3 ms·

Is freeCAD a viable replacement for Fusion 360 now, especially with the recent changes to the Hobby license?

guitarbill 6y ago
Viable in terms of functionality for creating models for e.g. hobbyist 3d printing? Yes, there's a bunch of people using it, and I've managed to use it for this (admittedly very simple models). Is it as nice/easy to use? Not quite. Although Qt is pretty good on some Linux flavours and Windows. With more donations, I'm sure this could improve, too. But on a deeper level, the feature set is large/mind-boggling, and I think this is a problem for adoption for a specific use-case like FDM/FFF/3d printing design, but also in general for software quality and software development. For example, some workbenches work better than others - one even straight up threw a classic Python 3 error, "bytes required, not str". This can be mitigated to a certain extent by disabling workbenches you don't need [0]. But it feels like a jack of all trades, master of none situation. What are the alternatives? I don't know. OpenSCAD basically has no editing GUI and a bizarre language. Fusion 360 still works, even though it's clear Autodesk will continue to squeeze it (not only the non-commercial restrictions, but the significant price in 2018 if i'm remembering correctly). Blender is great, and boolean tools are improving, but it isn't parametric, and the non-destructive workflow is unusual. [0] https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Interface_Customization#Workbenches https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Interface_Customization#Workbenc...
- andybak 6y ago
  > Blender is great, and boolean tools are improving, but it isn't parametric, and the non-destructive workflow is unusual. I recently discovered https://github.com/aachman98/Sorcar https://github.com/aachman98/Sorcar which looks intriguing but there is UI friction with these workflows and node-based systems offer power but add clutter and complexity. I wish a non-destructive modifier stack was front and center in Blender. I know it's in there but it's not the primary focus and that hurts UX.
DanTheManPR 6y ago
I am experimenting with it as a replacement for hobby projects that I want to share and collaborate on. I was always leery of Fusion 360 precisely because it was not truly free, and instead encumbered by the whims of Autodesk. If I want to create things that are meant to become part of the creative commons, then my whole creative toolchain should be part of that same commons. There is a learning curve to it, as the interface and a lot of the paradigms are different than what is typical of other design tools. I've had to humble myself and follow through a lot of video tutorials (Joko Engineering is pretty good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1ofkRFdeI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1ofkRFdeI). I'm then re-modeling some simple projects just to assure myself that I can replicate what I've done before (for example, https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4616582/files https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4616582/files). Some aspects of it seem fairly unfriendly initially, but the experience smooths out once you grok the approach. I'm so used to using Solidworks that I kind of forget what it was like to first learn how to use parametric modelers.

Viable in terms of functionality for creating models for e.g. hobbyist 3d printing? Yes, there's a bunch of people using it, and I've managed to use it for this (admittedly very simple models). Is it as nice/easy to use? Not quite. Although Qt is pretty good on some Linux flavours and Windows. With more donations, I'm sure this could improve, too. But on a deeper level, the feature set is large/mind-boggling, and I think this is a problem for adoption for a specific use-case like FDM/FFF/3d printing design, but also in general for software quality and software development. For example, some workbenches work better than others - one even straight up threw a classic Python 3 error, "bytes required, not str". This can be mitigated to a certain extent by disabling workbenches you don't need [0]. But it feels like a jack of all trades, master of none situation. What are the alternatives? I don't know. OpenSCAD basically has no editing GUI and a bizarre language. Fusion 360 still works, even though it's clear Autodesk will continue to squeeze it (not only the non-commercial restrictions, but the significant price in 2018 if i'm remembering correctly). Blender is great, and boolean tools are improving, but it isn't parametric, and the non-destructive workflow is unusual. [0] https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Interface_Customization#Workbenches https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Interface_Customization#Workbenc...

andybak 6y ago
> Blender is great, and boolean tools are improving, but it isn't parametric, and the non-destructive workflow is unusual. I recently discovered https://github.com/aachman98/Sorcar https://github.com/aachman98/Sorcar which looks intriguing but there is UI friction with these workflows and node-based systems offer power but add clutter and complexity. I wish a non-destructive modifier stack was front and center in Blender. I know it's in there but it's not the primary focus and that hurts UX.

DanTheManPR 6y ago

I am experimenting with it as a replacement for hobby projects that I want to share and collaborate on. I was always leery of Fusion 360 precisely because it was not truly free, and instead encumbered by the whims of Autodesk. If I want to create things that are meant to become part of the creative commons, then my whole creative toolchain should be part of that same commons. There is a learning curve to it, as the interface and a lot of the paradigms are different than what is typical of other design tools. I've had to humble myself and follow through a lot of video tutorials (Joko Engineering is pretty good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1ofkRFdeI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1ofkRFdeI). I'm then re-modeling some simple projects just to assure myself that I can replicate what I've done before (for example, https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4616582/files https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4616582/files). Some aspects of it seem fairly unfriendly initially, but the experience smooths out once you grok the approach. I'm so used to using Solidworks that I kind of forget what it was like to first learn how to use parametric modelers.