Re:Notational Intelligence
by eternityforest on Saturday January 08, 2022 @10:06AM
(#29852297)
I think the notation that impresses me the most is not actually a notation at all, it's a UI and workflow.
FreeCAD manages to take a very difficult thing, working in 3D space, and move most of the work onto the CPU rather than you.
Through constraints they eliminate the need for precision aligning stuff with the mouse, but more than that, it's essentially working with a compressed set of properties rather than the 3D objects themselves.
It changes everything. It's true computer aided design, not just computer aided recording of a design already in your head.
With OpenSCAD or direct modeling, there's a lot more need to know what you're doing before you start.
The downside is that it does sort of limit your thinking to the shapes that aren't too hard to make. But in return it makes 3D space accessible to the amateur, not just those with hundreds of hours to try to learn to draw, or the talent to mentally visualize parts with the kind of accuracy needed for mechanical design.
FreeCAD manages to take a very difficult thing, working in 3D space, and move most of the work onto the CPU rather than you.
Through constraints they eliminate the need for precision aligning stuff with the mouse, but more than that, it's essentially working with a compressed set of properties rather than the 3D objects themselves.
It changes everything. It's true computer aided design, not just computer aided recording of a design already in your head.
With OpenSCAD or direct modeling, there's a lot more need to know what you're doing before you start.
The downside is that it does sort of limit your thinking to the shapes that aren't too hard to make. But in return it makes 3D space accessible to the amateur, not just those with hundreds of hours to try to learn to draw, or the talent to mentally visualize parts with the kind of accuracy needed for mechanical design.