What are Reddit's favorite CAD Apps?

I actually got my initial inspiration from this design which had links to the code for the arduino. I only tweaked the code a bit to make the eye more mobile. And the 3d design I made can be found here

For designing artistic objects, there are many free options out there like Blender. I'm not terribly experienced with that, though.

If you want to design something that is mechanical or has well defined physical constraints, I highly recommend a parametric CAD program like Onshape. I'm a huge fan of Onshape, as it's pretty much literally Solidworks, but free for hobbyists and is entirely cloud-based so it runs in any browser on any computer. I can provide more info if that's an avenue you want to go down.

Made in Houdini and rendered with Redshift. The model is from MecaBricks.com. I simulated the bricks breaking and falling apart, and then simulated the re-assembly of the pieces. The simulation was almost real time, and it took about 1 hour to render.

Trebuchetchy vs the Fast Attack Missile Benchy

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/5EkmOyykDnZ-trebuchetchy#/

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/48H1tMsqmwH-fast-attack-missile-benchy#/

I used woodfill, was really painful to clean up the strings

Some of the iPhone photos are legitimate-- thanks to the hard work of Peter Belanger. That said, these aren't the photos we're seeing in Apple Ads-- he just shot a MacWorld cover.

Overwhelmingly, the product images are 3D renders. This allows them for to achieve a perfect-- perhaps impossible-- lighting setup, where the blacks are truly black, a soft-box is filled with light entirely evenly, and microadjustments can be made easily.

This process has quickly gained popularity globally-- 80% of Ikea's Catalogue is just renders.

If you're seeking ways to make glossy objects look that good outside of a controlled setting, you're largely out of luck. Sure, the paintbrush tool can straighten out the edges in a reflection, but ultimately-- a camera is there to capture light. If you want to change the light, it's way easier to do that before you've taken the photo instead of after.

Onshape https://www.onshape.com/ , free accounts, similar interface and workflow to SolidWorks

I've written tutorials on it and taught classes in public libraries using it, since it runs in the browser, it's very accessible for the general public. Onshape has called me and thanked me, which was super cool.

I was on r/solidworks and people are complaining that Onshape took their best devs lol

I started out with Autodesk Maya before using FreeCAD which I used for the earlier versions of the brick clips, but recently (for the router plane) I've moved to Autodesk Fusion360 because it's free for students, and it has been great to use I have a lot of fun with exporting technical drawings based off my models.

FreeCAD dev here, just wanted to chime in and say that development has really been accelerating lately and to make sure to get at least version 0.17 when you download it! When I first found the project around 2012 it was extremely rough around the edges, but things have been getting significantly better.

(We also just redesigned our homepage for anyone interested: https://www.freecadweb.org/)

(Oh, and just a quick plug for the subreddit: /r/FreeCAD)

Looks like it depends on the version you are using. It is obvious why SolidWorks doesn't support 32bit Win7 or Win8.0 in SW's new version though. 32 bit OS ≠ the 8gb Ram requirement, and Win8.0, well, isn't Win8.1 ⇒ no reason to support 8.0 when there is a free upgrade to 8.1.

https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html

He's using it for classwork at University of Dayton. Mostly that's why I told him to ask his professors if he needs 8.1. He'd be in a much more familiar environment with Win7.

At the same time, he does have a bit of a leg up in that his laptop is touchscreen too. I've never used 8.1 with a touchscreen laptop (or any laptop). Maybe it will be more friendly to him. I kind of want to throw him into the fire, and see what he likes better before I tell him Win7 works with the newest SolidWorks.

edit:

I do not aim with my mouse; he who aims with his mouse has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not draw with my hand; he who draws with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I draw with my mind.

I do not design with a tool; he who designs with a tool has forgotten the face of his father.
I design with my heart.

CAD, openscad and freecad are available in the opensource space.

Siemens nx is available for heavier lifting.

What i still miss is an amd gui (for rocm, graphics drivers, overclocking/undervolting and such)

u/poxenham has already addressed this, but I'll give a slightly more detailed response.

I build in LDD and use Mecabricks (specifically, the Mecabricks Advanced addon) to produce LEGO Movie grade renderings via Blender 2.9. Mecabricks offers a free "Lite" version of their addon which you can use to experiment for yourself, if you wish (it has all the same basic functionality, sans imperfection functions like dust/fingerprints/scratches/etc).

I'm no longer a user of CAD programs so this might be a bit outdated. But for 2D take a look at QCAD. For 3D modeling and lots of other functionality you have FreeCAD.

Hi!

