MOI cad. It looks good, is it?

I know there are some users of the cad programme MOI, on this site. Before I pose a question to MOI themselves, I will ask it here.

The trial is a very generous 90 days, Does the computer have to be online all the time, or just for the download?

Lee

Edited By lee webster on 17/05/2023 17:42:49

I had better ask about different formats it will import and export.

Lee.

MoI never needs to be online for anything except for downloading updates. It can also be installed onto a USB stick and used on any other computer as well.

File formats are:

Import: 3DM (native format), IGES, STEP, SAT, DXF, SVG, PDF and Illustrator. It will also import OBJ and FBX files, which are converted to sufaces/solids on import.

Export: 3DM, IGES, STEP, SAT, DXF, SVG, PDF, Illustrator, FBX, LWO, STL, OBJ, SKP and 3DS.

Martin.

Thanks Martin. I like the look of MOI, it also seems to have two features I use a lot. Boolean add/cut, and slice a body or part, with a plane. I did send an email to MOI asking these questions and the price if I buy.

Lee

Some of the work it can do is pretty awesome, advertising and artistic type outputs

Have a shufty over here: http://moi3d.com/4.0/docs/moi_command_reference.htm

Nice, concise eplanation of each tool in MoI v4. I'm currently running a beta of v5, which is going to be a worthwhile update.

I'm happy to demo any features you might be interested in.

Martin.

Edited By blowlamp on 17/05/2023 18:56:18

Thanks for the info Ady1 and Martin. That's a very handy reference list, very well featured.

I have used Designspark Mechanical to do nearly all my work. This is a screenshot of a 4 cylinder engine. On the left is the tree with all the different parts or bodies. Only one body can be active for editing, and new bodies can either added as a separate addition to an existing body , or as a completely new body . Does MOI use someting like this tree layout? I have expanded the cylinders body to show that it contains separate bodies for the liners and the cylinders. Having the same name doesn't create a conflict. Yhe tick mark next to each body is to hide or show it.

Thanks for the help. Poor old Design Spark is getting fewer features as it progresses, unless you want to pay a monthly rental.

Lee

I think the Scene Browser would be the equivalent in MoI. This Video should give you an idea of how objects can be filtered & organised for further work.

Martin.

I had a reply from MOI by a man called Michael. He has answered all the questions I put to him about downloading MOI, and the price in UK pounds if I decide to buy. If it does what I what it to do then the price is more than fair. Even though Designspark won't export a file in a format MOI understands, I've come across a way of extracting each body from the DS file in a format MOI can understand.

Lee

Edit.

I had already posted this before I saw your video Martin. I am very impressed!

Edited By lee webster on 17/05/2023 20:31:13

Hi Lee.

Michael Gibson is the author of MoI and offers support that is second to none. He is also the author of Rhino Cad, so is a real expert in his field.

Download it and have some fun.

Martin.

MOI doesn't do assembly/movement does it?

Makes MOI a dead duck for me

If I was an artist I'd deffo be interested

Martin.

I should be downloading MOI tomorrow. I will see if I am going to get on with it, and if I do I might start a new post about my progress.

Ady1. I must admit, the assembly/movement option in Alibre was tempting, but if I feel the need for that I can use Solid Edge. If I ever find out how to use that feature.

Lee.

I would be interested to see how you get on with MoI, so it's a from me if you take us through your learning curve.

Martin.

You are right Ady, MoI doesn't have those particular tools, but it does have a well developed range of modelling tools that aren't necessarily available in similarly priced CAD packages.

Martin.

Sorry Martin, but it's a from me. Just a few minutes into MOI I discovered that it doesn't have an extruded cut, an essential part of my designing. Also, to create something like a OHV head for a single cylinder engine would have taken a minimum of 12 bodies that would have to be either boolean'd together, or removed, unless there is another way. I was however, very impressed with the size of the download file. They packed a lot of programme into a small space.

I think I have been spoiled by DesignSpark which is so easy to use, and with a lot of features (except mirror).

I am still looking for a replacement for DS, and the only option I have found is SolidEdge.

Thanks for your help.

Lee

Lee.

You can easily do an extruded through cut with curves, just by selecting the solid and a suitably placed curve and then doing a Boolean Difference.

The cylinder heads in your picture look simple enough, so I did a quick video of one way this could be done in MoI. A few more booleans and you could relieve the fins for the plug hole & stud holes. Dead easy.

Martin.

Yes it does look promising. If only it included CAM apart from 3d printing many people have small routers and mills.
Sadly most low cost or free roads lead to Fusion 360 for that at the moment, a real pity.

It's just different ways of doing the same thing and you probably need to give it more than a couple of hours to find out the way MOI works.

Going back to Nigel's early posts with teh nut and cylinder cover Martin got the same results with boolenes as I got with cuts. His recent video that just used the plan and section sketches is a lot less work than having to extrude that section, then do cuts for the two notched out areas, holes, rounding and filleting etc

John.

There's no doubt that Fusion 360 is a very capable package, that I have used, but the fact that I could never 'own' it always sat uneasy with me. I really do not like the idea of software as a subscription service, so I prefer to buy elsewhere.

Martin.

Jason.

I agree, just a different way of getting the job done as I think MoI is classed as a Direct Modeler whereas Alibre & Fusion 360 are Parametric.

You might be able to do the same thing in your version of Alibre as I did in my last video by extruding two solids that intersect and then doing a boolean intersect.

Martin.