So what design software will you use in 2022?

So what design software will you use in 2022?

A serious contender Is Siemens Solid edge, Free to hobby users, not web based it runs on your computer you do not have to be connected to the internet. This has to be a bargain. It is competitive with Solidworks some say better. There is no CAM included with the hobby version. But apart from that it is all there. They clearly state that it can be used indefinitely for hobby use.

Surprisingly the Siemens developed Parasolid engine it uses is also licenced to many other commercial CAD packages. From memory even Fusion 360. And Solidworks?

I made a small solid model in Solid Edge and exported it to Fusion 360 as a Step file and it worked perfectly. As you would expect from Siemens developed software. The interface takes a little getting used to but not that hard. Solid edge can Export and import many, formats, very useful. Again, a feature removed from the Hobby version of Fusion 360.

There are none of the Fusion 360 restrictions on number of parts open etc. I also opened a commercially developed machine model that contained several hundred parts no problem. I have an early I7, it struggled a bit, took about a30 seconds to open it, but no problem. The model contained sheet metal, castings and small components. This was a great test.

Unlike Fusion 360 fully functional FEA, Generative design, collaboration Etc is all there.

My guess is that Autodesk will continue to trim Fusion down, and sooner or later they will start charging and charging big.

So the search is on for a CAM replacement, as of Now FreeCad (Open Source) is a contender. You can also use FreeCad stand alone although it will take a long time to catch up with professional level design software. The Cam feature is useable.

So for me it will be Solid edge for modelling parts.
Fusion 360 for as long as it lasts and we are cut of at the knees, For CAM
And in the mean time I am learning to work with FreeCad For CAM

I guess this all looks like a Fusion 360 rant, roast. OK It is! They sucked in a huge Fusion 360 user base with the “honey pot” trick. Only to rip them off a bit later.

The same applies to other Autodesk products. The Perpetual Autodesk design suite licence I paid the price of a compact car for, followed by many years of annual update fees was stopped dead last year. Yes, I can use the 2021 version, the last maintenance fee paid for version for as long as their licence server works. (Read one day it won’t when there is a major Windows update, They will claim product lifetime expiry)

Oh, and the current price tor that suite now available on annual subscription only (with 3DMax removed you now pay for that separately), has gone up from an about $1700 AUD optional annual maintenance fee to a just under $5000 AUD subscription fee, you are forced, if you don’t pay, they turn the software off. No I did not fall for that.

So what is your plan for 2022?

I still use and will continue to use Autodesk Inventor 2012 running in Windows 7 on a 2013 Mac desktop pro. Simple it works, no updates inflicted on Windows or Inventor.

John

I seem to remember using some software a few years ago provided for hobby use by Siemens who pulled the plug on use, or am I mistaken ?

Emgee

I'll stick to my TurboCad 20. It's a bit clunky, but it's cheap, it works and does what I want it too. I don't have the time, either short term or long term, or the interest in drawing pretty pictures, to indulge myself with anything more exotic.

cheers

Bill

I've got 1 more year left on my full Fusion360.

I have downloaded all the usual free ones, meaning to see which one I can get on with, but never seem to have the time to fully try them out.

I'll most likely end up getting a 3 year deal when they are next on offer!

Jim

I don't design anything complicated so for 2D I will stick to my old version of IntelliCAD, I have even managed to get it to run on a Windows 10 computer. For 3D I have used FreeCAD, but will have a look at the free Solid Edge.

Thor

Didn't we have people on here like Muzzer saying the same about F360 when they were all for it.

As for me I will be using Alibre in 2022 as I just paid the maintenance (A lot lest than Autodesk) so I get the latest updates. For CAM I will use F360 as Alibre easily exports to there.

Sorry to have to say this, but :

Indefinitely is a very tricky word … oft-used by Weasels !

MichaelG.

.

.

’unlimited’ or ‘unspecified’ ? … who gets to choose ?

Design C Max v.17.3 dating from about 2006. Ok it's old, probably not up to date, no CAM (as far as I know), nothing to do with the cloud, and registration is built in to the software so no contacting the producer.

But it does what I want.

Peter G. Shaw

Gee there is a lot out there....

Best free CAM software search

It's a " Lifetime " license Michael - and the product fully downloads as a standalone programme. No ambiguity at all.

