For someone like me with 14 years in Cad industry, these is a game changer and an Hybrid approach that will help a lot for my goals to move for "polymodeling" for games and commercials. Thanks for your effort.
just to make it consistent with all of blender it's ctrl+"+" to expand selection in edit mode, perhaps it's a great idea to keep the shortcut convention the same, especially at such an early stage where workflow is not entrenched yet
One thing that could/maybe should be different from Blender is the term 'bevel'. In Blender it has a different meaning, but in CAD terms it has some nuance (bevel-chamfer-fillet-round). The sketch 'bevel tool' creates rounds and fillets, not bevels. Also the bevel in Blender itself creates chamfers, not bevels. Though the term is so ingrained to Blender already that changing it wouldn't be that easy. Fillet = inside edge radius Round = outside edge radius Chamfer = edge property Bevel (aka: draft, relief) = geometric property
@@tube71000 that's fair, though i do believe internal consistencies must be above external consistencies. Imo i wouldn't mind if they change bevel to chamfer, the shortcut change will be confusing though
i am VERY happy with this progress. i am looking forward to going full-on blender for almost everything i do. i do not have to worry about using it for occassional random paid pet projects :)
It's awesome. For years I kept a copy of Blender 2.6 having a dimension plugin. Now with the CAD Sketcher I can use latest Blender to design blueprints including constraints Distance.
Jonathan, wow, coming from a strong background of Fusion360, it is deeply impressive what possibilities will open in the future with CAD Sketcher in Blender. Very very interesting and thank you for putting so much effort and heart blood into this promising project. very smart people must be working on this. thank you👍
I'd like to see how blender handles modeling a multi part assembly like a clockwork mechanism. It would be really cool to see how you design a complex fidgit toy or a 3d printed set of dial calipers 😁.
Sketches are still in World Space, when they ahould be Object's Local Space. So parentage doesn't work. The workaround is linked duplicates, which is lame.
It will handle assemblies very well but with the mindset of cgi artists not parametrically well nor would i expect good constraints workflow. In time im sure they will get it but for those coming from solidworks kativ mechanical desktop or inventor i have no doubt its going to be cumbersome to say the least. If i were modeling mechanical parts id still do it in any of the before named or freecad by far. Also blender does not have any cam toolpath creation so unless your printing plastic parts no real world machine shop nor manufacturing firm is going to bother trying to create a workflow to make blender work with the other options out there. Freecad does have cam and can generate fanuc compatible gcode until blender gets all of this functionality worked out its just interesting but still a very long way to go. Given how long it has taken for blender to listen to mechanical designers and include a sketcher im not holding much hope for any usable blender cad cam workflow in my lifetime.
@@ketapartynigeria1649 no blender has a crappy very cumbersome python script that lets you believe you can generate tool paths. Go ahead crash machines with gcode blender spits out. Ill stick with cam solutions that are vastly superior and allow real control of step over step down safety hieghts and that don't require 10000 mouse clicks to generate a line of code like g83 z-.5 f1.5 r0.1 ..... Oh wait blender python scripts font even know what g83 is...... Only a handfull of very basic g codes are even possible with it.... Kind of like its a very limited solution not designed by anyone that actually has ever machined anything in their life....
i know it's early stages and it's simply not a comparable project but it's amazing what CAD sketches has done in terms of UI especially compared to projects like FreeCAD where UI is rarely polished
Well I'd be more interested in expansion of features and simplifying the workflow. At this moment, it's way too convoluted. I'd rather use FreeCAD 10 times out of 10 at this moment.
@@chronokoks it definitely still feels like a hack to make this as seamless as freecad, datum plane, sketches, etc need to be its own object wit sketching to be an actual edit mode though I'm not sure if that level of integration is possible with addons
Request: try to remake the model you made with older versions of cad sketcher. In fact, pick some "hello cad sketcher" model and remake it each time workflow new version provides improvment: it really would demonstrate usage of new features. Remarks: not sure drivers are as convenient as freecad spread-sheet: seems too much of clicking. Maybe it's acquired taste, I haven't tried new version yet. I expected drivers to be used for animations, which is probably not the case if you need to click "update" button manually. Remark 2: I'm surprised it's "points per each curve" rather "points per unit of length" or "points per particular curve". Not all curves are created equal. 12 points might be too much for small curves and too little for big curves. Though it'll probably will be fixed later. Remark 3: still not fan that cad sketcher has to reinvent the wheel. We already have a way to move objects: 'g'rab key. There maybe a very valid technical reason why it's not possible, as end user I'm still annoyed. Remark 4: still not fan that cad sketcher continues to ignore existing hot key conventions. "Extend the selection" is Ctrl +, not Ctrl-E. I can't fathom technical reasons why it needs to do that. E is extrude. (Something which would be neat to have instead of switching to line and back). Blender is already hotkey-heavy. Which means that end-users need to learn two sets of hotkeys that do the same thing. Blender is very consistent with its hotkeys. X and G are universal for everything, except cad sketcher. (Though despite the criticism I still like it .)
