5 ms·

There doesnt seem to be another Open Source Paramectric CAD that has good UI. Not Freecad or Open SCAD.

AlbertoGP 3y ago
There is DSLCAD (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34740463 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34740463) which: > DSLCAD is a programming language & interpreter for building 3D models. > Inspired by OpenSCAD, it has a language and 3D viewer to simplify the modeling experience. https://github.com/DSchroer/dslcad https://github.com/DSchroer/dslcad
dTal 3y ago
SALOME is an OpenCascade frontend that nobody seems to know about, perhaps because it's pitched for CFD meshing. But it's basically a more focused and stable FreeCAD.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- kwk1 3y ago
  Unfortunately, SALOME uses CORBA.
  - dTal 3y ago
    Why is that bad?
Qwertious 3y ago
Honestly, OpenSCAD has a great UI - it's everything else that sucks about it. OpenSCAD's core advantage is that if you can code, then it is so damn simple; cube sphere cylinder variables modules rotate translate (and if you want to be really fancy: hull union intersect difference), that's all you need for 99% of projects and it fights onto a half-page cheatsheet. The problem with OpenSCAD is that it's fundamentally really dumb; it doesn't have constraints, you usually just create shapes additively but then you have awful Z-fighting because the engine sucks, and the solution is "just barf epsilons everywhere lol" (which is pure cope - that's not a solution, that's an awkward workaround that requires a bunch of pointless busywork (and more importantly, forces you to figure out stuff about your model that you legitimately don't care about) because the engine is incapable). I would love to see a successor to OpenSCAD that keeps its IDE-style interface (and no, that doesn't mean using pycharm - the beauty of OpenSCAD is that you have a minimal functional DSL and the GUI is built around the DSL and its use-case) but finds an elegant method of integrating constraints, basically anything to do with curves, that sort of stuff.
- CarVac 3y ago
  I use OpenSCAD a lot, but am switching to Build123D because it's a lot more powerful and doesn't seem any harder. No IDE though…
- frmdstryr 3y ago
  > I would love to see a successor to OpenSCAD There is quite a few "code" CAD's around https://github.com/Irev-Dev/curated-code-cad https://github.com/Irev-Dev/curated-code-cad. Cadquery has contraints but isn't really a DSL.
- somat 3y ago
  Openscad does have constraints, they just look different. It is an imperative ui so it has imperative constraints. Most cad programs have a declarative ui and declarative constraints. However I have to admit, I too would love an imperative ui with declarative constraints. I have a hard time visualizing how that would work, but that is probably because I lack imagination.
app4soft 3y ago
Macad|3D is another OCCT-based 3D CAD, with a bit cleaner Ribbon-like UI.[0,1] Here is my thread & discussion on Fosstodon.[2] [0] https://macad3d.net/ https://macad3d.net/ [1] https://www.github.com/Macad3d/Macad3d https://www.github.com/Macad3d/Macad3d [2] https://fosstodon.org/@app4soft/110677137307234193 https://fosstodon.org/@app4soft/110677137307234193

There is DSLCAD (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34740463 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34740463) which: > DSLCAD is a programming language & interpreter for building 3D models. > Inspired by OpenSCAD, it has a language and 3D viewer to simplify the modeling experience. https://github.com/DSchroer/dslcad https://github.com/DSchroer/dslcad

dTal 3y ago

SALOME is an OpenCascade frontend that nobody seems to know about, perhaps because it's pitched for CFD meshing. But it's basically a more focused and stable FreeCAD.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
kwk1 3y ago
Unfortunately, SALOME uses CORBA.
- dTal 3y ago
  Why is that bad?

Qwertious 3y ago

Honestly, OpenSCAD has a great UI - it's everything else that sucks about it. OpenSCAD's core advantage is that if you can code, then it is so damn simple; cube sphere cylinder variables modules rotate translate (and if you want to be really fancy: hull union intersect difference), that's all you need for 99% of projects and it fights onto a half-page cheatsheet. The problem with OpenSCAD is that it's fundamentally really dumb; it doesn't have constraints, you usually just create shapes additively but then you have awful Z-fighting because the engine sucks, and the solution is "just barf epsilons everywhere lol" (which is pure cope - that's not a solution, that's an awkward workaround that requires a bunch of pointless busywork (and more importantly, forces you to figure out stuff about your model that you legitimately don't care about) because the engine is incapable). I would love to see a successor to OpenSCAD that keeps its IDE-style interface (and no, that doesn't mean using pycharm - the beauty of OpenSCAD is that you have a minimal functional DSL and the GUI is built around the DSL and its use-case) but finds an elegant method of integrating constraints, basically anything to do with curves, that sort of stuff.

CarVac 3y ago
I use OpenSCAD a lot, but am switching to Build123D because it's a lot more powerful and doesn't seem any harder. No IDE though…
frmdstryr 3y ago
> I would love to see a successor to OpenSCAD There is quite a few "code" CAD's around https://github.com/Irev-Dev/curated-code-cad https://github.com/Irev-Dev/curated-code-cad. Cadquery has contraints but isn't really a DSL.
somat 3y ago
Openscad does have constraints, they just look different. It is an imperative ui so it has imperative constraints. Most cad programs have a declarative ui and declarative constraints. However I have to admit, I too would love an imperative ui with declarative constraints. I have a hard time visualizing how that would work, but that is probably because I lack imagination.

app4soft 3y ago

Macad|3D is another OCCT-based 3D CAD, with a bit cleaner Ribbon-like UI.[0,1] Here is my thread & discussion on Fosstodon.[2] [0] https://macad3d.net/ https://macad3d.net/ [1] https://www.github.com/Macad3d/Macad3d https://www.github.com/Macad3d/Macad3d [2] https://fosstodon.org/@app4soft/110677137307234193 https://fosstodon.org/@app4soft/110677137307234193