The Tutorials & Help facilities are online - but the self-paced learning can be downloaded as PDF's - which I have done. They are hefty documents, running to some 200 plus pages each. I can see no practcal difference in my use and access to Solid Edge Community than I had when I was running TurboCAD - which I did for several decades.

It's also a far more powerful product and better documented.

Regards,

IanT

Be that as it may, Ian … I was simply responding to John’s statement that:

”They clearly state that it can be used indefinitely for hobby use.”

and I will always assert that the meaning of “indefinitely” is anything but clear.

Sometimes it’s just sloppy … Sometimes it’s Weasley.

I recall that it caused some problems during Brexit, but I’ve seen it many times before.

MichaelG.

.

Edit. __ and yes, I do fully accept your point:

This free download:

• Is available to any active maker, CAD enthusiast, or design challenge competitor interested in using CAD to bring their ideas to life.
• Is intended for personal use, and may not be used for commercial purposes
• Has a license that does not expire

Note: Files created in this edition cannot be opened in commercial versions of Solid Edge and 2D drawings are watermarked, but your designed parts and assemblies can be 3D printed so you can easily create prototypes.

Siemens Digital Industries Software offers an on-line subscription if needed for your commercial projects.

.

Ref. __ https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/plmapp/education/solid-edge/en_us/free-software/community

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 12/11/2021 10:23:19

Ian, what happens if during "lifetime" your PC dies and you have to buy a new one with an updated operating system. Although you may have a license to use will the software get updated to run on new operating systems if the company has a change of policy?.

Does the lifetime apply to the user or the machine they have downloaded it onto as if not available in the future you may not be able to download to a new machine even though you still have the license.

For example my Alibre license is a one off but had I not paid the yearly fee I would be stuck trying to run on an old 32bit machine not my current 64bit and also missed out on many updated features.

So although you may get a license to use it for "lifetime" you may not be able to use if other factors change.

Was that ' Draftsight ' ?. I did use it a lot years ago, then if I remember correctly they stopped the free licensing

I renewed Fusion360 for another 2 years but I think that will be it. I bought Alibre Pro many years ago at a bargain-basement price. I watch out for cheap updates and snatch them up.

Very disappointed when Fusion 360 decided they had to charge extra for the machine interface.

I have CamBam but never quite got the hang of it.

A true dinosaur I tend to write my own software and firmware.

I don't like CAM that makes a series of parallel passes with all the dicky stuff happening in the Z axis. There is a big difference between machining and making pretties.

Like Jason I will be carrying on using Alibre, albeit the basic version which cost me £150. I've been using it for 10 years, it does everything I need to do (don't need CAM as I don't do CNC) and I can use it in my sleep. Also, cannot be othered to waste precious time learning new software that would not be of any advantage to me.

John

Draftsight was provided by Dassault Systems not Siemens. I was one of the many upset by it's withdrawal.

Russell

Back of an envelope as usual

Roy

Which Dictionary app are you using Michael and does it include a Thesaurus?

Reports from other Solid Edge users seem to suggest that Siemens is updating the Community Edition in line with their commercial product (currently SE 2021) Jason - although I'm still using the 2020 version. I'm running it on a 5/6 year old Win10 laptop. Win10 will be officially supported by Microsoft until sometime in 2025. By then my laptop will be 9-10 years old and probably need replacing - it's a bit battered around the edges already.

I guess that I will then have to go to Win11 on a new machine. Siemens have aligned their CAD products with Microsoft technologies quite closely, so I'd expect a Solid Edge version suitable for Win11 long before then. Whilst there can be no absolute assurances in this world, I can see at least four years forward because it's under my immediate control. I will be downloading the latest version SE-CE before too long and will try to do so more regularly in future.

This seems less risky to me than relying on a cloud product that can be turned off over-night. Indeed it seems no different in practice than owning TurboCAD - where I upgraded my (paid) license four times over some 20 years - the last time because I was getting file error messages (I'd moved to Win10 - although my drawings still loaded and stored OK).

Clearly everyone has their own CAD preferences, most likely because they have invested time and effort in their current product. As I've explained elsewhere, Solid Edge will not suit everyone but I'm absolutely delighted with it and highly recommend anyone looking for a modern (and free) 2D/3D CAD system to try it.

Regards,

IanT