Recap "Startup" or "hobbyist" license

[dumbmail101]

Hi! I AM SUBMITTING THIS AFTER POSTING IT ON THE RECAP FORUMS, AND WAS SUGGESTED TO POST HERE. Sorry for shouting ... 🙂

I obviously don't want to retype it all, so copy & paste, here we come, please don't shoot me for a cross post ...!

I'm currently using PAINFULLY LEARNING (LOL) Fusion 360 under a Hobbyist / Startup licence for doing 3D printed models.

As the 3D printer machine prices drop, there is a growing small army of casual and hobbyist users, as well as many current Students at all levels from about 4th grade on. We are all excited about bring in our own models. 

Obviously, ReCap comes into play.

A number of those people will become proficient, they will graduate to become drivers of Industry, doing it large scale. It behoves AutoDesk to court them.

I searched for about a half hour trying to find if there's a Hobbyist / Startup license, to no avail. The Pro

Licensing fees are way out of line for a casual user, so it becomes a dead end if there is not such a license structure.

Just as an aside - if there is NOT such a structure (of course, I lobby strongly for that ... 🙂  ) you might consider it with restrictions on use; "x" number of models / month for the hobbyist, or, when it comes online, restricting the hobbyist to local processing, so you're not incurring data transfer & processing costs, probably a couple of the biggest cost involved.

I think you will be missing a HUGE market going forward if you don't allow for the smaller users, something you're OBVIOUSLY aware of since you did the Fusion 360 Hobbyist / Startup Licensing! 

[rpayne]

@dumbmail101Interesting idea you are proposing. I have been working with point clouds and ReCap & ReCap Pro for a while now.  While I like the Hobbyist/Startup Licensing, I'm not sure if this would be a tool for the hobbyist.  I mainly use ReCap Pro for registering point clouds into AutoCAD where I end up making or placing models in the point cloud. ReCap I use mainly for viewing point clouds and taking measurements. It has less functionality then ReCap Pro.

I don't know what kind of interest there is for point clouds among the hobbyist/enthusiast crowd.  I'm sure there is. From a hobbyist CAD point of view, we have great software available at a good price, free.  We can reliable and good quality 3D printers in the $500-$1000, USD, price range.  A good laser scanner will set you back anywhere from $20,000 to $70,000.  While I have also used pictures to create 3D models, I found that the quality of the model was lacking compared to a laser scan point cloud.

I am not trying put down your idea. I think it's a great one. I just don't think this is the right tool for this group.  I would like to see Autodesk reach out to the community to create something that would allow us to crop a cloud to make a 3d model that could be printed. Priced at either a low one time fee or free.

Good luck in learning Fusion and keep the great idea coming.

Best Regards,

Rick    

[Anonymous]

dumbmail101 is correct. I rarely post (if ever) on this board but this truck a cord with me. Autodesk needs to learn from it's own history, when it started out as a desk organizing program and AutoCAD (like Visio) was just one of several tools they offered. Many of the power user today started with bootleg copies of AutoCAD. Shoot, I started with a bootleg of 1.4 and 1.8 when the circles looked like stop signs on my green screen and dimensioning was an add on. Our first legal versions were 2.6. But that first bootleg started me off to eventually setting up a very large manufacturing company with several hundred seats of AutoCAD. I recall attending the first few NAAUG meeting in San Rafael and sharing the exact same stories with several users. 

While pirated software may not be the way to go now then certainly inexpensive entry level pricing / training will do nothing but benefit Autodesk in the long run. Why do you think HP gave all those colleges ME10 or ME30 or why is that all the engineers coming out of college seem to know Solidworks and not AutoCAD. 

Autodesk has mad some great enhancements to ReCap but it 's not the goto software. They need to make it the goto software make making is AVAILABLE to those kids still in college who need it. I believe Rick agrees he is just seeing a different scenario in his head that I am. 

Thank you dumbmail101 for bringing this up.

Regards,

Bruce (soon to be retired)

[dgorsman]

Students already have free licenses *and* online credits, although there's some limits to quality options so they don't overwhelm the online services.

Engineers know Solidworks or Inventor, not AutoCAD, because those are the programs used for mechanical design.  AutoCAD is generally not used anymore in that field.  It has nothing to do with cost or free use policies.

I just don't see a rationale for providing "Free" stuff just because somebody wants it.  I want to learn to fly a helicopter - maybe someone will give me something for free?  Yeah, maybe not...

FYI, ground rules here prohibit discussion of software piracy in any form.

[Anonymous]

As others have said, the laser scanners needed to create a point cloud are very expensive, so Recap itself probably isn't much of a hobbyist tool. Also, you cannot 3D print a point cloud so Recap doesn't seem to fit the use-case described.

