When is V29 coming out?
- Thread starter srjacob
- Start date
GIOV
Alibre Super User
For my part, Alibre Design is no longer attractive for an annual subscription, as basic engineering tools such as Area Moments have not been implemented being essential for calculating the section modulus of a given area. Rhinoceros v4 has this feature and costs less than Alibre Design. AutoCAD 2007 also has it.
Example RhinoV4 Tools:
Example RhinoV4 Tools:
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simonb65
Alibre Super User
+1
I'd also be interested to know who the a) beta testing team is, and b) who reviews the feature changes (i.e. if it's just devs thinking what users want or if actual hard core users are consulted), as it always seems that any changes or features that are implemented seem to be 25% short of complete. Great candidates for interim minor releases ... that sadly never come to fruition!
A few examples of recently added 'incomplete' features:
1) The material tool doesn't include a material colour.
2) The trace tool doesn't allow you to pick 2 points to auto rotate horizontal/vertical (it's a manual trial and error number exercise!), yet you can auto scale.
3) PDM is a Windows only service and not cross platform (i.e. host on Linux, NAS servers ... used by the majority of SME's and businesses).
So, whatever is done for v29, I can put money on the fact something will be missing that hasn't been considered and could have been in the mix had a wider group been involved.
simonb65
Alibre Super User
Maybe I should have said Alpha, as by the time the product gets to Beta it's production ready and dev should have stopped. Which is way too late to point out missing functionality or actual functionality flow and usability. That needs to be ironed out before anything is coded! So, as @NateLiquidGravity is suggesting, maybe that discussion with a selected group need to happen at the brainstorming stage, when feature requirements are being formed, not pre-release!
simonb65
Alibre Super User
Totally agree, I see it all the time from my customers and most of the time they don't think of everything either! ... As for Alibre, we don't get visibility of other users requests (other than forum chat), so can't comment or fill in any missing gaps before the button gets pressed! We only see it at the end ... incomplete!
I understand that modernizing the framework under the hood is an important step forward. Fingers crossed that we will already see some fruits of that in the V29 release. If they manage to run Alibre in native speed on macOS (ARM64) and Linux this would be a huge plus in my book!
expediter2433
New Member
I haven't seen any update on release date but there is a highlights clip from the 2nd January stream that shows the v29 UI.
In the stream there is a discussion about the removal of latest Windows-only dependencies after v29.0, being the current block for portability, and the future evaluation for supporting other platforms.
In the stream there is a discussion about the removal of latest Windows-only dependencies after v29.0, being the current block for portability, and the future evaluation for supporting other platforms.
We are targeting around mid-late March. A fast-follow beta of 29.1 will be released shortly after which will have the weldment design functionality. We are approaching being functionally done with the porting of the entire product (minus a few things which we'll do for 29.1 such as System Options), but still have a lot of manicuring to do. Will definitely have a beta.
I would love to see some list of approved improvements coming from user. I suggest to make a tracked list with all wishes of users and hope some will be implemented. My list as in https://www.alibre.com/forum/index.php?threads/some-essential-improvements.26231/#post-180915.
1. PDM – Preserve Links When Renaming Objects. When any object value is changed in PDM — including file names, folder names, project names, etc. — no links between objects should be lost. All references must be automatically updated to reflect the new name.
2. Failed Link Resolution – Display Full File Details. When a linked file is lost in an assembly or boolean operation, the "Failed Loading" message window should display the full name and extension of the missing file. It should also allow the user to browse and replace the missing file directly from that window, whether the file resides in PDM or any other file system.
3. Constraint References – Show Associated Part Names. Wherever constraints reference global, local, or reference planes, axes, or points, or other parts, the name of the associated part should be displayed alongside the reference label. For example, instead of just "Plane XY," the text should read "Plane XY – [Part or Assembly Name].". When opening a sketch which has objects related to other parts, please add a right clic command to allows the visualization of all InterDesign Relations.
4. Global Parameters – Propagate Name Changes via Unique IDs. When a parameter name is changed in a Global Parameters File, the change should be propagated to all linked files, whether they are currently open or not. To achieve this, linking should be based on unique IDs rather than parameter names, ensuring that renaming a parameter never breaks existing references.
5. Export – Append Active Configuration Name to File Name. When exporting to .STP, .STL, or any other format, if the part or assembly contains more than one configuration, the active configuration name should be appended to the exported file name by default (e.g., FileName_ActiveConfigurationName). This should match the name displayed at the top of the Alibre Design main window.
6. Persistent Equation Editor Window with Regenerate Button. Allow the Equation Editor window to remain permanently visible and include a "Regenerate" button within it. This would significantly reduce the number of clicks and the time spent during the design process. Most designers today work with large or dual monitors, so screen space is not a concern.
7. Persistent Feature Parameters Panel or Double-Click Editing. Create a persistent side panel for editing feature parameters. Alternatively, allow users to simply double-click a feature to open its parameter editing window. This would eliminate the repetitive process of right-clicking a feature, moving the pointer to "Edit," and clicking again — an action that is performed extremely frequently in any CAD workflow.
