Some free 3D modeling/CAD programs of interest

lewiswadsworth · 28 Dec 2007, 15:37

Hi, fellow Google escapees.

A couple of interesting items I found on my quest for a SketchUp replacement that runs on Linux:

http://avocado-cad.sourceforge.net/

This is an open source 3D CAD program under construction, very pre-alpha and not terribly functional yet but oddly reminiscent of SketchUp (surf about for some screenshots and you'll see what I mean) The developer is soliciting opinions and objectives here:

http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php ? ... _id=656395

Screenshots here:

http://sourceforge.net/project/screensh ... _id=187405

There is a download page, rather rough, here:

http://sourceforge.net/project/platform ... tform=1199

This next program is more like an open source version of Rhino, meaning it is a free-form NURBS surface modeler (in fact, it incorporates some open-NURBS packages generously donated by the developers of Rhino). I'm planning on spending some Saturday morning down-time tomorrow evaluating it. Available all platforms, but not too much of a web-presence out there to describe how well it works.

Ayam - Start

(ayam.sourceforge.net)

--Lewis

poster-Lewis Wadsworth

Edson · 28 Dec 2007, 15:38

Lewis,

I am probably getting this wrong but are you suggesting we give up SU because of a bad move on the part of Google? If that is what is implied by your suggestion of "replacements", what do we do with all the ours spent in front of the screen in order to master SU? Do we start over and leave behind all the expertise accumulated over months or, for some, years?

I sincerely hope I am wrong. I'd better get some sleep.

Best regards.

juju · 28 Dec 2007, 15:38

I think he's referring to a 3D application that will run in a Linux environment. AFAIK SU doesn't run in a Linux environment.

lewiswadsworth · 28 Dec 2007, 15:39

It's so nice to get notifications that someone has posted on my thread! Remember when that used to work in the old Google forums?

Anyway:

Oh, no, I'm not suggesting giving up SketchUp. That would be heresy. But I have an abiding interest in using Linux in an architecture office setting; SketchUp has become indispensable to my architectural practice; and SketchUp doesn't work acceptably in any version of Linux I have tried. I continue to hope that Google will port SU over to some common distro like the ever-more-popular Ubuntu Linux, much as it has for Google Earth and Picasa. But I have no indication that this will happen despite some teasing from CraigD of Google in the late SketchUp Pro forums.

There are some acceptable lightweight CAD programs available for Linux, and there are some decent modelers, but there is nothing so far that has quite that special SketchUp magic. That is why I find the AvoCADo premise intriguing. And who wouldn't want to see someone develop an ideal CAD/BIM/3D program?

The other program I noted, Ayam, promises to permit some organic modeling that might complement SketchUp on any platform.

--Lewis

poster-Lewis Wadsworth

elmer · 28 Dec 2007, 15:40

Thanks for letting us know Lewis, this ayam 1.12 seems interesting to look at, just for fun , work beeing done in SU of course, but who knows what we will be playing with in a few years....

Patrice

lewiswadsworth · 28 Dec 2007, 15:41

@unknownuser said:

Thanks for letting us know Lewis, this ayam 1.12 seems interesting to look at, just for fun , work beeing done in SU of course, but who knows what we will be playing with in a few years....

Patrice

Hi Patrice.

Ayam was a struggle to install on my Linux system, and I had to alter some of the developer's scripts to get it to work at all, with some missing capabilities. Rather a shame...I'll have to see what the Windows version is like, but on Windows I already have a mature NURBS/CAD program, Rhino 4. By the way, is everyone aware that Rhino reads and writes SU (version 5) files now?

I'm currently concentrating on the newest version Wings3D as a SketchUp substitute (a better word than "replacement") on Linux. It actually has a great deal in common, in terms of interface, with SU...except for snaps/inferences, which may be the fatal flaw in my book.

--Lewis

poster-Lewis Wadsworth