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Any word about the CAD Sketcher addon?

digdugdirk 4y ago
Interesting, I hadn't heard of this before. As a mechanical engineer, it seems like it wouldn't be able to compete with the free (non-open source) CAD platforms - as much as I would absolutely love to see an open source CAD software grow out of something like Blender. What is your use case for it?
- SxC97 4y ago
  I wanted to get back into CAD stuff for 3D printing, what free platforms are out there? In my research, I’ve only come across freeCAD and Fusion360.
  - phkahler 4y ago
    >> what free platforms are out there? In my research, I’ve only come across freeCAD and Fusion360. Try Solvespace. It's not as complete as those, but a hell of a lot more fun! https://solvespace.com/index.pl https://solvespace.com/index.pl
  - somat 4y ago
    give solvespace a try. it is very limited compared to the ones you listed. however I find it enjoyable, fun you may even say, to use. But I have to admit I would have a hard time using it professionally. https://solvespace.com/index.pl https://solvespace.com/index.pl
- phkahler 4y ago
  >> What is your use case for it? It uses the geometric constraint solver from Solvespace, which is OSS CAD that I contribute too. The same solver has also been integrated into one workbench in FreeCAD. It makes a lot of sense to me that someone wants it directly in Blender for simple parametric designs. Not everything is character animation after all! :-)
  - an_aparallel 4y ago
    is there a point in learning FreeCAD if at some point i'd like to get into blender? with tools like this in existence?
follower 4y ago
Oh, thanks for mentioning this, I wasn't aware of its existence. (Nice intro for anyone else interested: https://hlorus.github.io/CAD_Sketcher/getting_started/#create-a-sketch https://hlorus.github.io/CAD_Sketcher/getting_started/#creat...) It's cool that CAD Sketcher is able to build on the Solvespace solver. I played around a bit with Solvespace in its early days as I liked the constraint-based approach but the... very "specific" :D aesthetic of its UI didn't quite gel with me as much as it clearly does with others. :) Will watch CAD Sketcher development with interest!

Interesting, I hadn't heard of this before. As a mechanical engineer, it seems like it wouldn't be able to compete with the free (non-open source) CAD platforms - as much as I would absolutely love to see an open source CAD software grow out of something like Blender. What is your use case for it?

SxC97 4y ago
I wanted to get back into CAD stuff for 3D printing, what free platforms are out there? In my research, I’ve only come across freeCAD and Fusion360.
- phkahler 4y ago
  >> what free platforms are out there? In my research, I’ve only come across freeCAD and Fusion360. Try Solvespace. It's not as complete as those, but a hell of a lot more fun! https://solvespace.com/index.pl https://solvespace.com/index.pl
- somat 4y ago
  give solvespace a try. it is very limited compared to the ones you listed. however I find it enjoyable, fun you may even say, to use. But I have to admit I would have a hard time using it professionally. https://solvespace.com/index.pl https://solvespace.com/index.pl
phkahler 4y ago
>> What is your use case for it? It uses the geometric constraint solver from Solvespace, which is OSS CAD that I contribute too. The same solver has also been integrated into one workbench in FreeCAD. It makes a lot of sense to me that someone wants it directly in Blender for simple parametric designs. Not everything is character animation after all! :-)
- an_aparallel 4y ago
  is there a point in learning FreeCAD if at some point i'd like to get into blender? with tools like this in existence?

follower 4y ago

Oh, thanks for mentioning this, I wasn't aware of its existence. (Nice intro for anyone else interested: https://hlorus.github.io/CAD_Sketcher/getting_started/#create-a-sketch https://hlorus.github.io/CAD_Sketcher/getting_started/#creat...) It's cool that CAD Sketcher is able to build on the Solvespace solver. I played around a bit with Solvespace in its early days as I liked the constraint-based approach but the... very "specific" :D aesthetic of its UI didn't quite gel with me as much as it clearly does with others. :) Will watch CAD Sketcher development with interest!