I made this mostly with Kill Team in mind. I have a youtube channel where I ramble about this if you'd rather watch than read!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxLCTnpP1b0

This was 3d printed, I build it in tinkercad for my old Samsung Galaxy S5. If per chance you want to have a looksie, then the tinkercad file is here:

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/2EPLyIix3UZ

I apologise for the terrible meme, I just made it quickly to demonstrate it.

Thanks.

Sorry for the short answer... I was rushing to something.

I make my custom decals in sketch.io, and then create the pieces in Mecabricks.com... Its a digital Lego building platform, all the pieces are genuine digital Lego XD.

I might do a stream at some point, or a video on how I make them, if there is enough interest in something like that...

I just tried this:

https://www.solidworks.com/support/community-download#no-back

Input Hobbyist, select No from the Product Information, and try the code 921MAKER. Seems to have worked for me.

Here ya go

I originally made this for a Digital 3d class that im in. I made it in the beginning of last semester. The teacher has us use Tinkercad for the first semester and Onshape in the second (hence why the file is on Tinkercad)

No, bricks modeled by lego and ldraw(not sure). And anyone can download all bricks and use anywhere http://www.ldraw.org/parts/latest-parts.html I made model with LDD then import in blender with plugin.

More than 2500 commits. More than 100 contributors. More than 11 months in the making: https://www.freecadweb.org/downloads.php

0.18 is not a big change in terms of features but very important for the core. FreeCAD now supports Python 3 and QT5. Still, some important changes and convenience functions have been added in the user space as well: https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Release_notes_0.18

Yep. In reality lots of new VC backed B2B companies that make enterprise software build their apps for iOS. Since we're talking about CAD in this story, Onshape is a good example that's trying to disrupt AutoCAD (themselves supporting the iPad Pro as well).

You can build Lego stuff virtually using the Windows app found here.

https://www.lego.com/en-us/ldd

Once you're finished, it generates the construction manual and box which you can then order.. It's a bit expensive but pretty cool.

Robo R1, white PLA, colored with a purple sharpie pen. I am SHOCKED at how well Sharpie pens color PLA. I might have to invest in a full set of them. I tested with the Fine Point, but the Sharpie Brush gave better coverage.

FYI, I discovered if you get sharpie where it's not supposed to go, you can remove it with acetone nail polish remover and it will not harm the PLA.

Model from Thingiverse:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:555242

I designed the sign using Tinkercad:

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/3hG0sgmD5zZ

No way as far as I am aware. You can connect with customer support and see if you can come up with something. Also, you can take a loo at DraftSight. Not as complex as ACad, but manages to get most of the stuff done. Download link

I recommend FreeCAD (https://www.freecadweb.org). If you're in a makerspace environment, there is significant development going on in the Path workbench which can be used to generate gcode for tooling machines. The development version 0.17 is getting prepared for a new release in early 2018 and it's something like 6000-7000 commits further along from the current stable release 0.16.

get a circle generator and go up a number of blocks every time you move a equal angle from the circle template. calculating that angle is kinda hard.. do this n times from each of the n corners of your polygon. so 8 for an octagon. the radius of the circle is the distance from corner to opposite corner for even cornered polygons. for odd numbered, its a bit different. as for what counts as an equal angle, well its approximately a block but as you get closer to putting blocks to the 45 degree line the further it gets from being the same angle, so you will have to do a calculation as to how many blocks is equal to what angle and based on...

wait hold on, just import the model to tinkercad, size it to what you want, then (click the pickaxe in the corner to convert to blocks and) export as a minecraft schematic. or just use the blocks mode as a building guide without exporting.

OP really needs to chime in and explain what discipline they're getting into, and what software they'll be using. The answer is highly dependent on these factors.

For example, if they're doing mechanical and need to run something like Solidworks, they may need a computer with a dedicated GPU. Solidworks is notorious for not running properly on integrated graphics.

Also I'm assuming they still have a computer lab at Dal, which would allow OP to run any/all required software without spending a cent, although it wouldn't be as convenient.

Yep we (the engineers) use that as a cheap/free autocad alternative in our engineering consultancy so we arent hogging a license from the designers, although that is on windows. Its great because it plays nicely with Autocad and is good enough for tweeks to existing drawings.

Another option is https://www.onshape.com which has 3d modelling similar to solidworks etc. ive not used it in anger, and im certainly no expert in CAD, but it looks great. It is all run in the cloud so should run fine on linux.

This should get you started. You will need to create an account on www.grabcad.com to download it, but it is a FANTASTIC model. I base all of my rail mounted accessories off of it.

http://grabcad.com/library/daniel-defense-mk18-ris-ii-rail-assembly

If you need some help the the CAD, Getting a prototype fabbed up, or anything like that, let me know. I've got some contacts.