I've been trying to make architectural floor plans/walls for a game I'm making. It's been a nightmare. Needless to say I've been in a big rush to learn CAD ASAP so I can start doing this in CAD Sketcher because so far it's exactly what I've wanted. Looks like I could use drivers to, on the fly, change things like wall thickness and so on across my entire floor plan.
I’m a college professor in scenic design and have been teaching my students SketchUp and Vectorworks for years, but as our budgets are being cut Trimble and VW keep raising their prices. Seems like Blender is SO CLOSE to being able to take their place but what’s missing is a “Layout” style output for 2D drafting. I’m award of your tools and CAD Sketcher, MesureIt, CAD Transforms etc. The issue isn’t getting precision in the viewport its getting it onto paper. Is there an add on available that allows for section cuts of a 3D model to easily be exported to a 2D drawings where scale dimension lines, call outs, title blocks etc can produce an actual plate of drafting? I’m so eager to cut the cords with my current tools. Thanks
I have to say I have been lurking in here for quite a bit and was really grinding this videos when starting cad on blender. You are my go to CAD blender guy great work on this channel is a diamond. Honestly I would say some do X in blender the way you do on X software. Like for example a loft from fusion360 in blender and something like that. I really liked the CAD modeling using cad sketcher. Not because of cad sketcher itself but because it was like doing some cad modeling with your approach. Maybe modeling everyday things to print in 3D like door stoppers, hooks and similar, while you teach common approaches to CAD modeling stuff. Keep up the good work
A useful workflow I managed with CAD Sketcher, for a very smooth object with lots of curves and no pre-known dimensions, was to sketch the outline of the part, then sketch the cross-section (itself having several smooth edges and one straight one), *leaving* them as beziers, then on the outline sketch, in the curve properties I set the bevel to Object and picked the other sketch. Worked great though I had to do some hinky stuff to fill in the bottom. In another package, I would have called this a 'Sweep' - sweeping one path with another path to create an object.
One unpleasant bit was that it was *very* hard to move that entire second cross-section, once I figured out where the sweeping was happening from and that I should have started from another point. Could not select all and move - that still just moved whatever single piece the mouse was on.
I then tried to find the entities in Python to see if I could programmatically move them all and failed. It looks from the code like they are somehow created or obtained dynamically from the constraints... which is very odd considering you can start by adding points and lines with no constraints.
As for what I'd like to see more of on Maker Tales, I initially came here because of the videos you had on your channel about making puzzle boxes, and that project seems to have died down a bit. I personally would love to see more of that. But apart from that, I really do enjoy seeing all of the projects you do in Blender here and learning some of the mechanics, as well as seeing the updates on CAD Sketcher which I use myself, and it's nice to see this be explained in an easy-to-understand way
I was thinking "Yeah, right, yet another game changer." OK, so yeah, now there's no need for FreeCAD's "spreadsheet" or such if you want really parametric controls. Amazing!
Dude, you are amazing! Really, every video! It's just a pleasure to learn from you, you have such a natural ability at explaining things clearly, concisely, and simply. Good on you! As it happens, I'd really like to see more videos about blender precision modeling.. I've been struggling with resizing an existing model somebody made (a simple motor mount) to my motors dimensions. Since I like taking designs that other people make, but I don't like buying parts when I can source them from things I find (my motor comes from a 95 PC, the CD Driver's motor), I feel it's a skill that could really benefit me. It's different from creating a model from a data sheet, or from designing your own from scratch, and I haven't found many video's talking about taking an existing design and modifying it to you needs.
Take Jonathan's Maker Academy 10-lesson course. Best $124USD I've ever spent. Took me from complete Blender noob to reasonably competent, and I have pretty much put TinkerCad away for good.
9:00 Can I somehow skip the requirement to press the Refresh button manually after modifying the custom property? I've been doing kind of parametric modeling with Blender using modifiers (e.g. you can start with a single vertex object and use screw and solidify modifiers to get fully parameteric cylinders which you can combine with other meshes with booleans) and there you can just adjust the custom properties and every dependant value is automatically refreshed immediately.
