I had never heard of this CAD package. It’s kind of medium priced: $29/mo or $239/yr. It does seems very easy to use. Have a look at this video: [U]I suck at 3D modeling but this is easy - Shapr3D + 3D Printing - YouTube.
Very Interesting! The software is something I think I can learn to use, I just do not like the monthly or annual fees. I prefer a one time fee and you own it, even if more expensive to own. Thanks for the video link.
I’m thinking of it like Photoshop. It is so much cheaper to rent it @ $10/mo than to buy it at $500-$800 that it became a no-brainer for me, especially when you basically have to rebuy it every 3 to 5 years.
BTW, technically, even if you “buy” software, you don’t own it. What you’re paying for is a licence to use the software. It’s been this way since the 50’s. IBM started it and virtually every company has adopted that model since then. There may be some exceptions to this ‘rule’ but I’m not aware of any.
That is pretty interesting, looks like it might be a pain to use without a pencil. When I started using CAD is tried Onshape and was never really very good with it. I then decided to try Freecad and after a little bit I never looked back. Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out how to do what I want to do but normally I can. There are a ton of good videos on learning Freecad. It can be intimidating because it has so many work benches but I only basically use 2 Part Design & Part. I have tried Tinkercad but just can’t get the hang of it. Most things I can just do in Freecad while I figure out how to do it in Tinkercad. If I had stated with it might have been different. $29 a month seems pricey to me for hobby use, but then again maybe I’m just cheap.
Yeah. The $20/mo cost if bought on a yearly basis is obviously more attractive, but $10/mo would be a lot more appealing.
I’ve been using FreeCAD for the last couple years. As I use it more it’s making a lot more sense and I’m getting pretty good models. I found a YT channel called MangoJelly that is real good at demoing various techniques of the work benches and he has lots of videos in his library. My post high school training was in drafting so I like their approach to modeling with sketches verses a more organic method like in Blender and its equals (I cannot draw a reasonable picture of a flower to save my soul)!. And of course free works for me. I see/saw that Fusion 360 was free for hobbyists, but I was making items to sell on Etsy so shied away from that product. I worked in the IT field my entire career and was OK with the buy a license model and if needed maybe buying support. I was never a fan when the Autodesk’s and Adobes of the world went to subscription based services.
Larry
@Larry_Bowers, I looked at my Photoshop subscription this way: $120/yr vs $500 - $800 to buy outright. It takes 4 years to even approach the cost of buying and I would need to rebuy at least that often to keep even reasonably up to date. By subscribing, I am kept up to date all the way through. Mind you, I don’t believe Photoshop is available outright purchase any more.