I'm sorry about your buddy. Sounds like he and I would have gotten along.

The driver's side seatbelt guide on my car was broken when I bought it, and reaching way behind me to grab the seatbelt was getting annoying.

But not $125 annoying. Designing this piece, I found the limits of Tinkercad, so if you have any suggestions for CAD software that doesn't take a ton of time to learn, I'd love to hear them.

Edit: if you also happen to need a seatbelt guide for a MK3 Supra, here ya go

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/1q3enNGMyrN-th8a-handbrake-plate-slim-fit. I had to modify the size a little bit to get it to fit on the makerbot mini I have at work. Also, make sure you print it upside down...or bad things will happen....trust me...

This is your reminder that FreeCAD is free, open source, GPL compliant, undergoing rapid and continued development, and has become extremely powerful in recent years.

It runs on my raspberry pi 3, and it can do extremely complex surfacing, assemblies, animations, and simulations. It is fully scriptable in python, and is more customizable than anything I've seen or used before.

If it can't do something out of the box, there's probably modules, add-ons, workbenches, or macros that can do what you need it to, all made by the passionate and exploding community.

These corporate schmucks have pushed you around long enough. Get yourself some software that respects you.

Try FreeCAD. It's free.

https://www.freecadweb.org/

Modeling is the hardest part, but you can practice without having a printer. The easiest free option is probably tinkercad. You can play around with it right now, try making some simple objects. https://www.tinkercad.com/

Instead of cutting the blue zipper in my cabling, I designed intersections for stacking my NUCs more neatly instead. After a successful fail to measure the NUC dimension correctly, the second iteration came out rather nicely. The NUCs fit right in, the little dampering feet slide into their cut-outs and the Galaxy Black filament provides the sprinkles that I never knew my cluster needed.

As a newb when it comes to 3d printing, all I can do is to share the link to my TinkerCAD file: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/hd0kVVEfScA-shiny-duup/edit?sharecode=fOD05HuwvrzrLNjnechzYS48IIIRZ_BmwLbDcte7HQo for anyone interested.

Enjoy!

Lego doesn't officially support it anymore more, but you can still download it for free here.

A good and actively supported alternative that I use is stud.io from Bricklink.

you can probably figure this out yourself on tinkercad in less than 15 min tbh.

but I just made this because I'm bored https://www.tinkercad.com/things/6c8uoTXGFdO

it's 9mm diameter w/ 8mm hole, which is 1mm thickness and 30mm high (3cm).

Tinkercad. It's a 3D design tool that has a great UI and is easy to use, even to make complex models. Then you can have them 3D print it and send it to you. Great for replacing hard-to find parts!

What you're describing is called the topological naming problem. There's a Google Summer of Code project open for this: https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Topological_Naming_Project and you can also find a lot of information by searching https://forum.freecadweb.org for "topological naming".

Essentially, when you make a sketch depend on a topological name, it's a very brittle dependency. If you have a cube, say, with faces Face1 through Face6, and you attach a sketch to a face, any operation which causes that face to change, e.g. filleting one of its edges, will break that dependency. Also, the ordering of faces can change, so that what was once your correct attachment to Face1 now points at a different actual face on the object.

Besides the topological naming project, this is also being addressed in 0.17 by allowing for things like datum planes, which can parametrically defined. So for example if you have a sketch on the XY plane and you then pad it to Pad.Length, you can make a datum plane which is parallel to XY plane at a Z-position of Z=Pad.Length. Thus this plane parametrically represents a sort of "top".

For now, your best bet involves trying to minimize the number of sketches attached to geometry.

No worries, if you want to have a go yourself you could use my masters as a base: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/gHfh72FtueQ-flatmen-masters

If you can generate svg path files (I use inkscape) you can import those in Tinkercad to create characters!

Use Tinkercad, it's works 1:1 the same way an actual breadboard does. I found the equipment pretty intuitive for my first lab (we worked with only resistors and a multimeter), but you can also buy EE equipment online if that suits you better.

I have a 3D printer. Solidoodle 4. First, this seems a little dumb. You can go to http://thingiverse.com/ and http://grabcad.com/ and get many many 3D models, in both STL and more easily customizable STEP formats. Furthermore, I have access to Pro|ENGINEER software (most do not, I understand that...) so I don't need their crap. In homage to one of the comments below, I can design my own dick butt cookie cutter. But finally, again, I noticed the thing about the cookie cutter. One of the nurses at the clinic I go to for chemo is a Mickey Mouse freak. So I found a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter online, and printed it for her... but being the good engineer that I am, I did some research... while ABS plastic is generally considered food safe, to be sure, you have to get a cert. from the material manufacturer... not all ABS is food safe. Also, there is another aspect to food safety, which involves a porous surface, and the ability to retain bacteria through washings... 3D printers have HIGHLY porous surfaces, and as such, nothing coming off a 3D printer that uses fused filament technology can be considered food safe... do I smell the warm, bakey goodness of a lawsuit in the works?

Almost certainly. There's applications like BrickLink's Stud.io that lets you build and then produce fairly photorealistic renders. You can use it to generate a parts list to buy from BrickLink vendors, or export for use with other similar sites. It can also be used to produce instructions these days I think.

LEGO also have their own no longer supported LEGO Digital Designer. It's render quality isn't as good as Stud.io 2.0.

I second Draftsight, been at least 4 years since I touched it but it's an extremely versatile and easy to understand tool. Daussalt also provides detailed tutorials either in the program itself or on their website.

https://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-software/free-download/

Just 3D printed a memory card for my USB drive to match my DS4 + PS Classic USB cable.

I love the look and feel of OG PSX stuff like this.

If anyone wants the .stl - https://www.tinkercad.com/things/2TceYekZUbF-funky-jofo/edit?sharecode=vlW5gRPUsvIxBJg1HXPcoYtiwEVp3UtPUxBG4Kww8As

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/jfE4S9cFAnf

u/dmcke12

​

Found it on tinkercad. Looks similar to this one. The creator made all 4 divine beasts.

I prioritized my Sunday and designed and printed these stackable rack-holders for my NUC11 cluster. They came out nicely after the first totally mis-measured try.

You can find the TinkerCAD link here: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/hd0kVVEfScA-shiny-duup/edit?sharecode=fOD05HuwvrzrLNjnechzYS48IIIRZ_BmwLbDcte7HQo

I printed it with a very rough 0.25mm layer height to see if it fits correctly on the NUCs and for that the quality is good enough. I will probably not print them in better quality, as they work as intented. Printing time is ~1h30min for the bottom one and ~2h30min for the intermediate piece, which does require supports to be added.

Enjoy!

Well this is a repost and last time I saw this the top post described why this was unimpressive. The commentor mentioned all the things in the video were from hobbyist kits, and that the video is the result of older generation (untech saavy) fooling themselves that they found some super nerd that was going to change the future.

EDIT- YOU TOO CAN BE A SUPER GENIUS ELON MUSK WITH THESE TWO ITEMS put model onto usb and then buy the printer

>I know these are not exact large-scale versions of the pieces on which they're based. I just eyeballed em.

Wouldn't it be possible to use 3D models from LDraw? Supposedly this is the direct link to the dat file of the leaves part: http://www.ldraw.org/library/official/parts/2423.dat

3d view on Bricklink: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=2423&tab=V

I've always used DraftSight for CAD and it does have a linux version. Used it while working as a toolmaker and it does everything you'd expect from 2D CAD. You can use it for "free" but it is not FLOSS.

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

To me, this sounds like a good use for DraftSight, if you're talking about occasional use. It's free, it's very similar to older versions of AutoCAD, and for what I imagine you want to do, it would probably be exactly what you need. It's a little clunky at times, so if you're going to be doing this a lot it might be worth it to buy a better piece of software that you won't need to put as much time into learning/fiddling around with, but if you only need it every once in a while, DraftSight is perfect for that sort of application (in my opinion).

I created an Etsy store a while back for folks who couldn't print their own copies of the Splendor/Machi Koro/Codenames organizers that I uploaded to Thingiverse: Meeple Juice

I also agree with /u/Funkativity that it's mostly cost and technical know-how and with /u/sylpher250 that local libraries/makerspaces are good places to check to get stuff printed at a reasonable cost.

CAD modeling used to also have a substantial learning curve that I could see turning a lot of people off, but free in-browser programs like Tinkercad are pretty powerful and quite easy to learn/use.

That's something you have to make yourself. I used this default branding iron from u/wilkraft and removed the letter and added my design on top of it. Once I receive my branding iron I will have to go but an awl or maybe use an ice pick.

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/dy3l9UtXKiy-ug0re-bot The best I can do with my limited ability to use the CAD. I did made small modification. The blade positioning is too high for the bot to be inverted so I remove top free wheel, rebar the weapon's support so it can hold up better. Maybe someone with better skill can use this and add in all the details.

