New Location to Download the 2021.07.17 Version of FreeCAD Realthunder branch is here: bit.ly/3hzjGcP (It's Realthunder's Google Drive, you can get to this same link by Clicking "Past Releases" in the github)
I downloaded "FreeCAD-asm3-Daily-Win64-Py3-Qt5-20220118.7z", downloaded 7-zip to unzip it. I double clicked on "RunFreeCAD.bat", and immediately got an error message - "The code execution cannot proceed because VCRUNTIME140_1.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program might fix this problem". HMMM... Looking through the .bat file I notice it's setting a path - maybe there's something wrong in there. By the way, 123D Design stopped running on this same PC. Probably unrelated, but.. Searched through that folder, the file "VCRUNTIME150_1.dll" in fact isn't there. Is there something else that needs to be installed? Some programming libraries perhaps?
I wish this thing had a proper installer, though.. I had to figure out how to create icons on the Taskbar and Start menus (right click on the Taskbar icon when FreeCAD is running and select "Pin to Taskbar", and the right click the icon on the Taskbar again, right click on the icon that pops up, then click "Pin to Start").
at 17:36 there is a google search shown. I totally remember several of those drawings from my high school drafting classes in the mid 80's. Trust me, I have a memory for these sorts of things, I got straight A's in those classes. And when you put time and effort into a pen & ink paper technical drawing, you memorize the shape. I just think it's really funny and random, how that show of a bunch of plans comes up, and I recognize them. Must have been standard school curriculum drawings. I drew those parts by hand before Autocad was much of anything. Autocad version 10, which was when it really took off, didn't come out til after I graduated HS. Some of those drawings at 17:36 have been around since before any CAD. They are from the days of papers & rulers. Damn, I'm getting old. You get trapped in memories when you get old, just wait kids.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! In the entire history of my experience watching sponsored videos on TH-cam, you presented "Thangs", and for the first time ever, I went for it. Thanks for a great resource, and be sure to tell Thangs, "See, sponsored ads DO work!"
I've worked through quite a few other TH-cam series for FreeCAD beginners. I didn't really need another as I've got the hang of it now, but I started watching this, and have to say, it is definitely one of the clearest explanations of the fundamentals, and you are addressing them right at the start, not randomly at videos 3, 7, 11 etc. This looks like a promising starting point for a great FreeCAD tutorial series, well done!
Thank you for introducing me to this branch! I had just resigned myself to (mostly) linear editing. Even as a novice CAD user, the improvements in Realthunder are tangible.
I just love the way you describe things Jonathan, you don't confuse us newbies with unrelated tasks, just straight to the point. Simple well explained exercises for us to follow. I've followed many FreeCAD tutorials over the the years, by guys who are extremely good at what they do, but unfortunately they tend to assume that we already have an understanding of what is going on, and that we have read all the documentation ( of which there are many many pages of ). I've read most of the FreeCAD Wiki, but I get lost, can't understand what they're trying to say! Maybe I'm just thick! The thing you have to remember is, when reading any howto guides is the fact that they are written by somebody who knows what he's talking about. To us newbies, most of what is being discussed makes no sense! I learn by seeing, I call it 'Monkey see, monkey do' ...................... I'll definitely be following these tutorials, best TH-cam tutor by far ; ) TURK T4 Concepts
You're doing both the maker community and the open source community a great service with your work. I'm going to follow this intensely, as i'm going all open source this year, leaving proprietary CAD software behind me.
@@jordanmclaughlin3312 Really well actually. I'm a mechanical engineer, and university indoctrinated me with a lot of proprietary software, which i often find smaller companies hesitant to purchase. With free open source (FOSS), I can often showcase use cases, without ever asking management for license. I will say, that it requires a lot from the user, because what you often get with proprietary software is great documentation, user friendly GUI's etc. Not always the case with FOSS. Ufortunately CAD is one of the weaker FOSS fields atm, compares to proprietary. Theres simply no way FreeCAD could replace my Solidworks license at the moment, mainly due to the lacking assembly workbench. In the future, i hope so. Im into finite element analysis for stress analysis, and so im hoping to transition into open source with that over time as well, which FreeCAD actually supports too (Calculix). My plan is to be able to freelance within 10 years, relying as much as possible on open source
Have been playing with FreeCAD for a while now. The topology naming problem was a real deal braker for me. Real thunder's branch is great at handling the topology naming problem and makes parametric modelling in FreeCAD really useable. Thank you for pointing me to the right direction.
@@meisievannancy it means that as you build more complex models, whenever you put a sketch on a surface and then modify it from there (pad, pocket or any other PartDesign operations), the way that the new sketches are referenced is very fragile. So if you get the prototype made and realize that some adjustments to the design need to be made, the earlier the sketch or PartDesign operation in the queue was, the higher the chances that upon making any changes to the respective step, most if not all of the consecutive steps will break and you either have to re-do the attachment mode for each of them, or discard the entire file and build from scratch. Link Branch changed the way references are stored so this problem is far less likely to occur, saving the user a lot of time and frustration.
Thank you for taking this challenge on. Great tutorial. I started in on FreeCAD a couple of years ago, and you described the learning curve (prior video) precisely. So, I gave up and explored options. Never really came up to speed, but struggled through (I'm just a simple 3D print parts maker for pleasure - hobbyist) one where the "free" version required renewal too often. I came across your video whereby you pondered whether to proceed with the current FreeCAD trunk or the RealThunder branch, which led me to this video. Thank you. I can now get a proper education on setting up drawings/sketches to print exactly what I need.
