Simpler the Better -what do you use?

[Ian AbbottParticipant @ianabbott31222]

I have every Mac OS, right from the first, when we had a Mac Plus.  One of the drawbacks with obsessively upgrading, is that one finds old files that nothing will open.  I’m still discovering MiniCad files from 1992, which need V8 or earlier to open, so the G3 has that in OS9, so that I can up in two stages to V11, along with other redundant programs.

 

If you need anything old and out of date, let me know…. iabbott@ssisland.com 

 

We have no shortage of monitors and keyboards, so It’s a matter of keeping my eyes open on Freecycle for a G3 or 4.  I just missed one when I couldn’t get to it quickly enough.

 

Ian 

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

One good thing about Windows (dare I say it?) both Windoze 7 and Vista have a compatability mode that allows you to run programs that require older versions back to W95.

 

Another route to take is vmware – running a virtual machine with an alternative OS, but that’s beyond my pay grade at the moment.

 

Neil

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Downloading Soldedge2d

 

Be warned  – it’s half a gigabyte…

 

Neil

[Ian AbbottParticipant @ianabbott31222]

I’ve got “Classic” running on both G3 and G5 for all the old Mac stuff, but the Intel won’t handle that.  I also have “Virtual PC” for the G’s and “Parallels” for the Intel.

 

I thought that  I’d try running AutoCad on Parallels, but Windows is more of a pain in that than on a dedicated machine.  It really was a waste of money.

 

I do have a Microbloat lap top that runs my boat design CAD, (which was only available for Windows) but the headaches that I’ve had trying to export files from that to print on a plotter just about drove me to drink (more).  I ended up printing the whole panels out to an A4 sheet, then scanning into the Mac and printing from a scaled up sheet in Illustrator.  Guess how many sheets of A4 it takes for a twelve foot plywood dinghy.   Even the PC tower that we had in Canada was no better.

 

The Macs aren’t bad for compatibility pre-Intel, Classic will open just about anything from year dot, then a save to a modern program, which usually is a better deal anyway.  From the Mac/PC point of view, I’ve learned to accept the frustration inherent in Windows and the expence inherent in Macs.  Vectorworks has been a great program to work with, the learning curve was pretty shallow with starting from the old MiniCad years ago, but they’ve always been a nuisance with new versions not handling older stuff.  

 

I think that I’m starting to ramble, must be time for the medication. 

 

Ian 

[hushParticipant @hush]

My first experience with CAD was with Dragon at work in about1980. then Turbocad at home. Followed by Choice Cad, with 1Meg of memory. This was replaced with Truecad that worked inside Windows. Then to Autocad in further education to gain a City &Guilds certificate .Purchased a copy oF Autocad Lt 2002 for hobby work. However it refuses to work now after 11 years. despite reloading the disc. Now trying Deltacad that seems to meet my needs. I find Cad useful to develop ideas further than I could with pencil on the drawing board.

regards Hush

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Back at the end of last century a PC mag gave out a CD of an out of date version of TurboCad that had features still not on the freebies now. It was very easy to draw machine dials and clock faces. Still using a quickie paper clock in the workshop.
I too like free Draftsight but when I was trying CAD a couple of years ago I recall having to have another CAD program too to be able to convert files to all formats I required. Therefore I suggest checking more than one freebie to get extra tools.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

It seems that Alibre Free isn't available any more and it's now called Geomagic Design. The older downloads I found on the internet seem to require an obsolete version of DirectX so won't install on W7. They also seem to have changed the commercial angle so that you now get a 30 day trial and at the end you have to sh*t or get off the pot ie buy one of the 3 feature levels.

The basic version ("Cubify", wow) which is $200 in N America has very restricted (zero) import/export and no sheet metal design although it allows you to automatically generate 2D drawings and sections from your parts and assemblies. One of the benefits of the "parametric" design is that you can edit one of the parts or drawings and the change is reflected in all the other associated parts and drawings. These associative changes are available in all 3 options, as are the drawings option. Options 2 and 3 are something like $1400 and $2400. Hmm.

I have to say that apart from a few infuriating issues and some patchy support information, it's pretty good. I like the way you can make assemblies from the parts you have created (using simple constraints) and rapidly create mechanisms that you can actuate with your mouse. Handy for checking some stuff.

I'll have to see if the thing stops entirely when the trial period is up or whether I have some basic functionality left. I may choose to cough up my $200 – next time I actually need to use it, that is.

