Author Topic: Circuit Maker - It Lives!  (Read 38357 times)

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Offline gregvp

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #25 on: May 19, 2015, 09:03:13 am »
Yes I noticed the lack of shortcut keys, funny thing is DesignSpark which is free has a very similar set of shortcut keys.

I have been able to import libraries into Circuit Maker and view them, however they can not be added to an existing project and used.

On the plus side if you have a copy of designer handy you can open and existing designer file and save/export it as an older file type and then import it into CM, I did have an issue with a polygon not playing nicely after import and the nice slots I had in my board got converted to holes.

Overall it seems a move which is sort of in the right direction, just a bit off course.

It took me 3 - 4 goes to get a new component to come up in the vault which is a bit off putting, thought it would be fairly quick to save it and have it available for my schematic but it took me several attempts over 2 days before it appeared, maybe it did it wrong the 1st few times?

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Online T3sl4co1l

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #26 on: May 19, 2015, 09:26:54 am »
Can you customize the UI to add shortcuts (let alone scripts) or is it TS?

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Offline MosElec

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #27 on: May 19, 2015, 10:32:16 am »
Sorry it took longer than expected - but here's my impression of Circuit Maker (up to Beta 3 now), with included pricing options.

http://ludzinc.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/circuit-maker-beta-testing.html

Have at it!

Thanks for the nice job. Finally got an idea how it looks like.
 

Offline ludzincTopic starter

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #28 on: May 20, 2015, 12:57:14 pm »
i just got my invite for the public beta. downloaded installed.

what;s this 'i can;t make my own parts blabla ? it works just perfectly fine for me.

click library panel.
select ciiva library.
make sure search field is blank.

right below that it will say :Can;t find part you;re looking for ? Build your own.
and off you go. i just created symbols for some banana jacks and switches. works perfectly fine. stuff is stored in your 'Favorites Library'

in the library :right click in the list and simply select : build new component. done.

Just upgraded to Beta 1.04 (last closed version was 1.03) and had a quick tinker.  And I must say that the Altium guys have taken the feedback well and truly on board.  The improvements I'm happy with are:

1.  You can make custom, non-Ciiva (was Octopart) parts.  Woo hoo!
2.  You can define your PCB from selected objects!

What I still hate:

1.  You cannot import DWG/DXF files into the PCB editor.  This is needed to make 2. above very useful!
2.  No local cache (as far as I can tell) if your files.  Start up cold without an internet connection, and you can't do jack. 
3.  When you make parts, they seem to disappear.  You have to manually refresh your favourites library!

Updated blog post coming soon!
 

Offline zapta

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #29 on: May 20, 2015, 02:57:03 pm »
Sorry it took longer than expected - but here's my impression of Circuit Maker (up to Beta 3 now), with included pricing options.

http://ludzinc.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/circuit-maker-beta-testing.html

Have at it!

Thanks for posting the snapshots.

I am looking at the purchasing options. If I design for example a 4 layers board, do I need to pay extra only for the duration of the active design or forever? What will happen if I stop paying after completing the design, will the design be deleted? Become read only?
« Last Edit: May 20, 2015, 02:59:25 pm by zapta »
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #30 on: May 20, 2015, 07:47:05 pm »
OK, so it's $60/year for a "fully-optioned" license of Circuit Maker, correct?  That seems spectacularly cheap.  Almost too good to be true. 

Are the size/nets/layer limitations on the"fully-optioned" package:
8-layers
250x250mm board area
350 nets
350 components
1000 private projects

Any limitations on the number of ground/power planes on a single layer?
#Pins limitations?

I'd be happy to pay more to store files locally.  I'd also pay more to have access to Altium's pre-fab parts libraries.
 

Offline ludzincTopic starter

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #31 on: May 20, 2015, 10:39:45 pm »
Sorry it took longer than expected - but here's my impression of Circuit Maker (up to Beta 3 now), with included pricing options.

http://ludzinc.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/circuit-maker-beta-testing.html

Have at it!

Thanks for posting the snapshots.

I am looking at the purchasing options. If I design for example a 4 layers board, do I need to pay extra only for the duration of the active design or forever? What will happen if I stop paying after completing the design, will the design be deleted? Become read only?

My old blog post?  Fergeddaboudit!

From the forums this morning:

(From Dan Fernsebner of Altium)

We originally stated we were going to put design limits on CircuitMaker.  After much discussion we felt that was not the right position and a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing.  Our focus is on the open hardware market and we feel that free should be free!

There are no limits to board size, component count, layers, or net connections!  The final version of CircuitMaker will also include a SPICE simulator.  Spread the word, tell the world, and help grow the community!

