3D Systems Launches Cubify Design

Seems like of the the big boys in the 3D Printing Industry, 3D Systems has just released a pretty sophisticated new 3D Modelling software today. "Cubify Design" is for sale for $199.00, with a 14 day free trial for anyone looking to test it out before plunking down the big bucks, and includes the following features:

- Create precise parts with sophisticated 3D modeling tools
- Make assemblies of multiple parts including moving, interlocking and articulated designs
- Check functionality with interference and real weight checks
- Generate basic 2D drawings of your designs
- Import: DXF, DWG, AD_PART, AD_ASM, IGES, STEP
- Export: AD_Part, PDF, DXF, DWG, STL

To order the software go here:
http://cubify.com/how_it_works/design.aspx

Has anyone tried it out yet? I'd love to hear some feedback

http://cubify.com/resources/images/s...nding_hero.png

Hi to all,


I have been using cubify Design for a few weeks now and I must say this is by far the best CAD system I have ever used. No wonder because it is also known as Alibre or Geomagic Design. It is limited in its functionality compared to the bigger brothers but not so watered down as to be unuseable.
The interface is practically identical to much larger packages like SolidWorks. It is pefectly parametric and you can change all aspects of a design after the first test print. A boon if you need precise holes or press fits where you have to add or subtract to the dimensions of the original drawing due to the nature of the FDM process.
You always start with a precisely dimensioned 2d sketch and then proceed thru the usual extrude, loft or sweep steps to make it to the third dimension. The help functions for 2d sketches are very elaborate without getting in your way. This is often a problem with other programs. My test for a CAD program is always the mirror and the array functions. If those are endlessly complicated or dont work I throw the program in the bin.
I had a few problems at first with the interface but after watching some of the beginners tutorials on YT I had the hang of it very quickly. Cubify, alibre and some Solid works tutorials can be of help with this program. There even is a tutorial in Schwyzerdütsch", the Swiss dialect...
The interface can be customized, if you dont like the Ribbon look of the program, you can set up any kind of toolset or menu bars you need. Same goes for drawing windows and colors.
In the "Design Explorer" window you can name every step of the creation of the model, and I greatly recommend to use this feature as much as possible. After a week who knows what "extrusion 14" was? This is much like the history tree of 3ds Max. But its easier to use.
Another great advantage is that the footprint is quite small. You dont need a fancy schmancy computer or graphics card. My copy runs on an old Toshiba laptop under Vista and I had no trouble at all with the graphics performance.
You can also make an assembly of the different parts you have drawn and continue to work on the design. Even animated movements or collision tests are possible, but not as elaborate as the big versions of the program.
The import for DXF or other flat drawings is a little tedious at first but after a while one gets used to it.
Export is stl only but thats enough for me , if I want some other format I process thru Meshlab. Even without going into the details of the stl export the quality is good for 3d printing. Fillets and rounded parts have good resolution without getting too many polygons.
The 2d drawing output is also pretty good.
The program ran with great stability and I only had one or two hang ups, mostly due to the fact that the computer went into sleep mode after a pause.
I have used Rhino in conjunction with it and it imports NURBS surfaces quite well in the native 3dm format. It also has an analyzing or healing function that might help in cleaning up problematic models on import.
The uses one makes of a 3d printer are largely limited by your CAD or modelling skills, and mine soared really since I use this program.
I give it my thumbs up!


Albert

Would you say it is worth the $199?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by albert