Easy thing to back, it would be awesome if they add FEM/FEA once they've got the part building nailed (and exporting to industry CAD standards reliably). Most CAD software is still single core with some aspects GPU accelerated so a "good enough" solution on something as nippy as blender could be a game changer!
wow the driver feature is really the next level! Now i can connect sketcher with Geometry Nodes! I wonder if is possible to add an auto update feature ?
hi I am an architecture student and want use this add on in blender to create floor plans but there is a huge problem. I need to print (render) the drawing in scale (like 1/4 or 1/8 or 1:100 or 1:500 just like we can do in auto cad or Revit). In blender with this addon, there is no way to do that. I don't know if this is an actual problem or if I am the one who is unable to do that. anyway if anybody can help it will be great.
To be honest. Wouldn't it make more sense to design the model in FreeCAD and make an Add-On for Blender that allows you to open STEP-Files? With that you get the advanced render capabilities and all the other good stuff of Blender but also the "real" CAD-workflow of FreeCAD.
Is there a way to do basic drawing numerical entry? As is, draw a custom shape, on that plane, with relative coordinates? It seems the only way to dimension these sketches is via constraints.
Dude, this is super exciting! I am a Mechanical Design draughtsman, and I use Solid Edge as my main CAD Program at work. When I need to do personal things, I have to use FreeCAD. CAD Sketcher is starting to look like a viable future option! (Currently there is nothing better than Solid Edge for sheet metal Design. In terms of Open Source Sheet metal CAD Programs you have very limited options. I would love to see this brought into the planned features :D But I am patient Haha. This is a huge undertaking as it is.) The Driven Dimension is a huge leap forward for CAD Sketcher. I currently drive some of my Solid Edge models using Excel. Do you think that you would be able to drive Dimensions from an external source in the future? (Perhaps from Libre, OnlyOffice Etc.) Well done so far! you guys are awesome!!
I want to see the integration with asset browser and how files could be linked together in a CAD assembly. IMHO this will be the full parametric modeling in Blender, parts and assemblies linked together.
I just want to find an answer for an old friend and interior designer. He wants to escape AutoCAD. But the main problem is hot to work togehther with people using AutoCAD. I tried the AutoCAD DXF import export, but the results had been more than frustrating. For example I imported a kitchen with BlenderKit, I tried to export as DXF, even no file created.
I appreciate the "driver" feature, I just think that 'activating' it is too complexed, it should be a click away, not 4 but, I like the direction CAD on blender is going. I'm using SolidWorks as my CAD software but would love to have some community developed software
Drivers are a Blender feature that can be leveraged into CAD Sketcher, so yeah, it is kind of wonky if you're moving from CAD to Blender, rather than Blender to CAD. I expect it might be "easy" to create a list of existing drivers in the file and then have a dropdown list to make things easier.
This is first I've heard of this add-on and very excited about it. Tried using Fusion 360 but I cannot stand the UI differences from Blender. Better the devil you know.
I've been trying to find a good, open-source CAD program while also learning blender... I think this will do the trick for me cutting ties with attempting to learn Fusion360 and start CAD modeling in Blender!! Cya pesky Fusion trial/student/account management!
Hello man! It’s really game changer! From now on, all the Dinosaurs like Dassault and PTC should look 👀 carefully at Blender to avoid business case changer 🤣🤷👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻. Love what you are doing and thanks!
The download is not installing in my preferences drop down. I have tried both the free version and I have made a donation, but still no luck. Are there any settings that I can use to enable the add-on.
Hello, I was just playing around with this nice Add-On to create a Building. And I wondered if there is a copy and Paste function? I mean like copy the same drawing to move it to the right or left on the same sketch. Or just in general copy and paste. Thank you for creating this nice Add- on :D
putting in....they are only visible on the mini soft roll preview, I can’t do sNice tutorialt without seeing what notes are being played...i can’t even
I've got a question. How can i turn a CSV data file into sketcher points? I'm trying to bring airfoil cross section plots in and am looking for a way to plot the points. I can import it with AirfoilTools as a mesh, convert it to a curve, are there any ways to import or copy and paste vertices, vertex groups or curve control points into sketcher points?
