[quote=“Sean_Kelly_1”]I found myself in a similar situation over Christmas. I’ve found Solidworks isn’t ideal for creating organic shapes so I tried Rhino with T-Spline and found is really good piece of software. The issue being the price for both packages and a friend of mine recommended Fusion 360. Frankly, since using it I haven’t looked back.
T-Splines was originally designed by Autodesk, with Fusion being an Autodesk product. They allow anyone earning under $100,000 annually to use it for free for a year. http://kelly3d.com/wp/ Please see for yourself what I’ve been making with it. The program makes CAD modelling enjoyable, unlike obnoxious, disgustingly overpriced Solidworks that couldn’t even shell an organic shape made in Rhino.
@Sean: T-Splines was originally a stand alone product NOT design or made by Autodesk. It was originally a plug in for Rhino only then went to Solidworks with Ts-Elements. When Autodesk bought out the T-Splines team they then over the years still “supported” the Rhino plug in but then over time, as Auto Desk does, fazes out any support for outside plug-ins.
To be fair just because you made a shape in Rhino and SW can’t shell it that’s not a fault of SW. You’d definitely have to show a model first before really being able to say that. I’m not saying SW is perfect but I know that Rhino also lets you make things that can’t manufacturer because it doesn’t care about constraints. Again not knocking Rhino or SW as much as it is also about the user knowing the software. When using the SW shell command you’ve got to have an understanding of how it’s going to be made because I’ve seen Catia and Pro/E choke on the same shelling issues as a SW model. All it means is that you have to build the outer or inner wall yourself with an offset surface and using the cutting tools to get what you want.
You say SW is over priced and for $4k maybe it is for you, but you can’t say that Fusion 360 and OnShape aren’t direct clones of SW which is a spin off from Pro/E and the likes of Catia and NX. Also don’t forget about Inventor or even Solidedge. I do think it’s funny how ppl complain about price point but coming from the freelance world or even coproate and you want $5k for a project or $5ok a year and the person said “well you’re not worth that” You’d not feel so good. I’m not defending SW or any of these programs but you can’t say they are over priced if your are really serious about your work…shit ain’t free out here…people gotta eat just like you.
And if you think the price you pay for Fusion 360 isn’t being subsidized by the rest of Autodesk products that you are fooling yourself. Sure it’s price is appealing for the level of functionality. But know your history when it comes to Autodesk and their business practices. When they put out AutoCad initially it was free for YEARS!!! And then Autodesk said hey now that your whole company is using AutoCad we are now going to start charging you thousand of $$$ if you want to continue moving forward with it. Not saying that history won’t repeat itself just know that not too long ago you could but Maya, Max, etc as a license to own which they then pretty much forced everyone into the subscription model.
Or that after 15 or so years just cutting off Softimage XSI after numerous companies had it as part of their entire workflow. So no AD isn’t this beaming light of hope that is going to save the world for cheap…