Alibre Design Returns

A while back Alibre Design 3D CAD was purchased by 3D Systems and was re-branded 'Geomagic Design'. Roll forward - and a new Alibre company has been formed by former employees of the original. The software has been sold to Alibre and will again be known as Alibre Design.

Official launch is imminent - an early access build is available via the Alibre user forum.

Product development is promised to get back underway after the re-branded version is launched.

David, do you know if they will be doing the basic "PE" version as mine will no doubt need updating when I change computer.

At launch there will be Professional and Expert versions.

Personal could be resurrected at a later date - nothing definite yet.

Details available from new Alibre web site or from reseller sites - so Mintronics for the UK.

Make me admire the confidence of those convinced Fusion 3D will always be free.

My favourite planetary imaging software has just had its free version 'development frozen' and if you want a better one you have to pay a (modest) annual fee.

Neil

An update - the new versions are available now. If you have the latest Geomagic Design 2015.1.1, then you are eligible to get a free migration to Alibre Design 2017 regardless of maintenance status.

I downloaded from Alibre and installed this on my two pc's (in place of Geomagic Design) and am pleased to report that everything works. I am now the proud user of Alibre Design Expert. It is a pity thet the last bit "Expert" doesn't migrate to the user, I will have to make more use of it now.

*** Download Link ***

John

Who knows how it will proceed, not least after Carl Bass got fired recently. However, one thing you CAN be certain of is the current price for Alibre (call it a grand?) - without any CAM etc - plus maintenance support etc if you actually want updates (aka bug fixes). The other thing you can be certain is that currently F360 is free and will surely allow you to use it for the next 18 months at least, even if they announced something in the next month or so.

Paying an annual modest fee is exactly what F360 is doing for the professional version. The difference being that Solidworks, Alibre etc want that ongoing fee on top of the full purchase price.

So let me think about that for a moment or two (or perhaps a year or two?)....

Murray

Unless Photobucket buys out Fusion

What can Alibre do that Fusion can't?

In terms of core 3D modelling, 2D drawing, BoM etc. there may not be much if anything beyond what Fusion can do. Assembly Features and Global Parameter Files are quite nifty, but there may be ways to achieve similar results in Fusion or indeed in other systems.

Catia import capability is something that is less common in other systems (can be very important to users working with the motor industry).

Some users simply don't want their data 'in the cloud' or are forbidden from using cloud storage by their customers. Not being a cloud product, Alibre doesn't rely on an internet connection for normal usage.

A common report from users is that Alibre is easy to learn compared to other systems - however, that is very much a personal thing (I've been completely stumped by some software that others say is easy to learn).

There is no single 'right system' - think carefully about what you need now, or are likely to need in the near future, and evaluate options that seem a good fit.

I found them to be very similar in terms of learning TBH. Each CAD product has its own annoyances. They all pretty much have to offer the same features to be competitive, so you aren't going to see much between them there. However, the "Fusion" bit of F360 refers to the way they have integrated a fair bit of other stuff from the Autodesk product range including professional CAM, thermal/stress/resonance simulation, proper surface modelling, professional rendering etc. You normally get to pay extra for these.

For us, the most interesting bit is the full multi axis CAM. All other CAD products require 3rd party / additional s/w to implement CAM - at significant cost. For instance, if you want to buy the proper 3D CAM from Sprutcam it will set you back about £1k last time I looked. The 3rd party CAM plug-ins for Onshape aren't much better although at least they are rentals rather than purchases, IIRC.

The worst thing for hobby users is the current "retail model" that is the norm for CAD products (except for F360), where you have to "buy" the CAD software but also pay for ongoing "support". The current Alibre comes with no updates or support unless you buy it one year at a time. Not certain how that plays with consumer rights here in the UK but they seem to get away with it. I expect they my help you to get up and running to avoid you demanding your money back but beyond that you will surely be on your own.

I know from experience that Solidworks get very uppity if you let the "support" lapse and then try to renew it - good luck trying! But conversely, if you have any problem installing or running SW they won't help you if you haven't coughed up for the support up front. This whole approach can only actively encourage crap software development - the more bugs they build into the product, the more incentive there is for the customer to pay for "support".

Murray

Incidentally, Alibre DOES require internet access to check in with the licence server periodically. Fusion will work offline for up to 360 days.

Edited By Muzzer on 05/07/2017 11:01:28

We may never know whether Mr Bass jumped or was pushed. He did give as one reason 'I would like to spend more time in the shop'. That means he's one of us, and might even pop up on the forum!

At the moment Fusion360 is a bargain. As far as I can see the main disadvantages are:

• Models are stored in the Cloud (though you can take local copies)
• No guarantee it will stay free (though there are good commercial reasons why it might)
• Doesn't run on Linux (you may not care about that!)

Despite having Fusion360, I still use FreeCAD quite a lot. My reasons are: it's free; the model is local; runs on Linux; easy to use (once you know how!); and about 60% of my modelling is of basic single parts. The latter constraint is important: Freecad doesn't do Joints or Assembly (yet). If there's any chance of a model needing two or more parts, I go straight to Fusion.

Dave

Haha yes he now likes to describe himself as "Carl Bass, machinist". Which is fair enough when you see how much equipment he has managed to salt away over the years, rather like Jay Leno and his cars. They say "he who dies with most tools wins" but Bass doesn't stand a hope in hell of using half his stuff. Just jealousy speaking there!

Murray

Yes - 'periodically' is currently 30 days by default (there is potential to extend this where 30 days causes problems). In next release, there will be an option for 'Offline' licences which never need direct internet access.

'Normal use' (modelling, producing 2D drawings etc.) does not require a connection to internet (assuming activation is current).

Other systems have a variety of ways to control and check licences - that's something else that may influence your choice of system.

John - that isn't quite correct. You own the right to have active installations on up to 3 computers at a time - only ONE of which is allowed to run the software at any specific time. That is why you sometimes get the message about other computer. Also if you need to move an activated install (retiring computer, disk crash etc.) the activation has to be released (a manual process). That licensing system (whilst it is still functional) has not been used for new sales for several years.

I'm very pleased that you have now found a CAD solution that works for you. That is the most important thing.

John - if you updated to Geomagic Design - that is single seat switchable (manually by you) between as many computers as you wish. I've just released what I believe is that activation, if I got the right one you may well be able to use it now - if it was somebody else with the same name it'll just pick back up next time they use it.

I'm happy to look at your legacy Alibre licences if you wish to contact me by PM. I believe I've had the conversation with you before about your understanding of installations vs. seats, not much I can add to that.

Maybe you can look into my license while you are about it. I have bought and paid for alibre twice through the local agent here in NZ, but had a disk crash a few years back, then moved, and by the time I started trying to get things put back together was not able to get it reloaded or for that matter get the geomagic version which apparently I should have been able to get. I believe the local dealer would be able to trace my details still, but I could never get any response from the support people. This made Fusion look like a much better deal.

John

John Olsen - I'll PM you.

Note that Support is now back with Alibre (no Longer Geomagic / 3DS) - response should be fairly swift, though note 5th July was re-launch day in the USA so support will be wading through a lot of similar questions.

Just bringing this thread back to life to say the new Alibre team were very quick and helpful and got my old 2012 Alibre PE up onto the new computer I bought yesterday in very short time. As this was a one off purchase at the time and they will not be getting any yearly subs from me that is even more impressive.

Thanks David and the team.

J