@@maxdefire You mean that creepy ass autocad spyware? No thanks. I stopped using their products when they started demanding my information and tried forcing me to use cloud services. I learned oldschool autocad back in the 80's as a kid when it was command line driven but i quit when they got all big brother. It's none of their business who i am or what i do. I'm not subscribing to these scams, you want my business? Sell me a piece of software i can use on my airgapped machine without DRM or having to connect or no deal. Lol, i don't pay electric, water, or really any bill besides a phone, i DIY it all and these companies think they're gonna get a monthly payment from me I don't care if i can do it in 1 click or not or have to use the console to do it in 10 lines as long as it works somehow. But i just don't do that whole proprietary software thing, it's the opposite of freedom and independence.
if you first can be fully independent from all, then you are free to make whatever this you wish, dependency means you are burdening someone else with the things you are not doing
11/10 Very nice, beautiful, top class, QOL improvements, with time saving functionality made approachable, now with added parametric global variables. Now, will we see mathematical spead sheet rather than time dope sheets, for those variables to be all in one place ? Will will see scales/rotations/swapouts of sketches, along multiple stages/slices of a 3D path, to go way beyond extrusions, revolves and rotations ? All we need then, is the 4D time dimension to have animated 3D parametrics.
@@darrennew8211 I dont think it would be that complex, given the nature of the tools within blender already. More of a QOL feature to have it all be more at your fingertips, organised in a more relevant way to your workflow.
@@RuneRelic You don't think what would be that complex? Having an actual spreadsheet? Didn't we used to have that with geonodes already, so the code for a spreadsheet interface at least is already around somewhere.
This sounds really interesting! Is there a way that oneday we could migrate from Fusion360 to this new kind of Blender? Maybe even by just importing and it takes the sketches, constraints, ... with it?
Fusion360 is Nurbs based. This is polygon CAD. It's easy to export sketches, but converting complicated nurbs solids with parametrization into parametric mesh models... eeeeh that sounds like a programmers nightmare (not saying it's impossible). Better keep expectations low my friend - CADs are here for many years to come before Blender CAD can replace even the simples of them.
As a woodworker, I’d be interested in how plans or technical drawings could be made in blender. The best thing I’ve found so far is the architectural version of measure IT, but I’m finding it kind of limited compared with freecad or even sketchup
Blender could very well be used to make technical drawings and plans. It might seem a bit extravagant as it has so many features but it will absolutely work. You need to learn it fairly well to replicate what you do in sketchup but throw in a toon shader or grease pencil and you are good to go.
Great update. I would have chosen two different shortcuts to stay inline with edit mode: + for extend selection and + to select all linked curves.
Yes, I thought the same thing
I love the passion you're putting into CAD Sketcher's development
For someone like me with 14 years in Cad industry, these is a game changer and an Hybrid approach that will help a lot for my goals to move for "polymodeling" for games and commercials. Thanks for your effort.
With the addition of the ability to create a table of known variables before you start modelling, it is *FINALLY* ready to be put to real use. Bravo!
just to make it consistent with all of blender it's ctrl+"+" to expand selection in edit mode, perhaps it's a great idea to keep the shortcut convention the same, especially at such an early stage where workflow is not entrenched yet
One thing that could/maybe should be different from Blender is the term 'bevel'.
In Blender it has a different meaning, but in CAD terms it has some nuance (bevel-chamfer-fillet-round). The sketch 'bevel tool' creates rounds and fillets, not bevels. Also the bevel in Blender itself creates chamfers, not bevels. Though the term is so ingrained to Blender already that changing it wouldn't be that easy.
Fillet = inside edge radius
Round = outside edge radius
Chamfer = edge property
Bevel (aka: draft, relief) = geometric property
@@tube71000 that's fair, though i do believe internal consistencies must be above external consistencies. Imo i wouldn't mind if they change bevel to chamfer, the shortcut change will be confusing though
i am VERY happy with this progress. i am looking forward to going full-on blender for almost everything i do. i do not have to worry about using it for occassional random paid pet projects :)
Now that the bevel tool is here, I can finally get around to using cad sketcher. Amazing work, guys.
It's awesome. For years I kept a copy of Blender 2.6 having a dimension plugin. Now with the CAD Sketcher I can use latest Blender to design blueprints including constraints Distance.
The comnt section is very positive and downright encouraging! Love it!
Jonathan, wow, coming from a strong background of Fusion360, it is deeply impressive what possibilities will open in the future with CAD Sketcher in Blender. Very very interesting and thank you for putting so much effort and heart blood into this promising project. very smart people must be working on this. thank you👍
Good to see that your progress is so massive! Thank you for things you are doing for us!
This is getting better every update, keep the good stuff coming.
Wow, so great this exists! Finally some basic and so much desired CAD-sketching possibilities! Thank you :)
Oh, I am absolutely ecstatic for more FOSS CAD options. This is looking pretty incredible.
Keep up the good work, this is truly a standout addon.
Fantastic work, thanks for everything you do.
I'd like to see how blender handles modeling a multi part assembly like a clockwork mechanism. It would be really cool to see how you design a complex fidgit toy or a 3d printed set of dial calipers 😁.
