CAD Sketcher -- CAD in Blender!

CAD Sketcher is a brand new free, open source add-on for Blender that turns Blender into a 2D sketch driven, non-destructive CAD (computer Aided Design). Sketch shapes in 2D, create 3d models or Bezier curves, all while constraint driven and extremely easy.
Links
gamefromscratch.com/cad-sketc...
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Support : / gamefromscratch
GameDev News : gamefromscratch.com
GameDev Tutorials : devga.me
Discord : / discord
Twitter : / gamefromscratch
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[@gamefromscratch]

Links gamefromscratch.com/cad-sketcher-add-on-for-blender/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Support* : www.patreon.com/gamefromscratch *GameDev News* : gamefromscratch.com *GameDev Tutorials* : devga.me *Discord* : discord.com/invite/R7tUVbD *Twitter* : twitter.com/gamefromscratch -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[@Jarandhih]

Hi, i have a problem installing the addon, the solver module to be precise, i've installed the latest version of python but can't find the module anywhere (i've searched manually also).I've tried to download the module from internet but when i try to install it on the Cad addon it faail and force me to quit blender.

[@D4RKFiB3R]

@@Jarandhih Did you solve this issue? Thanks. Solved: This was confusing. I installed Python 3.10 and tried to install from file, but there was no such file on my system. Then I clicked install from pip, but that gave an error, so I restarted Blender in Administrator mode and it says that the module is already registered!

[@Jarandhih]

@@D4RKFiB3R hi mate, yes, it was the version of blender, once i've installed the 3.1 version the addon started working.

[@galnart5246]

Finally a real CAD addon for Blender, i. Really need to show my dad this, he was very skeptical about Blender because it doesn't have CAD workflow

[@rik0904]

it is still just a little thing so I would wait.

[@awesomeniac]

you might want to wait, because currently it's still a baby step toward CAD system

[@JordaanM]

Ah, one of those CAD DADs.

[@johnpekkala6941]

Well Blender /Maya and CAD software are normally used for 2 different purposes. Blender/Maya for things like game dev / film and CAD for construction but seing them getting closer is really great as Blender is used a lot now for things like 3D printing where accurate measurements are important.

[@onlylikenerd]

Thanks, son

[@gabriellandmark751]

As some one who has used autodesk inventer and solidworks thus is super exciting!!!

[@spartv1537]

very nice addon i see! actually a lot of addons you introduce for blender is actually amazing

[@alphavita1545]

This is what a 3D software should have, it's really handy for hard surface design, and also you don't have to worry any wrong changes because you can always go back, thanks for the guys who make it, and also your introduction, thanks.

[@mihajlo_-fo7ud]

1:10 You euthanized your faithful default cube faster than any subject on record. Congratulations.

[@PhilippeGauthier]

That's a great feature, thx! I hope it gets maintained in the long run.

[@nowherebrain]

looks pretty useful, thanks.

[@pirobot668beta]

TinyCAD, long a built-in for Blender, does fine for me... Preferences, Add-ons, TinyCAD. All the basic CAD functions you might want. Look more closely at Blenders snap to grid, snap to angle and other drawing constraints...they make 'real CAD' drafting easy/peasy while keeping Blenders 'free-form' approach.

[@cekuhnen]

I use it a lot for trimming but to my knowledge it cannot draw lines or did I miss something? this add-on is a sketch solver what TinyCAD cannot do.

[@NightVisionOfficial]

"free-form" approach?

[@ShemaiahMathew]

@@NightVisionOfficial essentially polygon modelling

[@freecadfundamentals292]

Looks a good start

[@lylewyant3356]

Got it. That was fast and easy.

[@karlnigan]

Excellent!

[@etopowertwon]

I'm surprised how stable it is. So far I didn't have a single crash. Also vertices didn't flew around all over the world when I added/removed too much constraints (though I'm not sure if it's fault of FreeCAD or I finally learned to not be such a pepega with constraints). It does though feel like it's unpolished and rough yet: deleting sketch is impossible with delete or x -- you need to enter the sketch and press "delete sketch" button. You can't hide elements(points/lines) with 'h' key - you need to click on the eye icon. Reentering the sketch hides 3D objects(entering the first time doesn't).

