Best Free or Low Cost Marine Design Software? (2001-2005)

[Admin]

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

Bearboat

BioDesign

Carene

Carlson Design Hull Designer

Free!Ship

HullCAO

HullForm Free Version

PolyCAD

SDN

2005-October Edit: Free!Ship added to directory and poll.

[Scott]

I just downloaded BioDesign and gave it a try. My first impression is that it is extremely difficult to get started with. I’m impressed by the sample drawings that are included, but I really have respect for whoever created them. I can’t seem to even create a surface after 30 minutes. And I find it difficult to “visualize” the samples. Of course since it is a free version downloaded, I don’t expect the author to spend the time necessary to make it accessible to beginners, so I’m not saying anything against the program, just that it’s not something you can jump into.

I also downloaded Gregg Carlson’s Chine Hull Designer, and found this program very easy to get started with. Of course I understand there are some projects that will go beyond the limits of what can be done in Hull Designer, but for what it does, it is very intuitive to use. I felt like I could start designing a small boat within a few minutes of installing the program.

Now to give the others a try

I should say that I sincerely appreciate the people who make these programs available. Everyone works differently and different projects take different tools, so it's good to have options available for those without big budgets.

Both Carene 40 and Carene 50 seem to be interesting programs - but they're parametric only. No hand's on curve editing. But interesting none the less.

(Bearboat is similar, but is really for kayak shapes only.)

[Scott]

Hullform 6s is also definitely worth a try. It is the most fully-functional program of the list above, except for no dxf output. It runs in DOS mode, which is a little intimidating these days that we're spoiled to windows. It is interesting to see what top-of-the-line software was like in 1994 compared to today as far as the user interface

On a related note, there is also a shareware version of Hullform (Hullform 8SW) which maybe should be on the list. It is fully functional, but limited in the number of sections.

This is a full working version, but for permission to use only twelve transverse sections and four longitudinal lines. You also have to suffer a "nag" dialog box every time you print data or save a file, and when you exit the program. It requires Windows 95 or later.

[Jeff]

Possibly to this poll we should also add:

ProChine ($195)

and

HullCAO (starts at 76.25 €)

I know that ProChine is a very nice program and an excellant value. I don't have any experience with HullCAO and just discovered that there was an english version. If anyone has any experience with HullCAO, please post a quick review.

hello,

i tried to get the BioDesign and Displacement software (not the Demo) from Yuri Dumchikov. His email does not exist anymore. I cant reach him.

can anybody help me??

peter

email: p_p@mac.com

[Jeff]

From this post: http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthr...=&threadid=289 did you try the following URL: http://www.geocities.com/dumchikov/work/working.htm

(Since you already emailed him and his email is down I'm sure it's ok to post the link here)

[Jeff]

I discovered a web site for PolyCAD today: http://www.polycad.co.uk/

"PolyCAD is a geometry tool designed for editing entities commonly found in Naval Architecture applications. It was designed to provide a range of extensive, simple and straight forward editing features across all entites and to allow level physical conversion between entities. These factors make this tool more useful than most Naval Architecture design packages and more flexible than most draughting packages such as AutoCAD."

I haven't had the time yet to give it a try, but decided to add it to the list in any case.

http://www.polycad.co.uk/polycad.htm

[Zaynab]

I just found the following piece of software: http://ants.dif.um.es/~humberto/sdn/
Yacht development software, with stability and VPP analysis built in; sounds almost too good to be true. Free download

[Jeff]

I haven't been able to give it a try because all I have are Windows 2000 and XP boxes. I don't have a 9x computer anymore nor a mac

[Tom_McGuinness]

I downloaded the demo but it would not launch. Am using a Mac running under OS X 10.2.5.

Several days ago I emailed SDN requesting assitance, but so far no reply.

Moving on to other solutions.

[TopSpin80]

There are many linux based CAD programs for free download. As soon as I get one that I really like, I'll give you guys the links.

[Tim B]

I've Used SDN very successfully with Win XP Pro. Set the executable to run with compatability for windows 95. It should then work...
See http://forums.boatdesign.net/showthr...&pagenumber=16 look at the penultimate post for the drawing details. There are some things
that could be improved, but that's just drawing/plotting. I tend to believe the Hydrostats data, I don't think it's finished code though!!

Cheers,

Tim B.

[nevd]

Hello,

I would be very happy to hear from anybody who has experience with Linux based CAD software and particularly any progress reports on reviews by TopSpin80.

I tried to contact Linuxcad in the past with no success - I would be very interested in linux based alternatives to AutoCAD.

Thanks,

Nevd

[8knots]

I SPENT A GOOD PART OF THE DAY SIFTING THROUGH THE HULL CAO WEBSITE AND AM ALLMOST CONVINCED TO BUY. I HAVE AN E-MAIL INTO HIM TO SEE IF THE TOOLBARS AND DIALOG BOXES ARE TRANSLATED ALSO! tHE COMPLETE PACKAGE IS ABOUT $277 US BUT HE DOES NOT DO CC's FOR WHAT THE PROGRAM APPERS TO DO SEEMS WELL WORTH THE $
KEEP YA'LL POSTED
8KNOTS