Best Free or Low Cost Marine Design Software? (2006)

Discussion in 'Software' started by Admin, Jan 1, 2006.

?

Which free or low cost hull modeling program(s) do you use?

Poll closed Jan 1, 2007.
  1. Bearboat

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. BioDesign

    1 vote(s)
    1.3%
  3. Carene

    2 vote(s)
    2.5%
  4. Carlson Design Hull Designer

    7 vote(s)
    8.9%
  5. Free!ship

    63 vote(s)
    79.7%
  6. HullCAO

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  7. Hull Form Free Version

    7 vote(s)
    8.9%
  8. PolyCAD

    3 vote(s)
    3.8%
  9. SDN

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
Multiple votes are allowed.
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  1. Admin
    Joined: Jun 2001
    Posts: 50
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    Admin Administrator

  2. mick_allen
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    Location: vancouver, b.c.

    mick_allen -

    I request that the title of this topic be changed to:

    Second Best Free or Low Cost Marine Design Software? (2006)
     
  3. CGN
    Joined: Jan 2003
    Posts: 547
    Likes: 9, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 138
    Location: MX

    CGN Senior Member

    YEP....good call, is going to be hard to top that one even for some of the "big boys"
     
  4. Roly
    Joined: Jul 2005
    Posts: 508
    Likes: 23, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 222
    Location: NZ

    Roly Senior Member

    Weelll? Don't hold back!.................is it called 2nd best?
     
  5. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
    Posts: 2,329
    Likes: 129, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 1603
    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    And it gets better every couple of months (about):D
     
  6. cstephl
    Joined: May 2005
    Posts: 5
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 10
    Location: Alaska

    cstephl Junior Member

    Best free/low cost for small aluminum boats

    I plan to design a 18'-24' welded aluminum boat w/variable deadrise and reverse chine. Bottom(3/16") and side sheets(5/32") will be slightly convex (not more than about 1.5"). The bottom sheets will be warped, however all curves will be developable. I want to be able to enter table of offsets and/or draw the hull shape, then be able to convert the drawing to flat sheet dimensions (2D offsets?). Then I will layout the dimensions on flat sheets of aluminum and cut them out.

    Which low cost/free software will do this without having a huge learning curve?

    I have already built one hull like this and want to design another hull of similar shape but different dimensions. My biggest concern with using software to design this boat is that the sheets will be somewhat convex due to warping the bottom. Will these software packages compensate for that and still provide correct cutting dimensions for flat sheets?

    The ability to calculate the design water line would also be useful. Any feed back on this subject would be much appreciated.

    cstephl
     
  7. Gilbert
    Joined: Aug 2004
    Posts: 525
    Likes: 5, Points: 28, Legacy Rep: 28
    Location: Cathlamet, WA

    Gilbert Senior Member

    It looks to me like freeship will do this but only if you import coordinates of the sheer, chine and fairbody. Someone can correct me if I am mistaken about this. You could also ask the developer if this is correct or if there are other ways of doing it. www.freeship.org
     
  8. cstephl
    Joined: May 2005
    Posts: 5
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 10
    Location: Alaska

    cstephl Junior Member

    Thank you for your reply Gilbert. If I understand your reply correctly, freeship will convert the hull shape drawing into flat sheet dimensions, but may or may not compensate for the convex sheets. Is that correct? I have never used any boat design software, so I do not understand the capabilities of any of the software packages. The reason I ask these questions is that I don't want to spend a bunch of time trying to learn the software, when in my case I may be better off to spend that time building a scale model of the boat and take the flat sheet dimensions from the model. Thanks again for the info.
     
  9. Gilbert
    Joined: Aug 2004
    Posts: 525
    Likes: 5, Points: 28, Legacy Rep: 28
    Location: Cathlamet, WA

    Gilbert Senior Member

    I will try to explain what I meant in the previous post.

    I have used freeship for a few months now and have tried quite a few things with it.

    My results from trying to arrive at a developed surface using the SURFACE features of freeship have not been successful.

    I have found that if I type up a text file as described in the manual that lists the coordinates of the points for the fairbody, chine and sheer at each station from stern to bow it appears that freeship will do just what you are wanting to do.
    After you have your text file, start freeship and click on the FILE menu, click on IMPORT, click on CHINES, and then select your text file. Freeship then will draw curved sections that appear to match the convex curvature of a developed plate. I have not had an opportunity to test the accuracy of the results but I have no reason to think they are not accurate.

    There is a dialogue box where you can input where you want the stations, waterlines and buttocks drawn.

