Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?  

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

Sorry,

It’s
Kevin W. Ray

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

Fusion 360

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

There is no best. Its more a matter of personal preference and cost.

I choose fusion 360, I am pretty happy with it and its free.

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

Give Onshape a try. It's free. No limitations…everyone gets the latest, full program.
The only difference between free accounts and ones requiring a monthly fee is with the free accounts all your files are public. Pay $125/month and you can make your files private.
https://www.onshape.com/
I like it because it was easy for me to learn. It's as if each CAD program reflects the personality of whoever created it. After many years of frustration with other CAD programs I found Onshape fit with my thinking process.
I was able to get started with a reasonable learning curve. By that I mean I was able to get started creating simple shapes right away, and learn more capabilities bit by bit. I know I have a lot more to learn, but that isn't stopping me. When I bump into something I can't do, I hunt around a little and voila, I learn that new thing and carry on.
I don't know enough to say what is the best CAD program, but the best one for me is one I can actually use productively. Of course, my liking it may just reflect my mental limitations.
It is a relatively new program but they are adding updates and new capabilities every 3 weeks.
They have a lot of tutorials ( https://www.onshape.com/video ) and courses ( https://learn.onshape.com/ ). So keep in mind if you watch an old video that today's version has a lot more it can do.

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

Ultimately, it will come down to your goals and amount of time you're looking to invest and weather you're building a product where speed and convenience trump parametric design and scale-ability. If you want to build organic looking objects, blender is fantastic and easy to use, onshape is fairly similar and for the majority of applications it will allow to directly create something you can export and print. If you plan on making very complex parts, gears, pcb housings, lots of moving and interfacing parts, you need to be able to adjust tolerances or design something that will create geometry based on easily changed parameters. For example, you could build your wall thickness of a cup as parameter and you could change it later and all steps done after would update to follow. For those technical uses it's difficult to beat Fusion 360, one because it is free and two because it is very well documented and plays well with other programs. The major con to Fusion is that it has a significant learning curve.
Also suggest you download Mesh Mixer, if you need to edit someone elses models or separate models, you'll need it and it's free.
I suggest that you watch some youtube videos of people using a variety and see if you think it would meet your needs. You're going to hit a lot of road blocks, we all do, i'd suggest watching videos by Makes Muse and Layer by Layer and if you find yourself stumped swing into the reprap IRC.

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

I too use Autodesk Fusion 360. It is free for private users and extremely powerful.

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

If you are using windows I get a lot of use out of 3d builder. It is quick, simple, and easy for me to use. win win win. One side note, no matter what program you end up using the most I also recommend getting Meshmixer.

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

Fusion 360. It has a "Hobbiest " license that so far seems to be good for ever. Also has a huge community online and tons of Youtube video's.
Blender is an opensource but I was not that user friendly if you ask me.
I am in the same boat as you . This is my first 3d printer and have been teaching myself cad for the 3 months I have been waiting for my printer. So far so good.

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

If you have no CAD experience and are looking for something simple and easy to use, try Tinkercad. Free, online, and plenty of tutorials.

This is very different than "real" CAD software but it's amazing what you can do in just a short time.

https://www.tinkercad.com

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

I always have to give a +1 to Autodesk Inventor. You can get a free license if you're a student.

Very powerful, not too difficult to get into. I like it.

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

Okay, there are families of things for you to develop your models in.

What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) Graphical User Interface (GUI).
- These programs are a graphical (mouse and drag) interface to do Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) models.
- CSG means you get basic shapes and ADD them, or OR them, or XOR them, or extrude them, or warp them.
- By doing a series of these manipulations, you can design any 3D object you want.
- Examples: Fusion 360, TinkerCAD, SolidWorks, etc.

Code based CSG Modeler
- Does the exact same thing as the above, but instead of clicks and drags, it represent each steps in a line of "code".
- It then compiles all the steps (just like the GUI above) to make any model you want.
- The advantage is you can make things mathematically related, and calculated, and parametric, and loops and logic. You can go back and edit your steps. (In the GUI, I often say - dang, I should have done this first, and than that. Some of those programs can do that, but there is a hell of a learning curve. In this, you just edit your "code" and go do it again.)
- Advantage if you think like a programmer. A disadvantage if you think like a GUI.
- Example: OpenSCAD

Mesh based editors.
- Edits triangular meshes, kind of like you would shape clay. Swell if you have skills. Makes great organic shapes. Poor if you are trying to design a mechanical thing that needs to interface to another mechanical thing.
- Examples: MeshMixer, Blender, etc.

I am very partial to OpenSCAD. It is free, I find by going back and editing my steps, and using math, I can do parametric models that are easily adapted to different needs. There are wonderful existing libraries to help you get started, and a good documentation/tutorial section.

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

I second tinkercad for those with no experience. I only wish the learning cure for fusion360 was as easy

Re: Ordered my i3 mk3 today! Best cad 3d software?

Hello

I ordered my i3 MK3 assembled version today. Any thoughts on the Best 3d solid modeling software to use?

Thank you,
Kevon W. Ray

https://all3dp.com/1/best-free-3d-printing-software-3d-printer-program/?omhide=true&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=15a7665bd0-Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9dffeeddae-15a7665bd0-385567429