
Tinkercad – Create 3D digital designs with online CAD - evo_9
https://www.tinkercad.com/
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mayoff
If you're looking for a more “serious” CAD package without paying “serious”
money, check out OnShape and Fusion 360. Both of these packages are
industrial-strength CAD (parametric, history-based, and constraint-solving)
and can be used for free.

OnShape ([https://www.onshape.com/](https://www.onshape.com/)) has a frontend
that runs entirely in the browser on the desktop, so you can even run it on
Linux, and has apps with real create/edit capability for phones and tablets.

If OnShape doesn't have everything you want, or you run into its storage
limits and don't want to pay for more space, check out Fusion 360. It's free
for hobbyists. It only runs on Mac and Windows, but it's got a ton more
features than OnShape and no storage limits.

I played with Fusion 360 before I found OnShape and wasn't able to make much
headway, even after checking out some of Autodesk's training videos. When I
found OnShape, I watched its training videos and got a handle on the basic CAD
concepts. When I ran into OnShape's limits, I was able to go back to Fusion
360 and understand it. Now I use Fusion 360 to design parts for hobby-level 3D
printing and it's great.

~~~
choudanu4
Just to clarify, unless you're a student/educator, Fusion360 is only free for
30 days....after that you have to pay.

~~~
aceperry
Actually, you can use it for free if you're a business making less than
$100,000/year. Or something like that, I forgot the exact terms, but it's
quite generous. The terms are shown when you first install and register the
program.

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vanous
Thanks for mentioning onshape and their Linux support, will definitely try. In
the meantime (desktop based, multi platform) FreeCAD [1] has been great for
me.

1) [http://freecadweb.org/](http://freecadweb.org/)

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benzofuran
The stability wasn't there last time this was posted, but maybe they've made
some improvements. I do wish there was a distinction being made between maker-
quality and production-quality software in some of these areas - being an
engineer that uses CAD on a daily basis, this is cute but closer to CAPD
(Computer Assisted Part Design) or some such. Not to denigrate their work, but
this is not a full-fledged CAD package - but it is above and beyond for
hobbyist / maker grade use.

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darksim905
I mean, it's nice that these things are moving online, are cheap or free & all
that but it's not quite the same as using a dedicated tool like Solidworks.
The average hobbyist who plays with a 3D printing program like this is
thinking small: only for 3D printing. I've dealt with files that people want
to be made on a mill or designed by a shop & the file ends up having to be re-
created along with being imprecise.

~~~
bryanlarsen
Tinkercad's a toy, and hasn't seen any significant improvements for the last
2.5 years.

The creators of Solidworks started a new company to do online CAD: check out
onshape.com.

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3dfan
Is there something like this, which enables me to edit scenes with humans?
Like Poser or DAZ 3D?

I would DIE to have something like that in the browser!

~~~
kpil
I never really understood why anyone would like to run anything that requires
long sessions of work - in a browser? A CAD program seems like the antithesis
of a good case for a web app.

The GUI can never be quite as good, always quirky menus, seldom an undo, a
backspace in the wrong place can send your latest changes into oblivion, and
the GUI typically feels like it's one the verge to collapse.

It can work 'OK' or even great for short tasks- like Jira (that has all of the
above) - but if you spend some serious time in a web app, it really sucks.

OK, it runs everywhere, I get that.

~~~
bryanlarsen
Most good web-based editors have none of the drawbacks you've listed. I'm not
familiar with Tinkercad, but [http://clara.io](http://clara.io) has:

\- traditional-style menus

\- infinite undo. Checkout the history tab -- you can see your entire history
with a timestamp and an icon saying who made the change. Click on any change
to undo that change.

\- backspace is captured

\- it's continuously saving, so it's almost impossible to lose your changes.
If you lose your internet connection, it uses the browser standard
onbeforeunload dialog box to prevent you from leaving before they are saved.

There are some significant advantages to choosing a web app: collaboration,
change control, access to cloud computing for CPU-intense tasks like
rendering, as well as the avoidance of not having to install license dongles
or license managers.

~~~
kpil
Sure. With a significant effort you can almost be as good as a native
application, except not quite.

The benefits you mentioned is not exclusive to web apps. There are no inherent
benefits, except perhaps licence management, which benefits the service
provider more, and the fact that there already is a server side to use for
features like collaboration.

~~~
dozzie
There are two closely coupled benefits: ease of installation (one machine to
do so) and ease of upgrade (again, single machine).

That said, I much prefer desktop applications to web-based ones, especially
when it's not me who hosts them. They may disappear overnight, they may break
overnight, I don't control backups for them, I need constant internet access
to use them (sometimes I work off-line, so this is a big no-no).

And web applications on modern hardware (which I don't own, because why should
I? my Dell D830 works satisfactory) are _almost as fast_ as desktop
applications on my older hardware. Meaning, they're slow.

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frik
Looks like as easy to use as SketchUp. Sadly Google sold SketchUp, and the new
company turned SketchUp in a trialware product.

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middleclick
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