cad software

I have been reading the thread about cad software and I think it might be
important to note that there are several kinds of 3d software that really
serve very different industries. 3d modelling software, such as 3d studio,
blender, and softimage, are made for rendering, animation and video game
creation/playing, they were not designed for manufacturing at all. They are
multimedia only. The learning curve on these is as long as any software
could possibly be, especially Blender.
The various other software mentioned in the thread ARE made with
manufacturing in mind. Some, such as Rhino, have decent rendering
capabilities, as mcneel recognizes that presentation and collaboration go
hand in hand with manufacturing. [btw anyone who doesn't like the rhino
interface - you can customize the interface very easily]
I use Rhino AND I use solidEdge origin, for most of my work. I output
parasolid files from both to featurecam for gcode. As someone pointed out
Rhino has incredible file format control and I wouldn't hesitate to pay
$500. for that alone. As I work at a university, I am eligible for the
educational version, so Rhino cost me considerably less than $500. I believe
anyone who is taking a course at a tech school or some equivalent is
eligible for the discount. IF that is the case, it would be worth it for
someone to pay a couple of hundred for a class and still get the software
for less than the asking price.


If anyone HAS used blender to produce machinable surfaces please email me
and indicate what software you used to read the surfaces and what file
format did you use to transfer from blender to your cam software. I would be
willing to bet money that noone has been able to do this.

Patrick Huss