We look forward to the amazing electronics people contribute and the evolution of these designs as users collaborate.

And no - there is no catch! ;)

Kind regards,
Dan


So no limit on board sizes, net count component count.  WOW!

In other news - I was *wrong* about not being able to import DWG/DXF into the pcb editor.  The import menu lists "AutoCAD Schematic" (just like in beta 1.03, so I gave up trying) but in Beta 1.04 (this current release) the import into pcb works.  It's just a bug with a misslabelled menu.  Woot!

 

Offline ludzincTopic starter

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #32 on: May 20, 2015, 11:03:39 pm »
More news from the forums:

We will make changes to the shortcuts.  Based on the way the ribbon menu works it wouldn't make sense to have the same shortcuts as Altium Designer - things like VF for view fit in Altium Designer doesn't fit/match CircuitMaker menu structure.  We are currently evaluating the most commonly used functions and do intend to assign keys that make sense to these functions.  Some examples (these are just examples and not definite)

N - Place Net
L - Place Label
B - Place Bus
R - Route
RM - Multi-track Routing

I know Altium Designer users want the same hotkeys, but you have to remember this is a different product.  We are open to suggestions from the user community.


Hotkeys.  Love Hotkeys!
 

Offline timb

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #33 on: May 21, 2015, 07:09:33 am »
So, just installed the beta... As someone who has never used Altium before, I've got to say, CM is confusing as fuck. The ribbon based UI doesn't help things (maybe it would be different if they made it context sensitive, like MS originally intended), but as of right now it takes up a lot of screen space and doesn't seem to offer anything useful.

The useful stuff is tucked away in a mess of sidebars and floating windows that seem to pin, unpin, close and open themselves arbitrarily.

I managed to get into 3D mode, but can't figure out how to rotate the board around. (That *is* possible, right?)

On the upside, it imported a few complex PCBs from DipTrace flawlessly. (Exported in P-CAD ASCII.)


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Offline pthor

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #34 on: May 21, 2015, 10:50:37 am »
I managed to get into 3D mode, but can't figure out how to rotate the board around. (That *is* possible, right?)

Right click+drag: pan
[Ctrl] + Right click+drag: zoom
[Shift] + right click+drag: rotation (can also select rotation axis on the the ball that shows up)

Never used altium either, so I don't know if left click is supposed to have some navigation features.

Btw you can switch between 2d and 3d mode with [2] and [3].
« Last Edit: May 21, 2015, 10:53:23 am by pthor »
 

Offline ludzincTopic starter

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #35 on: May 21, 2015, 01:21:28 pm »
As promised, some info on the open beta.

http://ludzinc.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/circuit-maker-open-beta.html

Focus is on part creation.
 

Offline FrankT

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #36 on: May 22, 2015, 03:24:46 am »
I downloaded and installed it before I went to work.

I had 2 minutes to play with it.  Why can't I create a new project call "test", or "test1", or "test11", or "test111", etc
 

Offline pthor

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #37 on: May 22, 2015, 03:27:43 am »
Tip, spend more than two minutes on it. I got good answers when I asked in the CircuitMaker forum.
I would guess somone else in the "Community" already have created projects with those names :P  :palm:
 

Offline ludzincTopic starter

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Offline FrankT

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #39 on: May 22, 2015, 06:52:17 am »
Tip, spend more than two minutes on it. I got good answers when I asked in the CircuitMaker forum.
I would guess somone else in the "Community" already have created projects with those names :P  :palm:

I figured that.  But what a silly limitation.  What are the odds 2 people on this planet are going to create a project with the same name?  I hope "Power supply" already been taken? 

Oooh!  New money making scheme.  CM project name squatting!
 

Offline timb

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #40 on: May 22, 2015, 12:24:39 pm »
Yeah, it's dumb. Project names need to be individual to each user, not the entire community.


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Offline EEVblog

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #41 on: May 22, 2015, 12:48:33 pm »
I had 2 minutes to play with it.  Why can't I create a new project call "test", or "test1", or "test11", or "test111", etc

Someone else in the world has a project with the same name.
I'm not kidding. Because of the "cloud community" aspect of the product, you can't share a project name with someone else.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #42 on: May 22, 2015, 12:49:54 pm »
Yeah, it's dumb. Project names need to be individual to each user, not the entire community.

Yes, why that's not possible is beyond me.
 

Offline Rigby

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #43 on: May 22, 2015, 12:53:11 pm »
I had 2 minutes to play with it.  Why can't I create a new project call "test", or "test1", or "test11", or "test111", etc

Someone else in the world has a project with the same name.
I'm not kidding. Because of the "cloud community" aspect of the product, you can't share a project name with someone else.