I used to mess with 3DS Max and Maya quite a lot years ago, but haven't really used any 3D CAD / design stuff since, aside from a lot of Eagle and Altium for PCB stuff. But I think I was missing out on using CAD for combining PCBs with other parts. I just wanted to say that this is an excellent starting tutorial. I installed the RealThunder branch (Windows), and tweaked the settings and toolbar stuff, and the rest of the tutorial went smoothly. Thanks. ;) I'm watching part 2 now.
Oh, one thing I'm having trouble with atm is my middle mouse button doesn't work, for some reason. It's just a cheap Logitech mouse, and tbh, I've never had the need to use the middle button on this machine so far, so maybe it's a problem with a driver or something. I'll try FreeCAD on my main PC later. So I had to switch back from the Blender navigation to CAD navigation, then I can hold Shift then right-click to rotate the view. (so I could more easily select the bottom face for the Pocket constraint.) It's already making me think about buying or building a SpaceMouse. lol I can see the advantage right away for CAD stuff, as using a normal mouse for rotation etc. is a bit of a barrier to a smooth workflow.
Thank you a lot, just switched back to Ubuntu and using fusion there isnt the best story. Happy to see such a movement in Freecad community! I'm joining in! Thanks to Realthunder branch for development And waiting for the next video
Thank you so much for this outstanding first tutorial about FreeCad from you, Jonathan. Your explanations are very clear and straight. This way is a real pleasure to learn !. I'm gonna be very aware of your next chapters. A big thanks, again !. This is John from Santiago de Chile, South America. Cheers !.
WOW ! , thank you for the way in which you explain how to drive FreeCAD, my pause, fullscreen, rewind, try, check method really worked, once I understood the basics I feel confident enough to move on ,,,,,
I saw your video where you were deciding what to do. I've been on the fence about investing the time to learn it for those reasons. Somehow I missed until today that you've started the videos. It's so good that I'll be using your videos to make the move. I understand all of these concepts from OnShape and Fussion 360, it's just bring them over was the missing piece. I tried a couple of times just by doing it and failed. I need a good teacher, and I think you are it.
THANK YOU! Yes, I barely started FreeCAD and I found the bugs to be a show stopper. I am going to switch to the Realthunder branch. I find FreeCAD or Realthunder good but, here is the problem. Most CAD programs hide the background mechanics. When I create an object in Autocad, it automatically puts in the location and constraints. FreeCAD is too " clickish " to make stuff. I just want to select a cube, sphere or a cylinder. Make the object, have it attach to other objects and be all happy. FreeCad asking me to define a body, a sketch, close this window, define this attachment point, tell FreeCad to make another body ( why? just click on another cube and go! )... It feels like using a washing machine, where I have to define the water level, input in the soap, define the spin RPM, and how much time on the drain cycle. Then do that all over again for every item of clothing I put in the washing machine. Too verbose, make some assumptions, like if I put a cylinder with 0,0,0 as my start... yea, I really do want 0,0,0 as the start origin of the object.
Thank you much! I was taking CAD classes using AutoDesk Inventor and I loved it until I saw the price and I couldn't afford it and a newer computer. I gave up CAD and Blender 3 years ago. I'm trying it again.
Thank you so much for this lesson. I’ve been struggling to get started withfreecad and you have covered sooo much in one lesson. How to get back to a sensible view is priceless. Especially after going mad with the Spacemouse 🤣
Well done. I have played with freecad a few times so maybe 30 hours of using it and watching videos trying to figure out what is going on. I have to admit, I knew about 90% of what you showed but learned a few new things. I look forward to your next video. At some point I would love to be able to design bigger things in freecad using aluminum extrusion. Ive just never figured out to to do that. lol
I'd like to do something for sheet metal as my first project in FreeCAD and move into 3D models for printing. Yet to watch the video. Hope this series continues on YT and I can learn a lot.
thanks for the introduction to this far superior version of free cad and this simple tutorial. its nice to get back into the saddle of 3d design and not pay for solid works
amazing, this is perfect timing as I'm working on an instrument panel project. really looking forward to the rest of the series! Can't wait to learn how to center an object on another object lol
Thank you. I'm really using it for my own designs with an eye on patents, copyrights and data for vendors. I don't think things in genreal will go farthe, faster without this level of function anyway. Using CAD since 86 BTW.
Great video! Good luck with the series, I think you have made a good choice. FreeCAD and Blender could be a really strong combo. I did not know about this FreeCAD branch.
I didn't know that youtube would have this level of quality content on CAD, let alone an open source CAD. Thank you for this introduction. I plan to catch each of your videos on CAD, until some CAD company catches you in its web of honeyed monies, and buys your voice.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the intro and are looking forward to the next videos bagok701. As for a CAD company catching me 😂... Good luck! I value free speech and open source well above anything's they could possibly pay me to stop or "control" myself.
@@Keep-Making Sounds like good principles. Sometimes those honeyed monies come in the form of cleanliness of a user interface, or features a FOSS software hasn't adopted yet because of lethargy on creating a new release; the youtube grind requires new releases or it will be forgotten. Cheers on the principle, and I am glad you have other forms of funding like Patreon to make those decisions easier.
