MakerGear Forum

Been looking at different packages for a long time. My favorite go to has been DesignSpark thus far. SpaceClaim 2016 is pretty impressive with their new reverse engineering tools especially what they call their skin tool. I have the 3D printing and scanning parts down pretty well now so I'm looking to bridge the gab with new capabilities. I'm no engineer but I like the idea of expanding my skill set and adding to my capabilities. I think it's time to pull the trigger next week. Isn't easy to cut loose that kind of money for a software package that's for sure. My wife says REALLY? for a piece of software! Can't you just find one for $49 somewhere? I wish.

You have to pay to support their legal fees for having lawyers to protect them against claims for their reverse engineering other people's IP.

Not exactly sure what that means.

Oh, mostly just kidding. But software that does any kind of reverse engineering can get a company into litigation. I was suggesting that they charge more for their software because they have to pay a lot of lawyers to cover their butts. Kidding aside, though, you're right on. There are lots of free and cheap 3D design software packages out there, but there is a clear gap in features, functions, speed of processing, and ease of use between those and the ones that cost real money.

Ah, indeed. Always amazed me that a top tier package like Photoshop that most professional shops use is $600 but you start looking at CAD packages and all of a sudden you are in the 3k + range. I could be wrong but I don't see a package like SpaceClaim or Solidworks being any more sophisticated under the covers. Who knows maybe they are. None the less, I want the features and reverse engineering tools so I guess you gotta pay for it. DesignSpark and SpaceClaim are the only one's I've tried that allowed me as a non engineer to jump right in and start doing stuff with out an enormous learning curve.

I really liked DesignSpark when I was using it. It's really being positioned by RS as something to make enclosures with, though, and by SpaceClaim as a gateway drug to the hard stuff. I was annoyed when they removed the Loft tool as too good of something to throw in for free.

I like the direct modeling approach as very easy to get into, but you end up having to push/pull everything just so to get the dimensions right. With a parametric modeler like Fusion 360, you can just go back to the sketch you started with and adjust some dimensions/constraints and have everything rebuild. Drawing a proper sketch that works properly when you go back to edit it is a learned skill, though, and takes some practice. DesignSpark is like a super powerful scientific calculator; Fusion 360 is more like a spreadsheet.

The feature recovery in SpaceClaim is tempting, but not $2500 tempting. Let us know how you like it.

I've been using an eval license they provided so I know I already like it. It's the only package I've found that as a novice I can actually accomplish things with right from the get go. The new reverse engineering tools are awesome. The price stings a little but I guess if you want the capabilities you gotta pay for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-g4zJ6huOo

looking at a couple videos. it seems like a cross between solidworks and rhino. kinda interesting. i dont see any prices anywhere for this. out of curiosity, what are they getting for a license?

nvm, i googled it and came up with 2495.00. education lic is 50 bucks though for the year.

That's about right + the yearly maintenance which isn't mandatory after the first year unless you want continued support and free upgrades. They have some discounts going the month of June so around $2700 total. Full retail is about $3300. Solidworks I believe is around 5k + 1300 per year.

Finally got my SpaceClaim lic today. Guess I'm all in now.