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CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

mattferraro.dev

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Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#171

Post by pompino »

postalrat wrote: post #71
WillAdams wrote: post #40

Why in a browser if it's local-first? Solvespace has the benefit of being a single download/executable. It also has a constraint solver which has been used in a couple of projects: CADsketcher as you noted, and Dune 3D: https://github.com/dune3d/dune3d where the author noted: >I ended up directly using solvespace's solver instead of the suggested wrapper code since it didn't expose all of the features I needed. I als…

> Why in a browser if it's local-first? Because the web browser did what systems developers have failed at for at least 60 years: creating a platform that can host an application that just works on many different devices.

There is no serious comparison to the performance and richness offered by native applications. Famously (and wisely), Apple quickly reversed their decision on web apps for iOS devices.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#172

Post by jonathankoren »

bee_rider wrote: post #169
jonathankoren wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ve proven my point. A bunch of data loading crap, but nothing substantial on the usability. This is a simple tutorial task. Is it this easy in Gimp? No. It’s not. But hey, we have the same crappy ScriptFu plugins from a quarter century ago. Anyway, you have the source! Shut up and be grateful you insensitive clod! https://youtu.be/K25F9RPrP9Q

The last 3 seem like usability upgrades. Substantial, I dunno.

Two and a half decades for a text tool, when the rest of the functionality is stuck in 1996?

Seems fair

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#174

Post by RF_Savage »

onthecanposting wrote: post #157
Fr0styMatt88 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a great point. When looking at ‘best practices’ for constructing robust parametric models I keep thinking “this is so much like software engineering where the programming language is the CAD system” (as an aside, I’ve tried OpenSCAD but found the rendering UI waaay too slow even with simple stuff to be usable for me). So as a model builder you end up trying to build these higher-level abstractions int…

You are right! CAD users encode a design intent into the software, just like you encode a design intent into an editor. I model a construction outcome with geometry like you might model business rules with functions and objects. Some of the wisdom from programming would do well to pass onto design software. Like how strong type systems can provide safety by pushing rules to compile time and make some errors unreprese…

In the ECAD world design rules and design rule check exists to prevent or at least detect that.

Then it is just up to you or your organization to come up with a design rule set that ensures your boards can be manufactured by the board house.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#175

Post by wolvesechoes »

Animats wrote: post #46
samwillis wrote: post #30

I'm very excited about what Matt is building, the world desperately needs a good open source parametric CAD package. One where the UI/UX is designed to be as "easy" to use a SolidWorks. The biggest reason this hasn't happened so far is the lack of a truly capable parametric kernel, Truck, the kernel that Matt is using looks like an incredible project and exactly whats needed. The only other kennel till now that been…

> The biggest reason this hasn't happened so far is the lack of a truly capable parametric kernel, Truck, the kernel that Matt is using looks like an incredible project and exactly whats needed. Indeed. This is a great application for Rust. It's something that's complicated, difficult, and has to work right.

> Indeed. This is a great application for Rust. It's something that's complicated, difficult, and has to work right.

For Rust itself, maybe, but not for its community.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#176

Post by snapetom »

gen3 wrote: post #6

As someone who learned CAD on autodesk (inventor) ages ago, the only free modeling software I could grasp after working for a few hours was Onshape. Usability seems to be a real problem in this space, Freecad for example seemed to have a billion ways to do the same thing, but in the end only one of them was the real way, some tutorials leaving me with a model that doesn't conform. Awesome work! It seems like a hard p…

Man, I thought FreeCAD’s problem was me being an idiot, but glad to hear someone else come to the same conclusion. I recently spent an hour or two almost every evening for about 3 weeks to come up with what I thought was a simple object I needed to print. The cycle was:

1) Watch and do one tutorial that gets you 80% of the way there.

2) Try to stumble together the rest of the way.

3) Find out the fundamental tutorial doesn’t set up my project in a way that allows me to finish the 20%.

4) Watch the whole project fall apart as I try to modify one of the previous steps.

5) Repeat.

Does the order typical matter that much in CAD? I went all in on this thinking it was a simple object and how hard can FreeCAD be. Turns out, very hard.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#177

Post by prokoudine »

jonathankoren wrote: post #160
prokoudine wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Gimp seems to have the same awkward feature set for 25 years. Apparently the only thing that has changed is they no longer compile against Gtk 1.0, and they decided to have all images in a single window. Off the top of my head: - Full color management - Non-destructive filters - 32-bit per channel precision - Late binding CMYK support - Unified transform tool - Vastly better selection and cropping tools - Vastly be…

You’ve proven my point. A bunch of data loading crap, but nothing substantial on the usability. This is a simple tutorial task. Is it this easy in Gimp? No. It’s not. But hey, we have the same crappy ScriptFu plugins from a quarter century ago. Anyway, you have the source! Shut up and be grateful you insensitive clod! https://youtu.be/K25F9RPrP9Q

> You’ve proven my point.

No, not really. You did say 'feature set'.

> A bunch of data loading crap,

Sure, if you like editing with color fidelity loss.

> but nothing substantial on the usability.

Except non-destructive editing is a major UX improvement.

Except unified transform tool is a major UX improvement.

Except... Well, you get the idea. And I barely got started.

It's almost like you just hate the project and won't accept any changes they do.

I too have my fair share of frustrations with the project — enough to quit it as a team member a couple of years ago. But somehow I don't go around pretending big changes aren't big bc I'm feeling petty all of a sudden.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#178

Post by bvrmn »

ecjhdnc2025 wrote: post #118
hathawsh wrote: post #86

I really hope CADmium can wean me off of OpenSCAD. With OpenSCAD, I don't really have to think at first; I use a simple language to write modules that build on other modules. The problem with OpenSCAD is there's no solver: I have variables, but no constraints. As I make changes, suddenly I have to think hard and solve the constraints manually and it's easy to introduce errors. However, the problem isn't severe enough…

Have you looked at Build123D?

Just wow. I've tried CadQuery and I'm too dumb to use its fluent syntax. But Build123D has amazing DSL, it was an instant understanding what code actually does and it's easy to write also. Thank you for recommendation!

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#179

Post by OvbiousError »

numpad0 wrote: post #163
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm not enough of an evangelist, but I just want a good, non-subscription local-first CAD package. I've recently moved over to Alibre Atom3D, which, while not open-source, costs $200. Once. Then (as long as your host OS doesn't change too much) you can access your designs forever. It runs on the ACIS kernel. "Browser first" and (from the readme) "Beyond that, I will try to monetize by offering a hosted version…

Even $2k per year in 3D CAD is entry level pricing. Good CAD for $200 once is probably a prank tier idea to suitspeople, even though it's a necessity for 3D printing community.

BricsCAD for instance is less than that, 1600 one-time fee. And it's good.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#180

Post by mijoharas »

This looks cool.

What would people recommend for a CAD program to run on Linux that I could use now (that is either free or cheap). I have simple requirements, I want to make a box for some electronics, but need the ability to import (and extrude etc) SVGs.

I couldn't see the SVG feature when I looked at dune, and I had some problems when I used freeCAD, but was planning on looking into it again.

What would people suggest?

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