Talk:Basic Part Design Tutorial

Notes when trying to follow this tutorial using:
First things first: thank you quick16 for writing out this tutorial.

None of the following is authoritative since I'm nowhere familiar nor with the program nor with the terminology it uses. This a Discussion page, to discuss, ask questions and propose enhancements and suggestions. I would have added or corrected the tutorial directly but I do not feel confident enough to do it yet. I propose possible changes here so they are "approved" by more experienced users and agreed on by several people before incorporating them into the main page.

These notes are here to find/expose pitfalls a newbie might find him/herself in, try to avoid them in this documentation and save everybody time and hassle.. Please contribute with whatever you think it may help.

Will continue tomorrow. --Philip (talk) 19:15, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

Following the tutorial on ver 0.16. --We want the whole building and not just the windows. (talk) 12:23, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Add comments here (if you're confused with wiki tables formatting) and sign it, please. I'll include whatever in the table:


 * (write here)
 * (answer here)

Features with pocket and external geometry
Will go and try all this on FC 0.16. --Philip (talk) 21:02, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

For 0.17

 * FC v0.17dev: Part Design Next Usecases and Best practices Sat Apr 23, 2016 7:40 am by cox https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?t=15432 (60 forum posts)

For 0.15

 * Newbie trying out Basic Part Design Tutorial... Sat Jun 13, 2015 8:54 pm by Diegis https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?t=11337 (32 forum posts)

For 0.14

 * Newbie ... Sun Oct 12, 2014 1:29 am https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7982 (70 forum posts)


 * Tutorials for Part Design Beginners Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:28 am by quick61 https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?t=8004 (16 forum posts) Original idea for this tutorial.


 * Tutorials for 0.14 PartDesign Tue Jul 16, 2013 8:58 pm by jrheinlaender https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4265 (16 forum posts)
 * https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?title=PartDesign_Bearingholder_Tutorial_I
 * https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?title=PartDesign_Bearingholder_Tutorial_II


 * FreeCAD Tutorials in Viewing Order using 0.14_2370 32 bits  by bejant Last updated on Mar 26, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrEZShA-NGC9IIpq9chta_PKAnEjJGe8q
 * 04a FreeCAD Part Design Workbench Tutorial (with audio) Published on Apr 3, 2014 (9:59 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8PSIhSs5Dc&index=3&list=PLrEZShA-NGC9IIpq9chta_PKAnEjJGe8q


 * PartDesign tutorial Sun Feb 14, 2016 7:28 pm by drei https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?t=14251 (5 forum posts)

For 0.13

 * noob question PostSun Mar 10, 2013 10:14 pm by buick455 http://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3733&start=10#p29329 (45 forum posts)

Some tips collected here and there

 * Whenever you're working on a part, only the last feature / operation should remain visible. All other features should be hidden, (grayed out). " from https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9377#p76110


 * Save often, even before you start work.



Terminology:

 * some terms used are common language and everybody understands them. (box, rectangle, cube, etc.)
 * Other terms belong to mechanical or engineering vocab which common speakers might not know. That is specialized terms or jargon. (fillet ?, pocket ?, constraint, padding ?, axonometric, ...)
 * other terms pertain just to the GUI which not knowledgeable users might not know. (toolbar, dockable, dialogue box, ...)
 * some terms clearly belong to drawing and designing fields, such as sketch, draft, primitive, extrude, etc.
 * and still others belong to FreeCAD itself including those that mean something different to what would normally be understood by an average speaker of the language. This is surely not known to a newcomer. ("Workbench", parametric, geometry, etc.)
 * Some other terms maybe considered such as computer language. The new user may or may not know them. For instance, pressing Ctrl+key or mouse click. tab,

Some more examples are needed and some may be wrong precisely because it is a newcomer who tries to explain the confusion that all these new terms create in a new user when trying to use the program. A glossary exists but it seems convenient that all doc created takes into account the requirements needed to understand it and avoid taking for granted that the target audience already knows all the terms introduced.

When taking into account translations to other languages the problems multiply as it is not simply a matter of translating but communicating the message fully and not just looking up in a dict equivalents in the other language.

This may seem terribly peregrin to the veteran user of the program but that is because once we know something we tend to forget all the things we already know and presume that the listener already knows them. The result is numerous questions on the forums and tiredness at having to explain the same things over and over again.