OnShape - Browser Based Professional CAD Modeling

DMS General
1

6 Things You Need to Know

  • Onshape is the first full-cloud 3D CAD system.

  • It runs in a web browser and on any mobile device.Onshape uses
    cloud-native Documents, not files.

  • You create parts in Onshape Part Studios and can have as many Part
    Studios as you need in a single Document.

  • Onshape Assemblies use a new, simplified approach to mating parts.

  • Onshape changes the way you collaborate. You can instantly share
    Documents and simultaneously work with your peers.

  • Onshape streamlines data management with built-in version control.

It seems like TinkerCAD but with the capability of SolidWorks, and it’s free for students/makers.

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So if there are no files, how do you get your model out of their system and on to a 3D printer?

Looks like a possible lock in issue which is common to free software.

3

Obligatory insertion of “free as in beer” wording goes here :smile:

I know it’s not your intention to besmirch “open source” etc., but with Ralph avoiding these forums like the plague, SOMEONE has to say it. :laughing:

All that said I requested a beta invite and would like to check this out.

4

I requested one too. I am pretty sure it’s like the terms of service that Autodesk has with TinkerCAD (TinkerCAD lets you choose Creative Commons on your models, but like all cloud services, who really has control of your files). I really like that it’s cloud-based and it is more powerful like SolidWorks than TinkerCAD.

5

I think the aspect you like that you’re probably describing is “parametric CAD”, and that approach is MUCH better for designing actual parts than other approaches.

6

Yep, parametric CAD. I really want to learn OpenSCAD for that but it’s difficult to just sketch out an idea.

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I am a big fan of FreeCAD personally. There are things that it can do much better than OpenSCAD (filleting for instance). FreeCAD can also import OpenSCAD documents.

If you ever see me idle or browsing reddit or something, bug me and I will give a quick demo if you’d like.

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8

For sure I’d like a little demo for FreeCAD, I’d like to use something better than sketchup/tinkerCAD.

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Got into the beta for OnShape. It’s pretty impressive for a browser based CAD package. There are some interface things that drive me a bit batty, but it’s pretty functional.

This took about 20 minutes (about 15 more than it should at this point)

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Did you go through any of the tutorial? based on what I’ve watched so far this looks like a really good program that can allow me to work on my (school provided) Chromebook wherever I have an internet connection.

 -Josh
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11

I went thru the first tutorial but then got impatient and wanted to try it out.

The thing I hated most about it was selection. Ordinary left click is like Ctrl-left click in almost every other application. It adds the selection to the list of selected things. You have to bring up the context menu to clear the selection to pick something else.

The other annoying thing was I couldn’t tell how many degrees of freedom were left in my sketch or when sketches are fully constrained.

Overall it is nice to see something like this for free. I think the built in version control will make it pretty nice overall to use and collaborate on.

Also, I don’t know how rare invites are or anything, but I can send invites via email. If you guys are waiting to get in, PM me your email address and I will send an invite. I have no idea if that will expedite the process etc., but I am willing to try it.

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I got in the beta too

Onshape has free webinars this week:

http://www.onshape.com/upcoming-training-presentations?utm_content=12968020&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

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