Sketches are still in World Space, when they ahould be Object's Local Space. So parentage doesn't work. The workaround is linked duplicates, which is lame.
It will handle assemblies very well but with the mindset of cgi artists not parametrically well nor would i expect good constraints workflow. In time im sure they will get it but for those coming from solidworks kativ mechanical desktop or inventor i have no doubt its going to be cumbersome to say the least. If i were modeling mechanical parts id still do it in any of the before named or freecad by far. Also blender does not have any cam toolpath creation so unless your printing plastic parts no real world machine shop nor manufacturing firm is going to bother trying to create a workflow to make blender work with the other options out there. Freecad does have cam and can generate fanuc compatible gcode until blender gets all of this functionality worked out its just interesting but still a very long way to go. Given how long it has taken for blender to listen to mechanical designers and include a sketcher im not holding much hope for any usable blender cad cam workflow in my lifetime.
@@acroduster Blender has a CAM
@@ketapartynigeria1649 no blender has a crappy very cumbersome python script that lets you believe you can generate tool paths. Go ahead crash machines with gcode blender spits out. Ill stick with cam solutions that are vastly superior and allow real control of step over step down safety hieghts and that don't require 10000 mouse clicks to generate a line of code like g83 z-.5 f1.5 r0.1 ..... Oh wait blender python scripts font even know what g83 is...... Only a handfull of very basic g codes are even possible with it.... Kind of like its a very limited solution not designed by anyone that actually has ever machined anything in their life....
i know it's early stages and it's simply not a comparable project
but it's amazing what CAD sketches has done in terms of UI especially compared to projects like FreeCAD where UI is rarely polished
Well I'd be more interested in expansion of features and simplifying the workflow. At this moment, it's way too convoluted. I'd rather use FreeCAD 10 times out of 10 at this moment.
@@chronokoks it definitely still feels like a hack
to make this as seamless as freecad, datum plane, sketches, etc need to be its own object wit sketching to be an actual edit mode
though I'm not sure if that level of integration is possible with addons
Request: try to remake the model you made with older versions of cad sketcher. In fact, pick some "hello cad sketcher" model and remake it each time workflow new version provides improvment: it really would demonstrate usage of new features.
Remarks: not sure drivers are as convenient as freecad spread-sheet: seems too much of clicking. Maybe it's acquired taste, I haven't tried new version yet. I expected drivers to be used for animations, which is probably not the case if you need to click "update" button manually.
Remark 2: I'm surprised it's "points per each curve" rather "points per unit of length" or "points per particular curve". Not all curves are created equal. 12 points might be too much for small curves and too little for big curves. Though it'll probably will be fixed later.
Remark 3: still not fan that cad sketcher has to reinvent the wheel. We already have a way to move objects: 'g'rab key. There maybe a very valid technical reason why it's not possible, as end user I'm still annoyed.
Remark 4: still not fan that cad sketcher continues to ignore existing hot key conventions. "Extend the selection" is Ctrl +, not Ctrl-E. I can't fathom technical reasons why it needs to do that. E is extrude. (Something which would be neat to have instead of switching to line and back). Blender is already hotkey-heavy. Which means that end-users need to learn two sets of hotkeys that do the same thing. Blender is very consistent with its hotkeys. X and G are universal for everything, except cad sketcher.
(Though despite the criticism I still like it .)
i agree, CAD sketcher is very disorientingnto use becauseni have to switch hotkeys going in and out
DRIVERS!! Holy hell. Time to redo my project's sketches :D
It was an honor to have a hand in getting that driver feature added😀
I've been trying to make architectural floor plans/walls for a game I'm making. It's been a nightmare. Needless to say I've been in a big rush to learn CAD ASAP so I can start doing this in CAD Sketcher because so far it's exactly what I've wanted.
Looks like I could use drivers to, on the fly, change things like wall thickness and so on across my entire floor plan.
Nice to see you pumping!
sir you have convinced me, I'm a SketchUp designer and haven't seen a tool geared for the user. this does that, so I will be migrating to SketchCAD.
I’m a college professor in scenic design and have been teaching my students SketchUp and Vectorworks for years, but as our budgets are being cut Trimble and VW keep raising their prices. Seems like Blender is SO CLOSE to being able to take their place but what’s missing is a “Layout” style output for 2D drafting. I’m award of your tools and CAD Sketcher, MesureIt, CAD Transforms etc. The issue isn’t getting precision in the viewport its getting it onto paper. Is there an add on available that allows for section cuts of a 3D model to easily be exported to a 2D drawings where scale dimension lines, call outs, title blocks etc can produce an actual plate of drafting? I’m so eager to cut the cords with my current tools. Thanks
I have to say I have been lurking in here for quite a bit and was really grinding this videos when starting cad on blender. You are my go to CAD blender guy great work on this channel is a diamond. Honestly I would say some do X in blender the way you do on X software. Like for example a loft from fusion360 in blender and something like that. I really liked the CAD modeling using cad sketcher. Not because of cad sketcher itself but because it was like doing some cad modeling with your approach. Maybe modeling everyday things to print in 3D like door stoppers, hooks and similar, while you teach common approaches to CAD modeling stuff. Keep up the good work
Well done indeed! This is an amazing update!
