New mechanical CAD: Alibre Atom 3D
I just accidentially found that Alibre released a hobbyist version of their CAD system, Alibre design. It's called Alibre Atom 3D and costs 350 Fr. if you live in Switzerland.
I have not tried it (I am a long time Alibre user and have the full version with active maintenance), but from the feature side it looks pretty decent and entirely usable, not just a stripped down demo.
Alibre Design is a parametric mechanical design software for general engineering use and roughly in the same area as Creo (former Pro/E), Catia, NX or Solidworks. It was acquired many years ago by 3D systems, who then brought out a DIY version of it (Cubify Invent) as support to their 3D printers. In the meantime Alibre Design is back with its original developers. 3D systems discontinued the entry level version of Alibre a few years ago and after this, there were only the full versions available. So this is again an affordable option for DIYers with pro function like sheet metal or BOM creation disabled (which you would not use anyway). Amazingly they have both STEP/IGES import and export, which was different with Cubify Invent IIRC. Solidworks import is not supported, so unfortunately you can't load Jonathans assemblies natively. However it retains 3D PDF export, which is fantastic!
So if you are still with OpenSCad or FreeCAD, this is your chance to upgrade to a near pro level CAD. In contrast to Fusion 360, it is old-fashioned desktop software, which works offline without subscription. It seems you need to be online for an initial license check (and if you want to move the license from one PC to another), but that's it. Probably they will try to sell you a maintenance subscription, which might make sense depending on how you use it.
Honestly I can't tell you how difficult it is to get started with Alibre. I have been using it since 2008 and have used parametric design software like Pro/E before, so I am not a beginner. Once you get the hang of it, I find it super fun to use. Try it!
https://www.alibre.com/atom3d/
https://www.alibre.ch/Produkte/Alibre_Atom3D.php
- Martin
PS: I hope this does not come across as a promotion post. I am not affiliated with these guys, I just think that you should be able to do more than just print stuff from Thingiverse and such.
- Martin
Re: New mechanical CAD: Alibre Atom 3D
Certainly looks impressive.
How would you say it compares to F360 feature wise (and from a fdm hobbyist point of view)?
Cheers
Re: New mechanical CAD: Alibre Atom 3D
I just think that you should be able to do more than just print stuff from Thingiverse and such.
I think most makers/creators/designers feel that way. There are so many free (and low-cast) 3D CAD programs out there... This is the first I've heard of Alibre.
That's "MISTER Old Fart" to you!
Re: New mechanical CAD: Alibre Atom 3D
How would you say it compares to F360 feature wise (and from a fdm hobbyist point of view)?
I don't know F360. The demos look super slick, but who knowns... these are marketing videos.
One thing that's for sure is that Alibre is not too comfortable with freeform surfaces. So if you intend to design cars or other stuff with many irregularly shaped surfaces, you better look elsewhere. Over the years I did many designs with it, some for classical machining, some plastic injection molding, some fun part for 3D printing (SLS and later Prusa).
Of course anything organic is out of the question, this is the realm of ZBrush.
There are so many free (and low-cast) 3D CAD programs out there...
Last time I checked FreeCAD, it felt more like a technology demo than of any practical value. Certainly depends on what you intend to do.
Maybe one note: The choice if tools might influence what the outcome of your work is. Will you be good at working around bugs? Or will you come up with great creative designs? To me this was not so obvious, but the pair Blender/ZBrush has been a real eye-opener to me. Others are Gimp/Lightroom/Photoshop... and of course our 3D printer.
- Martin
- Martin