Guess it's FreeCAD, seems OK but it just feels awkward in places. Quite often I just use the 2D drawing tools in Vcarve to get things done. I wish they had a 3D cad module, you know for $300 or so I'd buy it if it works as well as their other apps. Somehow they make money and sell well regarded software. Vectric doesn't call home to mommy to get permission to run, with or without a network, it just runs. It's on several machines in several of my shop buildings, obviously working alone only one copy is in use at any time. They provided several upgrades for free, and I've only purchsed one upgrade over the years, for around $90 USD. They don't require you to pay maintenance. I bought the full Vectric VCarve several years ago. Darn shame, it's actually a very nice package to use. It isn't like Alibre hasn't boned their customers before. Wonder what happens when they decide to take down the license server. Can't have it on more than one machine unless you go online and move the license. Yeh, right, OK, how come it has to call home every month to stay active? If you OWN it, why do you need Alibres permission to use it after the sale? Want updates? Buy maintenance. It all sounds good until you dig into the licensing: It just feels good, very few awkward bumps while making a widget. I played with Atom 3D, and like the application itself as an affordable 3D CAD package. anyone remember 123D?Īlibre has been mentioned. So far, AutoDesk has been far more friendly to hobbyists.Īs for Fusion 360, well. A lot of that has to do with my distrust of Dassault after the DraftSight debacle. I have a yearly license for SW (through a membership to an organization), but a fairly limited set of modules, so I don't really use it much. And it beats the socks off Solidworks because I can use all of those cool features for free. resist." thing though because I think F360 is very very very cool. I generally try not to fall in love with things like Fusion 360 for the above reasons. I've not had great luck with FreeCAD or other parametric solid applications. I suspect it will do 95% of what most people want to do here, but it is not 3D. There is a very real possibility that AutoDesk may pull the plug at any time, which is why I've continually looked for products I can buy, not rent, or which are freeware. Their yearly revenue is 3.2 billion dollars which is effectively the same as AutoDesk's 3.3 billion dollars. DraftSight is developed by Solidworks, which was bought by Dassault Systemes. However, not all big companies think that way. Let's face it, sales through conversation of goodwill (such as here) are also directly related to their current practices. My hope is that they are big enough that they can see the value of the noise (us) and realize that hooking them may mean sales in the future. I've been around long enough to know that the DRaftSight/Alibre model of "hook 'em and then them" can happen anywhere, even AutoDesk. This does *not* mean that I am comfortable with the product though. AutoDesk rocks, IMHO, with its support of the hobbyist and small business community.
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