Deals on Alibre

[Zeb]

The filleting kernels are where the real money is at and nearly always behind those awful subscription paywalls. These are some of my hobby-level experiences:

-Shapr3D has probably the best budget fillet solver, but it's also on subscription (insert Monty Python French guards booing).

-F360 has been discussed already, but I like using it once in a while.

Nearly everything else I'm stuck using is semi or completely destructive modeling.

-Rhino 3D (perpetual + free updates) still draws me in because of the surfacing and the ability to make most any kind of fillet (and repairs), but it is painstaking work. Fillet solver is subpar. Model history is painful to manage but super fast for concepting.

-Moi3D (perpetual) has a subpar fillet solver and no history but is priced well.

-Subdivision modeling in Blender (free) can also be useful for casting type work and can be converted to smooth bsurfaces in Rhino for constraining, but it takes a lot of effort to master. In the example below, every transition is filleted.


-Zbrush (perpetual) is coming a long ways with the new bevel solver that came out last week. Definitely not meant for making engines, but delicate work is (excruciatingly?) possible. It is useful for embossing any logo onto a surface. If you don't need perfect accuracy, you can also "paint" your fillets in so they're slightly larger than your cutter. Learning curve is in years. ha This video on how they design and tolerance Hasbro action figures is very interesting...


There's a ton of great tools out there.

Looking forward to trying Alibre out this weekend.

 

[Zeb]

I ran the demo for ten minutes. Super easy to jump right in. Sketches, extrusions, big fillets were easy. Inside filet corners solved nicely.

I managed to break it at this point, which is understandable (it approaches a singularity, see blue selection). Locked up trying to solve (Ctrl+Alt+Del). Other than that, looks pretty nice.

Edit*: On the side, I'm wondering if support can elaborate on "third party applications" in the service agreement (buried towards the end):
8(G)
Alibre may also automatically collect and report back to Alibre information about the Software and Licensee’s usage along with limited information about the Device and/or other third-party applications.

 

[Jasonb]

The usual one that trips up Alibre's fillets is when you have elliptical parts meeting particularly if one is lofted or the extrusion tapered. Things like flywheel spokes meeting the inner edge of a flywheel rim that is a rotated half ellipse would be a typical example. You can get some of it to fillet depending on the order you place the fillets in and also if you choose the surface rather than the line where the two meet but that does not always work

 

[MrMetric]

It is worth noting that there is a seldom mentioned, free, Siemens 3D CAD too for non-professional use. I don't know how it is crippled, but I assume that it is in some fashion. I think Siemens owns NX, so maybe it is the same thing? I've been wondering that. I don't know anything about NX other than it is what Apple uses (or used) for their designs, which would certainly be an indication that the application is very capable. I also don't know if there is any reasonable way to get an output from the free version of the Siemens product into an affordable CAM system. Because I have a CNC (along with a ton of others on this board, I suspect) the ability to generate G-code is a mandate.

ON EDIT:
https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/plmapp/education/solid-edge/en_us/free-software/communityI'm not sure what the difference is between SolidEdge and NX. It looks like Siemens has several different products. That isn't too surprising; Dassualt does the same thing with DraftSight, SolidWorks, and even Alibre at one point in time (I think they owned it for a while... might be wrong). I'm very curious if anyone has any experience with SolidEdge and if they know whether or not it can be integrated into a CAM system. I believe the full SE product is well respected, but I know nothing more about the community edition other than it is a perpetual license.

Edit 2:
https://www.cadforum.net/viewtopic.php?t=128. Apparently it is fully functional, but has some limitations associated with opening created assets on full versions, etc. Interesting. Still not sure about CAM

 

[mrehmus]

Mike, you can you not tick or untick to include hidden detail and ctr lines when creating the drawing? Last image shows the same part with options on or off

I'm not sure why you can't use Alibre for your commercial unless you have some deal that gets you current releases for free.

Yes I can see the fillet issue being a problem if you are printing etc

The tick on off does not work and they had agreed that it is a bug.
I can and do use Alibre for commercial work. The $20 SolidWorks is their student version and the license does not allow commercial work.

 

[Jasonb]

Well all I can go by is that it works for Me? as per the image I posted yesterday the cylinder on the left is with it ticked, the one on the right unticked. This is latest version 23 that came out a couple of weeks ago but don't recall it not working previously

 

[Richard Hed]

Well all I can go by is that it works for Me? as per the image I posted yesterday the cylinder on the left is with it ticked, the one on the right unticked. This is latest version 23 that came out a couple of weeks ago but don't recall it not working previously

This is one of the problems I have with AutoCAD--the hidden lines don't cmoe out automatically. I hate haveing to do ext4ra work of putting them in by hand. I will try this out in Alibre. You say there is a "tick" setting. I will have to find that.

 

[idahoan]

If you have already created your drawing all you need to do is left click on the view that you want to edit and you should get a pop up menu, select the manage view icon and you will get a dialog that will allow you to turn the hidden lines on and off.
https://help.alibre.com/articles/#!alibre-help-v23/2d-drawings-in-place-editing-view-management
I have created hundreds of 2d drawings from 3d solids in Alibre and rarely have to manually draw anything.

