Free Altium is Coming

[os40la]

OK good point. 

I should clarify: based on my imagination, CM seems pretty nice.

 

[mengfei]

I hope it's not to crippled when it gets out 

[Wilksey]

Well, from what Dave was saying on the last mailbag, he has seen it and likes the interface, but has concerns over the cloud "wank", and as he has said, it's not Altum, if you go with the mindset that it is a different product then you might be able to forgive the cloud, I did say *might*!

But I guess Altium must at least read some of the comments as they sent Dave some stuff, they might not like what they read though as they sent him a large T-shirt! 

It seems a touch pointless to me to have an offline tool that can only save online.

[Rigby]

Well, from what Dave was saying on the last mailbag, he has seen it and likes the interface, but has concerns over the cloud "wank", and as he has said, it's not Altum, if you go with the mindset that it is a different product then you might be able to forgive the cloud, I did say *might*!

But I guess Altium must at least read some of the comments as they sent Dave some stuff, they might not like what they read though as they sent him a large T-shirt! 

It seems a touch pointless to me to have an offline tool that can only save online.

I think it won't matter much among the people who Altium are aiming the product towards.  I also don't think it'll matter much to most people, if the tool is a good tool otherwise. 

The main complaint seems to be something like "how can I work offline, if it's cloud only" and that has been answered; it caches locally so one can work offline.  How many really work offline, though, while designing circuits?  I'm always looking things up and checking pins and emailing or instant messaging people I know with questions about this or that while I design.  Personally, I can't design while offline even with an offline tool, so the cloud connectivity portion of this is of very little concern to me.

Another thing that I think is overlooked is that there is going to be a community built library available to all users of the tool, and every device in a library is required to be mapped to a specific part in Octopart.  ALL the jellybean stuff will be either present on day 1 or created within the 1st day, and as time goes on, the need to even dink with your own footprints or 3D models will entirely go away.  I, for example, intend to contribute 3D models whenever I can, as I have a bit of experience in this area.  The 3D feature is useless to people without 3D modeling capabilities if the libraries aren't shared, so yay sharing.

I'm looking forward to it.

[Wilksey]

One thing with this "community built" library, is there going to be an option / check box somewhere in the library part (or entire lib) that states if it is proven or not?

[nixfu]

Tick Tock Tick Tock

I still say they are totally blowing it by getting all this hype, coming up with the flashy website, having everyone sign up, and then ZERO COMMUNICATIONS or a peep out of them for weeks and weeks.

[timb]

Tick Tock Tick Tock

I still say they are totally blowing it by getting all this hype, coming up with the flashy website, having everyone sign up, and then ZERO COMMUNICATIONS or a peep out of them for weeks and weeks.

This. They're blowing any momentum they have.


Sent from my Smartphone

[Rigby]

yup 

Gotta keep the community engaged, and that isn't done by ceasing all communication with the community.

[miguelvp]

That doesn't seem to affect any other product that gets announced half a year or even a full year before released.

They will be fine

[Bored@Work]

Well, or it might show that all this buzz-creation, lets-go-on-potential-customer's-tits kind of marketing is just a waste of money.

[miguelvp]

Or throw a bone every now and then to keep their potential customers salivating and eager to get it once it's out.
Marketing is a strange beast that I don't fully comprehend but the ones that do sure can build anticipation.

Edit: like my wife waiting for http://www.eliomotors.com/ along with other 35,000+ reservations to be released sometime in 2015 (hopefully)

[zapta]

Cloud based EDA. Having problems for a few days now due to integration with the Autodesk ID system.

[Rigby]

Cloud based EDA. Having problems for a few days now due to integration with the Autodesk ID system.

That's not a fault of it being web based, that's an integration failure, which is nearly always going to be human error at some point.  Tinkercad works well, when they don't fuck it up.

point taken, though, definitely.

[zapta]

Cloud based EDA. Having problems for a few days now due to integration with the Autodesk ID system.

That's not a fault of it being web based, that's an integration failure, which is nearly always going to be human error at some point.  Tinkercad works well, when they don't fuck it up.

point taken, though, definitely.

I needed to work on my design so looked for alternative and found OpenSCAD. It's an open source, multi OS, offline software that works much better for me (I can define functions, consist, formulas, loops, etc and you can version control the source). I don't see much tinkercad in my future for serious designs.  This is one data point on cloud vs offline applications.