This is great. Thank you. I'm really happy to see you chose the Blender Navigation method. I'm coming from Blender and this made it so much easier than CAD. Quick question. Is there a way to have the radius measurements display horizontally like in the image at 17:45 instead of diagonally?
you can have more control iver how dimension lines and text is diaplayed in the TechDraw workbench, which is specifically made for producing technical drafts.
Thanks! Getting into this now and excited. I do not have a middle mouse button at the moment (my thinkpad bit the dust). But I just got the latest version of Thunders freeCAD, and am trying to follow this video. However I do not see the "view" toolbar (where you can click to change side view, front view, etc), it just does not exist on my version, and all available toolbars are checked in the view: toolbars dropdown. These 2 barriers make this basically impossible for me. But thanks none the less!
I've tried freecad, gotten frustrated, and moved to other [pirated] platforms I'm more used to. This video broke things down clearly enough to give me confidence to start building a workflow. Thank you!
Lost me at "changing a bunch of preferences." I get it. You have a way you like to work and you want to teach in that same environment. Problem is "preferences" are just that. They are personal and opinionated. Teaching should always be done with defaults.
Really good explained, great tutorial. Unfortunately the navigation on my Macbook is a pain. No matter what navigation style I set, the trackpad controls make it impossible to work comfortably.
Thanks for making this video, i"m using the newer 2022/4/7 version but my toolbar with the view boxes for easy view selection is collapsed. any way to un collaps this ?
OK.. a quick question.. I have encountered the horific bug I think you are referring to, I shall name no names, topological or not! If I switch to realthunder, and I create a design I want to share, will it work on the main branch freecad? I tried to load a creation I made in the official branch and it screwed up loading into thunder but works in the main branch.. I love the idea of parametric design, especially for 3d printing because I can add in tolerances for mating parts which can be adjusted if the print is too tight or slack, and it would be great to share those designs but if it means people switching to another branch of freecad I doubt a lot would bother..
OK, so I've started learning both SolidWorks and FreeCAD, but I like the fact that FreeCAD is open-source unlike the thousands of dollars to pay for SW. What's your advice?
15:30 - got a bit lost at this point. On my version (2022.118), the Quick View buttons are under a dropdown menu. Haven't found a way to turn it into a linear toolbar yet. Coming from 123D Design I'm used to using the navigation cube in the top right hand corner.. it's good that there are multiple ways to do things. Must admit, I like the keyboard shortcuts for these.
better beginning with working with offset plane because of topological naming pb ! I started learning that way and have lots of problems with complicated drawings
I just found this and have installed the latest RealThunder Windows build. I was following your video to set my preferences etc and noticed I am missing the boxes for the views on my toolbars. At 4:47 in the video they are the 7 view boxes below the drop down that has the word Start in it. Any idea what I need to get these visible? I am using the CAD setup for the UI. Thanks. Edit: I realized I was running the RT version 20220111 so after checking that the latest FC v1.93 worked I found the RT version 20210717 and installed it and the view toolbar is there. Who would have thought the newer version wouldn't be the better version. Anyway now I can get started and set up my preferences etc. Thanks for the videos to help us noobs. I tried FC years ago and had a tough time with it so I used DesignSpark Mechanical and it did what I wanted at the time. I have the hobby license for Fusion 360 but hate the fact it seems the plug could be pulled at any time and also the cloud storage and limits. So FreeCAD is the winner (after I learn how to use it). LOL
Thanks man, meybe you can help me finding eny open source cad program which can work with 4D CNC machining? Im really lost on this one. And again thank for grate video
I assume your talking 4 axis, thats a CAM problem, CAD is agnostic on manufacturing processes. I don't believe there are any free cam packages that support 4 axis. If anybody knows of one, I'm curious myself.
Great video and plan to watch all. You teach very well. Downloaded and unzipped the FreeCAD Realthunder but it will not run. Can someone advise please.
Newbie here, I haven't opened FreeCad yet. Is there a version of RealThunder for the Mac? Ok, I chose the link just above the one Jonathan chose. My imac is mid year 2011, HIgh Sierra 10.13.6
First of all thank you very much for this great tutorial! I have a problem with the Pocket. If i select the opposite face of my "sketch face" i get the following error message:
I'm using 2024.124.0 build 14555 and many of these settings have moved or don't exist any longer. Also, no matter how many times I set Start to "Part Design" it stays on the start page with folders, etc. Has this video been updated? Am I doing something wrong?
I personally think Blender has navigation backwards (just like it used to be with selection) I prefer PAN with middle mouse and ROTATION with middle + shift, which incidentally is called the "Revit" Navigation here in FreeCAD. Before this video I didn't even know the navigation mode could be changed and the only way to not get nuts was to use my old trusty 3d mouse. I would still recommend to anyone who works with CAD/Blender for longer to try such a device.
I like it set the Blender way. Do you pan more than rotate or is the preference from habit or is it due to mostly rotating with the 3d mouse? I have a SpacePilot I use for CAD and Blender and have a tendency to use it for regular/precise/complex movement and the regular mouse for really fast ones.
Great video but I have a question from someone more used to finite element modelling. You are modelling a symmetrical object but constrain a corner to the coordinate centre. Is there no way to constrain the centroid to the coordinate centre so that all measurements are relative? Thanks for the series of videos. The written tutorials are confusing and these are so much more helpful.
You can pick two opposing corners and make them symmetric around the origin. The icon looks like >< You can also make two points symmetric around a line.
