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I just started using CAD last week, but as I understand: - Plasticity is so expensive because it uses one of the major kernels (SIEMENS Parasolid). Most of th

I just started using CAD last week, but as I understand: - Plasticity is so expensive because it uses one of the major kernels (SIEMENS Parasolid). Most of the licensing fee actually goes to them. You can find the Show HN post with a much cheaper price before he changed kernels. - There was a firm called Ondsel that was trying to improve the UX of FreeCAD by selling a fork. It recently folded. One of their employees is trying the same as AstoCAD. The idea is that you fund the development of FreeCAD, and you get the improved binaries before the work lands upstream.

WillAdams 2y ago
That is my understanding as well. Curious what CAD program (programs?) you are using and what sort of work you are doing and how you are approaching it.
- bsimpson 2y ago
  I'm using Fusion 360. It seems to have the best community support. I work at a big company that likes to claim ownership of anything I create while I'm on contract. Fusion is free until you earn more than $1k from your making, but I don't expect to earn anything from it while I'm employed. This video is a little slow, but it does give you an overview of the UI: https://youtu.be/8VFOVxdi4Qs https://youtu.be/8VFOVxdi4Qs And this one teaches you enough to start making things: https://youtu.be/xJihYVwkCqw https://youtu.be/xJihYVwkCqw I used 3ds Max in high school and have been a lifelong user of the Adobe suite, so I just needed enough to know where the buttons are and what the core workflow looks like. I've got a few projects going. I just moved into a new apartment, and I'd like to sculpt some hangers - one to mount a speaker on the TV, and a pair to hang my old Rock Band guitars on the wall. I think I'm gonna do the engineering in Fusion and then sculpt the aesthetics in Tilt Brush. Speaking of Rock Band, I've discovered a graveyard of neglected plastic instruments in the game room at work, as well as an open source Arduino/Raspberry Pi firmware that will allow them to work with any game, donglefree. I'm designing a new USB faceplate and brackets to make the new boards fit the existing standoffs, so I can refurbish them. https://santroller.tangentmc.net https://santroller.tangentmc.net Finally, my new kitchen island has a frustratingly short drawer. I cut the back off it and bought longer rails. I'm designing spacers and jigs to help me keep it square and level as I reinstall the extended version.
  - WillAdams 2y ago
    Have you considered how Autodesk arrived at that level of community support and how the license for Fusion 360 has changed over the years? (and is subject to change in the future). My comment from a Reddit discussion on Fusion 360 license changes: >Translation: >We have extracted all the beta-testing which we wanted for free out of naïve users >and are now taking our game over to the other field where we can charge admission. https://old.reddit.com/r/hobbycnc/comments/itw4d7/autodesk_is_nerfing_cam_for_hobbiest_use/g5h6rm7/ https://old.reddit.com/r/hobbycnc/comments/itw4d7/autodesk_i...
    - bsimpson 2y ago
      Honestly, I'm more interested in getting these projects made than in "what if"ing the future. I have a hard time imagining my needs exceeding what I expect to remain in the hobbyist sphere, and I have the ability to transfer my skillset to another tool when the time comes. I'd rather spend a month trying things out with the free thing with lots of reference material than go off on my own path spending hundreds on some indie software that I might only use a few times.
    - dekhn 2y ago
      None of those events have had any impact on me as a hobby user of Fusion 360. Sure, it's subject to change. The software is a business for them. I know a lot of people got worked up over this. I do not see any alternative that is as cost-effective and functional.
s1mon 2y ago
In the world of CAD, Plasticity is only expensive when compared with free tools. The “Indie” version is $149USD, and yes a lot of that cost apparently goes to paying Siemens for a Parasolid license. Shapr3D is also Parasolid based, along with NX, Solidworks, Onshape and a bunch of others.

WillAdams 2y ago

That is my understanding as well. Curious what CAD program (programs?) you are using and what sort of work you are doing and how you are approaching it.

bsimpson 2y ago
I'm using Fusion 360. It seems to have the best community support. I work at a big company that likes to claim ownership of anything I create while I'm on contract. Fusion is free until you earn more than $1k from your making, but I don't expect to earn anything from it while I'm employed. This video is a little slow, but it does give you an overview of the UI: https://youtu.be/8VFOVxdi4Qs https://youtu.be/8VFOVxdi4Qs And this one teaches you enough to start making things: https://youtu.be/xJihYVwkCqw https://youtu.be/xJihYVwkCqw I used 3ds Max in high school and have been a lifelong user of the Adobe suite, so I just needed enough to know where the buttons are and what the core workflow looks like. I've got a few projects going. I just moved into a new apartment, and I'd like to sculpt some hangers - one to mount a speaker on the TV, and a pair to hang my old Rock Band guitars on the wall. I think I'm gonna do the engineering in Fusion and then sculpt the aesthetics in Tilt Brush. Speaking of Rock Band, I've discovered a graveyard of neglected plastic instruments in the game room at work, as well as an open source Arduino/Raspberry Pi firmware that will allow them to work with any game, donglefree. I'm designing a new USB faceplate and brackets to make the new boards fit the existing standoffs, so I can refurbish them. https://santroller.tangentmc.net https://santroller.tangentmc.net Finally, my new kitchen island has a frustratingly short drawer. I cut the back off it and bought longer rails. I'm designing spacers and jigs to help me keep it square and level as I reinstall the extended version.
- WillAdams 2y ago
  Have you considered how Autodesk arrived at that level of community support and how the license for Fusion 360 has changed over the years? (and is subject to change in the future). My comment from a Reddit discussion on Fusion 360 license changes: >Translation: >We have extracted all the beta-testing which we wanted for free out of naïve users >and are now taking our game over to the other field where we can charge admission. https://old.reddit.com/r/hobbycnc/comments/itw4d7/autodesk_is_nerfing_cam_for_hobbiest_use/g5h6rm7/ https://old.reddit.com/r/hobbycnc/comments/itw4d7/autodesk_i...
  - bsimpson 2y ago
    Honestly, I'm more interested in getting these projects made than in "what if"ing the future. I have a hard time imagining my needs exceeding what I expect to remain in the hobbyist sphere, and I have the ability to transfer my skillset to another tool when the time comes. I'd rather spend a month trying things out with the free thing with lots of reference material than go off on my own path spending hundreds on some indie software that I might only use a few times.
  - dekhn 2y ago
    None of those events have had any impact on me as a hobby user of Fusion 360. Sure, it's subject to change. The software is a business for them. I know a lot of people got worked up over this. I do not see any alternative that is as cost-effective and functional.

s1mon 2y ago

In the world of CAD, Plasticity is only expensive when compared with free tools. The “Indie” version is $149USD, and yes a lot of that cost apparently goes to paying Siemens for a Parasolid license. Shapr3D is also Parasolid based, along with NX, Solidworks, Onshape and a bunch of others.