FreeCAD 0.16 release notes • Hacker News Board

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#41

Post by pkaye » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:00 PM UTC

pinot wrote: post #40

How does FreeCAD compare to SketchUP? Does anyone know of a FOSS 2D drawing tool? I do a lot of pipe drawings (P&ID) and Visio is not ideal and AutoCAD is prohibitively expensive.

I haven't used it in a while but there is QCAD. It doesn't do everything that AutoCAD does by no means but they have been working on it for a while.

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#42

Post by pkaye » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:02 PM UTC

brandmeyer wrote: post #32

maxfurman wrote: post #28

How comparable is this tool to AutoCAD?

FreeCAD's constraint-based sketching is more of a competitor with SolidWorks and Pro/E.

When I used AutoCAD 20 years ago I know it had a constraint based add-on. Maybe all integrated in by now.

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#43

Post by junko » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:02 PM UTC

eggy wrote: post #10

I have used FreeCAD for years, and I am looking to use it in an application I want to create. It is based upon 'Portable Generative Design for CAD Applications' [1]. I wish to create the front end for FreeCAD, so I can use the research's abstractions to create generative architecture, structures or art in FreeCAD. I have been a Blender3D user, since before it first went opensource .I contributed to the free Blender c…

3D noob here. How does FreeCAD compare with Blender in industrial design? Not too much compkexity, think of a fridge's general structure and shiny outer shell.

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#44

Post by maxfurman » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:15 PM UTC

ino wrote: post #33

chromaton wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AutoCAD focuses on creating drawings while FreeCAD is about creating models. AutoCAD is mostly used by people who already know AutoCAD or have to work with AutoCAD drawings. Most engineers have migrated to a model based approach years ago.

In architecture and civil engineering, even with powerful BIM software like Revit and Archicad, AutoCAD is still widely used, and for good reason. Any AutoCAD > 2006 (maybe 2004) is still very good today. IMO the versions after 2008 are bloated with shoehorned 3d stuff that work better on other software and isn't the core of AutoCAD (vector drawings).

On top of that, Autodesk hasn't implemented HiDPI correctly on any of their products, making them borderline unusable on my otherwise beautiful 3840 x 2160 screen.

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#45

Post by pietrasagh » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:17 PM UTC

It's true. It's amazing. I'm using it at work for years for simple modeling and assembly. But now I can't. Why you ask? They compiled it with buggy version of C++11 library ("boost" or something) and it doesn't work at all. Thank you developers! You ruined my experience with this great software.

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#46

Post by gene-h » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:18 PM UTC

bhouston wrote: post #5

Freecad is an amazing tool. It is based on the open source CAD kernel OpenCascade: http://www.opencascade.com/ If you want to do CAD directly you can use OpenCascade directly or if you can use its various wrappers. The Python OCC wrapper is quite nice: http://www.pythonocc.org/ We use both Python OCC and FreeCAD to help with handling CAD data import/export in http://Clara.io Although if you are interested in create C…

I worked on a project that used the OpenCASCADE CAD kernel, and our conclusion was that it still has a ways to go. We often got errors with boolean operations and the speed of operations was generally slow.

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#47

Post by pietrasagh » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:21 PM UTC

pinot wrote: post #40

How does FreeCAD compare to SketchUP? Does anyone know of a FOSS 2D drawing tool? I do a lot of pipe drawings (P&ID) and Visio is not ideal and AutoCAD is prohibitively expensive.

Sketch-up us is useless toy from engineering point of view. Good for "sketchy" modeling. FreeCAD is fully parametric 3D cad system. It's great for precision design. Unfortunately buggy as hell.

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#48

Post by dejv » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:43 PM UTC

pkaye wrote: post #41

pinot wrote: post #40

How does FreeCAD compare to SketchUP? Does anyone know of a FOSS 2D drawing tool? I do a lot of pipe drawings (P&ID) and Visio is not ideal and AutoCAD is prohibitively expensive.

I haven't used it in a while but there is QCAD. It doesn't do everything that AutoCAD does by no means but they have been working on it for a while.

QCAD is great, but I would not consider it free: without paid package is not that usable. But this package is just 40 bucks, which is really cheap.

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#49

Post by CompelTechnic » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:49 PM UTC

pinot wrote: post #40

How does FreeCAD compare to SketchUP? Does anyone know of a FOSS 2D drawing tool? I do a lot of pipe drawings (P&ID) and Visio is not ideal and AutoCAD is prohibitively expensive.

It may not be open source, but DraftSight is free to use (commercial use included) and has 99% of the functionality of autoCAD for 2D stuff, but its a bit anemic if you are doing 3D.

I use it all the time at work, very easy to pick up if you are used to autoCAD (similar interface).

https://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-softwar...

Re: FreeCAD 0.16 release notes

#50

Post by frik » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:51 PM UTC

FreeCAD is a 3D CAD tool with features and UI similar to Catia, SolidWorks or Solid Edge.

With CATIA being the gold standard tool that is used in aerospace, automotive, etc industries.

So FreeCAD is on a very great path.

(It also highlights how important the UI is. Everyone who every used a 3D CAD tool, can use FreeCAD in no time. On the other hand, everyone who used a polygon based 3D modeling like 3DMax or Maya will have a really hard time with the Blender and its very non-standard UI.)