Best Free or Low Cost Marine Design Software? (2007)

[Admin]

Continued from http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9925

Which is the best Free or low cost marine design software package for hull design?

Bearboat (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=77)

BioDesign (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=27)

Boat Express (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=6456)

Carene (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=18)

Carlson Design Hull Designer (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=28)

DelftShip Free (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=5505) (previously Free!Ship)

HullCAO (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=2933)

HullForm Free Version (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=156)

PolyCAD (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=3080)

SDN (http://boatdesign.net/cgi-bin/bdn/jump.pl?ID=3999)

[marshmat]

Still using FreeShip 2.6 here. The newer DelftShip version is much less useful to me as it removes a lot of important functionality. I think Freeship 2.6 is going to stick around for some time yet.

[Jeff]

Have now added Freeship to the poll alongside DelftShip free.

[westlawn5554X]

yup... freeship 2.6 best bet :D

[bbsboat]

freeship. of course!

[CGN]

Hands down....Freeship

We should have one called "second best"......Delftship free :)

[Antisthenes]

Rhinoceros

[marshmat]

At nine hundred bucks, Rhino may be cheaper than something like Pro/E or Catia, but it's still a long way from free or cheap....

[Victor T]

Now Free!ship only is version 2.6. There is Free!ship(Plus) live. May be in pool to change the name of program or added new version Free!ship2.6+...2.67+? This is will be more realistic pool.

[MauroB]

Rhinoceros is not free

[knowme]

Freeship ofcourse

[Bergalia]

Two-B pencil, dividers, french curves and graph paper. It seems only PC users need software. We Apple people still know how to use the traditional tools...:D

[ancient kayaker]

I like DelftShip free, once a tutorial was available I found it fast and easy to use, and it produces nice designs. Its a bit fiddly to get a reasonably close match to a set of existing offsets though and will not export usable plank developments so I would like to know if FreeShip is still available on the net someplace.

[marshmat]

FreeShip 2.6 still exists at http://sourceforge.net/projects/freeship/ although no new development is going on there since Martjin went closed-source.

[Victor T]

This is not all true...
Links on Freeship 2.7+ and 2.68+(test version) is here:
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=1612953&forum_id=501883
and
http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15963&page=2

[marshmat]

I've been following those discussions and I'm not sure I'd call them new Freeship development until I see a bit more respect for the GPL licence under which Freeship is protected. Once everyone participating there is clear on the terms of the licence and the sourcecode is being published under the same licence, it would be fair to call it a continued development of Freeship; as is, it looks more like an experimental pet project.

[ancient kayaker]

Thank you MarshMat: I have downloaded FreeShip and have tried it as well as DelftShip. there seems to be little difference, both are good for designing fair, elegant hulls.

However, for a Vee-bottom hull the plank developments for the garboards consistently have straight or concave lower edges along the keel line. This must be incorrect as such edges can not be joined except on a hogged hull or a hull with negative deadrise. I find the same problem in files I have downloaded from the Delft web site. I never get this when I develop the planks on paper. For comparison, Carene always generates convex edges for similar bottoms which produce the expected shape when assembled. There must be an error in both FreeShip and DelftShip. I wonder if this is just the garboards or if the developments for the other plank are also incorrect.

Does anyone else have experience of using the plank developments provided by either program?

[lazeyjack]

Still using FreeShip 2.6 here. The newer DelftShip version is much less useful to me as it removes a lot of important functionality. I think Freeship 2.6 is going to stick around for some time yet.
Delft and Freeship
Tutorial is the most useful of any, Maxsurf assumes one knows something about Cad, totally useless to a beginner in my opinion, at least I created something, spent literally 100,s of hrs Maxsurf and got nowhere I really appreciate this gift that the boys In The Netherlands sent us. they deserve to do well, and if by some mysterious fluke I ever became proficient with CAD I would not hesitate in buying the programme before the others

[Vernon]

Does Free Ship allow you to Design smaller hulls as well? I have been using Paint.( Yes Paint, found in the accesories folder)

[marshmat]

The smallest boat I've drawn in Freeship was 10 cm long. Accurate control of the point grid gets a bit difficult below an overall length of about a half-metre, though.

[Vernon]

:confused: How do i Download Freeship? It just downloads index, and leads me back to download it again. What do i need to do to download it.:confused:

[Victor T]

Hi!
You can download FreeShip+ now from this links:
Download link 2.68+:
http://www.mytempdir.com/1282081

Download link 2.7+SRC:
http://www.mytempdir.com/1285229

If you have a problem mail me vftim@rambler.ru and I may send this files on your e-mail.

[Vernon]

Nope...Still Wont Work. I Guess I will Just Do Without ... BACK TO PAINT

[northerncat]

which of these is suitable for designing hard chined planing vessels
sean

[SeaSpark]

Carene, carlson, polycad, as far as i know

The predecessor of DelftshipFree, Freeship is the best as some functionality has been removed in DelftshipFree.

[ancient kayaker]

The free version of Carene was limited to constant angle planks last time I tried it. Deft/Freeship is good if you format the horizontal lines in the control net to create creases; be wary of using more control points than you need horizontally but ensure you have what you need vertically; it's so quick you can learn by playing. Haven't tried the others.

