Alibre Design Opinions

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Phil3

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I very much want to learn 3D CAD, but have zero experience with CAD software. Since I have Alibre Design Pro (2014), I wonder if I should just stick with this and try to learn it, or try something like Fusion 360? Given my inexperience, I am unsure whether either are too much for a novice. Fusion 360 and Alibre Pro maintenance are both $300/year. Due to Alibre ownership changes and promotions, I ended up with Alibre Pro ($1,000) for $100, so if I can learn it, is comparable to Fusion 360, I may be inclined to learn Alibre. There does not seem to be much talk about it here though. More worrisome, is that I do not find instructional help with Alibre as good as what I find for Fusion 360. Is Alibre not so popular for a reason, or...? I live in the San Francisco bay area, and it would be nice if I could find some personalized help with it, but again, it does not seem to be so popular. I wonder why.

Thanks.

Phil
 
I was using Alibre before it became super expensive and renamed to "gomagic". Stupid name. No real support or resources, at least compared to what I've found for Fusion. I think Alibre alienated a lot of people when they suddenly changed to geomagic.

I switched to Fusion 360 when I found out about it simply because it was free, and so far is the best one for me that I've found. I do like it better, but that's just me.
 
Thanks for your comments. The name was GeoMagic, and I admit, it was a stupid name. Now, the original Alibre folk are back, and Alibre is now just Alibre. May I ask what you like about Fusion 360 vs Alibre?

Phil
 
Phil3 said:
Thanks for your comments. The name was GeoMagic, and I admit, it was a stupid name. Now, the original Alibre folk are back, and Alibre is now just Alibre. May I ask what you like about Fusion 360 vs Alibre?
Phil
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I didn't know that! Mainly it was the difficulty in learning how to do things. I'll admit that it was too long ago to really remember, so I'm probably not being fair, but I've gotten way further in much less time with Fusion 360 than I did with Alibre, so that's got to mean something!
 
I got Alibre way back when they first announced a free cad package, I signed up and when they brought it to market I got the free package, later they announced an upgraded release for purchase, I kept the free package until they dropped it and released the Alibre home version for $300.00. I have had good success with it and it does what I needed. Now they sent me a notification that they are dropping support for the home version and if I want to keep using Alibre I can get the pro version for another $300.00 which is probably a good deal.

I Downloaded Fusion 360 and to me it not as intuitive as Alibre but that could be because I've used Alibre for so long, I'm liking 360 very much because of the built in CAM. Way more powerful than the free CAM I've been using with Alibre. My main concern is that they get me hooked on the free version and then drop it for a yearly subscription.

I might just upgrade Alibre so I have it and keep using Fusion 360 as well.
 
bpimm said:
My main concern is that they get me hooked on the free version and then drop it for a yearly subscription.
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That would concern me as well but for the fact that it's already something that they charge for. It's just the hobbyist/little guy that is allowed to use it for free. This isn't a beta test like Alibre seemed to be.

edit: And Alibre's business practices just tick me off anyway. :)
 
While I've never used Fusion 360, I have used Alibre Design. I bought it when it was originally Alibre Design (before Geomagic). I had quite a bit of 2D experience (AutoCAD) and wanted to learn 3D. At first, I didn't like it. But eventually, I found it to be a very good piece of software though I didn't use it enough to become proficient with it. I would like to buy the current version, but they have priced themselves out of my market. But, if you're willing to shell out the asking price, it's a good package.
 
I first learned the basics of SolidWorks in/around 2004 where it was used in our engineering department. The cost of it can choke a horse. In 2012, I discovered Alibre and much to my surprise, found it strikingly similar to SolidWorks. Since then, I've maintained the Expert version and stuck with it thru the dark days of "Geomagic". Last year, the original Alibre owners and development team bought back their product/business from the corporation that acquired them and renamed them as Geomagic. Alibre is now under it's own control again. I give them a lot of credit for pulling that off as I can imagine the corporate part of the business wanted to kill them off.

Anyhow, I think it's a great package that does everything I could ask for. I'm not familiar with Fusion 360 but have seen some tutorials. I'm sure it's OK too. The truth is, everyone has their preferences and will like some packages better than others. In reality, once you learn the basics of any package, learning another is not that hard. -Just need to maintain an open mind.

Ray
 
I bought a version of Alibre known as Cubify Design shortly after 3D Systems bought the program from Alibre. For a short period of time you could buy a special version that also included an .stl converter through Sherline. This was back when 3D Systems was wanting to be "it" when it came to 3D printing. Besides the real expensive high end commercial 3d printers they are know for, they had their own entry level 3D printer called the Cube and they needed a CAD program to go along with it. Soon thereafter is when they also purchased Makerbot. They have since pretty much abandoned the consumer market and dropped the Cube and support and upgrading for Design. As noted by others the original Alibre team has now purchased the program back from 3D Systems. The training available from 3D Systems was minimal at best but I found a number of tutorials on youtube and I was able to learn how to use the program and I use it to this day.

Once you get your head wrapped around the use of 'sketches' and can visualize x,y & z it was not real difficult to learn. I primarily use it for creating .stls for my 3D printer and some basic CNC work using another basic CAM program. I find though that I am wanting to do more involved CNC work now and I am transitioning to Fusion 360 primarily because of it's built in CAM capabilities. And, of course, it's price for hobby use. I find that the basic drawing process is pretty much the same in both programs. Both use sketches pretty much in the same manner and have pretty much the same subroutines for creating extrusions, cuts, revolves, lofts, arrays, etc. The terminology used in both is also pretty much the same. Fusion is way better at assembling different components together than Design. Never know which way Design was going to spin a component when you tried to attach it to another and then a real PITA to try and get it turned around to where you wanted it. The basic version of Design that I have does not allow layers to be used which can be very limiting forcing you to create multiple drawings and then assemble them in different configurations so check fits. Fusion lets you put as many 'components' as you want into a single drawing and you can turn them on and off as desired. I do think though that Design has better constraints control. The one thing I don't like about Fusion is it's lack of being able to export to a number of other CAD program formats. Very limiting. I am also not a fan of the "Cloud". Though you can run Fusion off-line you still periodically have to log in on-line to keep it runing. Same also now true for Alibre.

The available training for Fusion is much better with many more tutorials available from autodesk and others on youtube. I will probably continue to use Design for my 3D printer work, at least until I have to replace my PC. I've been informed that new license keys to reinstall on another PC will no longer be available. By not having a low cost, stand alone version of their program I think Alibre has priced themselves right out of the home shop user market. I can't afford the annual costs they are wanting and Fusion just has a lot more capabilities. If you know one it won't take too much to adjust to the other.
 
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