A useful workflow I managed with CAD Sketcher, for a very smooth object with lots of curves and no pre-known dimensions, was to sketch the outline of the part, then sketch the cross-section (itself having several smooth edges and one straight one), *leaving* them as beziers, then on the outline sketch, in the curve properties I set the bevel to Object and picked the other sketch. Worked great though I had to do some hinky stuff to fill in the bottom. In another package, I would have called this a 'Sweep' - sweeping one path with another path to create an object.
One unpleasant bit was that it was *very* hard to move that entire second cross-section, once I figured out where the sweeping was happening from and that I should have started from another point. Could not select all and move - that still just moved whatever single piece the mouse was on.
I then tried to find the entities in Python to see if I could programmatically move them all and failed. It looks from the code like they are somehow created or obtained dynamically from the constraints... which is very odd considering you can start by adding points and lines with no constraints.
Can't wait for the official release and finally have some tutorials!
so you are saying that we can not create true circles or radii?
This is great. Thank you and the developers.
AMAZING!!! I would love to have reliable DXF and SVG (maybe based on the Blender BIM one) exporting features linked to CAD Sketcher
SolveSpace has both of those. Just sayin'.
When I want to download the CAD sketcher it says (Sorry, this item is not available in your location.) What should I do
Finally! Now I don't have to freak out every time I open a sketch and everything disappears! :)
yeah the bevel stuff got me hyped af!. i use the tool for drawing hardsurface shapes nd that bevel function just makes my life so much easier
Wow, this is just fabulous!!! ♥
As for what I'd like to see more of on Maker Tales, I initially came here because of the videos you had on your channel about making puzzle boxes, and that project seems to have died down a bit. I personally would love to see more of that. But apart from that, I really do enjoy seeing all of the projects you do in Blender here and learning some of the mechanics, as well as seeing the updates on CAD Sketcher which I use myself, and it's nice to see this be explained in an easy-to-understand way
With what's going on with Fusion360 (downgrading the free hobby version) this could be a great opportunity for you 👍🏻
What I would like from Maker Tales? VR plug-in, definitely.
amazing work, dude!
You sound like Sean Murray from Hello Games! Great vid :)
Woooohoooo, sooo goooooood. Thank you for the video, hype hype hype.
new subscriber really appreciate your work keep it up
You make me want to use it! Amazing project!!
Just got into some archviz, and laying out floor plans with cad sketcher is so easy! Awesome software!
I was thinking "Yeah, right, yet another game changer." OK, so yeah, now there's no need for FreeCAD's "spreadsheet" or such if you want really parametric controls. Amazing!
Great update, guys!
need the other half of the video!
Great update! Also would be great to have offset feature as well.
Dude, you are amazing! Really, every video! It's just a pleasure to learn from you, you have such a natural ability at explaining things clearly, concisely, and simply. Good on you!
As it happens, I'd really like to see more videos about blender precision modeling.. I've been struggling with resizing an existing model somebody made (a simple motor mount) to my motors dimensions. Since I like taking designs that other people make, but I don't like buying parts when I can source them from things I find (my motor comes from a 95 PC, the CD Driver's motor), I feel it's a skill that could really benefit me. It's different from creating a model from a data sheet, or from designing your own from scratch, and I haven't found many video's talking about taking an existing design and modifying it to you needs.
Take Jonathan's Maker Academy 10-lesson course. Best $124USD I've ever spent. Took me from complete Blender noob to reasonably competent, and I have pretty much put TinkerCad away for good.
9:00 Can I somehow skip the requirement to press the Refresh button manually after modifying the custom property? I've been doing kind of parametric modeling with Blender using modifiers (e.g. you can start with a single vertex object and use screw and solidify modifiers to get fully parameteric cylinders which you can combine with other meshes with booleans) and there you can just adjust the custom properties and every dependant value is automatically refreshed immediately.
What….I cannot wait to try it out..!!🤓🤓
this looks great. is it possible to copy/duplicate sketches?
