I've been using AutoCAD for at least thirty years now, and for the first time I'm finding the need to make a few animations of a mechanism I've designed. Question, is there a freely available software out there that could help me do that? I know that there are plug-ins for AutoCAD that could do this kind of job, but this is a one-off and I don't want to spend a small fortune on it. Any suggestions?

 

I've been using AutoCAD for at least thirty years now, and for the first time I'm finding the need to make a few animations of a mechanism I've designed. Question, is there a freely available software out there that could help me do that? I know that there are plug-ins for AutoCAD that could do this kind of job, but this is a one-off and I don't want to spend a small fortune on it. Any suggestions?

Ever play with SketchUp? I've used it a little but never animated anything. I gather it does have some capability to do that and there are 3rd-party tools for that also.

https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/animating-scenes

 

Another link
http://www.suanimate.com

 

Hello,

Perhaps the following software might interest you:
http://www.ar-cad.com/index.html
https://hotint.lcm.at/

bertus

 

Hello,

Perhaps the following software might interest you:
http://www.ar-cad.com/index.html
https://hotint.lcm.at/

bertus

Thanks, Bertus ... I was just taking a look at ar-cad, and it seems quite tempting

 

Yeap ... it seems that Arcad might just be the ticket...

 

I've been using AutoCAD for at least thirty years now, and for the first time I'm finding the need to make a few animations of a mechanism I've designed. Question, is there a freely available software out there that could help me do that? I know that there are plug-ins for AutoCAD that could do this kind of job, but this is a one-off and I don't want to spend a small fortune on it. Any suggestions?

Hi,

That Arcad looks pretty cool yeah.

There is another way for some things you could convert the mechanical system into an electrical system and use any electrical simulator to do the simulations. Granted it may be harder to do for some things.

 

FreeCAD
https://www.freecadweb.org/

I use it mainly for 3D printing but also designing a garage with it.

Have not used the animation or finite element analysis module.

Takes some learning.

 

Have you tried Solidworks? I like it... I know it has animation but never used it.. I usually design enclosures and various 3D printer objects with it.

 

Have you tried Solidworks? I like it... I know it has animation but never used it.. I usually design enclosures and various 3D printer objects with it.

I'm aware of solid works and its features. But it's not a free software, you know.