I think you should start from a fresh install of all this because im not even getting the same startup screen as you and im already lost because what your clicking and what I see are 2 different things. I do not get a start to click that has a drag down to the other benches and no idea how to get that to show. EDIT: Got it. The plane install of freecad has all the benches unloaded and you have to select all the benches to be loaded. But it also kicks up a bunch of errors in the console so who knows going on. EDIT 2: I have no combo viewer either
Lets just start with the very first question that needs to be answered. What version is it you are using ,on the link you posted there is multiple downloads 5.19 thru 10.15 and some have more the one zip file. If you want to get people started here, the right download should be in the listed. Is it all of them ,the highest number which looks like the date of the smallest number. May seem like a dumb question but some of the the places you made changes are not in all of the downloads. You have made a very informative video of a software that does not really have a version number on the version you are using. I can see I am not the only one who would like to know. Thank you for all your hard work.
Hi Greenerplaces, I'm glad you are interested in the video. As to your questions.... Your first question is answered in the pinned comment, description and in the video at 2:27. But in case you are still struggling, this is found in the description: --- New Location to Download the 👉 2021.07.17 👈Version of FreeCAD Realthunder branch is here: bit.ly/3hzjGcP (It's Realthunder's Google Drive, you can get to this same link by Clicking "Past Releases" in the github) --- In case this is still not clear enough using the link provided you will be taken to real thunders google drive * I DO NOT have control of this space * with that said we are looking for 2021.07.17 as stated. The link will take you to the archive for 2021 you go into here and now considering that we are looking for 2021.07.17 let's just take off the "2021" from our search as we are in that folder so now you are looking for 07.17 and it's right there. Inside 07.17 folder there are lots of files as this is a development environment so there are many types of computers and users. If you are windows look for a zip file and depending on your computer it with be 64 or x86 If you are mac you would be looking for a .dmg and if you are a linux user I would gather that you would know what you're doing. You also left a comment on a completely unrelated video where you ask what system I am using and I am using a windows computer which I mentioned at 2:35 Have fun making and I wish you all the best.
Fresh install as per these directions - PAN is Shift-MMB (middle mouse button), not Ctrl-Shift-MMB. Must have been a change in the repo. (Version 2021.922)
Hey guys I have a question: I modelled a part on realthunder version. When I try to open it on the relgular FreeCAD 0.19v the screen is blank, the part doesn't show. Anyone know what the reason is and possible solution?
What I don’t understand is if this is a branch or a workbench, and if so do you run it through the normal freecad. Thought workbench is we’re add-ons. At the website listed they all seem to be assembly3 workbenches
It's a branch that uses RealThunder's version of the Assembly3 workbench as well as a number of his other fixes etc. In general workbenches are just FreeCAD's approach to organizing tools for different activities, there are default ones and add-on ones. Once you know how you can change them or create your own new ones too. My understanding is that there are couple popular Assembly benches that are popular and you end up with different branches to accommodate them for development reasons.
Unfortunately, I downloaded the RealThunder version for Win64, unzipped clicked on the .exe in the bin folder and get error message of a missing .dll file which I can see in the DLL folder. I tried several times and can't get past the error message? Very wierd.
first l wana say you thanks so much for professional and educational video,my english is not perfect,mybe l miss something in somewhere in the video, my problem is 08:38 till that time everythings are perfect.but after that l restrart my pc,but after that l cant open the freecad there is no any icon in the pc only zip file and what l open it from inside.can u or somebody help me pls how l will open it again my yll adjustments are ok. thankyou.
New Location to Download the 2021.07.17 Version of FreeCAD Realthunder branch is here: bit.ly/3hzjGcP
(It's Realthunder's Google Drive, you can get to this same link by Clicking "Past Releases" in the github)
Should note that the most update-to-date versions will still be on Github
@@stephenrbrough Whats github?
I downloaded "FreeCAD-asm3-Daily-Win64-Py3-Qt5-20220118.7z", downloaded 7-zip to unzip it. I double clicked on "RunFreeCAD.bat", and immediately got an error message - "The code execution cannot proceed because VCRUNTIME140_1.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program might fix this problem". HMMM... Looking through the .bat file I notice it's setting a path - maybe there's something wrong in there. By the way, 123D Design stopped running on this same PC. Probably unrelated, but.. Searched through that folder, the file "VCRUNTIME150_1.dll" in fact isn't there. Is there something else that needs to be installed? Some programming libraries perhaps?
I wish this thing had a proper installer, though.. I had to figure out how to create icons on the Taskbar and Start menus (right click on the Taskbar icon when FreeCAD is running and select "Pin to Taskbar", and the right click the icon on the Taskbar again, right click on the icon that pops up, then click "Pin to Start").
at 17:36 there is a google search shown. I totally remember several of those drawings from my high school drafting classes in the mid 80's.
Trust me, I have a memory for these sorts of things, I got straight A's in those classes. And when you put time and effort into a pen & ink paper technical drawing, you memorize the shape.
I just think it's really funny and random, how that show of a bunch of plans comes up, and I recognize them. Must have been standard school curriculum drawings. I drew those parts by hand before Autocad was much of anything. Autocad version 10, which was when it really took off, didn't come out til after I graduated HS.
Some of those drawings at 17:36 have been around since before any CAD. They are from the days of papers & rulers.
Damn, I'm getting old. You get trapped in memories when you get old, just wait kids.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
In the entire history of my experience watching sponsored videos on TH-cam, you presented "Thangs", and for the first time ever, I went for it.
