Hi WingingIt74, greetings to the Community!WingingIt74 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 12:50 pm I started doing a simple tutorial on youtube, but I either clicked on the wrong thing or pushed a key and could not find my way back to where I was. That got pretty frustrating... which means I'll have to start over and I have no idea what when sideways. Telling my age, I went to ITT Tech and graduated in 1995 with a AAS in drafting. At that time, we did 1/2 CAD and 1/2 board drafting. ITT Tech no longer exists, so it's hard to prove what I have.
Some necessary clarifications.
To have a term of comparison, very very approximate (in reality more than Autocad they are more similar to FreeCad eg Catia, Nx, SolidWorks, Inventor, Tekla, etc.), but useful to trace in our "imaginary" a profile of FreeCad (obviously not complete but enough to understand):
- Autocad Lt is purely 2D;
it is conceptually similar to FreeCad "Draft".
- Autocad is a 3D from release 10 (year 1988);
it is conceptually similar to FreeCad "Draft" + "Part".
- Autocad is a parametric 3D (partially) from the 2010 release (year 2009);
it is conceptually similar to FreeCad "Part Designer" + "Sketecher".
For the technical drawing, the Autocad Layouts are similar to the FreeCad "TechDraw" Pages (but the systems for generating the projections to obtain the views are different).
Obviously FreeCad is much, much more.
First of all it is absolutely parametric, then it has a "philosophy" of setting that in all likelihood makes it unique in its kind: it involves the use of many highly specialized tools grouped by specificity defined with the term "Work benches".
Which are not comparable to Autocad's "Lisp".
The "Lisps" are comparable to the FreeCad Macros Python.
They (Workbench and Macro) interact in 3D space on the same object / s not only from the point of view of 3D modeling but also in the simulation, both of movement and structural, fuidic, thermal ... (FEM), etc., or in the 'assembly, in short, not to dwell on it, FreeCad is a 3D CAD in which planning and inventiveness can follow a complete development (virtual prototyping), without having to use other software.
For example, there are workbenches that deal with curves, or with bending and unfolding (planimetric development) of sheets, modeling of gears, electronic components, CAM for cnc, bolts, assembly of assemblies, Architecture, BIM and many others.
Certainly not everything in FreeCad is simple, intuitive and obvious, in particular for those who have already gained experience in using 3D cad (in this case it is recommended to "forget" the old software in the sense of canceling the usual modeling procedures), then you need to have the will and the constancy (!) to learn, the humility to ask (better define it as "positive mental predisposition"), rather than criticize the first difficulty when things don't go the right way, that's why the Forums, the wikis and the countless treatises on the web are excellent resources to find 99.99% of the solutions you are looking for.
A good path to get started with FreeCad:
- Read the documentation (even if not updated to the latest versions)
- Meticulously perform all (!) Basic tutorials
- Use online resources (Wiki + Forum)
I hope I have not bored you, a greeting