Alibre - A First Attempt

Not quite. Second actually. First from my own imagination.

I worked through the exercise that has you make a sort of "executive toy". I managed by modifying the Part Drawing, to correct a major error which turned out to be from my missing a step in the instructions. I left another I think was simply from entering a dimension incorrectly. (It makes one part, partially absorb another.)

This is the thing that has a handle rotating a flywheel via a simple universal joint.

I found the flywheel (called a "pulley" ) rim tricky. I'm not sure why, but a second attempt from a rectangle drawn on the opposite side of the image worked. I guessed the generating figures need be in contact or within, in CAD terms not just in screen appearance; but if that's in the tutorial at that point, I missed it.

It's not easy trying to work through a fairly involved exercise when both that and the drawing itself occupy the same screen, so you have to keep switching back and forth between them!

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I had some problems with planes, so the Base (the Part that had held the big mistake) ended up standing on its side. My "mouse" is a sort of upright gubbins with no scroll facility so can't be used for some of the moves Alibre expects, including rotating things.

I like the active dimensions system, and the way changing a Part modifies its expression in the Assembly. (I discovered the latter effect when I corrected the Base, though I'd not yet seen the more minor error I'd made.)

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This disc though, like a cylinder cover, is my first "own" attempt, based on moves in that exercise, and a bit of experimenting once that had shown me basically how the tools "work".

The red construction lines include the just-visible, little rectangle for the revolved "O-ring groove". The reverse (outside) has a shallow recess matching the boss, and chamfered rim. The stud holes do go right through!

Edited By Nigel Graham 2 on 23/04/2023 22:40:09

Well done Nigel.

I find myself planning a new object almost as if I was machining it.

A few things from your first post

A decent mouse with a wheel makes a big difference. I use a 5 button intellimouse optical, the chinese knock-offs work fine if you want new, about 35 quid

My most stable Win7 build is an Alibre Design download (v25) with an Atom Licence, all my Atom downloads crash with rendering issues

If you start to change things in the middle of a workflow it's usually fine but occasionally it can get weird/unstable, so save/shutdown and reopen the project to get back to normal useage

And good luck, it's well worth the effort to become an Alibre user

Edited By Ady1 on 23/04/2023 23:23:30

Good job Nigel. I am following your progress in case I take the plunge, Alibre wise! I think you would benifit from a new mouse. I use a cordless mouse and keyboard on my cad computer so there are no cables to get tangled and intefere with the movement of the mouse. I bought the two from Tesco's for about £15 or so the pair. They each have AAA size batteries, I switch them off after use, but I think the batts would last several months if I didn't.

Neil, I plan my "objects" as if I was casting it!

Hi Nigel,

What I would suggest you do is to buy a second monitor (even a second hand one) and install it. Mine installed on the HDMI socket. I installed mine for the vary same reasons that you have needs to

Once you have worked with two screens you will wonder how you did without. We often have several sheets of paper on our desks and refer to them while working ,having two screens is somewhat the same.

Regards, Nimble Neil

I had similar problems having the example exercises on the same pc. I found that a cheap tablet with the exercise pdfs loaded and placed next to the pc worked well.

I mentioned in a recent post about ending up with 3 monitors on my desk at work to improve workflow, swapping between different programs on one screen is very clunky. Designing a tool/jig in CAD on one with one or two views of a part drawing on the other screens is a common example of where it becomes so useful, even if one screen is a 14" laptop screen.

Martin C

Nigel,

I'm also thinking about getting Alibre (Atom 3D) one day, so interested in your progress. No previous CAD experience.

I've had two monitors for a long while - couldn't go back to one.

Ches

Having replaced 2 monitors with a single larger (4K resolution) monitor, I use a utility called 'PowerToys' which is free from Microsoft. I've used the 'FancyZones' component to split my screen roughly 1/3 : 2/3 horizontally. Normally this has no effect on the display, but a Shift+drag of an application window will snap it to fit the zone it is dragged to.

For the task Nigel mentions, I can place the reference document in the smaller zone, and CAD in the larger zone so I can work with both at the same time.

I think that Windows 11 may offer similar functionality natively, but I haven't looked into that.

If you don't have space for multiple monitors, this approach is another option.

Or stick the pdf on a smart TV

Nigel, I see from the cylinder cover image that you only have two of the three planes displayed, this may have been part of your problem with the tutorial. You probably clicked on one of the "eye" icons that toggle the planes an and off without knowing. Click the eye again to make the missing plane visible

after using the 'Logitech' M570 trackerball for years, I would find having to chase a mouse around the desk a pain. Have had to change the micro switches once but apart from that, it's been in constant use with a combination of Photoshop for clean up and mods to more than 6000 plans and general use.

Regards Ian.

I have set my mouse on a high pointer rate so I can just twitch my hand and fingers about

With a programmable mouse you can cycle through all the active windows with a mouse click

There's hardly room for a mouse at my desk, never mind another monitor

Edited By Ady1 on 24/04/2023 13:00:23

A second monitor.... I could try borrowing one from my two previous computers, which I still have an in fact are set up - in other rooms and no on-line.