Yeah, it's dumb. Project names need to be individual to each user, not the entire community.

Yes, why that's not possible is beyond me.

devil's advocate:  If you name your project properly it won't collide with anyone else's name.  Just don't use overly generic project names...  "test" is not descriptive.  "power supply" is not descriptive.  Name the thing what it actually is and does and chances are you won't collide.  the easiest way around it is to just prefix (or suffix) the project name with your nickname or something.  "Rigby_test" for example.  No one else is going to use that.
 

Offline zapta

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #44 on: May 22, 2015, 02:29:25 pm »
devil's advocate:  If you name your project properly it won't collide with anyone else's name.  Just don't use overly generic project names...  "test" is not descriptive.  "power supply" is not descriptive.  Name the thing what it actually is and does and chances are you won't collide.  the easiest way around it is to just prefix (or suffix) the project name with your nickname or something.  "Rigby_test" for example.  No one else is going to use that.

This is a workaround, not a justification.
 

Offline mikeselectricstuff

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #45 on: May 22, 2015, 02:33:56 pm »
More news from the forums:

We will make changes to the shortcuts.  Based on the way the ribbon menu works it wouldn't make sense to have the same shortcuts as Altium Designer - things like VF for view fit in Altium Designer doesn't fit/match CircuitMaker menu structure.  We are currently evaluating the most commonly used functions and do intend to assign keys that make sense to these functions.  Some examples (these are just examples and not definite)

N - Place Net
L - Place Label
B - Place Bus
R - Route
RM - Multi-track Routing

I know Altium Designer users want the same hotkeys, but you have to remember this is a different product.  We are open to suggestions from the user community.


Hotkeys.  Love Hotkeys!
..and surely you can reassign the hotkeys, can't you..?

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Offline Rigby

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #46 on: May 22, 2015, 03:51:37 pm »
devil's advocate:  If you name your project properly it won't collide with anyone else's name.  Just don't use overly generic project names...  "test" is not descriptive.  "power supply" is not descriptive.  Name the thing what it actually is and does and chances are you won't collide.  the easiest way around it is to just prefix (or suffix) the project name with your nickname or something.  "Rigby_test" for example.  No one else is going to use that.

This is a workaround, not a justification.

how do you search a natively open ecosystem if everything is named "test" and "power supply?"  suppose you use a few of those power supply designs?  how do you differentiate them?

ah nevermind i'm done arguing.  I don't understand why engineers, of all people, flip their shit over compromises.  EVERYTHING in engineering is a compromise between time, cost, reliability, and complexity, among other things.  You can't have it all.  You just can't.

So, the problem is that this new thing isn't like your favorite thing.  So what?  "I'LL COMPLAIN ABOUT IT" <-- that's the answer?  Seriously?  for an ENGINEER? 

Fucking hell, I do not understand people.  Most people are just consuming resources for no net gain to society, or even themselves, and I'm sick of it. 

I'm not talking about you in particular, Zapta.  I don't understand why there's such a fuss over this.  don't like it, don't use it.  simple.  complaint without the ability to make a change is wasted energy, just like this post right here, so go ahead, future reader, fail to read this entire thing and declare me a moron.
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #47 on: May 22, 2015, 04:29:09 pm »
Rigby,

I'm complaining because I was hoping that CM would be a good stepping stone for me into AD eventually.  I was hoping that they would have a package that was reasonably priced to get me started and that would allow me to import my work into Designer at a later date.  Instead, they've gone totally free / open source, which is a stepping stone to nowhere.

I also have an issue with waste and layoffs.  Developing a CAD package with no revenue stream equals waste, which always leads to people losing their jobs.  This whole CM thing is an empty promise and fucked up mess in which everyone loses.

I guess I'm glad that I finally know, since I'll finalize a purchasing decision that I've been putting off for while.
 

Offline FrankT

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #48 on: May 23, 2015, 03:35:00 am »
I did some corporate BS training a few months back.  They claim only 1 in 20 people complain.  Complaints are how most companies get feedback.  I think project names that must be unique with in the community is a bad idea.  I complained.  The world continues to go round.
 

Offline miguelvp

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Re: Circuit Maker - It Lives!
« Reply #49 on: May 23, 2015, 04:19:16 am »
I did some corporate BS training a few months back.  They claim only 1 in 20 people complain.  Complaints are how most companies get feedback.  I think project names that must be unique with in the community is a bad idea.  I complained.  The world continues to go round.

1 in 20 is probably for a valid reason, but the ratio is higher for other complaints that have to do on wants instead of actual needs for the whole.

CM has more than 1000 users for example so if you see 50 complaints does that mean that they only have 1000 users? nah, some are valid some are not.
 


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