Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to pose a question. I have searched for weeks for a Linux app that was being used for jewelery designing. There are powerful apps for Windows (3Design, Rhino, Gemvision, etc.), but they are all extremely expensive and there is no port to Linux as far as I know. I know that it is theoretically possible to use Blender for this purpose, but it would require expert knowledge of the app and I have never heard of it being done.

So, out of all the people using Linux for various things, I thought it was possible that someone else may have had the same idea. If so, I would appreciate a tip on where to find such an app, commercial or open source.

Thanks

Bob

Hi

You can use ProEngineer Wildfire 3 ( commercial app ) there is a Linux Version that runs allright in Slackware, but it is 32 bits... If you want to use it in a pure 64 bits system like slackware, you have to enable multilib, but it will install allright in Ubuntu and fedora...

remember to apt-get install lib32, motif, motif-dev, Gtk-1.2.libs, Gtk-1.2.libs-dev, portmap... ( i think it is all ...)

If you want an open source alternative, you can use BRL-CAD... http://brlcad.org/

And you can do amazing stuff with it...

http://brlcad.org/gallery/s/renderings/verde
http://brlcad.org/gallery/s/renderings/GSI_Images/
http://brlcad.org/gallery/s/screenshots/

It is scriptable...

You can create scripts with Tcl to create you drawing/assembly using conditionals, loops, etc, from a given set of editable paramaters...

Has interference detection,...

You can design an aicraft structural layout with this... ( I have done it , I am planning to build a full scale replica of Nakajima Ki 84 Hayate, http://hsfeatures.com/features04/ki8432ir_1.htm, using composite materials and an overpowered engine, likely I will have some problems in the required quality of adhesive bonds... not as reliable as bolts, welds or rivets... ),
export it as stl, or IGES assembly and mesh its parts for analysis in a Finite Elements Package... Like Calculix, or Code-Aster

The point about FEA modelling stuf is that 3d representation of BRL CAD is VERY HIGH QUALITY... it uses CSG 3D modeling kernel, a Volume modeler; All its 3d entities are either geometrically simple primitives, or boolean operations on these... The boundaries and intersections of these are less "ill-defined" than happens with surface modelers, like nurbs based geometry kernel libraries...

For the standpoint of ppl which do rendering and 3D presentation or technical drawing all alone this may seem irrelevent...

But do not try to mesh some 3d Domains created with Nurbs Geom Kernel... it is not "water-tight" to full numerical precison of most meshers, the boundary is not a connected closed surface, in math parlance, while CSG ( Constructive Solid Geometry ) kernels are less prone to this ( mostly caused by round off errors in NURBS and B Spline computations )


Never designed any Jewel, but I am quite conversant with CAD systems, Solid Works, Pro Engineer, Catia, Autodesk Inventor, thes are the ones I used to work with in W$, only ProE WF3 exists for Linux... I do not think that designing a Jewel is overly more complex than desinging an assembly of Bulkheads, wing ribs, wing spars, shells, plates, engine components... etc. But like I said... never been there in Jewel design...

For 2D you have QCad, although this is VERY limited... I think it is useless for serious design work.

I think you should invest in Blender... the is a very powerfull ap... check this... :


http://walkercreations.org/blender/U...ne%20Glass.pdf



it is NOT a very user-friendly package... although it is a powefull one.

Brgds

Alex

Thanks, Alexvader, those are all very good tips. Trouble is, the commercial apps that I mentioned in my first post are much easier for a non-engineer like me to get to grips with. I have never know Blender to be used for designing jewelery,but it appears to have all of the features that a commercial app has, I just do not have the time to learn it properly, and while there are tutorials for individual projects, I think I would need at least an elementary course in the app to begin to get any use out of it.

Thank you very much for your suggestions.

Bob

If you have the other apps already, you could probably run them on windows in a virtual machine if you are wanting to move to linux

Hi Again...

Seems that M$ "siege" is starting to choke *NIX ports to CAD packages :

Pro Engineer Wilfire 3 was the last with a port for Linux, PTC no longer supports Linux with its ProE WF 4 and ProE WF 5 packages... It is at times Like these I wish I was the commander of Kido Butai... PTC and M$ would regret the disrespect and dishonor with which they treated Linux users...

Anyway... AFAIK, after much googling i found out that the last remaining port of proprietary CAD solution to Linux is Varicad...

http://www.varicad.com/en/home/


I can do much of my work with BRL CAD though...

But think of all these engineers that used Linux for managing their projects, using ProE WF3... they will be forced to shift to W$...



BRGDS

Alex