Recap PHOTO on the other hand is almost certainly something that hobbyists could find useful. If I understand correctly, Recap PHOTO replaces Remake which included the photo-to-3D service as a local operation (no need to spend cloud credits, unlike the Recap360 photo-to-3D website unless you run it in preview mode). I assume therefore that Recap Photo includes this home-photo-to-3D feature (although I cannot figure out how to do that, it asks me to spend cloud credits).

If I recall correctly Remake was available with free Startup and Hobbyist licenses just like Fusion so, in my opinion, the same should apply to Recap Photo as its direct replacement.

[Anonymous]

Strike that, I've now found out that Recap Photo is not a full replacement for Remake, as local computation is GONE. When I discovered this I uninstalled Recap Photo and installed Remake instead but it seems to have had a built-in expiry date and won't run without being updated (which presumably will 'update' it to Recap Photo with a REMOVED FEATURE).

Assuming that Autodesk still have the source code for Remake, this whole thing can probably be resolved with very little developer effort; simply make the Remake Startup and Hobbyist licenses available on the website again and patch the Remake software so that it no longer has a built-in expiry date and doesn't try to update ever again.

[santaniellog]

+1

"

 

thomas.wheeler

‎09-18-2017 06:13 AM

Recap PHOTO on the other hand is almost certainly something that hobbyists could find useful. If I understand correctly, Recap PHOTO replaces Remake which included the photo-to-3D service as a local operation (no need to spend cloud credits, unlike the Recap360 photo-to-3D website unless you run it in preview mode). I assume therefore that Recap Photo includes this home-photo-to-3D feature (although I cannot figure out how to do that, it asks me to spend cloud credits).

If I recall correctly Remake was available with free Startup and Hobbyist licenses just like Fusion so, in my opinion, the same should apply to Recap Photo as its direct replacement."

My interest in Remake is to 3D print items (parts) that are no longer available for purchase. Without plans they would have to be re-created, being new to 3D printing/modeling I do not have the skills to recreate a physical item. This change in direction is very disappointing to a hobbiest new to 3D.

[santaniellog]

Recap PHOTO on the other hand is almost certainly something that hobbyists could find useful. If I understand correctly, Recap PHOTO replaces Remake which included the photo-to-3D service as a local operation (no need to spend cloud credits, unlike the Recap360 photo-to-3D website unless you run it in preview mode). I assume therefore that Recap Photo includes this home-photo-to-3D feature (although I cannot figure out how to do that, it asks me to spend cloud credits).

If I recall correctly Remake was available with free Startup and Hobbyist licenses just like Fusion so, in my opinion, the same should apply to Recap Photo as its direct replacement."

My interest in Remake is to 3D print items (parts) that are no longer available for purchase. Without plans they would have to be re-created, being new to 3D printing/modeling I do not have the skills to recreate a physical item. This change in direction is very disappointing to a hobbiest new to 3D.

[Thegreatrandino]

I feel compelled to respond to  dgorsman quip "I just don't see a rationale for providing "Free" stuff just because somebody wants it.  I want to learn to fly a helicopter - maybe someone will give me something for free?  Yeah, maybe not..."

Some flight training schools offer a free introductory lesson. Once you try it, you'll be hooked and want to buy it.  The idea is to lure you in with something free and then after they're hooked charge a much as you can get away with.  With complex applications like CAD, users spend a HUGE amount of time and effort in learning the package and are reluctant to move to a different package. The users are also willing to accept or tolerate bad behaving program because they don't want to learn another program. So..........make the program free for a year and then when they become proficient, or functional in the use of the program, They can purchase the program. The monthly subscription is also very attractive

I started with a high school textbook, a drawing board, two triangles, and a T-Square MANY MANY years ago (late 20th century) I'm loving Fusion 360..............

[Anonymous]

As a new 3D printing hobbyist, I enjoy creating 1-offs and thrill of watching that thing magically come to life on the print bed. I'm sure there are a billion potential hobbyists like me around the world. Now that prices are dropping, imagine the possibilities this industry in its infancy will experience. Once a 3D printer becomes as common a toaster, it's a no-brainer that the company that creates the best high-quality 3D photogrammetry platform, so easy that 3rd grader can learn and breeze through it at school, or at home, they will own the market! Photogrammetry should be a starting point in this market. I don't want to learn multiple applications. I want the one that is intuitively logical and doesn't require a Ph.D. in Quantum Physics. Free to Students, Educators, and Hobbyists is like planting seeds for a future crop of manufacturing Inventors, Designers, and Engineers. You must decide who your market is and where the revenue will come from, and then work backward to the Students, Educators, and Hobbyists in order to make that market reality.  

[nate2BHFS]

I'd also like to see a startup or hobbyist license. I have a project that involves machining a part to closely fit an existing organic surface that would greatly benefit from an accurate point mapping application. Unfortunately I can't justify the cost of purchasing a decent 3d scanner and $300 for an application I may only use a couple of times a year is a little much. It would be even better if there was integration with fusion360.