Easy thing to back, it would be awesome if they add FEM/FEA once they've got the part building nailed (and exporting to industry CAD standards reliably). Most CAD software is still single core with some aspects GPU accelerated so a "good enough" solution on something as nippy as blender could be a game changer!
Fillet and chamfer? Angler directions with lengths? @45
wow the driver feature is really the next level! Now i can connect sketcher with Geometry Nodes! I wonder if is possible to add an auto update feature ?
does fillets extend past polygonal boundaries like actual CAD?
Is it possible to introduce splines to cad sketcher?
Can you change the thickness of the sketch? I find the lines and points a bit too thick
hi I am an architecture student and want use this add on in blender to create floor plans but there is a huge problem. I need to print (render) the drawing in scale (like 1/4 or 1/8 or 1:100 or 1:500 just like we can do in auto cad or Revit). In blender with this addon, there is no way to do that. I don't know if this is an actual problem or if I am the one who is unable to do that.
anyway if anybody can help it will be great.
To be honest. Wouldn't it make more sense to design the model in FreeCAD and make an Add-On for Blender that allows you to open STEP-Files? With that you get the advanced render capabilities and all the other good stuff of Blender but also the "real" CAD-workflow of FreeCAD.
Is there a way to do basic drawing numerical entry? As is, draw a custom shape, on that plane, with relative coordinates? It seems the only way to dimension these sketches is via constraints.
Dude, this is super exciting! I am a Mechanical Design draughtsman, and I use Solid Edge as my main CAD Program at work. When I need to do personal things, I have to use FreeCAD. CAD Sketcher is starting to look like a viable future option! (Currently there is nothing better than Solid Edge for sheet metal Design. In terms of Open Source Sheet metal CAD Programs you have very limited options. I would love to see this brought into the planned features :D But I am patient Haha. This is a huge undertaking as it is.) The Driven Dimension is a huge leap forward for CAD Sketcher. I currently drive some of my Solid Edge models using Excel. Do you think that you would be able to drive Dimensions from an external source in the future? (Perhaps from Libre, OnlyOffice Etc.) Well done so far! you guys are awesome!!
can i bevel with a straight line instead of a curve?
I want to see the integration with asset browser and how files could be linked together in a CAD assembly. IMHO this will be the full parametric modeling in Blender, parts and assemblies linked together.
I just want to find an answer for an old friend and interior designer. He wants to escape AutoCAD. But the main problem is hot to work togehther with people using AutoCAD.
I tried the AutoCAD DXF import export, but the results had been more than frustrating.
For example I imported a kitchen with BlenderKit, I tried to export as DXF, even no file created.
I appreciate the "driver" feature, I just think that 'activating' it is too complexed, it should be a click away, not 4 but, I like the direction CAD on blender is going. I'm using SolidWorks as my CAD software but would love to have some community developed software
Drivers are a Blender feature that can be leveraged into CAD Sketcher, so yeah, it is kind of wonky if you're moving from CAD to Blender, rather than Blender to CAD. I expect it might be "easy" to create a list of existing drivers in the file and then have a dropdown list to make things easier.
Is the .step file support available?
Thank you
This is first I've heard of this add-on and very excited about it. Tried using Fusion 360 but I cannot stand the UI differences from Blender. Better the devil you know.
I've been trying to find a good, open-source CAD program while also learning blender... I think this will do the trick for me cutting ties with attempting to learn Fusion360 and start CAD modeling in Blender!!
Cya pesky Fusion trial/student/account management!
Hello man! It’s really game changer! From now on, all the Dinosaurs like Dassault and PTC should look 👀 carefully at Blender to avoid business case changer 🤣🤷👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻. Love what you are doing and thanks!
Does that Driver support mean it can or perhaps in the future could interact with blenders geonode system?
Needs an auto-update sketch option
The download is not installing in my preferences drop down. I have tried both the free version and I have made a donation, but still no luck. Are there any settings that I can use to enable the add-on.
Thank you so much. Learned a lot of new useful tNice tutorialngs about soft soft!
Can you project into a sketch/ project intersect into a sketch?
Hello, I was just playing around with this nice Add-On to create a Building. And I wondered if there is a copy and Paste function? I mean like copy the same drawing to move it to the right or left on the same sketch. Or just in general copy and paste. Thank you for creating this nice Add- on :D
putting in....they are only visible on the mini soft roll preview, I can’t do sNice tutorialt without seeing what notes are being played...i can’t even
I just bought CAD Sketcher again, just to support the cause. Not seeing planes when I "Add Sketch". Any thoughts? Mac M2
Is there any way of to import and export the files in STEP format ?
no, it's mesh-based geometry, not solid-based. Sketcher is CAD-like, not real CAD.
