3d software ???

[joebiplane]

I'm looking for advice for 3d software to draw up things I want to make.
i recently had an idea for a widget that would allow my bikes seat back to fold forward for getting on and Off the beast.
i saw it in my imagination but I needed to draw it in 3 dementions to determine if itwould wotk.
Couldn't draw it so I made a prototype out of nylon and it did work like a champ....so I then made a few mods and machined it with T6 Alum but it would have been nicer to draw it accurately and then have measurements to machine
I got Alibre design...But WOW ! one heck of a learning curve . i don't know if I'll live long enough to learn it
any one got good advice???
Joe

 

[jgedde]

I had never worked with CAD before I got Alibre. Do the tutorial and you'll find it's easier than it appears.

John

 

[Magnum]

Alibre does not have a large learning curve unless you are not familiar with parametric design, or if you have never used a CAD program with a sketcher feature. How much 3D experience do you have? If very little I would look at the tutorials and learn the basics as they will apply really to any CAD program once you learn them.

 

[joebiplane]

My experience is with 3d architectual programs ( punch )
I have begun going thrurgh the tutorials and have the exersise book. my version ( 2011 ) seems to have glitches but it could certainly be my "ham-handed" atempts to go to fast and forget intermediate steps.
if everything works...and I learn it and can remember what I learned ( a constant problem) It should thrill me !
Thanks for the reply
joe

 

[Magnum]

I have not used Punch! in years. Last version I used had very little boolean operations. It as great for precut architectural. I know it was used in places like Home Depot for quick home renderings. Good for that, but a world of difference on the mechanical side where there are a lot of unknowns starting out... May have to go look and see how far they have come.

 

[joebiplane]

I agree...Punch knows where to place 2x4 walls and draw roofs ect but is more of a " Feature placement" program
As for Sketch-up...I am sure its me but I don't see any way to make it work... . I feel I am looking at a a big pile of "POSIBILITY"
and I keep waiting for a product to jump out at me... I feel I must not use the side of the brain that the inventor used to create it...
Others think it's great so I must simply " NOT GET IT" :tounge:

 

[Magnum]

We tried using sketchup in game design. The theory was you can import models from sketchup using DTS and without any modifications place them in your game textures and all. It was not very friendly, the exported flipped faces and surfaces like crazy.

That being said, you need to build a list of what you want to do with the software, and you can probably eliminate most by your desired features online. For me, I needed good export/import capability and that left Skecthup out.

But, I will say I keep Blender on my machine as it has TONS of conversion formats both import and export.

But hey, I almost forgot. I also have 2 licenses of Houdini still. Not very CAD/CAM friendly... But neat to use if you are into games/side FX's.

http://www.sidefx.com/