GRRR

[MarcusWolschon]

I'm trying to understand your comment, but it doesn't make any sense especially with respect to the topic of this thread.

The result of the removal of mesh support is not to update.

The result of not updating is questioning if one shall remain in a support contract for updates.

The alternative is to let it expire with a financial penalty when possibly getting back in at an unknown time in the future (when/if the feature is reintroduced) .

 

[GDBranch]

I've opted for the first time in 9 years not to purchase maintenance for this next year because Alibre will no longer import mesh files. I do a lot of 3D printing and design work with meshes and need this function. I think what Marcus was saying, which is my concern, if you opt out of maintenance for a year or two while your waiting for Alibre to work on a solution for meshes will you be penalized going back on maintenance later on, like having to purchase a new package of the software.

 

[swertel]

If you are going to continue to use the software, why wouldn't you stay on maintenance? There are other enhancements and tech support that provide value. At the risk of sounding condescending, there is no logical way a person would have selected Alibre for its mesh capabilities. They were never that good.

If you are going to find another solution that offers mesh support, then why worry about going back on maintenance later? You have a new solution. If Alibre's replacement solution (whenever it gets implemented) ends up being better than the one you picked, then you pay to switch back.

This seems like a very simple business decision that is getting obfuscated by trying to hold onto some sort of sunk cost. I have work-arounds for all my CAD systems. I can either choose to continue the daily expense of the work around or I can go find a better solution. Software features get deprecated all the time. You basically have 3 choices:

1. Stay on the legacy version that still has the feature at the cost of losing any time-saving enhancements.
2. Upgrade to the new version at the cost of creating work arounds for the deprecated feature.
3. Pay for a new system and the cost of migrating legacy data or working in a multi-CAD environment.

Analyze the costs. Analyze the benefits. Pick the option with the better ratio.
And yes, one option may be to save money by stopping maintenance. Invest that money and then take the future value to buy back in at a later date.

For example, for one software, I know that my payback period for maintenance is 3 years. I can drop maintenance but it'll take 2.8 years to save enough to break even on buying that license back. On that same system, I don't upgrade it with every version. I do, though, upgrade at least every 3 years. That's the break-even point for maintenance. If I don't upgrade at least every 3 years, I don't need to pay maintenance.

Thinking that you need a new version of software every year because that's what your maintenance dollars pay for is foolhardy. Scrum and Agile development methods don't work that way. A new version is just nomenclature. (Don't you realize that 2018.1.1 is a new version? Unless you have a different software vendor, then it would only be a maintenance pack or a service pack, not a version.) Subscription only is becoming the norm. Tools like Onshape and Fusion 360 don't have versions anymore. Based on the mentality of "maintenance = annual new version," there would never be any value in using either of those tools.

 

[MarcusWolschon]

I can't run a legacy version of Alibre in parallel with the current one. The installer won't allow that.
I require the ability to open my existing projects and still modify them including display of the contained meshes. I guess this is a very common requirement.
The existing projects are the basis of new projects.
Some of my regularly recurring work involved mold design requires meshes.
I did not choose Alibre because of this feature but I have learned to use it and started to rely on it.
I have no viable workarounds for missing even basic mesh support.

The only alternative found is Fusion360 but:
* It still has that silly 10K polygon limit.
* After 8 years of using Alibre/Geomagic I'd have to learn everything again, redo all the projects that new work is based on and invest a ton of time that I don't have.
* I do NOT want to ever store any of my designs outside my own computers. No discussion.
* I am violently opposed to rented software that stops working of I drop out.

In the past I have tried all affordable software to generarte solids from meshes to import them into a CAM that has no mesh support.
None of them works well. Most of them did not work at all.

Result: The only option I have is to stay with 2018.0.1 and miss out on all future improvements.
As long as I have a working installer for when I change computers.
(I already had to do that with Lightroom serveral year ago.)
While I like Alibre and am willing to support that, the maintenance is expensive (for what I can affort, not for what other CAD systems cost) and I can not justify that expense without being able to use anything it buys me (Integrated scripting and other new features, fixes to some of the crashes or constraints that are less likely to fail to resolve.).

BTW: I can barely justify the cost of a maintenance contract for Alibre. Option 3 is way outside budget. As is buying a completely new license of Alibre. I'm only back in maintenance because there was a special offering to get back in.

Oh and I already lost a feature that was important to me. In 2017 I lost direct integration of my "Sense" 3D Scanner but could work around that due to mesh support.

 

[TimoCAD]

What about using freecad for the meantime for importing meshes an build Solids out of them and then import into AD? So you have a workaround and can still be on the actual version of AD.

That's how I would do it.

 

[Max]

Guys, if you don't update bc of the mesh thing, we won't charge you a penalty for re-getting on maintenance when it is re-enabled. Reference this thread or email max@alibre.com and I'll give it to you in writing in an email you can reference later. I know having to pull the mesh stuff sucks, I wish we didn't have to do it, but we'll do everything we can to fix it as soon as feasible and make it as easy as possible for you in the meantime.

 

[markporter]

Max: Does Alibre publish a backwards/forwards compatibility list for major and minor versions of the software? I’m thinking of keeping a PC on an earlier version in case I want to do any mesh imports, but for my daily work I will use the latest version. I’d like to sandbox my projects, but I know I’ll probably lack the discipline to do this and get into a mess. An indication of whether 2018.0.1 can open files created with 2018.1.1 would help, for example.

 

[MarcusWolschon]

What about using freecad for the meantime for importing meshes an build Solids out of them and then import into AD? So you have a workaround and can still be on the actual version of AD.

That's how I would do it.

Good idea. Last time I tried was with R16.
I tried R17.13522 this morning and sadly after 10 hours of "create shape from mesh" it's still the old hourglass.

 

[GDBranch]

If you are going to continue to use the software, why wouldn't you stay on maintenance? There are other enhancements and tech support that provide value. At the risk of sounding condescending, there is no logical way a person would have selected Alibre for its mesh capabilities. They were never that good.

Up until two years ago I had no need for mesh capabilities and Alibre satisfied 100% of my needs. I've been paying maintenance for the last two years hoping that the poor mesh capabilities would be improved, now that I need it. I can't justify paying for convenience changes to the software. I've used support maybe two or 3 times in nine years so I'm not worried about moving forward with my current version of the software without support.
While others here are very concerned with 2D drawings, BOM's, spreadsheets and more I am not. Alibre does just fine in my little world.
I've been very happy with Alibre and plan to go back on maintenance once they've solved a problem that very much affects me. Alibre has made it very clear that they intend to solve this problem and that they understand my decision.

 

[swertel]

This is a pretty good community. There is no guarantee but there may be members willing to help out other members and convert your mesh data into something that Alibre can import until the fix is done.

For example, if you pay me, I'll get it done within an agreed to schedule in a format that works.
If you don't pay me, I'll do my best to toss it into one of my other CAD systems, clean up the mesh (maybe, maybe not), and export it as STEP or ACIS. You get what you get with no guarantees and it'll be within my time frame.

Other members may have more flexibility in their schedule to be more responsive. The question is whether or not your data can be shared publicly for other members to access.

 

[GDBranch]

Thank you Scott. I appreciate the offer.
Gary