Hi to all,


I have been using cubify Design for a few weeks now and I must say this is by far the best CAD system I have ever used. No wonder because it is also known as Alibre or Geomagic Design. It is limited in its functionality compared to the bigger brothers but not so watered down as to be unuseable.
The interface is practically identical to much larger packages like SolidWorks. It is pefectly parametric and you can change all aspects of a design after the first test print. A boon if you need precise holes or press fits where you have to add or subtract to the dimensions of the original drawing due to the nature of the FDM process.
You always start with a precisely dimensioned 2d sketch and then proceed thru the usual extrude, loft or sweep steps to make it to the third dimension. The help functions for 2d sketches are very elaborate without getting in your way. This is often a problem with other programs. My test for a CAD program is always the mirror and the array functions. If those are endlessly complicated or dont work I throw the program in the bin.
I had a few problems at first with the interface but after watching some of the beginners tutorials on YT I had the hang of it very quickly. Cubify, alibre and some Solid works tutorials can be of help with this program. There even is a tutorial in Schwyzerdütsch", the Swiss dialect...
The interface can be customized, if you dont like the Ribbon look of the program, you can set up any kind of toolset or menu bars you need. Same goes for drawing windows and colors.
In the "Design Explorer" window you can name every step of the creation of the model, and I greatly recommend to use this feature as much as possible. After a week who knows what "extrusion 14" was? This is much like the history tree of 3ds Max. But its easier to use.
Another great advantage is that the footprint is quite small. You dont need a fancy schmancy computer or graphics card. My copy runs on an old Toshiba laptop under Vista and I had no trouble at all with the graphics performance.
You can also make an assembly of the different parts you have drawn and continue to work on the design. Even animated movements or collision tests are possible, but not as elaborate as the big versions of the program.
The import for DXF or other flat drawings is a little tedious at first but after a while one gets used to it.
Export is stl only but thats enough for me , if I want some other format I process thru Meshlab. Even without going into the details of the stl export the quality is good for 3d printing. Fillets and rounded parts have good resolution without getting too many polygons.
The 2d drawing output is also pretty good.
The program ran with great stability and I only had one or two hang ups, mostly due to the fact that the computer went into sleep mode after a pause.
I have used Rhino in conjunction with it and it imports NURBS surfaces quite well in the native 3dm format. It also has an analyzing or healing function that might help in cleaning up problematic models on import.
The uses one makes of a 3d printer are largely limited by your CAD or modelling skills, and mine soared really since I use this program.
I give it my thumbs up!


Albert

---

Even though it seems nice, I personaly would stick with Solidworks.

I can't say if its better or anything, since i havent used there software yet, But imo 200 dollars might be a little much since i think this is ranged for home users?
I don't see alot of people after they bought a printer of about 1400 dollars and after that a CAD program for 200 dollars.

But hey its nice they offer it, since without you being able to create CAD files, what can you do with your printer apart of printing other people there models ? ^^

In a nut shell, i believe it should be closer to 50-100 dollars. Or even cheaper and make a yearly subscription.
Since at the end there are also alot of Open source wich might not be as easy, but will also get the job done. (Or student version of Solidworks ;) )

I personally think 3D Systems needs to work on Cubify Design a bit. It still feels a bit clunky to me. I wonder if this is foreshadowing a 3D Scanner that they will be announcing later this week. Just a hunch I got ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JacobysOne

Would you say it is worth the $199?

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No, not even if all the bugs were fixed.*

Several days the price listed was $149, so I placed it in the online cart. The cart price was $199. i double blinked my eyes, went back to the prior page and screen printed the page showing price $149.

I then contacted cubify customer support to ask was the price 149 or $199.

Answer was that the price was 199 and that a check of the web page over the last several days had always showed $199.

I also posted the screen pic to them... They disavowed the 149 price.

By the way, if you already have Alibre installed, installing Design will break Alibre. Turns out it's (Design) the same cad engine with a new, bug filled user interface.

I could go on another couple pages about this Design package, and also about the Invent and Sculpt packages.

A good plan would be to wait and see if the UI problems are addressed.

I just want to throw this out there, I've never run into anything that I couldn't do in Blender, free and open source. But, It's my goal to educate other people on how to use 3D printers, and I would never say 'well first you need to spend $200 for software' - so I am biased that way!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cjackson61

I just want to throw this out there, I've never run into anything that I couldn't do in Blender, free and open source. But, It's my goal to educate other people on how to use 3D printers, and I would never say 'well first you need to spend $200 for software' - so I am biased that way!

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I agree 100%. Blender is the way to go. Has anyone tried Cubify Design yet, that can provide some feedback?

I've been using Cubify Design for a few weeks. As a learning experience I've been modeling designs for which I have existing paper drawings. Once I got the hang of things the parametric aspect goes pretty well. I've done a lot of regular 2D Autocad drawing, so the basic sketching is easy to do, although a bit clunkier than I'd like. I haven't been able to import 2D DXF files into the model, although I can export DXFs from the model via the drawing facility.

Working through the tutorial example posted on youtube is a big help in starting out.