Searching for affordable 3D CAD software for commercial use

[Patrick61]

I have a student version of AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor 2012. These programs are amazing and I am astounded that I have free access to these products as a college student. Unfortunately I do not have over 7,000 to afford a professional license for these programs. My brother is the owner of a gunstore and needs someone to CAD some of his products for prototyping purposes. His business cannot afford a license either. Are there any 3D CAD programs that are available under 200.00 dollars that can be used for commercial purposes?

[Dadgad]

Welcome to the forum.

Is Inventor Fusion still available as a free download from Autodesk?

[Patrick61]

Hello Dadgad. There is only a free trial and free student version of Inventor Fusion, which I currently have. Inventor Fusion enables the user to import parts and assemblies from other Autodesk products and further modify the forms. To my knowledge Inventor Fusion is not capable of creating completely new parts or assemblies; it seems to only be intended for editting of preexisting designs. I am definitely in the market for some 3D CAD software under 200.00 dollars, but I have no idea where to look and what is considered decent software for that little money.

[Oppie]

Inventor Fusion is now a part of AutoCAD and is capable of creating new parts on it's own and also some simple assemblies, but yes not affordable
Do you also have to make drawings or only 3d models?
Have you ever tried SketchUp the pro version is affordable and has layouts so you can create drawings, and Sketchup Pro can handle .dwg and lots of other files.

[Patrick61]

Greetings Oppie. Thank you for the information on Inventor Fusion. I would like the ability to both create drawings and 3D models. I encountered SketchUp pro in my search for the most affordable 3D cad program. It's very good to know it is capable of handling .dwg file types. I will do more research on the commercial license for this product. Thank you for the reply.

[Patrick61]

Unfortunately, SketchUp pro is almost 500.00 dollars and definitely out of my price range. It looks like a great product, but not for the firearms I need to CAD.

[Oppie]

I read something about Free CAD you can find it here: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawik...itle=Main_Page

Never tried it do !

[Patrick61]

FreeCAD has a large number of very positive reviews and the screenshots are rather breathtaking, considering it is open source. Good find. Thank you to you and Dadgad for your replies.

[Patrick61]

Learning the ropes in FreeCAD. Very powerful open source program and seems to so far fit the bill for what the project needs. Does any one know if it is legal in the United States to use open source software that is subject to a GNU general public license for commercial use? I am not selling or modifying the open source software, but I am using the program to create 3D renderings of products that will be shown on a website, in magazines, and used in a shop as references for prototypes.

[StykFacE]

DraftSight is free (you must register the application) and has 3D capabilities. Have you tried that one? Link here: http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/overview/