Dave

 

[Jasonb]

I hate haveing to do ext4ra work of putting them in by hand. I will try this out in Alibre. You say there is a "tick" setting. I will have to find that.

Richard if you look at my post #13 you will see I showed the screens that come up when you are creating a 2D drawing and have highlighted what to click to get the options and then the items to tick or untick depending on what you want. Dave's method also works but does need to be done for each view. I usually just go for select all and then untick "design dimensions" as that can get a bit untidy.

 

[Jasonb]

The Siemens one mentioned above is Solid Edge Community Edition, a few have been promoting it's use and free "lifetime" licence, though if you read the second post in this recent thread the latest version has a limited lifetime. So up to the user if they want to spend the time learning it and then find out in a couple of years that it may no longer be free.

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=175562

 

[Richard Hed]

If you have already created your drawing all you need to do is left click on the view that you want to edit and you should get a pop up menu, select the manage view icon and you will get a dialog that will allow you to turn the hidden lines on and off.
https://help.alibre.com/articles/#!alibre-help-v23/2d-drawings-in-place-editing-view-management
I have created hundreds of 2d drawings from 3d solids in Alibre and rarely have to manually draw anything.

Dave

OK, thanx. I found that but being raised by Wolves, it took me a while to distinquish the correct button. Now it seems rather obvious. However, it lookt like there may be a way to 'untick' individual lines. You can see that it can be rather messy. It would be nice to take out the unnecessary lines just so one does not have to interpret the mess.

We're neighbors. Where in Idaho? Are there Wolf packs in Idaho? Have you met any?

 

[Jasonb]

If you select an elevation on the drawing then right click on it this box comes up and you can toggle hidden detail on or off on just that one elevation, same for ctr lines etc. Personally I would rather be consistent and show either all or no hidden detail rather than deleting only some which may confuse anyone else reading the drawing.

 

[Richard Hed]

If you select an elevation on the drawing then right click on it this box comes up and you can toggle hidden detail on or off on just that one elevation, same for ctr lines etc. Personally I would rather be consistent and show either all or no hidden detail rather than deleting only some which may confuse anyone else reading the drawing.

I have a mess on a really simple little piece but it has 7 hidden lines crampt up in about 2mm of space. A better way to display this would be with an enlarged -- what's it called? a cutout, a blow-up, it has a name but being raised by Wolves . .. . .

 

[idahoan]

Hi Jason

I did indicate that my method is useful if you have already created your drawing and needed to edit the visibility because you didn't do it at the creation of the drawing. Lots of different ways to accomplish the same end result. The manage edge command is also useful.

Richard
Yes there wolves in Idaho, but none where I live.
The next item you are looking for is called a detailed view and Alibre will also create that for you quite easily.

Dave

 

[Jasonb]

I don't think Atom3D that Richard has will do the detail view, only pro & expert that we have

Best work around would be to insert a second view of the same part and scale that larger than the other.

 

[Richard Hed]

I don't think Atom3D that Richard has will do the detail view, only pro & expert that we have

Best work around would be to insert a second view of the same part and scale that larger than the other.

I've been looking for it, found the section. A blown up section will do just as well. Or nearlhy so.

 

[Zeb]

OK, thanx. I found that but being raised by Wolves, it took me a while to distinquish the correct button. Now it seems rather obvious. However, it lookt like there may be a way to 'untick' individual lines. You can see that it can be rather messy. It would be nice to take out the unnecessary lines just so one does not have to interpret the mess.

We're neighbors. Where in Idaho? Are there Wolf packs in Idaho? Have you met any?

Spent an hour watching this guy catchin' deers last weekend (likely a big yote, not sure). I've had a wolf run past me at 30 yards. Packs here can travel up to 40 miles in one day!

I use NX (+Mach3) at work and even the base pricing is astronomical. I've never tried solid edge but knowing Siemens they aren't cheap with customers. Stable though and the tools cut like butter. Hardly ever get a crash working very large assemblies. Biggest gripe is it constantly loses feature references depending on the weather, but it is more stable than solidworks.

Every modeling kernel has tricks to workaround certain quirks. Anyone have ideas of a nightmare model I could work on with Alibre this weekend?

 

[idahoan]

I did forget about the Atom component in this equation.

Dave

 

[Zeb]

How much does it cost to add CAM if you go the Pro route? Odd that it's only included in the workshop edition.

 

[Richard Hed]

Spent an hour watching this guy catchin' deers last weekend (likely a big yote, not sure). I've had a wolf run past me at 30 yards. Packs here can travel up to 40 miles in one day!
View attachment 131285
I use NX (+Mach3) at work and even the base pricing is astronomical. I've never tried solid edge but knowing Siemens they aren't cheap with customers. Stable though and the tools cut like butter. Hardly ever get a crash working very large assemblies. Biggest gripe is it constantly loses feature references depending on the weather, but it is more stable than solidworks.

Every modeling kernel has tricks to workaround certain quirks. Anyone have ideas of a nightmare model I could work on with Alibre this weekend?

What's a 'yote'?