Gigayoda Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Hi Gang, I was wondering if any of you all replaced EIM for mac long ago and if so which modeler you all switched to. In particular I was wondering from your experience which modeler resembles and improves upon EIM? I was looking at VIACad but they don't market the program enough to get a feel for what it can do. I do use modo & C4D but EIM was my quick and dirty modeler. Any word if EITG will still launch a 3d app? Their site is down and haven't seen or heard anything in a long time. BTW I'm looking for sub $500 modelers. Silo hasn't evolved for me to fully trust. Strata has some toys, and Moi last I checked was PC only. Thanks for any links or suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJoly Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Autodessy has been here for, well, forever... Their latest baby: Bonzaï3D http://www.formz.com/products/bonzai3d/bonzai3dFeatures.php Although at 500$ it's no giveway... It exports .fact... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankg Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 I switched to ViaCAD and performed the upgrade to SharkFX as it was in promotion. The upgrade was less than 500$, but can't remember how much. I did the upgrade mainly because I needed some of the construction features of Shark. I can assure you ViaCAD is ways better than EIM ever was, although I loved EIM very much. The only thing: ViaCAD is a little cumbersome to work with. On the other hand you get some high-end features and a reliable production-ready output even for rapid-prototyping for only 49 $! I use it as an quality equal addition to my 5.000 $ professional Modeling Software. Shark/ViaCAD handles some details better than my ProApp - some are better in the ProAPP. They are fully compatible via STEP-format. So you can export, edit, re-import and edit again. I never had stability issues with ViaCAD. Best regards Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulc Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 If you are willing to run Windows in Parallels check out Moi3d. http://moi3d.com/ I haven't touched EIM in years. I also have ViaCad but prefer moi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigayoda Posted September 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Autodessy has been here for, well, forever... Their latest baby: Bonzaï3D http://www.formz.com/products/bonzai3d/bonzai3dFeatures.php Although at 500$ it's no giveway... It exports .fact... Hey Richard, I worked on the beta test on bonzai it is powerful being a formZ user myself I enjoyed it but it was always lacking something I can quite put my finger on. Since beta I have to admit some UI changes seem to have been implemented. I'm also beta testing Rhino3D. Rhino was intuitive without really knowing anything about it. I just started clicking and modeling. Waiting on any other votes on ViaCad I'm surprised that already some life is out there for the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJoly Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 Wilson, I do own ViaCAD and while, as Frank says, it is a little cumbersome to work with, at 49$, it's a must have tool. The fact that it reads .sat files is the main reason I bought it. You are right about Bonzai3D. I downloaded the demo a couple times now but never bought the thing because of I don't feel comfortable with it and I don't know why. If I had to model a lot like I had to few years ago, I think I'd go with Modo. My partner uses it and it is quite impressive. With FormZ, Silo, ViaCAD and some really fantastics free tool as SweetHome 3D, I'm covered... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJoly Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 ViaCAD 2D/3D V8 is 70$ instead of 100$ for the weekend. Use coupon code VC6759. http://www.punchcad.com/p-9-viacad-2d3d-v8.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Johnston Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 HI Richard Thanks for the tip. Mark Just got it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S. Houtzager Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 Wondering if ViaCAD or some other program can tesselate/mesh as good as my good buddy EIM. You can really control how the mesh gets generated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnabythebear Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 Hi I find ViaCADs meshing to be better than EIM. Same meshing tools like max edge length etc, plus you get to preview it and see the total poly count. This is an area that Bonzai3D is quite weak in. ta nige. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juanxer Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 I'm trying to find a features comparison chart between ViaCAD 2D/3D and ViaCAD Pro. I sort of remember 2D/3D lacking a few modeling features EIM had, Pro covering them all (and adding a few fancy ones like continuity-capping and things?), although I'm not certain. I downloaded the ViaCAD V.7 demo, and I am having trouble with its 2D drawing: everything I try to draw gets offset, curves only show their control lines, etc. I'm searching for a downloadable demo of ViaCAD 2D/3D V.8 to see if that happens, too. My old V.6 works OK, though. My card is a Radeon HD 5770. Anybody seeing the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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