Free 3D design software options.

[learmoia]

I'm sure this is as toxic as Digitrax vs NCE.. but where to opinions lie with free options for 3D design software?

20 years ago, I learned Auto Desk Inventor, so something that is based around the concept building solids off the surface of other solids, is something I can easily grasp.

Thoughts? ~Ian

[Chris333]

I think the best one is the one you can figure out how to use. 

[Erock482]

Tinker CAD and Sketchup I feel are good ones if you have no CAD experience prior and are quick to gain fast success.

If you want to develop skills that build more toward other more "Professional" CAD Softwares I would check out Fusion 360 which is a free autodesk product

[Sumner]

Fusion 360.  $500 a year software that you can use free if you aren't going to make money off of it.  Love it....and it is an AutoDesk product that you can probably be up on quickly with your past experience ....

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal

Sumner

[sd80mac]

Don't for get about Onshape: https://www.onshape.com/en/

[robert3985]

I'm using SketchUp, but I'm paying for the Pro Version because it's got the extra features I need for modeling my parts I'm developing.

I started out with no knowledge or experience with any 3D modeling app, and to model a fairly complex telegraph cross-arm with all the nut & bolt details and insulators, took me about two full days...with a lot of help from YouTube.

My second project, modern UP ditch lights & MU hoses for excursion service E-9's, took me about three days to complete...not just using SketchUp, but to make my preliminary drawings, scale the dimensions down, do the 3D modeling, get my model "water tight", support it, slice it, arrange it on my build plate, upload the sliced file to my flash drive...then 1 hour and 14 minutes to print my first, small test run.  Zero print failures, and excellent detail.

Although I haven't used any other 3D Modeling app, I'm pretty happy with SketchUp, and I can't really see a need for a more complicated or comprehensive 3D Modeler for N-scale model railroading....

Photo (1) - SketchUp 3D model of UP Ditch Lights/MU Hoses for Excursion E9's...


Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Chris333]

What extra features does Sketchup Pro have?

[wvgca]

i still prefer autodesk inventor ... it's not free, but in my opinion it's worth it ....

[robert3985]

What extra features does Sketchup Pro have?

SketchUp Pro has Solid Tools, which are essential for making and correcting 3D models.  Also, I can add extensions, which I can't do in SketchUp Free.  Pro also gives me many more options for both importing and exporting different types of files.  Also Pro has Match Photo, which allows creating a 3D model from photos. Pro allows me to import pre-built 3D models in various file types, where Free only allows me to import them if they're skp (SketchUp) files.

Free requires that I be online when I use it, while Pro is loaded on to my desktop, which for me is much faster and more reliable.

Pro has other features which don't apply to my application of making things in N-scale...yet.  But, I'd rather have more features than I need than not having some of the features I need.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Is it worth $300 bucks a year?  I think so.

[Chris333]

I have 2019 Pro. It has been so long that I forgot what regular Sketchup was like.

I hate things like not being able to make any circle or radius that is smaller than a 00-90 screw. I have to scale items way up just to be able to draw them smoothly. And a lot of times when I join 2 items together they will not mesh well. I need to go in close and do a lot of repair by hand. The "snap" to the end of a line works poorly so that it is easy to not be joined to the last line you drew. When the drawing gets too large it slows way down.

I hate it, but it is what I know how to use. 

[robert3985]

I have 2019 Pro. It has been so long that I forgot what regular Sketchup was like.

I hate things like not being able to make any circle or radius that is smaller than a 00-90 screw. I have to scale items way up just to be able to draw them smoothly. And a lot of times when I join 2 items together they will not mesh well. I need to go in close and do a lot of repair by hand. The "snap" to the end of a line works poorly so that it is easy to not be joined to the last line you drew. When the drawing gets too large it slows way down.

I hate it, but it is what I know how to use. 

I was aware of SketchUp's problems with rendering small radii...so, I draw my models at 100%, then scale them down to N-scale in my slicer (I'm using Lychee presently).  So far this works very well on my fairly simple models. Since I've incorporated this step into my workflow, I'm not bothered by it.

I was having problems joining objects together also, but I went to YouTube where there are plenty of tutorials and found out what I wasn't doing that was keeping my objects from "adhering" to each other.  It wasn't the fault of SketchUp, it was that I didn't know what I was doing and had neglected some basic steps.

When I built my last desktop computer, I had in mind that it was going to be used for both photo/video editing as well as building 3D models, so I built a very powerful, very big gaming rig that doesn't slow a whit when I'm using SketchUp 2023.  Of course there are now faster, more powerful rigs, but this one will do the job very well for the next five years or so.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Chris333]

so, I draw my models at 100%, then scale them down to N-scale

I've heard this before, but don't understand. If I'm drawing something that is N scale, then N scale is 100%. I usually have to draw at x48 N scale and then I use Netfabb to shrink it x48 down. Still a pain because I have to convert every single measurement from N scale to x48 N scale.

If I took all of my scale drawings and sized them up to 1:1 scale that would be a large file.

And then there is stuff like drawing a 1015 coupler box. How do you draw that at 100%.

To join items I right click and "intersect faces with model" and it will join about 95% of it. I need to zoom in and find the tiny parts it didn't and manually do it myself.

Dunno just another reason I think Sketchup is sketchly 

Oh and I'm sure it you opened one of my files it would be slow for you as well. It has nothing to do with the computer.

[rodsup9000]

  Been using Sketchup for over 15 years now. Bought Sketchup Pro in 2016 and again last fall. My old computer was built for 3D modeling in 2013 with I7 processor and a high end graphics card (at that time). It started slowing way down last summer on some very large files and thought it was the 2016 software, so I upgraded to Sketchup Pro 2022. It wasn't the software so I built a new computer with I7, 12th gen processor and very good graphics card ($1100).  The new computer has taken everything I've thrown at very fast.   

   I also draw my stuff full size and then resize it in sketchup by .00625 for N Scale and .01145 for HO. I do this so I can get more segments with round objects (usually 96 unless it's real big and then I go up to 192).


 

[Chris333]

I can use Sketchup while AutoCAD is open and Youtube videos are playing without a problem. But once a drawing gets further along with more and more detail it will slow down. All the commands will slow down so it isn't just a visual thing on the screen. If the 2 items I'm intersecting with each other are big enough it can take 1-5 minutes for it to complete the task.

Draw full size draw at 100%   

This is the under side of a hopper with a recess for a 1015 coupler and a .035" dia hole for a #90 screw.


What would be considered full size for this?

And when I need wheels, gears and axles to fit perfectly in N scale how do I draw that at 100%? I measured and drew this whole frame off a Bachmann frame and then added my details to it so I can print my own.

Then I put all the Bachmann gears, wheels, and motor in it.



What is full size? I mean if I'm drawing my couch yeah I can draw it full size and then scale it down, but when I'm drawing something to scale there is no way to draw it full size.

[Chris333]

This is my computer specs: