1/9/2024 0 Comments Being productive using freecad![]() ![]() In this article I will walk through my experiences with using FreeCAD for the first time to do a variety of CNC-related tasks I normally would have used a commercial product for. I wasn’t previously familiar with the program, so I decided to check it out. Maker market, hobbyists and beginners (Fusion360 caters largely to this market, presumably as a business strategy to gain inroads in the professional sector)Ģ.Our look at running a CNC milling machine using open-source software led me to another tool worth looking at: FreeCAD. Regarding the reddit threads I see two different markets:ġ. ![]() ![]() There is no doubt that there is room for improvement to the new user experience in my eyes. Some find it easy to learn, others struggle quite a bit. Right now FreeCAD is largely at a point where it needs a bit of a visual face-lift along with refinement rather than new 'features'.Īt the end of the day though, this is a project made by volunteers and it's absolutely incredible once you learn it. It's not about emulating other software, but things being repeatable, predictable and logical in function, behavior and flow. #2 Argue with me however you like, but lowering the barrier of entry for new people learning FreeCAD just can't be a bad thing, new ideas, potential new contributors etc. #1 TNP issues are the absolute worse for new/inexperienced users and even a shiny 'modern' UI can't help with that. The #2 issue is UI/UX review and enhancement. So, this kind of topic always generates quite a bit of opposing perspectives on FreeCAD. They just dont want to learn a new software. As someone posted above, a Blender type of ui aesthetic will vastly improve adopters as it looks more inviting and appealing.Īnother major reason which Freecad cannot do anything about to increase adoption is the Indoctrination of users during college and Uni with solidworks, f360, autocad etc. When a non freecad user boots freecad for the first time and they are coming from solid works or f360, they are greeted by a windows 95 looking screen which scares them away. My goal was to see if some missing features would be named but no luck there.īasically have a more polished UI, fix the TPN and have more QOL features. Not so many usable feedback but well it's always nice to get non user's opinions as it can help improving. So I went on reddit to ask that question. I thought it could be interesting to get reason why F360 and SW users don't use FreeCAD instead. And I got the shortcut on desktop which I click to open freecad no issues. I downloaded freecad installer for windows, during installation it asked me installation folder, and asked me to have short cut option on desktop to launch and add start menu folder. This is such a BASED take and I dont get it at all. Overall I wish there was an alternative to this awful CAD Looks like every little task in free CAD ends up being very time consuming and difficult. Would have killed them just to provide an exe file that you click on it and software get installed? No more wondering now as ver19 is out and I decided to download and upgrade my ver18 to it, so here it is the install process forĭownload FreeCAD installer from following website.Run the installer.( no clue on where or how run Windows installer)Īnother web search tells c:\windows\installer folder, but there is no such folder visible so another web search tells it is a hidden folder and I should change some options to see that, try that for an hour then gave up. Because it is annoying, cumbersome and an excruciating CAD to use, sure it is free and I have done few designs on it 2 years ago butĮvery step of the way I was amaze how unintuitive finding commands are to do a task and wonder if it could be worse. ![]()
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