If you company is on subscription, you're entitled to accessing some of our exams for free. You can find additional information here:

https://www.solidworks.com/how-to-buy/subscription-services-certification-offers

As far as 'tokens' go, they are referred to as Vouchers of which we primarily only issue those to education institutions these days. So if someone if trying to sell you, or give you one, the persons school name will be printed on the certificate and we'll be able to track it. I would avoid using any sort of 'pirated' code because once our system discovers it, any resulting certification will be deleted and the certification will not be able to be verified electronically.

Hi /u/tsjmattar,

From the looks of this EDU/Student EULA, it looks like you have to be affiliated with a university.

If you are concerned at all whether you are eligible for this, and you are just looking for access to SOLIDWORKS and not the 3DEXPERIENCE apps then getting SOLIDWORKS as part of an EAA.org membership would be the way to go. That one is only $40/year.

There are basically two types of 3D modeling: Parametric and Direct modeling. You can google a little bit to learn about each of them and know which method suits you better.

Regarding free software I would recommend FreeCAD (https://www.freecadweb.org) for parametric modeling and Blender (https://www.blender.org) for direct modeling. Both of them are open source.

You can find lots of tutorials on YouTube for any of them.

Onshape has a free option . The caveat is your designs will be open to the public, there might be other restrictions as well.

www.onshape.com

The creators of SolidWorks left Dassult systems after a few years after they got bought, and created onshape. It's all cloud based, and is great. You can have multiple people working on the same project at the same time. It's a terrific tool. I use it almost daily.

Probier mal TinkerCAD :)

Ist ein webbasierter CAD Editor von AutoCAD, der aufs Nötigste reduziert ist. Ich entwerfe damit gerne Dinge für den 3D-Druck wenn's schnell gehen muss.

Weiß aber nicht wie gut dass mit dem Handy interagiert.

It’s free for personal use.

https://www.onshape.com/en/products/free

I used Solidworks for years and this is basically cloud based Solidworks or as close as possible to it. I highly recommend it. I use it all of the time for stuff that I 3D print.

http://grabcad.com/library/iphone-5-precise-detailed-model-for-case-designers

All it is is a model of an iPhone with "noPhone!" text on it. If you don't want to use one of the dozens of STL models you can find online, you can model it yourself in about 15 minutes instead.

• Draw a rectangle with rounded corners
• Extrude
• Bevel Edges
• Use a beveled edge cylinder and rounded end cylinder to do a boolean difference for button & speaker holes
• Add extruded text of your choice
• Save > Print

Here is a great tutorial for modeling gears in Solidworks: http://grabcad.com/questions/tutorial-how-to-model-involute-gears-in-solidworks-and-show-design-intent

I will make one note: this tutorial produces gears that are exactly at their nominal dimensions. Real gears are always slightly undersized to allow the gears to move freely. This tutorial recommends adjusting the center distance to accommodate that, I would recommend adjusting the size of the tooth and keeping the center distance at the nominal center distance to avoid issues when you are modeling all the gears of the transmission. To do that, in step 22 - instead of putting your gear tooth centerline exactly in the nominal center of the tooth, reduce the angle so the tooth is ~0.1mm narrower on the pitch line than it would be if you modeled it nominally. This is roughly the clearance that a real gear would use.

1. Yes, pitch and pressure angle need to be the same for gears to mesh properly. That should be all you need.

2. This site has all of the calculations you should need to make the calculations for your gears: http://www.cage-gear.com/spur_gear_calculations.htm The formula for center distance is: C = ((n1 + n2)/2) / Pnd

3. Not sure. It may have something to do with which gears are used for each speed of the transmission? Are the M gears and the C gears on different planetaries?

EDIT: Forgot a word.

Here's the link to it on the LDD Gallery: https://www.lego.com/en-us/ldd/galleries/album/mimikyu-and-shiny-mimikyu-vr-11-5a8e612e882248b2a707b366a1071f5b

The reason I made the shiny one is because I wanted to show how expressive the model was. I figured I might as well do it in one picture with one being shiny.

It's the second option. Some of the more famous sets from the Ideas line are the Saturn V 21309, the Old Fishing Store 21310, and recently Voltron 21311.

I'm not entirely sure of the details, but the general gist is that a user will submit an idea, either using real bricks or using a digital set, and the community will vote on whether or not they want to see the idea become an official set. If the idea reaches a certain number of votes, Lego then officially decides whether or not it becomes an official set for sale.

The digital program used to design a lot of the sets you see is either Lego's own official (but now unsupported) Lego Digital Designer, or Bricklink's (a fan site) stud.io.

Sure! I think the pieces SHOULD be available in the colors used, but I didn't check all of them. The "inner workings" (in terms of structure and stability) of the model are not perfect, but they should get the job done (i got some inspiration from the official Saturn V model they released a while back, which is seriously amazing in terms of lego "architecture"). Also, I'm not sure if the Captain's shirt exists in that form, but that should only be a minor problem.