[@iagocasabiellgonzalez7807]

this is great!

[@MadRey]

I have search for something like this for so long, i needed to install a cracked CAD software again because all the free ones just aren't that good, thanks for showcasing.

[@obkf-too]

Freecad is great, and this has the same solver as freecad, but inside blender which has better ui.

[@MadRey]

​@@obkf-too Yeah i looked at the FreeCAD ui and just installed my Cracked CAD version because i didn't wanna bother with it. i only know 2 CAD interfaces and then also Blenders so sticking with those would be great :D

[@CPT101]

BriscCAD Shape?

[@javisartdesign]

Nice to see CAD integrated into blender. Its similar how Autodesk Fusion 360 works. I think it is difficult to make the ui simple enough working with these surfaces since blender is polygon based

[@etopowertwon]

​@@obkf-too (1) FreeCad and solvespace are different CADs and use different solvers (I didn't find any reference to solverspace in freecad code and viceversa). (2) I never used solvespace, but last time I used FreeCad it was complete garbage (I don't know what was worse - topological renaming or constant crashes to desktop or zealots on subreddit screaming that adding datum plane to work around topological renaming is just different workflow not worse wokflow 🤢🤮🤮) Though from what I seen in CAD challenge videos solvespace lacks loft (FreeCAD has it)

[@VanderJamesHum]

cool project.

[@kingpen]

I'm planning on modelling a bat-inspired, double ornithopter I've dubbed, "The Dragonfly," and I can tell you that this is going to come in SO handy~!

[@namonaite]

I would have loved this a few years ago

[@VincentFischer]

Because I use blender to design dimensional accurate mostly functional 3d prints, I thought I will be stuck in 2.79b forever (measure it addon, shame that this set of tools isn't in blender itself). Will definitely check this one out

[@omegadeepblue1407]

and, how was it?

[@franzg.trujillanoch.8912]

Blender 😍 😍 😍

[@Magna_Dragon]

Install Phyton? How? How would I know which one to pick?

[@carolsmith9478]

When I add a sketch the planes do not show up. What's up with that?

[@syahti]

i am test instal in bledner 3.2 why not solver module isn't registered?

[@daniishere1009]

This add-on is pretty much similar to 3DS Max spline.

[@fred6854]

I hope a working CAD addon will happen with Blender

[@noanyobiseniss7462]

Great, waited for This and then go to all through all the issues with OS failures only to find out it cannot be installed on Windows 7 !!! SOMEONE should point that out! I refuse to goto MS as a service!

[@MichaelFlynn0]

why is it black on grey ... cant see a thing

[@addmix]

My question is, does it have support to import .step files? This would be an amazing feature that I've been looking for for years.

[@ryanviertel7059]

Are you simply looking to get the geometry from a step file into blender? Why not just export the STL and use that?

[@addmix]

@@ryanviertel7059 That's what I have been doing, but it doesn't work for some parts that I am trying to mesh for a game. Most meshing algorithms absolutely suck for nurbs, and I would like to use the nurbs directly in my remodelling process for accuracy.

[@ryanviertel7059]

@@addmix makes sense, I'd be really surprised though if blender ever had support for parametric surfaces though, at it's core it's a mesh based modeler. Have you tried meshing the nurbs with instant-meshes?

[@addmix]

@@ryanviertel7059 I've thought of it, but I need it to be optimized for game use, so either way I need a manual step of modelling. Thing is, blender already has NURBS, there just arent any good ways to import/export them. I wish I could use the existing nurbs, then do something like instant meshes and define the edge flow for hard-surfave models

[@ryanviertel7059]

@@addmix I didn't realize that Blender had nurbs. After looking it up it looks like that is the only surface they support though, no planes, sphere's Tori etc. They're also really limited in curve types, so they couldn't support a general step import. I can see why it would be frustrating though when nurbs exist in blender and you already have them defined elsewhere. If your nurbs are untrimmed, you could map a quad mesh on it. For trimmed nurbs though you probably don't have any option other than to remesh it.

[@murat.A]

Why is this addon hyped this much atm???

[@kylek.3689]

This is all AutoCAD functionality that engineers really love for free.