Thanks for a great resource, and be sure to tell Thangs, "See, sponsored ads DO work!"
I've worked through quite a few other TH-cam series for FreeCAD beginners. I didn't really need another as I've got the hang of it now, but I started watching this, and have to say, it is definitely one of the clearest explanations of the fundamentals, and you are addressing them right at the start, not randomly at videos 3, 7, 11 etc. This looks like a promising starting point for a great FreeCAD tutorial series, well done!
Thanks for pointing out the realthunder branch - it is astonishing how unbroken it is. Finally Freecad works.
Thank you for introducing me to this branch! I had just resigned myself to (mostly) linear editing. Even as a novice CAD user, the improvements in Realthunder are tangible.
I was fighting with FreeCAD because of that bug and it really infuriated me. Thank you for showing this fork! This really helped.
I just love the way you describe things Jonathan, you don't confuse us newbies with unrelated tasks, just straight to the point. Simple well explained exercises for us to follow.
I've followed many FreeCAD tutorials over the the years, by guys who are extremely good at what they do, but unfortunately they tend to assume that we already have an understanding of what is going on, and that we have read all the documentation ( of which there are many many pages of ).
I've read most of the FreeCAD Wiki, but I get lost, can't understand what they're trying to say! Maybe I'm just thick! The thing you have to remember is, when reading any howto guides is the fact that they are written by somebody who knows what he's talking about. To us newbies, most of what is being discussed makes no sense!
I learn by seeing, I call it 'Monkey see, monkey do' ......................
I'll definitely be following these tutorials, best TH-cam tutor by far ; )
TURK
T4 Concepts
You're doing both the maker community and the open source community a great service with your work. I'm going to follow this intensely, as i'm going all open source this year, leaving proprietary CAD software behind me.
@@jordanmclaughlin3312 Really well actually. I'm a mechanical engineer, and university indoctrinated me with a lot of proprietary software, which i often find smaller companies hesitant to purchase. With free open source (FOSS), I can often showcase use cases, without ever asking management for license. I will say, that it requires a lot from the user, because what you often get with proprietary software is great documentation, user friendly GUI's etc. Not always the case with FOSS. Ufortunately CAD is one of the weaker FOSS fields atm, compares to proprietary. Theres simply no way FreeCAD could replace my Solidworks license at the moment, mainly due to the lacking assembly workbench. In the future, i hope so. Im into finite element analysis for stress analysis, and so im hoping to transition into open source with that over time as well, which FreeCAD actually supports too (Calculix). My plan is to be able to freelance within 10 years, relying as much as possible on open source
Have been playing with FreeCAD for a while now. The topology naming problem was a real deal braker for me. Real thunder's branch is great at handling the topology naming problem and makes parametric modelling in FreeCAD really useable.
Thank you for pointing me to the right direction.
What does "topological naming" mean" ?
@@meisievannancy it means that as you build more complex models, whenever you put a sketch on a surface and then modify it from there (pad, pocket or any other PartDesign operations), the way that the new sketches are referenced is very fragile. So if you get the prototype made and realize that some adjustments to the design need to be made, the earlier the sketch or PartDesign operation in the queue was, the higher the chances that upon making any changes to the respective step, most if not all of the consecutive steps will break and you either have to re-do the attachment mode for each of them, or discard the entire file and build from scratch.
Link Branch changed the way references are stored so this problem is far less likely to occur, saving the user a lot of time and frustration.
@@Kadano Thanks for the really detailed explanation.
I really appreciate how you shout out how to support the people who make the software that you teach us to use. Very classy.
Thank you for taking this challenge on. Great tutorial. I started in on FreeCAD a couple of years ago, and you described the learning curve (prior video) precisely. So, I gave up and explored options. Never really came up to speed, but struggled through (I'm just a simple 3D print parts maker for pleasure - hobbyist) one where the "free" version required renewal too often. I came across your video whereby you pondered whether to proceed with the current FreeCAD trunk or the RealThunder branch, which led me to this video. Thank you. I can now get a proper education on setting up drawings/sketches to print exactly what I need.
I used to mess with 3DS Max and Maya quite a lot years ago, but haven't really used any 3D CAD / design stuff since, aside from a lot of Eagle and Altium for PCB stuff.
But I think I was missing out on using CAD for combining PCBs with other parts.
I just wanted to say that this is an excellent starting tutorial.
I installed the RealThunder branch (Windows), and tweaked the settings and toolbar stuff, and the rest of the tutorial went smoothly. Thanks. ;)
I'm watching part 2 now.
Oh, one thing I'm having trouble with atm is my middle mouse button doesn't work, for some reason.
It's just a cheap Logitech mouse, and tbh, I've never had the need to use the middle button on this machine so far, so maybe it's a problem with a driver or something. I'll try FreeCAD on my main PC later.
So I had to switch back from the Blender navigation to CAD navigation, then I can hold Shift then right-click to rotate the view. (so I could more easily select the bottom face for the Pocket constraint.)
It's already making me think about buying or building a SpaceMouse. lol
I can see the advantage right away for CAD stuff, as using a normal mouse for rotation etc. is a bit of a barrier to a smooth workflow.
Thank you a lot, just switched back to Ubuntu and using fusion there isnt the best story. Happy to see such a movement in Freecad community! I'm joining in!
Thanks to Realthunder branch for development
And waiting for the next video
Thank you so much for this outstanding first tutorial about FreeCad from you, Jonathan.