[northerncat]

having now drawn up a hull is there any software that i can use to estimate how well it will move through the water while being pushed by a 60hp, in other words i want to play around with the beam for my hulls to get maximum planing, with maximum amount of v angle with maximum width of hull for stability and still be pushed by 60hp
sean

[northerncat]

:) :) i liked carene for the weight calculations waterline heights, hullform for the ease of use and freeship for the pretty pictures:) :)
sean

[mbdezign]

This is for boat design, not an ad layout. Besides, both platforms will suffice. It's a poor craftsman who blaims his tools..l

[ancient kayaker]

Who was blaming what tool?

[colinstone]

I have my hull design in a table of offsets in the format X YZ YZ..... Hull has 53 sections (X) and 9 pairs of YZ describing the lateral and vertical points. I am trying to import it into Delft/Free ship but do not know what format the programme is expecting. There is a FreeShip manual on importing offsets, but it only applies to waterlines/offsets. F/DShip will import a carene hull in XYZ which could be what I need to use. I have tried importing the table as a plain text file as
X YZ YZ etc
X YZ YZ
etc
but all I get is an error message.
Would appreciate some assistance from someone who knows the workings better than I.

TVMIA

[C22gold]

Still using FreeShip 2.6 here. The newer DelftShip version is much less useful to me as it removes a lot of important functionality. I think Freeship 2.6 is going to stick around for some time yet.

This is my first post (under new registration- I was here long ago but lost touch)

It happens that I just downloaded the Delftship version of FreeShip. I have the Freeship 2.6 also, but have rarely used it. (I have more software than I can handle).

Could you help me to understand the differences between the two apps? They seem almost identical to me. I'm not trained in naval architecture, and too old to pursue the study formally. However, I have a desire to make 3D digital models of vessels I grew up with, etc.
BTW- I have the PDF manual for Delftship (seems applicable to both)

Thanks for taking time to enlighten an old newby.

[Victor T]

This is my first post (under new registration- I was here long ago but lost touch)

Could you help me to understand the differences between the two apps? They seem almost identical to me.
BTW- I have the PDF manual for Delftship (seems applicable to both)

Thanks for taking time to enlighten an old newby.

Delftship Free v3.1 - this is Freeship 2.6 (under GNU GPL) with new interface and WITHOUT some features (freeware).
Delftship Pro - this is payable Freeship 2.6 with new interface and WITH some new features (features not freeware).
Freeship 2.78+ - this is old Freeship 2.6 with many new features for hydrodynamics calcs (under GNU GPL). Link on site: www.freeship-plus.land.ru

Best regards

[C22gold]

Victor,
Thanks very much for the update. Just what I needed :)

Regards

[rteng97]

just curious, does anyone use Freeship? how do you create bulkheads based on subdivisioin surface? can you unfold the hull surface? thanks.

[Azimuth]

FreeShip -> DelftShip is a very good for modeling. I use it to produce my hull then export to RhinoMarine for completion. If you are using DelftShip Free and want to develop plates, there is a way to reverse engineer the file so it can be opened in FreeShip (which has the Develop Plates active).
I have used this software for over two years and I strongly recommend reading the manual, it has all you need to know.
Any questions, contact me and I will help if I can.
Cheers

[MyBrainHurts]

I currently have a hull, but I was looking for some software to help me layout the interior since it has been gutted.

Does anyone have any ideas for software that will help me do that?

[Fanie]

Hi Alan, small world eh ! I've used Solid edge to now, but I'd like to give Freeship a go. I can imagine something like 'Houseplan' (I think) that offers a 3D walkthrough would be stunning.

[masalai]

I use a notebook but feel happier with the freedom of graph-paper, pencils etc PLUS a good rubber.

Those apps run on *******. I have similat to used to produce "Shreck" and other superior #D rendering packages but as yet unused.

Happiness is where the heart is. The models are drawn full size. Going to be fun when I go to full size 12.4m x 6.8m!!

[ancient kayaker]

For me, paper and pencil and an eraser (in Canada we have much better uses for rubbers) work quicker than software to design a simple hull from scratch. Drawing the hull outlines is the easiest part but it is not difficult to draw developments for untwisted planks, leaving any twisted ones to be cut to fit. However, I prefer the security of software if things get complicated or unfamiliar and it's nice to know the displacement and CoG are accurately calculated.

I resolved an earlier problem (April) with developments obtained using Delft that appeared to disagree with my expectations from previous use of Carene - the difference was caused by the twisted garboards which the freebie Carene does not permit. It was not an an error in Free/DelftShip.

I haven't found any of the free software I have tried much use for decks, interiors and so forth, apart from providing the stations; to much hard work. I guess I would have to ante up and buy the software with the missing bits. When/If I get the proceeds from my work to at least cover the materials I promise to do that!

[lazeyjack]

I am pretty useless with sotfware, but I manage decks easily in freeship by offsetting sheerline, shifting it to centreline, and then adjusting the height, and then building the deck surface from there
i have some spare software sitting around gathering dust, sed me a email and I will post it out there

[ancient kayaker]

Thanks for the offer LJ, but I have figured out the problem with decks. I do the same, extrude sheerline inwards then set the points of the new line to center. Problem was in every view the new points coincided with an old point and the SW insisted on selecting the older point. I just shift the newer points a hair in X and the problem goes away. It's only useful for pictures anyway as a simple deck development is so close to the sheer plan that I just cut to fit. As for interiors, for my boats thats just the inside of the hull!

[Jeff]

Continued at http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=22031