Merry

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

I share files with a mate who has Vector Works, I Use AutoCAD, Files exported from Vector works to DXF are not very compatible with AutoCAD (Autodesk being the originator of the DXF text file format). Yes I can read them with ACAD but circles and arcs are broken up into tiny segments by Vector Works. and Layers are messed up. It is very frustrating having to redraw the objects. We both work in 3D using solids for modelling. He has tried many export settings but they all appear to break up the lines.

Regards
John

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Did you know that if you are a student, or an unemployed or retired engineer, you can get all the Autocad products completely free? Have a look on their website. The only downside is that printouts are watermarked to say that the drawing was created by a non-professional version – not a problem for home use.

Personally, having started with Autocad version 1.4 and worked with all the versions up to 2000, I now prefer Draftsight which is a totally free clone of Autocad of about 2000. I find the latest versions of Autocad just to heavyweight for home use.

Russell.

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Posted by Muzzer on 09/10/2013 00:31:29:

The basic version ("Cubify", wow) which is $200 in N America has very restricted (zero) import/export and no sheet metal design although it allows you to automatically generate 2D drawings and sections from your parts and assemblies.

I'll have to see if the thing stops entirely when the trial period is up or whether I have some basic functionality left. I may choose to cough up my $200 – next time I actually need to use it, that is.

Merry

1. My bold addition to quote above – this may not be quite clear, Cubify Design does not include 2D section generation capability – though with some imagination and thought this can be worked around at the expense of extra time spent. Note also that there is an even more basic version of the software (sold through the Cubify 3d printer people) called Cubify Invent, this one has no 2D drawing or assembly capability – just 3D parts.

2. The software will stop entirely when the trial period expires.

Cubify Design, and Geomagic Design are available with local support in the UK from Mintronics.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Since the majority of the comments on here are concerned with cost versus facilities, I'll repeat what I wrote in answer to another thread. I bought a copy of TotalCAD 2D/3D while in a Maplins store in the UK. Cost well under a tenner and performs very well. It can be purchased direct from Focus Media. Recently bought version 14 of TurboCAD off eBay. Also under £10. Could be dodgy copy, I guess, but it came with a proper code and activated OK with IMSI. Mind you, only had a brief play with it so far and it looks like it's easier to knit fog than learn the basics. Maybe I'm a tad impatient, I'll have to give it a serious go, now that winter is approaching and the nights are drawing (pun intended) in.

John

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Muzzer on 09/10/2013 00:31:29:

The basic version ("Cubify", wow) which is $200 in N America has very restricted (zero) import/export and no sheet metal design although it allows you to automatically generate 2D drawings and sections from your parts and assemblies. One of the benefits of the "parametric" design is that you can edit one of the parts or drawings and the change is reflected in all the other associated parts and drawings. These associative changes are available in all 3 options, as are the drawings option. Options 2 and 3 are something like $1400 and $2400. Hmm.

Merry

One thing I'd like to point out before prices get bandied about.

Geomagic as it's now called is a 3D full parametric modelling package and is the same type of package as Autodesk Inventor, Solid edge and Solid works.

At the moment Solid works is the industry leader by virtue of sales and number of users.

Geomagic has the three levels, the other packages have only two levels, expert and "If you have to ask you can't afford it "

As a rough guide the expert levels in the three mentioned run about £5000 with an annual maintenance of about £1200 for support and upgrades so it's important to know just where in the food chain Geomagic sits..

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Autodesk Inventor is included in the "Student" versions for students, unemployed, and retired engineers free of charge. Can't get on with it myself. I prefer the Solidworks interface for 3D having used it in industry before my retirement.

 

Russell.

Edited By John Stevenson on 09/10/2013 10:12:05

[richardandtracyParticipant @richardandtracy]

I use SolidWorks daily, and am very comfortable with it. The processor load with big models (5000 different parts, 17 levels of subassemblies) is vast and even quick multi core machines struggle. However, I admit to being the slowest part of the system and thinking time for the PC is usually less than mine.

I have used AutoCAD 2000 for 2D and a limited amount of 3D in the past. The 2D is good, but trying to do 3D in AutoCAD 2000 is un-necessarily difficult. Currently for legacy AutoCAD 2D stuff, we use DraftSight. Apart from an inability to talk to our A0 plotter, it's adequate, though slower to use than AutoCAD (probably due to unfamiliarity with the icons).

Regards,

Richard.

[MM57Participant @mm57]

<<Did you know that if you are a student, or an unemployed or retired engineer, you can get all the Autocad products completely free? Have a look on their website. >>

Whereabouts please – I see the Education Community pages but they don't seem to apply to the latter two categories?