8. Track Dependencies Command for Sketches. Add a "Track Dependencies" command to the right-click context menu of sketches in the Design Explorer (above the "Status" option). When a sketch has dependencies from external files or from other sketches within the same file, this command should display all of them. Additionally, while editing a sketch, the same "Track Dependencies" option should be available when right-clicking any sketch element that has dependencies. Currently, this dependency information is completely hidden, making it difficult to trace the relationships you have created.
9. Allow Operations on Reference Figures in Sketches. Enable mirroring, offsetting, and other operations to be performed directly on reference figures within sketches. Currently, users are forced to convert reference figures to sketch figures, perform the operation, and then convert them back to reference figures — an unnecessary and tedious workaround.
10. Multi-Core Processing Support for Improved Performance. Leverage multi-core processors for geometry operations, model regeneration, and assembly loading. Currently, most operations in Alibre Design run on a single core, which means that modern CPUs with many cores are significantly underutilized. Implementing multi-threaded processing for computationally intensive tasks — such as feature regeneration, constraint solving, large assembly loading, and drawing projection — would result in dramatically faster performance, especially for users working with complex assemblies containing hundreds or thousands of parts. This is one of the most frequently discussed limitations in the Alibre community and in user reviews.
11. Proper AutoZoom when clic on View Cube. Adapt autozoom to the correct model projected size in the view. Actually it seams the software uses only one scale, the highest of the part when autozoom. For linear parts, large in one direction and small in others the autozoom in views of smaller sizes is zoom the part far away...
1. PDM – Preserve Links When Renaming Objects. When any object value is changed in PDM — including file names, folder names, project names, etc. — no links between objects should be lost. All references must be automatically updated to reflect the new name.
2. Failed Link Resolution – Display Full File Details. When a linked file is lost in an assembly or boolean operation, the "Failed Loading" message window should display the full name and extension of the missing file. It should also allow the user to browse and replace the missing file directly from that window, whether the file resides in PDM or any other file system.
3. Constraint References – Show Associated Part Names. Wherever constraints reference global, local, or reference planes, axes, or points, or other parts, the name of the associated part should be displayed alongside the reference label. For example, instead of just "Plane XY," the text should read "Plane XY – [Part or Assembly Name].". When opening a sketch which has objects related to other parts, please add a right clic command to allows the visualization of all InterDesign Relations.
4. Global Parameters – Propagate Name Changes via Unique IDs. When a parameter name is changed in a Global Parameters File, the change should be propagated to all linked files, whether they are currently open or not. To achieve this, linking should be based on unique IDs rather than parameter names, ensuring that renaming a parameter never breaks existing references.
5. Export – Append Active Configuration Name to File Name. When exporting to .STP, .STL, or any other format, if the part or assembly contains more than one configuration, the active configuration name should be appended to the exported file name by default (e.g., FileName_ActiveConfigurationName). This should match the name displayed at the top of the Alibre Design main window.
6. Persistent Equation Editor Window with Regenerate Button. Allow the Equation Editor window to remain permanently visible and include a "Regenerate" button within it. This would significantly reduce the number of clicks and the time spent during the design process. Most designers today work with large or dual monitors, so screen space is not a concern.
7. Persistent Feature Parameters Panel or Double-Click Editing. Create a persistent side panel for editing feature parameters. Alternatively, allow users to simply double-click a feature to open its parameter editing window. This would eliminate the repetitive process of right-clicking a feature, moving the pointer to "Edit," and clicking again — an action that is performed extremely frequently in any CAD workflow.
8. Track Dependencies Command for Sketches. Add a "Track Dependencies" command to the right-click context menu of sketches in the Design Explorer (above the "Status" option). When a sketch has dependencies from external files or from other sketches within the same file, this command should display all of them. Additionally, while editing a sketch, the same "Track Dependencies" option should be available when right-clicking any sketch element that has dependencies. Currently, this dependency information is completely hidden, making it difficult to trace the relationships you have created.
9. Allow Operations on Reference Figures in Sketches. Enable mirroring, offsetting, and other operations to be performed directly on reference figures within sketches. Currently, users are forced to convert reference figures to sketch figures, perform the operation, and then convert them back to reference figures — an unnecessary and tedious workaround.
10. Multi-Core Processing Support for Improved Performance. Leverage multi-core processors for geometry operations, model regeneration, and assembly loading. Currently, most operations in Alibre Design run on a single core, which means that modern CPUs with many cores are significantly underutilized. Implementing multi-threaded processing for computationally intensive tasks — such as feature regeneration, constraint solving, large assembly loading, and drawing projection — would result in dramatically faster performance, especially for users working with complex assemblies containing hundreds or thousands of parts. This is one of the most frequently discussed limitations in the Alibre community and in user reviews.
11. Proper AutoZoom when clic on View Cube. Adapt autozoom to the correct model projected size in the view. Actually it seams the software uses only one scale, the highest of the part when autozoom. For linear parts, large in one direction and small in others the autozoom in views of smaller sizes is zoom the part far away...
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