roughly 10% of the functionality that anyone can get free with a GMail account.
And that 10% statistic came from.......your head?
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
You could try Co-Create Modeling Personal Edition. You can get it here: http://www.ptc.com/offers/tryout/pe2.htm[^] It's a shame you can't get Alibre up and running though. I have used Alibre Design in the past and it was very good especially for a freebie. I haven't done much at all with Co-Create because we use SolidWorks here so there's no real need. I didn't find it that intuitive though but maybe that's because I'm more used to the Alibre and SolidWorks way of doing things. I hope this helps in your quest for free CAD/CAM ;)
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
I heard DeltaCAD is pretty good
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And that 10% statistic came from.......your head?
Heh... You sound bitter. A fellow Exchange user, i take it? ;-) That statistic, like 91% of all statistics, was made up on the spot. I was thinking sadly of how i get slightly more than 10x the amount of server-side storage on my free GMail account than i do from my employer's expensive new hosted Exchange account, and started to reflect on all the other little niceties that G offers but E does not.
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BRShroyer wrote:
the e-mail congratulating me on downloading it was received before I had a chance to select where I wanted to save the file. Google scares me sometimes.
I know what you mean. I'm currently participating in a transition from internal to MS-hosted Exchange servers for my work email. The project has been underway for a while now, with plans to complete in the next few weeks. In the meantime, various things will be breaking, but once it's all said and done we should all have roughly 10% of the functionality that anyone can get free with a GMail account.
Look on the bright side: It's not Lotus Notes.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
I've used Alibre a lot and love it. If I had the $$ I'd pony up for the pro version - even though I don't have a 'real' purpose for it. I recommend you get on the phone to them and get the registration thing sorted out. I've used both Blender and Alibre. They're both good, and both powerful - but they serve quite different purposes. If you're truly wanting a CAD/CAM tool, I would recommend Alibre; if you're just wanting a 3D design tool, but engineering-related aspects of the tool are not so important to you, then Blender may be more useful. Both tools are "serious" tools - capable of some very advanced results. I'd recommend choosing between them because of the features they offer, not because of an unresolved registration email problem. Chris
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Does anybody have any recommendations for a good open source or free 3D CAD/CAM package. I've tried downloading Alibre Design, but something with their registration is not sending me the e-mails to use it. I have also tried BRL-CAD. I figure if it's good enough for the US Army, then it's good enough for me (I feel the same way about howitzers) BRL-CAD seems to have more features than I require and thus the learning curve is a little steeper. I'm looking for something can draw some simple 3D shapes, has some measuring tools, and is fairly simple to use. I think Alibre would work if I could get my registration info to come back to me. Thanks,
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:19 PM
Though not "CAD/CAM", you also might try looking at DAZ3D. www.daz3d.com It's more artist-oriented, but the 3D tools and such really try to get out of your way, and the inverse-kinematics (IK) are not found in most "CAD" tools. But you have to conver Pixels to Inches yourself. That said, there is a "free-beerish" version of "SolidWorks for displaced workers." For real CAD/CAM, I've found no subtitute: 1. Everything is done parametrically / IK - put a hole down (anywhere) drop your dimensioning lines -- hole moves to where you dimensioned it to. 2. Has a limited version of Cosmos built in for stress/flows/motions. 3. Draw a hexapod, but only put in 5 legs. You can drag the model about to see the missing constraint. As soon as you drop the final leg in, the model snaps and becomes "fixed." and more stuff. But not Free, and definitely not cheap (I think a seat runs $10K? and they nickel/dime you for additional features [and the nickels are in terms of a nickelbag]). But definitely awesome.
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Look on the bright side: It's not Lotus Notes.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
Sigh .. I'm living that right now. It's just like an email program, only not quite what you'd expect an email program to be (or do) :(