4 ms·

Dune3d comes off like a reskin of SolveSpace. SolveSpace is pretty awesome, so that's not a knock, per se. I'll leave it to somebody with more experience to fil

Dune3d comes off like a reskin of SolveSpace. SolveSpace is pretty awesome, so that's not a knock, per se. I'll leave it to somebody with more experience to fill in what value Dune3D adds beyond SolveSpace.

WillAdams 7mo ago
I found the UI far more approachable in Dune 3D than any other 3D CAD program I've tried and as the readme notes, Dune 3D imports STEP files and does fillets/chamfers which SolveSpace does not (in the current version) There was a recent video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1VNpC0nwF4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1VNpC0nwF4 If someone knows of a general introduction to 3D CAD which focuses on vendor-neutral descriptions of terminology and concepts, I'd be very interested --- I've done the tutorial for Dune 3D twice now (which is farther than I've gotten in any other 3D CAD tool), but keep getting hung up on subtleties/specifics which I have trouble describing for want of the correct terminology/understanding: https://github.com/dune3d/dune3d/discussions/118 https://github.com/dune3d/dune3d/discussions/118 When I tried to write up the usage of a far simpler program, one of the things which I tried to do was define all terminology as it was brought up: https://willadams.gitbook.io/design-into-3d/2d-drawing https://willadams.gitbook.io/design-into-3d/2d-drawing are there any tutorials for 3D CAD which attempt definitions along the way in this fashion?
- leoedin 7mo ago
  I've had far more success following along video tutorials than written ones. Most written tutorials (as you've pointed out) miss far too much detail. Watching someone do it and copying along teaches all the menu navigation stuff implicitly. I've successfully learned quite a few EDA and 3D CAD tools that way. It's also effectively the way it's taught in a classroom - the teacher shows you and you copy.
  - WillAdams 7mo ago
    I've been trying that, but I've been having a hard time catching the nuances of terminology and minor differences in UI --- hopefully articles such as this will help to make Dune 3D more popular and more videos will show up. Another is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOHTD1RYBY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOHTD1RYBY I wish the person doing: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-16-002-how-to-cad-almost-anything-january-iap-2024/ https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-16-002-how-to-cad-almost-any... would revisit that course w/ Dune 3D.
- ua709 7mo ago
  > If someone knows of a general introduction to 3D CAD which focuses on vendor-neutral descriptions of terminology and concepts, I'd be very interested I'm not sure there is such a thing. Maybe a drafting book would be a vendor neutral description of spec'ing a 3D manufacturable object on a 2D surface. Otherwise the way the software accomplishes the task is kinda the point which will necessarily have methodology specific terms in it.
  - WillAdams 7mo ago
    But elsethread there's a person complaining that industry standard terminology is _not_ used in Solvespace....
MrDOS 7mo ago
The documentation addresses that[0]. Basically, Dune 3D uses solvespace's solver, but it can do fillets and chamfers, and has a slightly more approachable user interface. 0: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/why-another-3d-cad.html https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/why-another-3d-cad.html
virtualritz 7mo ago
Usability? SolveSpace is a PITA in that regard. You also need to re-learn most terms that are common in other CAD software. It's a typical OSS thing. Why care about professional users that have years of learning invested into an ecosystem of professional CAD software (including terminology)? Because these people will get you the most valuable feedback if you can get them to even play with your OSS CAD thingy. AI has now balanced the scores here. Someone with decent CAD experience can now instruct a model to build something useful. Based on lots of good libs out there that solve the basics. I.e. concentrate on UI/UX to build something better. It's like Lego, hands-free. You have all the blocks and you have someone who knows how/helps you combine them. If you have good taste, you can get nice results without understanding how the Legos where made or how to even combine them.
- WillAdams 7mo ago
  Is there a good text (or video) which discusses the basics of 3D CAD and all the attendant terminology and concepts?
  - virtualritz 7mo ago
    You could ask Gemini (Deep Research) to create a jargon file with mappings. That's the equivalent of LMGTF, in 2026. ;) I mean all this is documented publicly online (docs/help for CAD software), market leaders are known and the LLMs have ingested this data during training.
- tapia 7mo ago
  I agree that it is very different from other CAD software, but that is also something I like. When I started using SolveSpace for some easy models, I was a bit lost. But then it clicked, and I really enjoyed the different approach. It is not my main CAD software (build123d is), but I really appreciate the workflow. I don't think that every oss should try the copy what already exists. The best is when new approaches are tried. The same happened to me when I started using tilling window managers. "Professional" Operating systems don't have that, but I am sure that if more people would try them, many would realize that the workflow fits them better. So, my point is that there is no single best solution in terms of user interface or interaction with a program, and the fact that many people explore and share different approaches with their open source software is something I really appreciate.
phkahler 7mo ago
The main things Dune3D has over solvespace are 1 - the ability to include STEP files in assemblies, and 2 - the ability to put a chamfer or fillet on the top/bottom of an extrusion. I don't think it has the ability to select arbitrary edges and apply such features (I could be wrong). Solvespace 3.2 is essentially done (try the latest edge build), we just need to get github to produce the correct artifacts (not sure what broke). After that we will be adding named parameters to be used in sketches, and I'll try to get back to the chamfer/fillet problem and NURBS issues.
- WillAdams 7mo ago
  Named parameters will be _huge_ and if it could be considered, I'd dearly love to see a human-oriented input/export format where an individual could edit a text file, import it to get an interactive/graphical representation, then export to the same format for subsequent editing --- if nothing else, a format such as this would allow easy versioned storage of files.
- viernullvier 7mo ago
  > I don't think it has the ability to select arbitrary edges and apply such features (I could be wrong). That's actually how it works. Chamfers and fillets are handled by OpenCascade, so they can be applied to arbitrary edges. They only exist on the solid model though, so they are not integrated with the solver. I'd be curious to see how native chamfers/fillets in solvespace would work, I imagine some amazing things could be done if they'd be part of the solver.

