29 January 2025 in Brussels. Probably the next good candidate for a 1.0 release event as well. Latest blog has them down to four release blockers, though that number can certainly drift back up as well.
29 January 2025 in Brussels. Probably the next good candidate for a 1.0 release event as well. Latest blog has them down to four release blockers, though that number can certainly drift back up as well.
I’m less beatdown about it than you, I think, but I invested several hundred dollars into software for my revenue-free hobbies just to have a stable CAD suite with stable terms of use, and much of it was specifically down to FreeCAD not being what I want it to be. I very much feel your pain. :-)
Yeah, I’m so beat down about it because I just want a proper open source alternative in the CAD space. I do a lot of modeling. Currently I’m using plasticity, as it does the basics, it does it well, and it’s a buy once, get upgrades for a year, then decide if you just want to keep the version you have. It was like $100 when I bought it, and I’ve been very happy with it, as it does the basics, it does it well.
They also developed something called a ‘Blender Bridge’ which will let you edit in realtime, and then do compositing/textures, etc over in blender. This lets them use Blender as their rendering pipeline, which is super neat. They are the first ones I’m aware of to kind of “openly cooperate” with other open source toolsets like this.
I liked it when I tried it. I did want something with a parametric history, or I might have gone with that. I already had a no-history suite that worked okay that I got on sale off a German shovelware site for EUR20/USD25. As an aside, “3D Pro” is the only version that’s worthwhile at all, and then only at about the price I got it.
Yeah, the only one I’ve seen any sort of development on is Dune 3D, and it’s a one-man shop that goes in fits and starts, to judge by its Matrix room. It’s also got some quirky workflow and UI issues of its own, and will likely grind to a halt once the dev is content that it can produce the kinds of electronics enclosures he wants to design.
There’s also Solvespace, if you trust FreeCAD to fillet and chamfer your STEP files, lol.
OpenSCAD et al are outside my expertise. Conceptually, I understand code-to-CAD. I just don’t engage with design in that way.
Basically, you’re right. FreeCAD is it. If it turns you off, options are limited.
Holy fucking frijoles. This guy who made Dune 3D has made a better 3D modeler in a year than FreeCAD has done in 20.
While yes – absolutely it’s less powerful. And it looks a little quirky right now - but I was able to play with it and in 10 minutes, understand the workflow and how to make an object with it! That’s incredible. And it’s only 31mb! HAH!
Thanks for pointing that project out; I’ll be keeping a VERY close eye on its progress.