Get it while it’s hot! New goodies to use and an improved UI for users.
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coming from a company that used solidworks, i’ve always found trying to use freecad infuriating, even moreso after onshape came out and i saw what could be done even in a web browser. but seeing as it’s foss, i’ll keep trying it every release.
I used SW professionally for years before I retired and SW was suddenly not free to use for me anymore. Personally, I found the switch to FreeCAD was pretty easy for me. But the ease or struggle to learn something new varies a lot between people.
Best I can tell you is to forget everything you “know” from SW as best you can. And when you get frustrated that what you are doing in FreeCAD doesn’t work like SW, try to remember we ain’t in Kansas anymore Toto. That’s how I had to approach things.
Good Luck! I’m pullin’ for ya!
Same. It is crazy how much progress they are making now.
This is great! I was impressed with 1.0 but there were a lot of quality of life improvements needed to get it to match the big CAD guys. Looking through this it looks like they’ve got most of the baseline functions and easy of use accomplished.
It even does Finite Element Analysis and a separate mode for architecture.
I think the 1.1 release is the end step of the original plan started back at the .18 release of fixing the major underlying issues that FreeCAD had. And the mitigating of TPN and the need to redo a fair amount of code to make FreeCAD better. That effort led to the 1.0 release. And the 1.1 release is the result of the cleanup and optimization of the code in FreeCAD. Which is the final step in the roadmap. And the video talks a lot about those improvements in stability, speed, and simplification of use.
Yes! FreeCAD is amazing and these updates look great. I don’t know why so many people are taking this chance to complain about it. You don’t have to use it!
The confidence that it won’t be paywalled, or enshittified, or otherwise screwed over by a corporation is worth a lot to me, but I think it’s fine if that’s not the case for everyone. Enjoy whatever else you want to use. Improvements in FreeCAD can only be good for everyone, right?!
I’ve done all my work in Freecad for years. Its really good at converting a stl back in to a solid. Some think its hard to do but its really easy and consistent. Some take more steps than others but its a solid tool for doing a rework on a 3d printable object. I can usually in a matter of minutes split a stl into separate models for multi color printing.
What’s your workflow for this? I have a handful of stls I would love to tweak.
This is going to be a upside down work flow since it varies depending on what you are trying to achieve. If you want to split an object up in order to make it a multi part/color print then start with 1a otherwise start with 1
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Start with a new document
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import stl file
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Under the part menu convert to ‘shape from mesh’
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Under the part menu in the copy menu click ‘refine shape’ not required but I find it sometimes makes the resulting solid a little smoother.
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Under the part menu click ‘Convert to solid’
If all steps are successful you are done. If not then delete everything and start back with the mesh. The most common error for me is ‘Cannot convert because Shape is not a shell’
1a. Under the mesh menu click ‘Split by components’ There are also some repairs you can make on a mesh under analyze. I rarely use these but have had some success with them from time to time. This will create at least two component meshes. I’ve had many more than that and at some point it isn’t worth it at least for me.
2a .Perform steps 1 through 5 on all components. Under the part menu select all the converted solid components and use the union tool to create a fusion of them.
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I’ve been learning CAD for printing. I really want to use FreeCAD, but every time I try to do anything, I sink 2 hours into reading wiki’s and watching videos. When I apply what I’ve learned, I end up with a cube (sometimes a cylinder!) and a wall of errors. Then I hop into tinkerCAD/fusion360 and create what I need in 15 minutes.
I’m looking forward to the day that FreeCAD is intuitive enough for me to hop in and do what I need in 15 mins without feeling like I’m manually programming a lunar landing. It’s not there yet, but I’m happy to see the update.
I absolutely get you since that was my experience also.
It’s a concept thing for me. Do everything in sketches and make something with it using the Partdesign workbench. But knowing that you can’t just draw a cube and extend part of one face like you can in fusion helped me to understand the take freecad has in cad.
There are some very basic beginner friendly tutorials out there on YouTube. That’s what did it in the end for me.
Oh, yeah, I understood sketches being the starting point, I just lived on the struggle bus any time I tried to sketch anything. The interface is close enough to vector drawing, that it constantly felt like I knew what I was doing, except everything I did threw an error 😅 or the things that in vector drawing would be a simple ‘click on an anchor and drag’, are multi-step processes involving a spreadsheet here.