[@murat.A]

@@kylek.3689 Ok, the word "free" seems to be the keyword. but why is FreeCAD not that much hyped?

[@KentoCommenT]

@cas curse I wouldn't say "actively" avoiding doing anything about it, but reading the forum, I'd describe it as table tennis between the ones that push for good change and the ones that want to prevent bad change. That, and pull merges take a considerable amount of time.

[@jmalmsten]

oooookey... how do I install a compatible version of Python?

[@kentrebeccadavis4631]

Would you like to fix everything Cad Sketcher THEME (add-ons) so edge can see bright any color without too black edge on youtube when everyone are on youtube too. Also you can get download (Screencast Key) to help for deaf people watch your youtube how to tutor about Cad Sketcher.

[@dawah2233]

When click 'install from pip' Then show this massage 'Can not install package: py-slvs' Can any body help?

[@rukatvor]

В моєму випадку (Blender3.3.1 та Windows 10×64) Щоб SketchCAD почав працювати - довелось додатково завантажити пакет PIP під назвою "py_slvs-1.0.4-1-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl" та встановити його вручну.

[@TheSmashingDoc1]

it doesnt install, how do i install python wtf why is it so hard to install this simple thing

[@cekuhnen]

It is not a 2D cad system - it offers a 2D sketch solver !!! You folks oversell what this add-on is with using incorrect terms.

[@cekuhnen]

@@kishirisu1268 try again maybe … makerTales himself corrected in one of his videos what this only is!

[@mohanperformance.enginerd.1308]

This is a great help. But please slow down your speach. It is not an auction.

[@captainweird1822]

For some reason, I cannot manage to istall this. Despite having python, and pip updated to the most recent version, and having installed the py-cvs Wheel, any time I attempt to hit the check box to enable it, I get an error saying:"FileNotFoundError: [WinError 3] The system cannot find the path specified: 'ressources\\presets'". What is causing this, and how do I fix it? (It is noteworthy this is my first attempt at installing any add-on manually, so I probably ended up skipping something Im not aware of)

[@vibe4394]

I had the problem where the page only downloaded a regular file, not a zip. After I manually converted it to zip it worked.

[@Tokomak_5]

Blender needs NURBS, NURBS and NURBS.

[@mr.m2675]

blender already has those curves, or do you mean something else?

[@SgtMajor82]

Hmmm only 15% of funds go to the Dev...

[@MikaelL]

Too bad this is an addon that only works from Blender 2.92, and not Blender 2.90 or 2.83

[@SteveMacSticky]

would this also work on blender that is used on proper operating systems ie. Linux and Mac?

[@etopowertwon]

There are mentions of these OSes in CAD sketcher documentation and solvespace is available for them, so yes.

[@gamefromscratch]

I tested it on Mac OS too. The add-on worked fine, but clicking edges seemed to be bugged and extremely twitchy, making it unpleasant to use. Granted, it's a very early release. So yes, its cross platform and runs on both OSes you mentioned, just expect bugs on each. For example the Python issue I had was only on Windows 10/11 machines, while the clicking sensitivity seemed unique to Mac.

[@SteveMacSticky]

@@gamefromscratch much obliged.

[@SteveMacSticky]

@@etopowertwon thanks

[@davids9027]

Except that you are using what I as a former cad user casually refer to as 'fingerpaint mode." you're just randomly placing entities on screen, not precisely locating them. Constraints are useful but not if the cuts, extrusions etc are not properly located in your sketch. I suggest your commenting on Dimensional Constraints. I'm viewing this as someone highly experienced in AutoCad, barely experienced with Solidworks, but totally new to Sketcher. Your video is the most informative Sketcher tutorial I could find, if only you would SLOW DOWN YOUR SPEECH. You sound as if you have had too much espresso as in this cartoon scene. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5mcmXtmj5qbfbc (ref Iron Giant coffee scene on KZbin). btw, Thumbs Up despite your abominable rapid fire speech. Excellently Done

[@TheSmashingDoc1]

this is buuuuuuuulscrap, i intalled this python and still cant intsall this craaaaaaap, wtf i hate it

[@gower1973]

Just use the free version of Fusion 360 or any other proper free CAD program, they are million times better than this, bit of lame demo to be honest