@Christopher_Gaul hobby license is free
Try Oneshape
Fusion 360 is great if you don’t have any concerns about your work being locked up in a proprietary, cloud-dependent program that is only going to be free to use (by hobbyists) as long as Autodesk feels that suits their purposes. For the rest of us, there is FreeCAD, a program that is truly free and keeps getting better and better.
@Aaron_Grogan I might add that Autodesk gathers data from it’s customers that among other things can be used to make ‘ads more relevant to your interests’. FreeCAD does none of this.
https://www.autodesk.com/company/terms-of-use/en/general-terms#privacy
I use Fusion 360. As far as I’m personally concerned the stuff I make is open source so as long as the platform doesn’t start actively block that it will do, for now. Fusion 360 is a very powerful tool and although the initial learning is fairly steep, when you’ve got the basics down, making good models is really simple.
I spent a long time trying out various other tools and at the moment I’m going to stick with Fusion.
Lastly, my free makers year expired recently and although the process is I feel deliberately obscured you can totally renew the free yearly makers subscription.
…I am slightly uncomfortable with using something from Autodesk however, as in the past the company have made some decisions that don’t really align with me, but at the moment they seem to be actively supporting the maker movement, but if that changes I’ll be first to jump to something else.
DesignSpark Mechanical 2.0
I tryed alot free stuff and i like that alot. There is one Mirror tool for objects missing but if you know that u dont have problems to build anything becuse of other tools.
Pretty easy to work with after a while.
FreeCAD, if you want to be an engineer and build stuff. (Mechanical construction). Blender if you want to be artsy and create fancy stuff. (Modeling).
Blender, best ever. You can use for every Situation. Next is platformindependent. i use it on win and linux. I use it for 3D print or Design my home furniture. calculate prices for Material with it. any virual and visual ideas…
I use SolidWorks. You get it with an EAA membership which is like $40/yr.
Rhinozeros
@Mr_Bonce I would caution against assuming that Autodesk’s motives are altruistic in nature. The hacker/maker/hobbyist scene is a relatively new/emerging market for CAD software, and Fusion 360 is their attempt to gain a foothold and stay relevant in this space, thereby reducing the threat posed to their business model by community-driven alternatives. One only needs to look at the success of the RepRap movement and the increasing sophistication of open hardware 3D printing technology to understand what Autodesk is worried about and trying to thwart in the realm of software. Since all CAD software has a learning curve, they want you to be invested in their products at the expense of FOSS alternatives.
I also respectfully question whether a design that is locked up in a proprietary file format and depends on a service like Fusion 360 or OnShape can be properly regarded as open source. It’s one thing to need to use a proprietary compiler to compile otherwise open source code for a particular proprietary operating system, as the code itself can still be adapted to support other targets and built with other compilers that may come along in the future. I don’t think work created in the aforementioned “cloud”/SaSS products passes that test.
I encourage you to take another look at FreeCAD, which improved greatly with release 0.17. I use it to create parts and prototypes for manufacturing equipment at work and have found the rate at which they’ve been adding features lately has been almost overwhelming. Every CAD package has a slightly different UI/workflow philosophy, and FreeCAD can be a little intimidating for a beginner, but if you are patient and sit through a few recent tutorial videos you will be pleased with all of the capabilities that this package offers. If you get stumped on something, post in the FreeCAD G+ community and I will do my best to help you out.
It’s also important to note that as a community-driven project, there are no business/marketing constraints on how far FreeCAD can go in terms of functionality. If you look at Fusion 360, in contrast, Autodesk has had to omit a lot of advanced functionality because they can’t risk devaluing Inventor, their higher-end product.
I’ve used all of the CAD programs mentioned here. Some quick thoughts:
Sketchup is fun and fast, but only if your model is simple and you don’t plan on editing it too much after you are done. It is NOT parametric, so changing a model is cumbersome, to say the least. Constantly having to install a new version and re-request the license was a pain.
TinkerCad is easy and quite powerful, and runs in the browser, so you don’t need to install anything, which is nice. The same is true for OnShape (which is much more powerful). Both are proprietary (AutoDesk owns TinkerCad), and you run the risk of having your online-only models held hostage if they ever decide to restrict their licensing.
That last point is especially true for AutoDesk Fusion360. It is the big dog here, and probably has the most features and polish, and it works very well. It is kind of like using Microsoft Office—there are alternatives, but it is loaded with well thought out features. But, similarly, you run the same risk regarding your files, and it also is installed, bloated, constantly whining for updates, and is effectively loaded with spyware judging from the above comment about ads. But it is a great tool if that doesn’t bother you.
Design Spark Mechanical was pretty good last time I tried it, and it seems like on offshoot of Alibre (maybe). I found it to be too slow, and it is actually proprietary so you have the same concerns regarding your files.
Blender is awesome and very powerful, but wow is that UI confusing. As someone else commented above, use it for artsy stuff. But if you take the time to learn the UI (there are lots of videos on YouTube) then you will probably love it. Just give yourself months, not days, to learn it.
Then their is FreeCAD. I LOVE it!!! If you haven’t tried the 0.17 release, then you are missing out. It is fully parametric, so making changes to a complex model can be trivial. It is also cross platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and if you’re on Linux you can use the daily build versions, which they will warn you can be unstable, but in my experience they are fine and have the latest features. FreeCAD is my go to CAD now for everything. And it is fully open source, so your work will never be lost.
@Aaron_Grogan Being a Solidworks user, I can’t stand anything that isn’t parametric. I’ll try freecad again and see what everyone is taking about.
@Taylor_Landry1 Maybe to you, to a lot of people, that’s a lot of money. Especially when you can get functionally equivalent software cheaper or even free.
@Christopher_Gaul Not saying it’s not a lot of money, but in perspective, it’s not much for a hobby. The average video game costs $60. I would guess most avid gamers buy at least 7-8 games/year. That’s basically the same price. If you love the software, then one not need be rich nor insane to spend $500 on it.
@Taylor_Landry1 Considering you could buy an entire 3D printer, and a decent one at that, for $500. It IS out of proportion for a hobby IMO.
@Christopher_Gaul Again, it’s a perspective thing. I just purchased a spool of filament that cost $1200. 1 spool.
There’s just no need to put down a software option because it’s not something you would buy. It’s not insane, and one need not be rich. That’s all. Not for you - got it. Doesn’t mean not for anyone.