Should you get around to building it, be sure to share pictures!

Link to the file
The program used (for all who want to take a look themselves) is the Lego Digital Designer awailable for free

EDIT: To anyone opening the file, note that in the "groups" ledger you can hide certain parts of the model to better view the insides.

I am a huge fan of McNeels Rhinoceros 5, and use it daily. It is very easy to learn in my opinion, can run on very low spec'd machies, and can export to a number of formats, including .STL.

What's interesting is that I used all of the major MCADs back when they were on Unix. Not counting AutoCAD, which was and still is basically 2D. By coincidence, I have a never-used copy of AutoCAD R12 right here, but it's not for Windows, either.

But AutoCAD costs about $4k today, unless you're on student licensing, and NX and CATIA more than that. The last time I used any of these was on a Sun to open up a stray IGES file. I agree that the MCAD situation on Unix and Linux has changed since then, and not for the better.

For 2D .dwg and .dxf, you might be interested to know that Dassault Draftsight is free (gratis) on Linux and Mac, but the Windows version only has a 30-day trial. There's also BricsCAD, in the 2D AutoCAD-compatible market.

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/dXNkANrABFp

Use with 3/8 tubing, just cut a piece to connect the two boxes on top.

Optionally you can also couple the same tubing to the bottom drain to redirect it.

files for 3d printing the pieces were all made on tinkercad, and area available on the link below. The build required 2 sets of the extenders, so I would recommend anyone trying this to just print those at 2x the length.

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/7mWIX78habA

don't be discouraged! 3d modeling takes some getting used to, and it's always kinda rough when you first start. I recommend checking out TinkerCad- it's a really great tool, and it's relatively easy to use. It's also been used to make some really cool, 3d printable files. have a look here: https://www.tinkercad.com/. you can do it!

I graduated the same year as you and never had issue.

That said, having a SolidWorks capable machine is still highly recommended.

>Windows 10
>
>3.3 GHz MPU
>
>16 GB RAM
>
> Nvidia Quadro or AMD FirePro or AMD Radeon Pro

I've said this to others asking the same question. You generally don't do as much CAD work during an engineering undergraduate program as prospective students tend to expect. Anything you need to accomplish can most likely very easily be handled in the universities computer labs without any inconvenience. On top of that, whatever work you are doing will most likely be extremely simple and not involve large complex assemblies. For this, just about any laptop in your price range would suffice.

Dassault provides all the information you need to make an informed descision here:

https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html

Also keep in mind that after you graduate, your employer will provide you with a machine that will likely run circles around whatever you'd buy now, if you end up even doing CAD work. There's a lot to engineering outside of CAD.

This isn't meant to discourage you from purchasing a laptop if you just want to have access to SolidWorks outside of campus labs. But you may be able to save some money by not buying an over-specced machine that you won't end up really needing. This leaves far more cash for beer.

https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/videocardtesting.html

There's more resources out there if you look as well. Solidworks officially only works on supported cards. And hint: none of them are gaming cards.

> There's dozens of CAD programs that probably work well enough for even complex professional use, but Autodesk owns like 4-5 of them and they're the industry standard.

...in the US. Bentley and Nemetschek have significant marketshare elsewhere, though.

Still, in the long run the best choice is always Free Software, such as FreeCAD.

I'm a big Open-Source advocate, i use it for simulation and I'm able to get everything i need out of Open- source tools. I wanted to love libreCad, but in the end i use Onshape because it is ridiculously easy and their webinars are free and informative. they offer a free tier that I use.

Try onshape, they are a cloud-based, browser CAD system, so you can use it on any device (win, mac, tablet, whatever). There is a free plan that has no limits on functionality. Developed by former SolidWorks employees and very similar user experience.

If you ever decide to print ALL of your glasses, it can be rewarding! Good job on getting the arms printed.

I have been wearing 3d printed glasses for over a year and a half now, and I'm never going back. The hard part is dialing in the right size to pop in your lenses. I had problems with the screws breaking and ended up making a ball and joint version.

STL File for full frames I made.

realview is only available for supported graphics cards. i don't see yours on the list, but take a look for yourself. https://www.solidworks.com/support/hardware-certification/
there is a registery edit hack you can do to work around, but i never recommend something like that as it can make things unstable and crash. search on here for how to do it if you need realview that bad. it is a pretty big resource drain though. you'll have better performance w out it on.

As a browser-based CAD program it's excellent. Watch a couple OnShape tutorials and you'll have few issues transitioning from Fusion 360.

