3D CAD software

dingfelder · #1 03-05-2008, 08:21 PM

Can anyone reccomend a good (free) 3d modelling tool preferably that works on linux?

I found one --> k3d but it does not import dxf (autocad) files. Still might be the best option though but it means I can not open other people's drawings as a starting point.

thoughts?

BobXboB · #2 03-09-2008, 03:30 AM

http://www.blender.org

AllYourBass · #3 03-09-2008, 10:46 AM

I use Soildworks or ProE. But if your looking for free google's sketch up isnt too bad. very user friendly.

http://sketchup.google.com/

Howe · #4 03-09-2008, 03:02 PM

the best on the Market rate now is "inventor" made by autocad but it's far more advance and it's much more user friendly..

nab a free trial of it!

pilotjones · #5 03-09-2008, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howe

the best on the Market rate now is "inventor" made by autocad but it's far more advance and it's much more user friendly..

nab a free trial of it!

Omigosh, would I argue against this!!

Arx · #6 03-09-2008, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobXboB

http://www.blender.org

+1

I'm using it to plan my bass right now. It's got its quirks, but seems pretty nice to work with overall.

fhodshon · #7 03-18-2008, 01:55 PM

what's 3D?

f

pilotjones · #8 03-18-2008, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhodshon

what's 3D?

f

Someone's feeling a bit playful...

Phil Mailloux · #9 03-18-2008, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howe

the best on the Market rate now is "inventor" made by autocad but it's far more advance and it's much more user friendly..

nab a free trial of it!

That's what Autodesk wants to make you believe

Best sold doesn't mean best software. I use Inventor at school and at home and hate the POS. I'd so much rather use Solidworks but can't seem to find a free working *cough,cough* student*cough,cough* version of it.

mikeyswood · #10 03-18-2008, 05:10 PM

I have *cough,cough* student*cough,cough* copy of AutoCAD if you are around Cincy you can have...

Arx · #11 03-18-2008, 05:12 PM

None of that stuff runs on linux though

Blender's okay, but I was thinking it would be nice to have a modeling program based on the actual tools used for construction. routing, cutting, etc. It's really easy for me to make shapes in blender using various booleans operations and curves and stuff, but sometimes it's easier to do in the computer than real life. If the modeling followed the same constraints as the construction you couldn't accidentally model shapes that you can't build.

BobXboB · #12 03-18-2008, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Mailloux

That's what Autodesk wants to make you believe

Best sold doesn't mean best software. I use Inventor at school and at home and hate the POS. I'd so much rather use Solidworks but can't seem to find a free working *cough,cough* student*cough,cough* version of it.

When 3DS Max came out they gave away 20,000 promotional copies and then advertised they have more than 20,000 copies currently in use. They've always been clever Marketeers™.

pilotjones · #13 03-18-2008, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Mailloux

That's what Autodesk wants to make you believe

Best sold doesn't mean best software. I use Inventor at school and at home and hate the POS. I'd so much rather use Solidworks

+1000

And they sell it on the basis of "best 3D program for those moving up from 2D AutoCAD." But SolidWorks does a far better job for mover-uppers.

Phil Mailloux · #14 03-18-2008, 06:11 PM

My biggest beef with AutoCAD and Inventor is the lack of a Bezier tool or any tool that let's you do curves. It's VERY hard to design a full body in it since you only have circles, fillets and three point fillets. At this point, I design everything in CorelDraw and import the files to AutoCAD to make touch ups. I still can't figure out how to import DWG's to inventor to make part files with them

peekster · #15 03-18-2008, 06:51 PM

"the best on the Market rate now is "inventor" made by autocad but it's far more advance and it's much more user friendly.."

Really? You're saying it's better than my $18,000 seat of Siemens NX5 [formerly Unigraphics] that I use at work every day? The same product that GM uses to design cars?

Maybe the "market" is a little bigger than you realize. Color me, uh, skeptical.

asad137 · #16 03-18-2008, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotjones

And they sell it on the basis of "best 3D program for those moving up from 2D AutoCAD." But SolidWorks does a far better job for mover-uppers.

Well, I dunno if I agree. I learned AutoCAD first, and the transition to SolidWorks was a total pain -- it's a completely different (and better!) way of thinking about design. Then again, I've never used Inventor, so I don't know if it's an easier transition.

Asad

MikeBass · #17 03-18-2008, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howe

the best on the Market rate now is "inventor" made by autocad but it's far more advance and it's much more user friendly..

nab a free trial of it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by peekster

"the best on the Market rate now is "inventor" made by autocad but it's far more advance and it's much more user friendly.."

Really? You're saying it's better than my $18,000 seat of Siemens NX5 [formerly Unigraphics] that I use at work every day? The same product that GM uses to design cars?

Maybe the "market" is a little bigger than you realize. Color me, uh, skeptical.

Inventor.......eh

Maybe for small companies or the like, but yeah, IGES, UG, CATIA, Solidworks, ProE kinda crush it like a little bug.

I worked with AutoCAD 2D for a long time, OK for what it does/is I guess.
Also used NX5 for a bit- very nice.
Company wide we now use Solidworks.

radii · #18 03-18-2008, 08:03 PM

If you were to buy an app, try Rhino. It's still somewhat affordable and adequate for most modeling tasks.

Arx · #19 03-18-2008, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radii

If you were to buy an app, try Rhino. It's still somewhat affordable and adequate for most modeling tasks.

Or blender, if you just want modeling. It's free.

pilotjones · #20 03-18-2008, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Mailloux

My biggest beef with AutoCAD and Inventor is the lack of a Bezier tool or any tool that let's you do curves. It's VERY hard to design a full body in it since you only have circles, fillets and three point fillets. At this point, I design everything in CorelDraw and import the files to AutoCAD to make touch ups.

ACAD and Inventor (and SWX) have spline tools to do the curves. In ACAD and Inventor the spline button is on a flyout behind the line button. They're not as nice as the bezier tool in Illustrator (based on my very brief use of Illustrator), but they are there. I think Budman might be using ACAD for his fantastic (and spline-based) body shapes.

Quote:

I still can't figure out how to import DWG's to inventor to make part files with them

I fortunately haven't had to do that in Inventor, but I do think it's possible. If nothing else, you can open Inv + ACAD side by side, open a sketch in Inv, go to ACAD and windows-copy a group of lines, and then paste them into the Inv sketch. Then - IIRC - you're best off using the (something like) "translate/rotate sketch" function to move the sketch w/o distorting it.

SWX offers a way to directly import an ACAD .dwg or.dxf into a SWX part sketch, with well-laid out dialogs to help you adjust scaling, layers, not-quite-touching lines, etc., as you do it.