deskthority

hi everyone,

I´ve seen sometimes people doing renders of possible future models.
Many years ago i used to build silly things in 3dsMax.
I want to ask what are you using people to 3d draw keyboards?. I know there are many tools, Rhino3d, Autocad, Sketchup?, etc...
Any tips here?

I've have some fancy idea here, but need to draw the stuff in my head before attempting anything.

Thanks

You can try FreeCAD. It has good approach to modelling but it was still rather buggy the last time I checked (about a year ago).
And you can go for a commercial software. Solidworks is a good option (but also quite expensive).

Thanks mate, i'll check Freecad first.

I haven't been able to find any free 3D CAD software that isn't awful.

I would recommend finding some way of acquiring Solidworks, Siemens NX or Autodesk Inventor. I personally prefer Solidworks for keyboards, although NX is probably objectively better. I haven't tried Inventor but I've heard good things.

I use Houdini.

Thanks for tips, i am thinking in a 60% with a TFT and a raspberry3, foldable. With a 80's retrofuturistic look. Wood, aluminium, a handle . Let's see if i can put in a 3d design what i have in my head.

Well the prices are rather depressing:

Siemens NX41000 (Advantage) Node locked = $5,900 + $1,600 / year
Autocad Inventor LT Suite $1500 / 3years
Solidworks Basic $4000 (but there is some 1year license for about $100 for a year, if you are a student)
Geomagic Design (formely Alibre) about $2000

And for people on budget there was (not sure whether it still exists) Cubify Design for about $200
Cubify Design is a severely cut down version of Geomagic Design

Inventor LT has only small assemblies ... whatever small means :-/

Blender is probably a good option free software. But the answer to this question is - the one that you know the best. I'm using Maya, just because I know how to model in it. All these applications are complex and unintuitive at the beginning and most of the times the learning curve is quite steep.

All you need is an app that can generate an stl file or a file that can be converted to stl file (*.obj for example). For these conversions I'm using online converters (no all converters are good).

I use Autocad, Sketchup Pro, and Draftsight Pro. My son works with Blender, Unreal, and Solid Works.

Go get Autodesk Fusion 360 and watch a few tutorial like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5bc9c3S12g

It works mainly by sketching elements and then pushing or pulling them - it's easy to understand and get used to quickly. You can also always go back in time and edit features in the past and see its effects throughout your edit timeline which is very, very, very handy.

Best part is once your trial is over, just register as hobbyist within the subscription modal that will pop up then its free for another year.

Hey thanks everybody, i think i am going to contact some industrial design student here in my local university. They have software there for students and so. I'll check with them.
I am going total amateur here, so a demo working version it's ok, i just want to draft some ideas and see it in the screen.
Thanks!

vvp wrote: ↑Well the prices are rather depressing:

If only there were a way to obtain the software without paying for it..

photekq wrote: ↑

vvp wrote: ↑Well the prices are rather depressing:

If only there were a way to obtain the software without paying for it..

Man, this could be a dream come true !