Your explanations are very clear and straight. This way is a real pleasure to learn !.
I'm gonna be very aware of your next chapters.
A big thanks, again !.
This is John from Santiago de Chile, South America.
Cheers !.
WOW ! , thank you for the way in which you explain how to drive FreeCAD, my pause, fullscreen, rewind, try, check method really worked, once I understood the basics I feel confident enough to move on ,,,,,
Just the preference adjustments (and I'm using the default build of FreeCAD) has improved the user interface ten-fold for me. Many, many thanks!
I saw your video where you were deciding what to do. I've been on the fence about investing the time to learn it for those reasons. Somehow I missed until today that you've started the videos. It's so good that I'll be using your videos to make the move. I understand all of these concepts from OnShape and Fussion 360, it's just bring them over was the missing piece. I tried a couple of times just by doing it and failed. I need a good teacher, and I think you are it.
THANK YOU! Yes, I barely started FreeCAD and I found the bugs to be a show stopper. I am going to switch to the Realthunder branch. I find FreeCAD or Realthunder good but, here is the problem. Most CAD programs hide the background mechanics. When I create an object in Autocad, it automatically puts in the location and constraints. FreeCAD is too " clickish " to make stuff. I just want to select a cube, sphere or a cylinder. Make the object, have it attach to other objects and be all happy. FreeCad asking me to define a body, a sketch, close this window, define this attachment point, tell FreeCad to make another body ( why? just click on another cube and go! )... It feels like using a washing machine, where I have to define the water level, input in the soap, define the spin RPM, and how much time on the drain cycle. Then do that all over again for every item of clothing I put in the washing machine. Too verbose, make some assumptions, like if I put a cylinder with 0,0,0 as my start... yea, I really do want 0,0,0 as the start origin of the object.
Thank you much! I was taking CAD classes using AutoDesk Inventor and I loved it until I saw the price and I couldn't afford it and a newer computer. I gave up CAD and Blender 3 years ago. I'm trying it again.
Thank you so much for this lesson. I’ve been struggling to get started withfreecad and you have covered sooo much in one lesson. How to get back to a sensible view is priceless. Especially after going mad with the Spacemouse 🤣
Well done. I have played with freecad a few times so maybe 30 hours of using it and watching videos trying to figure out what is going on. I have to admit, I knew about 90% of what you showed but learned a few new things. I look forward to your next video.
At some point I would love to be able to design bigger things in freecad using aluminum extrusion. Ive just never figured out to to do that. lol
I'd like to do something for sheet metal as my first project in FreeCAD and move into 3D models for printing. Yet to watch the video. Hope this series continues on YT and I can learn a lot.
Glad more people are using freecad!
thanks for the introduction to this far superior version of free cad and this simple tutorial. its nice to get back into the saddle of 3d design and not pay for solid works
amazing, this is perfect timing as I'm working on an instrument panel project. really looking forward to the rest of the series! Can't wait to learn how to center an object on another object lol
FreeCAD has a sheet metal work bench if you need it for your project
This channel is so underrated.
Thank you. I'm really using it for my own designs with an eye on patents, copyrights and data for vendors. I don't think things in genreal will go farthe, faster without this level of function anyway. Using CAD since 86 BTW.
Great video! Good luck with the series, I think you have made a good choice. FreeCAD and Blender could be a really strong combo. I did not know about this FreeCAD branch.
15:12 i've set it in display>navigation>navigation to turntable and object center and it rotates exactly like in blender :)
This is a very good tutorial.
You show a lot of functionality that is not normally covered by FreeCAD tutorials
awesome first videos i have found that go from tool to tool so simple keep it going like that only one word to say AWESOME!!!
perfect pacing and good details. I was able to follow along without any headaches and learned a lot. good teaching
I didn't know that youtube would have this level of quality content on CAD, let alone an open source CAD. Thank you for this introduction. I plan to catch each of your videos on CAD, until some CAD company catches you in its web of honeyed monies, and buys your voice.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the intro and are looking forward to the next videos bagok701. As for a CAD company catching me 😂... Good luck! I value free speech and open source well above anything's they could possibly pay me to stop or "control" myself.
@@Keep-Making Sounds like good principles. Sometimes those honeyed monies come in the form of cleanliness of a user interface, or features a FOSS software hasn't adopted yet because of lethargy on creating a new release; the youtube grind requires new releases or it will be forgotten. Cheers on the principle, and I am glad you have other forms of funding like Patreon to make those decisions easier.
I see FreeCAD's UI will delight and astound anyone who never used Office 97 ;)
Great teaching video.
I've been using freecad for sometime, but still i learned something new
This is great. Thank you. I'm really happy to see you chose the Blender Navigation method. I'm coming from Blender and this made it so much easier than CAD. Quick question. Is there a way to have the radius measurements display horizontally like in the image at 17:45 instead of diagonally?
you can have more control iver how dimension lines and text is diaplayed in the TechDraw workbench, which is specifically made for producing technical drafts.
@@BME-dj1ox thank you for your help.
Thank you, thank you!!. You've explained everything perfectly
Very nice video! I finally start understanding constraints. Thanks!
Thanks! Getting into this now and excited. I do not have a middle mouse button at the moment (my thinkpad bit the dust). But I just got the latest version of Thunders freeCAD, and am trying to follow this video. However I do not see the "view" toolbar (where you can click to change side view, front view, etc), it just does not exist on my version, and all available toolbars are checked in the view: toolbars dropdown.