I know a lot of it is a matter of practice, and I’m sure there are also growing pains for the software. I’m genuinely excited by the changes they’ve made to modifying sketches, and the little explanations at the bottom of the screen, I hope they are able to keep the momentum going.
The struggle bus… You made me laugh
Keep trying and keep practicing. Install FreeCAD and practice with MangoJelly tutorials to learn.
One thing that often makes it hard for people switching to any new CAD is things don’t work the same way. So do your best to forget the way you used to do things. Fusion isn’t FreeCAD and FreeCAD isn’t Fusion. You will need to learn new things. So don’t expect it to work the same way.
The next thing that is very helpful is to find models to practice and gain confidence and skills. MangoJelly tutorials are great to learn from, but you need varied practice to gain skills. Here are 50 models you can practice with to gain confidence and skills using any CAD program. Other practice models can be found if you do some searching.
Good Luck!
I just want to say this YouTuber got a sub from me last night. Went into his back catalogue and recent videos were really good and I learned a few nice things.
Regarding fc1.1, I really like the update. These guys are on the gas and making substantial updates. I can’t overstate how .9 whatever was hard to use vs 1.0 and now 1.1 is another leap again. It’s just great to see.
I speak as someone that only started learning any CAD as a hobby in the last 5 years. I’ve toyed with every (free) program short of going the pirate route and I’m really glad to see a FOSS alternative start to step up.
I do still have a laundry list of things I’d like to see them fix/change. But as is, it’s working well enough for my use cases!
He’s very good. He is one of the developers of FreeCAD. MangoJelly tends to be my go to though.
I just recently discovered him and watching someone who knows what they’re doing use the workflows the right way has been a FreeCAD game changer for me.
Time to give it another try I guess. I used Fusion almost exclusively until I switched to Linux (and have also used Solidworks in the past), and I found freecad 1.0 to be an exercise in frustration.
I gave it a very solid shot, but after many hours messing with it and watching tutorials I decided to try Onshape instead. I was able to become comfortable and productive in Onshape in less than half the time it took me to lose my cool with freecad.
The 1.1 update looks to be addressing some of the pain points, so they seem to be on the right track. I hope they keep that momentum going.
I have used Fusion and can get what I want from it. But I have an intense dislike of the clown car UI.
So sit down and watch MangoJelly’s tutorials and practice them. Enjoy that smooth Aussie voice. It takes time to learn new things so don’t give up. We’re pulling for you!
I watched this video and shouted at my screen like most people watch sports or a new tech launch. “Fuck, yeah!” “Goddamn!” “Holy shit that’s brilliant.” “That didn’t make sense but it is really cool anyway!”
Anyway, good job, FC team.
Wow this looks good
Is this worth trying to learn if I can already fiddle around in blender? I have already given it a go a while ago but couldnt really get easily started so I dropped it.
CAD is a very different workflow than 3D modeling like blender. Someone could probably explain it better than me but think of CAD as being for engineering and something like blender being for artists. Thats not to say you cant do art in a CAD program or engineering in a modeling program its just a different tool for a different job.
Depends on what your goals are. Despite my inability to grasp Blender, it’s a great piece of software for those organic and artistic designs. And to be fair, it can do a bit of CAD work with an add-on. But it soon hits a limit for that kind of work.
But not everyone can “see” the different type of workflow and end results that each type of software is good at. I certainly cannot see that Blender doughnut well enough to make it. Even with my hand being held in the video tutorials. But I can take that same doughnut and turn it into a torque converter for an automatic transmission. Go figure…
Still, I keep trying to make that Blender doughnut despite my lack of success so far. And I encourage you to keep trying to make something with CAD. Don’t give up. We’re going to win someday!
I do some STL editing for 3D prints in blender, which I don’t see myself changing, but I also design some cases, organizers, token holders etc for boardgames, for which it sounds like CAD would be a better fit. And yeah, as I said i did try it before but hit a wall and went with blender which I was more familiar with. Did the job alright, but perhaps was not the optimal way. I’ll give it another spin with a different focus now.