Does Blender support CAM toolpath generation yet?
Can you make a point in one sketch coincident with another point in another sketch? That would also be a "driver" as you call it
I've got a question. How can i turn a CSV data file into sketcher points? I'm trying to bring airfoil cross section plots in and am looking for a way to plot the points. I can import it with AirfoilTools as a mesh, convert it to a curve, are there any ways to import or copy and paste vertices, vertex groups or curve control points into sketcher points?
Inventor can do that in 1 ckick. Why don't just use the right software that suits your needs?
@@maxdefire You mean that creepy ass autocad spyware? No thanks. I stopped using their products when they started demanding my information and tried forcing me to use cloud services. I learned oldschool autocad back in the 80's as a kid when it was command line driven but i quit when they got all big brother. It's none of their business who i am or what i do. I'm not subscribing to these scams, you want my business? Sell me a piece of software i can use on my airgapped machine without DRM or having to connect or no deal. Lol, i don't pay electric, water, or really any bill besides a phone, i DIY it all and these companies think they're gonna get a monthly payment from me
I don't care if i can do it in 1 click or not or have to use the console to do it in 10 lines as long as it works somehow. But i just don't do that whole proprietary software thing, it's the opposite of freedom and independence.
@@rustymustard7798 a totally reasonable argument. High five.
Thank you Devs) Could you make a hard surface model using it?
Brother do you have any band
Aaron 70218 I tNice tutorialnk you accidentally closed it and then it crashed. Could you give more details?
dont you think giving and receiving all for free without any commitment or belief is very nice
better be independent than be dependent on money
isn't it a shame to be dependent on people and money
if you first can be fully independent from all, then you are free to make whatever this you wish, dependency means you are burdening someone else with the things you are not doing
but you dont change innovation workflow with mechanical tools
so game changers dont matter that much
When you a high mesh curve resolution does it cause 3d printers to stutter on the curves?
That's up to your slicer
Great!
11/10
Very nice, beautiful, top class, QOL improvements, with time saving functionality made approachable, now with added parametric global variables.
Now, will we see mathematical spead sheet rather than time dope sheets, for those variables to be all in one place ?
Will will see scales/rotations/swapouts of sketches, along multiple stages/slices of a 3D path, to go way beyond extrusions, revolves and rotations ?
All we need then, is the 4D time dimension to have animated 3D parametrics.
Wouldn't 4D parametrics just be putting a #frame expression in the driver?
@@darrennew8211 I dont think it would be that complex, given the nature of the tools within blender already. More of a QOL feature to have it all be more at your fingertips, organised in a more relevant way to your workflow.
@@darrennew8211 ..but yes, currently all 3D parameterics take place in frame 1.
@@RuneRelic You don't think what would be that complex? Having an actual spreadsheet? Didn't we used to have that with geonodes already, so the code for a spreadsheet interface at least is already around somewhere.
Amazing
This is very awesome. Blender is Great! and it just always gets more so.
Devs
RetroSun oh my god too let know when you figure it out
This sounds really interesting!
Is there a way that oneday we could migrate from Fusion360 to this new kind of Blender?
Maybe even by just importing and it takes the sketches, constraints, ... with it?
Fusion360 is Nurbs based. This is polygon CAD. It's easy to export sketches, but converting complicated nurbs solids with parametrization into parametric mesh models... eeeeh that sounds like a programmers nightmare (not saying it's impossible). Better keep expectations low my friend - CADs are here for many years to come before Blender CAD can replace even the simples of them.
Man, I'm a CAD user that many times rendering and animate in Blender. Seeing this is amazing, I'd LOVE to design in Blender, I'm gonna give it a shot.
The fact that STEP import/export requires paid plug-in makes it pointless to Blender for me and I stick to the only truly free solution - FreeCAD.
Will it do CAM?
I'll use blender when gcode for cnc is supported!!
As a woodworker, I’d be interested in how plans or technical drawings could be made in blender.
The best thing I’ve found so far is the architectural version of measure IT, but I’m finding it kind of limited compared with freecad or even sketchup
Blender isn't designed for making technical drawings.
Blender could very well be used to make technical drawings and plans. It might seem a bit extravagant as it has so many features but it will absolutely work.
You need to learn it fairly well to replicate what you do in sketchup but throw in a toon shader or grease pencil and you are good to go.
@@Z-add blender isn't designed for sketch driven objects either and yet here we are.
@@PeterHertel this is a cool video on that: ruclips.net/video/QL_ArANpsVU/видео.html
Awesome news you are making such progress on this project! BTW You have some typo in the CAD sketcher link which does not work.