It seems that Fusion 360 is in the Mac "App Store" for free. It may be cloud based but it is also a "real" app that runs on a Mac. (They might have a Windows version too but I have not looked.)
OK I said "free". No, sorry, a correction, The app is free but it does not work without a "membership". You can buy different levels of "membership" starting at $39 per month or $300 per year. Only the first 30 days is free. I'm looking at the App as I type this. That said, it looks really good: - A big company that is NOT going away is behind this (Adobe) - It does ,Surface, Mesh, Parametric and Solid modeling and will do organic shape like a guitar neck or car body as well as simple things - It holds the data and allows people to collaborate from different locations on a design. It will handle version control and multiple users working on the same designs - Users can extend it using Java - Can output to a 3 axis mill, 3D Printer or even printed drawings But $39 per month will add up over time..... This is the model Adobe has gone with for their other apps like Photoshop and the like, you buy a subscription. It is a good deal if you make money with Adobe software. Looks like I can use this for 30 days. Here is a link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fusion-360 <https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fusion-360/id868968810?mt=12> On Sat, Jan 30, 2016 at 11:03 AM, <tom-...@bgp.nu> wrote: > I too am a Mac user. Up until recently I have been using Geomagic Design > (formerly Alibre Design) for CAD and mostly Sheetcam for CAM. Both of > these apps are Windows based. I run Windows7 as an application on MacOS - > as god intended ;-) with Parallels. Geomagic and Sheetcam are pretty much > the only thing I run under Windows. > > A few months ago when I read that Fusion had released their turning CAM > and made Fusion 360 free for enthusiasts and small businesses I gave it > another try (had played with early beta but found it lacking). I have now > begun to use Fusion 360 almost exclusively. I have most recently been > making parts for a cnc lathe so I haven’t played with the milling CAM yet, > but do intend to. After months of using it I believe I am not going to > renew my maintenance of Geomagic Design. I have to say that I was very > reluctant to use a cloud-based application but I am quite pleased with > Fusion 360 and have never had issues relating to it’s cloud-based model > (you can do most things when offline as well). I am constantly amazed at > the features in the software as well as the integrated HSMWorks-based CAM > software that is available for free in this package. It is also > constantly being improved and updated, they do a feature and bug release at > least once a month. sometime twice a month. > > I also infrequently use OnShape (also cloud based) and am very impressed > with their collaboration features and rapid updates as well. OnShape is > CAD only and doesn’t have free integrated CAM so I have been using it less > and less but occasionally use it with colleagues to work on some things. > You can purchase commercial CAM packages for it. > > I would highly recommend you check out Fusion 360. > -Tom > > > On Jan 30, 2016, at 12:03 PM, Chris Albertson <albertson.ch...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > > What are people here using to create G-code? I am looking for options. > > > > I'm new to CNC and trying to develop a work flow. I'm making small parts > > (most fit in a 3" cube) for robot manipulators. These can be designed > > for easy manual machining but now I want to add curves and arcs and later > > add refinements that have more organic shapes. Qualities are as much as > a > > half dozen each. > > > > I use ViaCAD. It is very much identical to "TurboCAD" to make 3D > drawings > > and these can be saved in several different file formats. > > > > I found PyCAM. It will read STL files and make G-code. Are there other > > options? Can you really build good G-code from STL? It seems STL has > no > > notion of arcs and hols and pockets. It is all triangles. Does this > > matter? > > > > I'm doing the design work on a Apple iMac and of course the machine > > controller is Linux. Any workflow that uses either of those two OSes is > > fine, as I've had long experience with both. > > > > -- > > > > Chris Albertson > > Redondo Beach, California > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Site24x7 APM Insight: Get Deep Visibility into Application Performance > APM + Mobile APM + RUM: Monitor 3 App instances at just $35/Month > Monitor end-to-end web transactions and take corrective actions now > Troubleshoot faster and improve end-user experience. Signup Now! > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=267308311&iu=/4140 > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Site24x7 APM Insight: Get Deep Visibility into Application Performance APM + Mobile APM + RUM: Monitor 3 App instances at just $35/Month Monitor end-to-end web transactions and take corrective actions now Troubleshoot faster and improve end-user experience. Signup Now! http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=267308311&iu=/4140 _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