[Rigby]

Agreed.

OpenSCAD is pretty epic.  I use it a lot.  Look at FreeCAD too, it is similar.  Programmatically Parametrically defined 3D modeling.

[Iliya]

Ribbon!?  ....

So?, it's a good way of grouping functionality

Agreed. What's the problem? I like it.
Is this like a Comic Sans hatred thing? 

I like the ribbon, also.

and ye all must be loving AutoTRAX DEX by that one guy, he got it much earlier than this multi million company. one issue i have with ribbon is they took several pixels more at the top compared to classic 16 pixels toolbuttons. and too much of it wont help, finding one particular button in the ribbon is like finding needle in a plate full of spaggethy. i dont tend to click ribbon or button now and then while working, i prefer shortcut keys.

I agree that many people hate ribbon menus. But many people also love them. DEX's riibbon menus are context  sensitive. But here's what great for everbody; switch between ribbon menu and classic drop down menu in the same app. DEX allows you to switch back and forth between menus. You can also shrink the ribbon menu so it behaves a a popdown ribbon menu. Choices, choices...

[zapta]

Agreed.

OpenSCAD is pretty epic.  I use it a lot.  Look at FreeCAD too, it is similar.  Programmatically Parametrically defined 3D modeling.

I just looked at FreeCAD screenshots and it looks impressive. I will give it a try.  It seems that open source 3D modeling software is way ahead of open source PCB design software. I would think that the algorithmic complexity involved in 3D modeling is higher than schematic/layout products such as CM, eagle and Kicad.

[ehughes]

I have used Freecad.   (I have solidworks at my Day job as a reference).

Freecad has some very quirky UI "features" that can make it difficult to use.   But it is Free... and they believe in releasing know working binaries.

Also,  they do respond to bug posts.  I found a crash that they responded to within a few days.


For home stuff, I primarily use it for coloring step models to be used with Altium

[ivan747]

Sooooo they abandoned Circuit Maker? 

[ehughes]

No.  Private beta before general release. See the Blog on the circuitmaker website

[tszaboo]

Sooooo they abandoned Circuit Maker? 

The fact that I've entered my email adress on their website and they did not send me an email so far... As Dave would say: "You FAIL at the internet"

[ludzinc]

I have used Freecad.   (I have solidworks at my Day job as a reference).

Freecad has some very quirky UI "features" that can make it difficult to use.   But it is Free... and they believe in releasing know working binaries.

Also,  they do respond to bug posts.  I found a crash that they responded to within a few days.


For home stuff, I primarily use it for coloring step models to be used with Altium

On that's awesome.

Can you point to a tutorial for doing that?  Want to publish one?

Thanks!

[ehughes]

On that's awesome.

Can you point to a tutorial for doing that?  Want to publish one?

Thanks!

Maybe when I get some free (ha ha) time.   I actually wanted to document the whole process and record a video.   Just too many things...

It isn't too bad if you are willing to click around for awhile.   It is faster to do it in Freecad than Solidworks ( color color faces of a model) once you get in the groove

[Iliya]

Sooooo they abandoned Circuit Maker? 

The fact that I've entered my email adress on their website and they did not send me an email so far... As Dave would say: "You FAIL at the internet"

They sent me an email saying Beta was closed and I could not have it.
Had several emails saying things were going great but I still can't have it ... yet.  and...

CircuitMaker Community Newsletter: Beta Program Update #1
Feature Tiers
CircuitMaker is free to start, with the option to selectively upgrade features if you need them. What is the optimal level for these upgrade tiers? What features do we need to adjust to make these levels work best?

Umm. What is the optimal level for these upgrade tiers? 
What features do we need to adjust to make these levels work best? Do they mean remove?

Upgrade Points
Along with determining the feature upgrade tiers, the actual price points separating each of these tiers is important. What is the right approach when figuring out these points, and should they be adjusted?
Uhh, I thought it was free?

Is this just an Altium Designer sales cannibal ? The cut down version is free but... It's like selling a car without seats chained up and the steering wheel clamped.

What's wrong with just one price?

[Halfdead]

They finally sent me an email, still no download though.

So much hype for nothing.