    I suggest you try freeship. It is fun to use. I will not say typing the text file is fun but it's not too bad. And expect a few frustrating moments here and there when learning to use it. It is like any software in that respect.

    I am unsure what you mean by a reverse chine. Is it like a Hickman sled?
     
  10. cstephl
    Joined: May 2005
    Posts: 5
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    Location: Alaska

    cstephl Junior Member

    Thanks for the info on freeship. I just downloaded it looks like it will be fun to learn. From reading the manual it sounds like it will do what I want. A reverse chine is kind of hard to explain but it is a long thin (almost flat) section of the bottom sheets at the chine. For instance, at the transom, the planing/semi-V boat I am building has 2 bottom sheets approx 3' wide each with a 15 degree deadrise. Outboard of each of the bottom sheets is a 6" wide sheet at the chine that is almost flat (angled downward several degrees on the outside edge). This forms the reverse chine. This long skinny almost flat reverse chine sheet runs the full length of the chine, about 6" wide at the stern, narrowing down to a point at the bow. The reverse chine directs the water/spray coming off the bottom downward to reduce spray. It also helps lift the boat up on step. When they are installed flat (not angled downward) they are also called a chine flat.
    cstephl
     
  11. fastfish666
    Joined: Feb 2006
    Posts: 4
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    Location: area 65

    fastfish666 New Member

    When I last tried an IGES export (Free!SHIP 2.3) the program locked up -- it happened with some of the sample files -- never was able to get an IGES output. Now I understand that the subdivision surfaces used in Fee!SHIP can only be approximated by NURBS but has anyone successfully been able to get an IGES nurb model out of it, and if so what are the tricks?
    Form the (very) limited amount of playing Ive done with it, it looks pretty cool, I especially like the updating SAcuve and basic hydros as you modify the design.
    cheers

    time passes ...

    Now thats typical -- now that Ive just re-tried the export its working fine! No idea what differences Ive made to the setup -- as far as I know none. Just had FreeShip sitting on my system for a few weeks.
     
  12. Windvang
    Joined: Jan 2006
    Posts: 180
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    Location: Rotterdam,The Netherlands

    Windvang Yacht Designer

    Try downloading V 2.5, the problem was allready solved in V 2.4. You are still using that way old version? Devellopment is lightning fast in Free!ship. :p
     
  13. Bruce Taylor
    Joined: Oct 2003
    Posts: 34
    Likes: 5, Points: 8, Legacy Rep: 35
    Location: Wakefield, QC, Canada

    Bruce Taylor Junior Member

    And the "development team" consists of one guy working in his spare time!

    What Martijn has accomplished in less than a year is simply amazing.
     
  14. Chris Ostlind

    Chris Ostlind Previous Member

    IGES export

    Hey Fastfish,

    I routinely use the IGES export function to Rhino and it's quite effective. The following has to do with multichine hull design for marine plywood construction

    I have typically originated "sketched" hull concepts in the freeware, Hulls program, opened the .hul files in FreeShip and made alterations to conform the hydrostatics to the design criteria I had planned. Hulls has a very simple hydrostatic analysis function, but it really only serves to get you in the ballpark and the data it reveals is not as in-depth as you will find in FreeShip.

    Anyway, I then export an IGES file to my desktop and open it in Rhino. I create curves from the IGES surface edges and delete the IGES surfaces. The resultant curves have way too many control points, so I delete about two thirds of them and then fair the curves as closely as possible to their original shape.

    I create surfaces for the new curve set and end up with a very clean, very fair hull that is ready to be analyzed hydrostatically by RhinoMarine. The RhinoMarine hydrostatics are extremely well matched to the data created in Freeship, so if you are content with the Freeship output to developed panels at that point, and/or do not have Rhino to go further into the design, you can stop there and have a dandy boat from the FreeShip output capacity.

    I use Rhino to develp the rest of the structure to complete form as well as render the design for presentation graphics. The images are stunning and the degree of control is fantastic. Freeship has become a truly unique and wonderful addition to the workflow in my shop design environment.

    The images attached are for a solo tripping canoe that was designed and rendered in less than two hours complete with full hydrostatics from two independent, confirmation sources. Once the panels are nested, the design will be ready to take to a CNC shop for cutting and construction. Did somebody mention rapid prototyping?

    Chris
     

    Attached Files:


  15. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Say Chris...I did the export and import deal into rhino... It looked ok, but there were actual holes in some spots in the hull. Any ideas on that?

    Steve
     
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