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by Martin Millener on 09/10/2013 17:01:38:

<<Did you know that if you are a student, or an unemployed or retired engineer, you can get all the Autocad products completely free? Have a look on their website. >>

Whereabouts please – I see the Education Community pages but they don't seem to apply to the latter two categories?

I installed from their site about two years ago – perhaps they've changed the rules?

This is the link I downloaded from back in 2011.  Don't know if it still works.

Russell.

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 10/10/2013 12:09:12

[MM57Participant @mm57]

Thanks Russell – yes, it does work, but to register you have to be one of (or say you are one of – I didn't try it to see if/how you need to prove it)

A faculty member is an employee at a primary or secondary educational institution or any degree-granting or certificate-granting educational institution or any learning, teaching or training facilities and who upon request by Autodesk is able to provide proof of such status.

A student is an individual enrolled at a recognized degree-granting or certificate-granting educational institution for three (3) or more credit hours in a degree-granting or certificate granting education program or in a nine (9) month or longer certificate program, and upon request by Autodesk is able to provide proof of such enrollment.

An Autodesk-sponsored competition team mentor or competitor is either an individual who provides guidance, advice, coaching, or instruction to competitors engaged in competing in an Autodesk-sponsored design competition or an individual who is approved by an Autodesk-sponsored design competition organizer as a valid participant.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

To KWIL (Page1 query on this thread)

You have a PM from me.

John

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

The tip in my message was done on my Linux machine. Now back on Windows and it works with TurboCAD (14), too.

Regards,

John

[Roger FroudParticipant @rogerfroud48738]

I used Smartsketch 2D CAD also known as Imagineer for years, and it's probably the most intuitive and easy one to use.

Personally, I wouldn't advise anyone to buy 2D CAD because the benefits are nowhere near as great as going to 3D CAD. I use Alibre design and have a more expensive version of that package for my business. There's a cheaper version that does pretty much all that mine does but I need the CAM module too.

The trouble with 2D CAD is that you still have to draw any views you want and it's not much use for visualising assemblies. 3D CAD on the other hand creates the 2D views for you from the 3D model. Initially you find yourself wanting more control over that process, after all, you're used to doing it all the hard way. When you overcome that resistance and use the tools in the way they were intended, life becomes very easy. Ask for whatever 2D views you want, create section views…. it's all easy.

Making 3D assemblies is easy too, just tell parts to mate etc and they do. It takes a bit of getting used to , but it's so powerful. Once you've got to grips with all this, you'd never go back.

[Johan CrousParticipant @johancrous15881]

I am using ViaCad Pro 8 and have 7 as well.

This CAD is produced by PunchCAD. You get consumerCAD: the standard and the Pro, Then you get professional: the Shark lite and Professional.

 

I am using this now for more than two years and will recommend it to anybody. The learning curve with the video tutorials build in, is reletive easy. Thereafter it is easy to figure things out (for a person not used to 3D CAD) and the forums also give very good assistance.

 

Th program may be small, compare to industry giants but for what I do, I could not get better. I design everything myself in real size befor I try and in different colours. It is then so easy to see if it will work or not.

 

Once I have bought ViaCAD 7 Pro, the upgrade to 8 was only half the price. I cannot wait for 9 to come out. Money well spend. 9 onwards will be full 64 bit and 32 bit, but 8 and earlier is 32 bit, but functions perfectly in both Win 7 and 8, and 64 bit.

 

The program imports other format relative well. When I design for example a Belt sander, I import the elctrical motor and the pillow block bearings and maybe some of the grub screws. No need to redesign everything from scratch. I recently had to draw a 12 inch bicycle wheel for a hand pushed hoe. I imported it perfectly.

Edited By Johan Crous on 19/12/2013 10:12:18

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

since my old copy of autocad no longer works on windows 7 I've switched to DraftSight. It's free and very good indeed. They are trying to get you to buy Solid Works, but don't seem to get offended if you don't.

[blowlampParticipant @blowlamp]

I have just come across this link to Algadoo

It might be of help when trying to visualise movement of assembled components.

This link allows DXFs to be used with Algadoo and this link allows SVGs to be used too.

Martin.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

I use solid works and auto cad. Everything I make goes through the process. It saves a lot of time when things fit one another.

Bri

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Boiler Bri on 28/12/2013 17:51:17:

I use solid works and auto cad. Everything I make goes through the process. It saves a lot of time when things fit one another.

Bri

Not everyone has £10,000 – £12,000 to spend on software which is what both these two cost in total.

[Author]

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