These 2 barriers make this basically impossible for me.
But thanks none the less!
Awesome video! I can't wait to see more.
You are a good instructor. Thank you!
I've tried freecad, gotten frustrated, and moved to other [pirated] platforms I'm more used to.
This video broke things down clearly enough to give me confidence to start building a workflow.
Thank you!
Can't wait the next video ! :)
Lost me at "changing a bunch of preferences." I get it. You have a way you like to work and you want to teach in that same environment. Problem is "preferences" are just that. They are personal and opinionated. Teaching should always be done with defaults.
after watching this two things came to my mind:
- you're awesome
- UX is hard
Really good explained, great tutorial. Unfortunately the navigation on my Macbook is a pain. No matter what navigation style I set, the trackpad controls make it impossible to work comfortably.
Thanks for making this video, i"m using the newer 2022/4/7 version but my toolbar with the view boxes for easy view selection is collapsed. any way to un collaps this ?
Genius explanation! Great work!
OK.. a quick question..
I have encountered the horific bug I think you are referring to, I shall name no names, topological or not!
If I switch to realthunder, and I create a design I want to share, will it work on the main branch freecad? I tried to load a creation I made in the official branch and it screwed up loading into thunder but works in the main branch..
I love the idea of parametric design, especially for 3d printing because I can add in tolerances for mating parts which can be adjusted if the print is too tight or slack, and it would be great to share those designs but if it means people switching to another branch of freecad I doubt a lot would bother..
OK, so I've started learning both SolidWorks and FreeCAD, but I like the fact that FreeCAD is open-source unlike the thousands of dollars to pay for SW. What's your advice?
Thanks for the clear demonstration!
this should be fun, i have not used freecad or kicad for several months...Mmmm...:/ and need to get back with the show...:) thanks
15:30 - got a bit lost at this point. On my version (2022.118), the Quick View buttons are under a dropdown menu. Haven't found a way to turn it into a linear toolbar yet. Coming from 123D Design I'm used to using the navigation cube in the top right hand corner.. it's good that there are multiple ways to do things. Must admit, I like the keyboard shortcuts for these.
Extremely well done video !
better beginning with working with offset plane because of topological naming pb ! I started learning that way and have lots of problems with complicated drawings
Awesome video to start...thank you. Can you tell me the your colours you are
using the blue and the whit and axis colors... Take Care
Amazing video, great job explaining thanks for making this video
I just found this and have installed the latest RealThunder Windows build. I was following your video to set my preferences etc and noticed I am missing the boxes for the views on my toolbars. At 4:47 in the video they are the 7 view boxes below the drop down that has the word Start in it. Any idea what I need to get these visible? I am using the CAD setup for the UI. Thanks. Edit: I realized I was running the RT version 20220111 so after checking that the latest FC v1.93 worked I found the RT version 20210717 and installed it and the view toolbar is there. Who would have thought the newer version wouldn't be the better version. Anyway now I can get started and set up my preferences etc. Thanks for the videos to help us noobs. I tried FC years ago and had a tough time with it so I used DesignSpark Mechanical and it did what I wanted at the time. I have the hobby license for Fusion 360 but hate the fact it seems the plug could be pulled at any time and also the cloud storage and limits. So FreeCAD is the winner (after I learn how to use it). LOL
Does FreeCAD have an MEP workbench for doing piping?
Since the current version of freeCAD is 0.20.2, has the plane naming bug been fixed and thank you for the tutorial. Bill
You are the man. Great job
Thankyou! Nice easy to follow instructions.
I see you made your decision!
Estoy haciendo el tutorial, muchas gracias, like!!!
how can I lock rotation in the sketcher? I use a space mouse and in the sketcher I just want to zoom and pan but no rotation!
Well done!!
Thanks man, meybe you can help me finding eny open source cad program which can work with 4D CNC machining? Im really lost on this one. And again thank for grate video
I assume your talking 4 axis, thats a CAM problem, CAD is agnostic on manufacturing processes. I don't believe there are any free cam packages that support 4 axis. If anybody knows of one, I'm curious myself.
@@brocktechnology th-cam.com/video/GaJJHgOH4cc/w-d-xo.html
There is this one, but it is not available
Great job! I was floundering with FreeCad until I found this link over at "FreeCad is fundamentally broken." Thank you!
thanks for using realthunder
COOL ; I knew u were gonna do it :))
Great video and plan to watch all. You teach very well. Downloaded and unzipped the FreeCAD Realthunder but it will not run. Can someone advise please.
What do you think of Solid Edge Community Edition (free for personal use) ?
Newbie here, I haven't opened FreeCad yet. Is there a version of RealThunder for the Mac? Ok, I chose the link just above the one Jonathan chose. My imac is mid year 2011, HIgh Sierra 10.13.6
Can you update this please. With Realthunder's latest version 2022.04.30 your instructions do not work for Windows 10 installs. Thanks.
First of all thank you very much for this great tutorial!
I have a problem with the Pocket. If i select the opposite face of my "sketch face" i get the following error message:
I'm using 2024.124.0 build 14555 and many of these settings have moved or don't exist any longer. Also, no matter how many times I set Start to "Part Design" it stays on the start page with folders, etc. Has this video been updated? Am I doing something wrong?
Excelente introdução!