I tried a couple of other mice, well, a mouse and a "Penguin" (its trade-name, a vertical device with a light-hearted play on the bird and on posh suits in its style), but neither worked properly on this computer.

A former work-colleague had arm problems from using a conventional mouse, for tasks similar to mine so mainly forms, documents and spread-sheets, and solved that by buying for himself a mouse styled with nods to the VW 'Beetle', and made for children. He has fairly small hands and its domed shape was better and more relaxing for him!

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I think thanks to David Jupp, Mintronics offered me another tutorial, free, and I've now installed with a desk-top short-cut. Opening it, I found it is the scribing-block used in the MEW series, designed by Neill Wyatt.

David also told me of Alibre's facility for setting keys to enhance the mouse switches, which may get round the limits my present pointer has. They seem though, off in the Trial Edition. At least, they were when I found them. and tried them.

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Jason -

Ah, so that's what the beady eyes do! I assumed they have a function but not realised what.

The "missing" plane is sort of shown by the red line round it. I'd basically used the techniques from the tutorial so made that primary extrusion through the plane. I did later see the big blue arrows I guessed are to do with the plane indicators, but not twigged what they really are or do.

I might have turned the plane frame off when working out how to make the groove that is not very clear on that image.

Big blue arrows which appear when hovering over a plane are the direction indicator for the plane normal.

Though it may not matter much in routine use, planes have a 'direction'. Put another way planes have a top/bottom or front/back differentiation.

Unfortunately the ability to edit keyboard shortcuts is disabled in Atom3D (because it would potentially provide a way to access features from products higher up the range). Apologies Nigel - I should have checked that in mnore detail (my own system doesn't necessarily show it because I switch between Expert / Professional / Atom3D but my own user settings file is common for all of them).

A second monitor is a very good thing, but before spending money on one check the computer has two (or more) monitor sockets. Mine only came with a single HDMI port, so I had to fit a graphics card.

They're quite expensive, but my gaming nephew gave me one, not fast enough for his purposes, but plenty good enough for me. A graphics card is also a 'good thing' for maths intensive software like CAD because they allow the computer to improve performance by off-loading lots of number crunching to the graphics card. (Matrices are useful!) However, the extra oomph is optional, and it's value only becomes apparent on complex models.

Don't mess with dodgy mice! Buy, beg or steal one that works properly with Alibre. This is important. Using an inappropriate mouse cripples CAD and owning one may explain some of your earlier CAD problems. Requiring yourself to learn keystroke alternatives on top of everything else is a bad move at this stage - piling confusing learning on top of confusing learning. Later on, keystrokes become an important productivity aid. My advice, avoid them until familiar with how Alibre works.

Delighted to see good progress being made with Alibre, and quickly too. Well done you!

Dave

I have used various cad systems on an assortment of computers. Could some of your problems be the computer you have the cad software installed on? I had my Win7 computer upgraded last year. The hard drive was relegated to drive number 2, and an SSD installed with Win11. A used graphics card with a good dollop of memory has given me a very fast cad computer. The total upgrade was less than £50. Deals were done! Boot up, 8 seconds. Load Solid Edge, 7 seconds. DesignSpark, 8 seconds. I notice the difference when I move to this poor old Win10 machine I'm using to type this. Boot up 5 minutes, Solid Edge, 10 minutes etc.

I could do my cad work on the laptop, an HP Pavilion with SSD and Win10, if I didn't have the cad computer. The cad computer had 16gb of mem before the upgrade.

For serious cad work a good computer is a good investment.

PS. My cad computer isn't connected to the internet. I think it is faster with no anti-virus to slow it down and no cookies phoning home. I recently discovered that this computer had over 20,000 unwanted visitors. It was a lot faster when they were sent packing. I think Alibre requires the internet to run properly. Anyone know for sure?

Lee,

Alibre CAD products us 'on-line activation' by default (and that is the only option supported for Atom3D). Internet connection is required for initial licence activation, then at least once every 30 days to check the licence. Between checks, an internet connection is not required.

Another benefit of an active internet connection is access to on-line Help, which may include edits/additions which are not in the Help which was installed with the software.

Alibre Design Professional or Expert can support other licensing options (these all have pros and cons and are described here )

Edited By David Jupp on 25/04/2023 10:28:36

Dave, Lee,

I'd investigate one of my spare monitors before buying a new one; but will invest in a new mouse. I'll go to an independent computer specialist as I think I'd have better help than in the supermarket-type dealers.

I didn't have problems with the PC or its peripherals in the past, and last year I bought a new PC anyway, with W10 loaded (now WIN11, enforced by Microsoft). I'd also added an extra memory card to my previous, WIN-7, computer still set up off-line, with TC 19 deluxe.

The problem I had was simply that learning the software was 'ard!

Alibre evidently expects a mouse with two keys and a scroll wheel. TurboCAD is not fussy what mouse you use, because it does not use much mouse-scrolling. Also I find it easier to point at the various tools than try to remember lots and lots of keyboard special short-cuts as TurboCAD offers.

(Not just in CAD. Also with programmes like Word & Excel, though at work I did learn some [ALT+xxxx] ones for frequently-used special characters like º and µ - for degrees and micro.)