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== More ==
== More ==

=== The FreeCAD manual ===

The manual is a work-in-progress community effort, and is already available in a couple of languages. It still lacks much information, so feel free to join and contribute!
* [[Image:Flag-en.jpg]] [[Online Help Toc|Table of contents]]
* [[Image:Flag-pl.jpg]] [[Online Help Toc/pl|Spis Treści]]
* [[Image:Flag-es.jpg]] [[Online Help Toc/es|Índice de contenidos]]
* [[Image:Flag-fr.jpg]] [[Online Help Toc/fr|Table des matières]]
* [[Image:Flag-se.jpg]] [[Online Help Toc/se|Innehallsforteckning]]
* [[Image:Flag-de.jpg]] [[Online Help Toc/de|Inhaltsverzeichnis]]
* [[Image:Flag-ru.jpg]] [[Online Help Toc/ru|Содержание]]


=== About the development ===
=== About the development ===

Revision as of 02:17, 12 October 2010

FreeCAD

FreeCAD is a general purpose Open Source 3D CAD/MCAD/CAx/CAE/PLM modeler, aimed directly at mechanical engineering and product design but also fits in a wider range of uses around engineering, such as architecture or other engineering specialties. It is a feature-based parametric modeler with a modular software architecture which makes it easy to provide additional functionality without modifying the core system.

FreeCAD is based on OpenCasCade, a powerful geometry kernel, features an Open Inventor-compliant 3D scene representation model provided by the Coin 3D library, and a broad python API. The interface is built with Qt. FreeCAD runs exactly the same way on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux platforms.

File:Right arrow.png Learn more here...

Key features

  • A complete OpenCasCade-based geometry kernel allowing complex 3D operations on complex shape types, and supports natively concepts like brep, nurbs, booleans operations or fillets
  • File:Feature6.jpg
    A modular architecture that allow plugins (modules) to add functionality to the core application. Those extensions can be as complex as whole new applications or as simple as python scripts or self-recorded macros
  • A full parametric model allowing any type of parameter-driven custom objects, that can even be fully programmed in python
  • Complete access from python built-in interpreter, macros or external scripts to almost any part of FreeCAD, being geometry creation and transformation, the 2D or 3D representation of that geometry (scenegraph) or even the FreeCAD interface
  • Import/export to standard formats such as STEP, IGES, OBJ, DXF, SVG or U3D

In development

  • A Sketcher with constraint-solver, allowing to sketch geometry-constrained 2D shapes
  • A Drawing sheets module that permit to put 2D views of your 3D models on a sheet
  • A Robot simulation module that allows to study robot movements
  • File:Feature10.jpg
    A Rendering module that can export 3D objects for rendering with external renderers

More

The FreeCAD manual

The manual is a work-in-progress community effort, and is already available in a couple of languages. It still lacks much information, so feel free to join and contribute!

About the development

Check the Development roadmap for news about what is being planned, the Changelog and Roadmap mantis pages to see the progresses towards next release, or the Project statistics for even more information about the FreeCAD codebase.

Quickbuild

FreeCAD uses cMake, subversion link: https://free-cad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/free-cad/trunk

Help wanted

FreeCAD would benefit greatly from your help with testing and reporting bugs! Another problem we have, is lack of people to build and test FreeCAD on Mac OSX. If you have a mac, please help us! You are also welcome to help translating FreeCAD in your language.