Got this email from Autodesk that Fusion is increasing their annual price by a huge amount. I subbed for 1 year a couple years ago for I think $380. Then I was able to get an educational sub after that. Fusion is still the cheapest CAD software out there, not including the free stuff like FreeCAD, but still, this price increase is massive.
It should be noted that it’s still free to use for personal use minus the extra features.
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No, no - they’re not raising the price; they’re rebalancing it to reflect the value it delivers!!1!
And since they’ve reduced the free version functionality significantly, I believe I’m due a substantial rebate.
I dont use it, but did they bundle any other software in or add any features that would justify the use of the word “rebalancing” or is it just plain old fashioned corporate bullshit?
What did they take out of the free version?
It’s been a little while, but they gutted the mesh editing tools in he free version. They also dropped the number of active models, restricted certain file-functions (maybe assemblies…I don’t do any/many), and limited file import/export.
Just in case anybody doesn’t know, if you’re a US or Canada veteran, solidworks is $20 a year
Will need to look into this thanks!
I’m sticking to FreeCAD.
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Me too. While it’s probably not as good as commercial packages, I’ve yet to encounter something I can’t model. Once the topological naming problem is gone (should happen soon) it’s gonna be a delight to use.
The TNP is problably one of the most infiriating bugs FreeCAD has.
Once that’s gone, i’m sticking to FreeCAD till I get bored with this hobby or I die.
I didn’t know it had an acronym now ^^
Opps, it doesn’t…
It’s such a bad piece of software I just don’t get how people can use it…
How?
The problem is that there is no real competitor to fusion. If you think about usability/learning curve
SolidWorks for Makers seems like a decent competitor. $48/year USD for now.
I thought they got rid of that tier. Might have to try it out if it’s still available.
Yeah, I’ve used multiple CAD tools, from pro/engineer to F360, but the learning curve of freecad felt like a brick wall.
FreeCAD definitely has a steeper learning curve and a few rough edges, but to me it was absolutely worth it to learn. I really don’t like my files subject to the whims of Autodesk.
Yeah, I’ve done some editing in FreeCAD, but I’m lost at the rest.
I would love for you to explain how the workflow is any different than in something like SolidWorks? I use SolidWorks in my day job and I use FreeCAD exclusively for my personal projects. It was a pretty seamless transition for me. Sketch->Feature, repeat, paying attention to order of operations in your model tree. What’s so different?
Is FreeCAD’s UI a little rough in places? Perhaps, but a lot of the things that people complain about in FreeCAD are present in commercial software. If there’s one thing that SolidWorks might do better is allowing you to get away with things like over-defining geometry accidentally. It’s more forgiving of lazy modeling.
FreeCAD has improved significantly in just the last few years. There is a good community around it. We need more people using it and learning how to model.
Very true, and the reason I went with Fusion in the first place. It’s easy to pick up while still being fully featured.
I am on my 7th or 8th year of it. I don’t use it for making money, but use it for making 3D printed things for around the house, then upload them to Thinginverse and Printables for everyone else to use.
It looks like Solidworks for Makers is US $48 / year.
A couple of answers from the Q&A at the bottom of the page:
“3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS for Makers is meant for personal projects and non-commercial use. Per our terms and conditions, you may sell items you make for a profit up to and not exceeding US$2,000 a year. If you are interested in building your business with SOLIDWORKS tools, check out our start up program or our commercial offers.”
“Currently this offer is available for purchase with a billing address within the following countries: Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. More countries will be added soon.”
“Files and data created with your Maker account are digitally watermarked and can only be opened up in another Maker platform. You cannot open up files created with your Maker account within a commercial or academic platform. This digital watermark is added to native 3D file formats, such as .3dxml, .sldprt, .sldasm, and .slddrw. Neutral 3D file formats, such as .stp or .iges can be opened on any platform.”
Oh wow, thanks for this! I’m a veteran and $20 a year is awesome! I do the same, mostly just making things around the house. I don’t really upload them though, because most things I make are super custom to my needs.
Yeah, I make things for me and family, but you’d be surprised at how many other people would be interested in it as well. I certainly was. I looked at my Thingiverse analytics, and I’ve had 10’s of thousands of downloads of my things. I know those don’t directly translate into prints, but I was shocked at how many people downloaded my designs that were originally just for me to organize my sandpaper, or sift sand or hold my CNC collets and wrenches. . .
Are you familiar with the watermark they are talking about? How does that express itself; does it show up on models or is it like metadata in a file?
I don’t know exactly how it is implemented, but if I had to guess, it is probably just metadata in the file. I know that when I print out the 2D drawings I make, it puts text in the bottom corner with something to the effect of “This was made with the educational version of Solidworks, Not for commercial use” or something like that. I expect something similar if you tried to open a file made on the educational version on the commercial version, there would be something similar on the screen. Not sure though, since I only have the educational version.
Thanks for the tip, I use SW at work. This would work out well for me.
I use CATIA at work, and it’s funny how both programs are made by Dassault, but have such different interfaces.
Probably bought by Dassaut and developed by different teams
I’ve been using Solid Edge for a while -it’s very solid once you learn it, just a less mature UX compared to 360. But no bullshit, it just works, I love not losing work because half the system is in the cloud and randomly forced you up to log in.
I love synchronous mode for quickly adjusting parts. Otherwise the standard mode works pretty much the same as solid works with some quirks.
Come, join us: FreeChads
I switched to Shapr3d a few years ago, but I follow the work of the FreeCAD team with great interest.
IMHO, I think Autodesk should provide a free/limited version of Fusion360 for the people who only want to design and 3D print small pieces
They do. It’s free for personal/non-commercial use.
As a hobbiest who’s relatively new to CAD, I wish I liked Shapr3D more than I do. I want to use it on my Mac but everything is multiple clicks away compared to other software and it seemingly has fewer keyboard shortcuts to compensate :/
Also, this is probably user error but I could not for the life of me figure out how to make the spout on teapot for a Halloween costume in Shapr3d. Spent maybe an hour and a half on it. Ended up installing Fusion360 and had it done in about 30 minutes. I don’t know the term for it but getting an extrusion to follow/form to a bunch of different sized circles in Shapr3d wasn’t doing what I expected.
So my educator free subscription isn’t changing?
I don’t think so. I’m on the education license as well.
What do you guys use fusion for? I was told to learn it but idk its uses. Im into 3d art and I was gonna use plasticity instead of fusion.
3D CAD. I use it for designing models to print on a 3D printer. My favorite feature is the design timeline
Juste crack inventor
I’ve been using Solid Edge for a while -it’s very solid once but with less mature UX compared to 360. But no bullshit, it just works, I love not losing work because half the system is in the cloud and randomly forced you up to log in.