My issue with OnShape is specific to their Free Plan and what it means that your documents are "Public." It's not only public like "anyone can view this online." It's public like "public domain":

> For any Public Document owned by a Free Plan User ... Customer grants a worldwide, royaltyfree and non-exclusive license to any End User or third party accessing the Public Document to use the intellectual property contained in Customer’s Public Document without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Document, and to permit persons to whom the Document is made available to do the same.

https://www.onshape.com/en/legal/terms-of-use

If you invent something cool/marketable in OnShape Free anyone can find it, copy it, sell it, etc., and there's no opting out. It's probably unlikely that will actually happen, but something about it rubs me the wrong way.

It's still great software and you should try it out! Just be fully aware of the terms. Also means you can browse and use everyone else's public designs...

Gorgeous. I don't see the files anywhere yet, but I know Haveblue (the first guy to release a printed AR receiver) has tested a printed 10/22 stock as a rifle and had good results there as well.

It's probably this receiver with standard mail order add-ons applied.

Is it mechanically mated such that you could create an animation or motion study? If your copy of SW has PhotoView how about some sweet renders?

Also, Grabcad would love this.

Stud.io This one was created by Bricklink, and connects directly to their website. Since Bricklink was bought out by Lego, this is as close to an up-to-date 'official' app as we have.

Some people still use Lego Digital Designer, but support for it ended a couple years ago.

The parametric history is nice, but I still find myself in Rhino to handle complex surfaces. It also plays well with Solidworks.

http://www.rhino3d.com/

We do a large number of injection molded consumer devices in my department, and the ID guys don't do anything in CAD. My process is to use Solidworks to block out the structural bits needed for drawings and tolerancing for fit, and then work in Rhino to make the geometry match the ID.

Update: Not sure why that got voted down. OP said that he was scared of Rhino making things sloppy. Solidworks' surfacing tools aren't up to task for handling some of the curves and shapes handed to us.

Haha, yeah. Download Draftsight for free. It's an almost direct port of AutoCad and is very user friendly assuming you know how to use it. Just import an External Reference / Image, change the Transparency for ease of tracing, then scale to OP's fit. Start tracing and when done in around 80 minutes, save as a suitable file type (OP - is PDF acceptable?!). If you don't have a PDF writer, I would suggest Cute PDF as a great option.

Draftsight should be your choice. Start with the free version, and if you need api's you can then upgrade.

Free download is here: https://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-software/free-download/

Getting started guide here: http://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/draftsight-getting-started-guide.htm

for this kind of thing I just use tinkercad because everything I'm designing and printing is 80s style chunky anyway, so why make it harder on myself? It's so intuitive you can just figure it out. I design ports and spacers and things in a few hours. When I find the time, I can knock out a design, and print it, in a single Sunday afternoon.

I wanted to see how practical it would be to mount my Ubiquiti USG-3P to the DIN rail in my small rack. It actually works pretty well- the mounts are long so you need a ton of clearance *below* the rail to snap these in, and if your DIN rail isn't super sturdy (mine isn't), then it may wobble the rail a tiny bit. I'm not sure if I'll keep using these, but I thought folks might find them useful. The Tinkercad link is here, and you can ungroup the shapes to see how I made it or modify it yourself. It's based on this original design here on Thingiverse.

I made a simple bracket to wall mount my network tuner. It has to be close to the antenna so it’s not a good fit for my equipment rack. I made the holes generous enough to easily mount with drywall screws. I’m posting the Tinkercad link so you can easily edit to your heart’s content. Printed in PLA.

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/9bdl038pNAW

Go here, sign up and go through the tutorials. Its quick and easy and just like playing with shapes and you can export your finished work to stls.

https://www.tinkercad.com/

If you like that and do want something more precise, autodesk fusion 360. It is free for hobbyist use and very powerful

yeah no snark you can make the part in tinkercad faster than you could draw that example (excepting time to log in etc...)

Especially if you just really want one duplicatable unit.

EDIT: www.tinkercad.com if you really don't know it's an autodesk product and far simpler than most CAD software.

You just want to stick a ring on a plate and set it to the height you want. or set a cylinder and hollow it out.

Tinkercad is a mixed blessing, it makes the easy stuff like this so easy that the hard stuff can look, well, even harder. But if you get into the harder stuff you can use the same account you use for tinkercad to get started with fusion360.

There's a great chat community for the Original Prusa i3 over at http://3dprinting.community/ where you'll be able to get Original-i3 specific help and info.

