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FreeCAD Open Source Design Software

Posted October 13, 2009 10:15 AM

From MAKE Magazine:

It's an open source CAD/CAE app based on OpenCasCade, QT, and Python. It offers features like macro recording, the ability to run as a server and dynamically load application extensions, and it runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac. One of the many cool features it offers is 100% scriptable objects in Python: Besides the standard object types such as annotations, meshes and parts objects, FreeCAD also offers the amazing possibility to build 100% python-scripted objects, called Python Features. Those objects will behave exactly as any other FreeCAD object, can be saved in a document and opened on any other installation of FreeCAD, since the python code that defines the object is also saved in the document. The project is still in alpha. The only official builds are in Windows and 32-bit Debian Linux, but you can download (from their SourceForge site) unofficial builds for AMD-based 64-bit Debian/Ubuntu, openSUSE. and Intel Mac OS X.

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Anonymous Poster
#1

Re: FreeCAD Open Source Design Software

10/14/2009 12:22 AM

Would this be useful to someone who has never used AutoCad and has no Cad experience to speak of, or something useful only to someone already familiar with similar software?

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Anonymous Poster
#2
In reply to #1

Re: FreeCAD Open Source Design Software

10/14/2009 12:47 AM

Unless you know "Python" programming language - Don't bother just yet; it is still in the development stage and much of the user interface hasn't been set-up.

With the full release version, it would be an advantage to have previous solids modelling (eg. Solidworks, moreso than AutoCad), but not absolutely essential.

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