WillAdams 7mo ago

I found the UI far more approachable in Dune 3D than any other 3D CAD program I've tried and as the readme notes, Dune 3D imports STEP files and does fillets/chamfers which SolveSpace does not (in the current version) There was a recent video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1VNpC0nwF4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1VNpC0nwF4 If someone knows of a general introduction to 3D CAD which focuses on vendor-neutral descriptions of terminology and concepts, I'd be very interested --- I've done the tutorial for Dune 3D twice now (which is farther than I've gotten in any other 3D CAD tool), but keep getting hung up on subtleties/specifics which I have trouble describing for want of the correct terminology/understanding: https://github.com/dune3d/dune3d/discussions/118 https://github.com/dune3d/dune3d/discussions/118 When I tried to write up the usage of a far simpler program, one of the things which I tried to do was define all terminology as it was brought up: https://willadams.gitbook.io/design-into-3d/2d-drawing https://willadams.gitbook.io/design-into-3d/2d-drawing are there any tutorials for 3D CAD which attempt definitions along the way in this fashion?

leoedin 7mo ago
I've had far more success following along video tutorials than written ones. Most written tutorials (as you've pointed out) miss far too much detail. Watching someone do it and copying along teaches all the menu navigation stuff implicitly. I've successfully learned quite a few EDA and 3D CAD tools that way. It's also effectively the way it's taught in a classroom - the teacher shows you and you copy.
- WillAdams 7mo ago
  I've been trying that, but I've been having a hard time catching the nuances of terminology and minor differences in UI --- hopefully articles such as this will help to make Dune 3D more popular and more videos will show up. Another is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOHTD1RYBY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOHTD1RYBY I wish the person doing: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-16-002-how-to-cad-almost-anything-january-iap-2024/ https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-16-002-how-to-cad-almost-any... would revisit that course w/ Dune 3D.
ua709 7mo ago
> If someone knows of a general introduction to 3D CAD which focuses on vendor-neutral descriptions of terminology and concepts, I'd be very interested I'm not sure there is such a thing. Maybe a drafting book would be a vendor neutral description of spec'ing a 3D manufacturable object on a 2D surface. Otherwise the way the software accomplishes the task is kinda the point which will necessarily have methodology specific terms in it.
- WillAdams 7mo ago
  But elsethread there's a person complaining that industry standard terminology is _not_ used in Solvespace....

MrDOS 7mo ago

The documentation addresses that[0]. Basically, Dune 3D uses solvespace's solver, but it can do fillets and chamfers, and has a slightly more approachable user interface. 0: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/why-another-3d-cad.html https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/why-another-3d-cad.html

virtualritz 7mo ago

Usability? SolveSpace is a PITA in that regard. You also need to re-learn most terms that are common in other CAD software. It's a typical OSS thing. Why care about professional users that have years of learning invested into an ecosystem of professional CAD software (including terminology)? Because these people will get you the most valuable feedback if you can get them to even play with your OSS CAD thingy. AI has now balanced the scores here. Someone with decent CAD experience can now instruct a model to build something useful. Based on lots of good libs out there that solve the basics. I.e. concentrate on UI/UX to build something better. It's like Lego, hands-free. You have all the blocks and you have someone who knows how/helps you combine them. If you have good taste, you can get nice results without understanding how the Legos where made or how to even combine them.

WillAdams 7mo ago
Is there a good text (or video) which discusses the basics of 3D CAD and all the attendant terminology and concepts?
- virtualritz 7mo ago
  You could ask Gemini (Deep Research) to create a jargon file with mappings. That's the equivalent of LMGTF, in 2026. ;) I mean all this is documented publicly online (docs/help for CAD software), market leaders are known and the LLMs have ingested this data during training.
tapia 7mo ago
I agree that it is very different from other CAD software, but that is also something I like. When I started using SolveSpace for some easy models, I was a bit lost. But then it clicked, and I really enjoyed the different approach. It is not my main CAD software (build123d is), but I really appreciate the workflow. I don't think that every oss should try the copy what already exists. The best is when new approaches are tried. The same happened to me when I started using tilling window managers. "Professional" Operating systems don't have that, but I am sure that if more people would try them, many would realize that the workflow fits them better. So, my point is that there is no single best solution in terms of user interface or interaction with a program, and the fact that many people explore and share different approaches with their open source software is something I really appreciate.

phkahler 7mo ago

The main things Dune3D has over solvespace are 1 - the ability to include STEP files in assemblies, and 2 - the ability to put a chamfer or fillet on the top/bottom of an extrusion. I don't think it has the ability to select arbitrary edges and apply such features (I could be wrong). Solvespace 3.2 is essentially done (try the latest edge build), we just need to get github to produce the correct artifacts (not sure what broke). After that we will be adding named parameters to be used in sketches, and I'll try to get back to the chamfer/fillet problem and NURBS issues.

WillAdams 7mo ago
Named parameters will be _huge_ and if it could be considered, I'd dearly love to see a human-oriented input/export format where an individual could edit a text file, import it to get an interactive/graphical representation, then export to the same format for subsequent editing --- if nothing else, a format such as this would allow easy versioned storage of files.
viernullvier 7mo ago
> I don't think it has the ability to select arbitrary edges and apply such features (I could be wrong). That's actually how it works. Chamfers and fillets are handled by OpenCascade, so they can be applied to arbitrary edges. They only exist on the solid model though, so they are not integrated with the solver. I'd be curious to see how native chamfers/fillets in solvespace would work, I imagine some amazing things could be done if they'd be part of the solver.