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this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2024
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FreeCAD
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Your own 3D parametric modeler.
FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler made primarily to design real-life objects of any size. Parametric modeling allows you to easily modify your design by going back into your model history and changing its parameters.
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Thanks for this great writeup. I first learned the draw in 3d with sketchup and I really hit a brick wall when trying other CAD software. Not only having incompatible keybindings (just controlling the camera is a struggle, it seems every single program does it differently). I do understand why people would want to have parametric and history based drawing. In complex parts making changes in sketchup can be a real struggle, sometimes I will just slice of a plane of the the model and redraw the offending section rather than to try to change it.
But I find making everything parametric, really bogs things down. It's probably because I don't really understand how it works behind the scenes and I'm fighting the interface all the way.
What I was hoping to do was, first better master sketchup by understanding each tool and mapping them to more sensible keyboard bindings. And then for each other CAD software, change the keybind and camera controls to at least make the transition as painless as possible.
I was hoping most actions would have some analog but it seems this is not the case.
Just for fun, I asked ChatGPT to try and match the PartDesign keybinds to sketchup keybinds
This comes down to personal preference and specific app familiarity, but for a lot of parts, yeah, following the parametric workflow is slower. That's why there is a space for direct modeling in industry; it's used for rapid prototyping and for getting a "dumb model" ready for FEM analysis. I maintain that it therefore also works well for Joe 3Dprinter to make a very specific object to mount his toothbrush to his sink; nobody is going to need to revise the screw spacing on their one-off object because their hardware vendor goes out of business.
I sometimes use an obscure German app, "BeckerCAD 3D Pro" that I got on sale for $25, which is, best I can tell, a nerfed and rebranded AutoCAD knockoff with more of a 3D focus (the "real" program is called CADdy++, from a small software and consulting firm that must have bought a lifetime license to one of the CAD engines decades ago). Even the top BeckerCAD version doesn't include the parametric history, so between that and TinkerCAD, I have definitely done the "glue a new cube on and redo the operation" thing.
In the end, it's all still 3D modeling. There are definite similarities in the concepts, and most of the differences come down to speed and scalability for certain tasks. It's only the workflows that are so different. I think the ChatGPT thing is very telling, the way it's also struggling to map the tools 1-to-1. I will say the latest FreeCAD releases, especially the Ondsel "light fork" that's already based on the upcoming 0.22, make getting started a lot more intuitive.