If you'd like to jump straight in to learning full (but more complicated) CAD, Autodesk provides a free licence for their Fusion360 product for hobbyists and small businesses. Otherwise, Tinkercad is a simpler browser-based option.

(SketchUp is not recommended as it often needs extra post-processing to fix its stupid broken exported files, and the power of full Parametric CAD from something like Fusion is absolutely worth learning.)

He was modeled in Tinkercad, and printed on a RoBo 3D R1 at school in Pink PLA.

Here's an STL download, in case anyone has access to a 3D Printer and wants to print one.

Do you mean this :https://www.solidworks.com/sites/default/files/2017-12/SW-FabLabs-Makers-FlyerR.pdf

I don't think that constitutes as SW having a free license. Seems as if you need to apply and get "sponsored" to get these licenses.

i.e. Dassault Systems are still arseholes

You probably want to start by going through all the SOLIDWORKS tutorials then try your hand at the CSWA (here's a practice test) then go from there. It's the introductory modeling test for SOLIDWORKS. If that goes well move up to the CSWP (here's a practice test).

Read through this PDF on Maximizing SOLIDWORKS Performance. In my own informal testing it netted a 38% improvement with no changes to the hardware. These are just OS, and SOLIDWORKS settings.

SSDs will offer a big improvement, do it. Files should never be opened from a network location, Files should be copied to the local PC when working on them.

A computer without a dedicated graphics card is a terrible idea. You won't need a Quadro P6000, but buy a dedicated card which is meant to run the software. Review the supported cards for your OS and SW version. The Quadro K2200 is inexpensive these days.

The number of parts in an assembly is not the best gauge of what defines a "large assembly". If the PC is running slowly, the assembly is large for it. Part complexity plays a big role. 1,000 wooden blocks may not be taxing on a system. 100 intricate parts is a bigger challenge.

Be careful choosing the future hardware. Users are going to love you or hate you based on your choices.

There's a Solidworks tool called Solidworks Composer that is focused on producing documentation. It costs extra. I don't know exactly whether it does what you're interested in but you could talk to a rep. As someone else mentioned, you could do it 'by hand' with almost any CAD package, the difference will be the amount of hassle that can be reduced.

Not 8x, read the rest of my post, AVX512 downclocks and you get thermal/power issues--your software package also has to be compiled to use AVX. I imagine it's just not that popular, honestly--Solidworks only asks for a CPU that supports SSE2, no AVX, given how many machines and firms it has to be compatible with.

It's no longer Workgroup and Enterprise. They renamed it to Professional and Standard. Which is stupid because Standard doesn't come with SW Standard, it comes with SW Professional.

https://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/product-data-management/packages.htm

It's really not that important to have an extremely powerful graphics card. Just turn realview graphics and all the shading nonsense off. I run it on a cheap R9 270 on my home PC and it works just fine. (I think it cost about $150 over a year ago).

I'm a product design engineer and am on SolidWorks for hours most days. I've ran it on some pretty crappy machines with no issue, and some $3k+ machines where it crashed all the time. It's more about compatibility than power.

Check here:

https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/videocardtesting.html

And don't let him spend more than $200 or so on a video card.

There are a lot of different SW certification types, talk to a professor about what would be best for you depending on the type of work you want to do, the basic one CSWA covers making models and using basic SW features to analyses them. There are practice exams online

That being said, do you need this? It cost $100 to purchase an exam and all it does it says to potential employers is "I am experienced with SW" which you could also tell them by saying it on your resume and including how long you've been doing it and what you've been doing with it, as well as going into detail in a cover letter.

Personally I held off getting it till SW had a promotion and I could get a free coupon for it, which I did last summer. I don't know if they will have an event like that again any time soon.

You might want to run the solidworks performance test (run it as an administrator) (start->solidworks->solidworks tools->Solidworks performance test) and compare your results to the other systems listed here. That should at least help get an idea of where your system stands relative to other users' builds.

*edit: as /u/mtan90 suggested, using featherweight mode could be useful. Also I wonder whether storing the assembly and part files on a local SSD would help at all.

Great job WoT!

Impressive project for High School, or college for some it would seem... :)

I'm a robotics engineer and think it's the best job on the planet. Every application is different, and you get to work with all sorts of customers and industries, using the latest and greatest technology and materials.

Anyone that's looking to do design should consider getting a cert like the SolidWorks Certified Professional: https://www.solidworks.com/sw/education/certification-programs-cad-students.htm

Going through the process will teach you lots of details you might not pick up in school.

Right now my robots assemble/repair circuit boards. But, if you've ever bought Monopoly in the past 8 years, my robotic assembly lines assembled all the parts into the boxes.

PM me if you ever have any questions!