I personally think Blender has navigation backwards (just like it used to be with selection)
I prefer PAN with middle mouse and ROTATION with middle + shift, which incidentally is called the "Revit" Navigation here in FreeCAD.
Before this video I didn't even know the navigation mode could be changed and the only way to not get nuts was to use my old trusty 3d mouse. I would still recommend to anyone who works with CAD/Blender for longer to try such a device.
I like it set the Blender way. Do you pan more than rotate or is the preference from habit or is it due to mostly rotating with the 3d mouse? I have a SpacePilot I use for CAD and Blender and have a tendency to use it for regular/precise/complex movement and the regular mouse for really fast ones.
Should I still use the 2021-07-17 version of FreeCad or the latest version?
This is truly amazing.
Great video but I have a question from someone more used to finite element modelling. You are modelling a symmetrical object but constrain a corner to the coordinate centre. Is there no way to constrain the centroid to the coordinate centre so that all measurements are relative? Thanks for the series of videos. The written tutorials are confusing and these are so much more helpful.
You can pick two opposing corners and make them symmetric around the origin. The icon looks like >< You can also make two points symmetric around a line.
Great video!
I think you should start from a fresh install of all this because im not even getting the same startup screen as you and im already lost because what your clicking and what I see are 2 different things. I do not get a start to click that has a drag down to the other benches and no idea how to get that to show.
EDIT: Got it. The plane install of freecad has all the benches unloaded and you have to select all the benches to be loaded. But it also kicks up a bunch of errors in the console so who knows going on.
EDIT 2: I have no combo viewer either
Subbed, I've been using FreeCAD and noticed the weird quirks. These tutorials will be very handy!
Thumb up, thank you!
This video and the pinned comment is 2 years old. Is FreeCAD 0.21.1 now fixed? Or is the workaround build still necessary?
Can FreeCAD help with wood working? Help with dove tail joinery and stuff like that?
Your The Best
Its 2023 ... should i use RealThunder ?
and I am confused with the Github
Hello! for some reason after downloading the link there is nothing to unzip??
Duuuuuuuuuuuuude thank you so much
Lets just start with the very first question that needs to be answered. What version is it you are using ,on the link you posted there is multiple downloads 5.19 thru 10.15 and some have more the one zip file. If you want to get people started here, the right download should be in the listed. Is it all of them ,the highest number which looks like the date of the smallest number. May seem like a dumb question but some of the the places you made changes are not in all of the downloads. You have made a very informative video of a software that does not really have a version number on the version you are using. I can see I am not the only one who would like to know. Thank you for all your hard work.
Hi Greenerplaces,
I'm glad you are interested in the video. As to your questions....
Your first question is answered in the pinned comment, description and in the video at 2:27.
But in case you are still struggling, this is found in the description:
---
New Location to Download the 👉 2021.07.17 👈Version of FreeCAD Realthunder branch is here: bit.ly/3hzjGcP
(It's Realthunder's Google Drive, you can get to this same link by Clicking "Past Releases" in the github)
---
In case this is still not clear enough using the link provided you will be taken to real thunders google drive * I DO NOT have control of this space * with that said we are looking for 2021.07.17 as stated.
The link will take you to the archive for 2021 you go into here and now considering that we are looking for 2021.07.17 let's just take off the "2021" from our search as we are in that folder so now you are looking for 07.17 and it's right there. Inside 07.17 folder there are lots of files as this is a development environment so there are many types of computers and users.
If you are windows look for a zip file and depending on your computer it with be 64 or x86
If you are mac you would be looking for a .dmg
and if you are a linux user I would gather that you would know what you're doing.
You also left a comment on a completely unrelated video where you ask what system I am using and I am using a windows computer which I mentioned at 2:35
Have fun making and I wish you all the best.
Fresh install as per these directions - PAN is Shift-MMB (middle mouse button), not Ctrl-Shift-MMB. Must have been a change in the repo. (Version 2021.922)
Hey guys I have a question: I modelled a part on realthunder version. When I try to open it on the relgular FreeCAD 0.19v the screen is blank, the part doesn't show.
Anyone know what the reason is and possible solution?
What I don’t understand is if this is a branch or a workbench, and if so do you run it through the normal freecad. Thought workbench is we’re add-ons. At the website listed they all seem to be assembly3 workbenches
It's a branch that uses RealThunder's version of the Assembly3 workbench as well as a number of his other fixes etc. In general workbenches are just FreeCAD's approach to organizing tools for different activities, there are default ones and add-on ones. Once you know how you can change them or create your own new ones too. My understanding is that there are couple popular Assembly benches that are popular and you end up with different branches to accommodate them for development reasons.
Awsome!
HELP: when I put a circle on the top of the cube the middle point is not there meaning I can not select it when I want to restrain it to the origin
Good video thnks for sharing. But in this video some parts is blur. I could read they difficulty.
Unfortunately, I downloaded the RealThunder version for Win64, unzipped clicked on the .exe in the bin folder and get error message of a missing .dll file which I can see in the DLL folder. I tried several times and can't get past the error message? Very wierd.
Thanks a different view on freecad
first l wana say you thanks so much for professional and educational video,my english is not perfect,mybe l miss something in somewhere in the video, my problem is 08:38 till that time everythings are perfect.but after that l restrart my pc,but after that l cant open the freecad there is no any icon in the pc only zip file and what l open it from inside.can u or somebody help me pls how l will open it again my yll adjustments are ok. thankyou.