Though I’ve already posted these links in separate posts, I did a little cleanup and made a Playlist on YouTube.
Thus, a more user-friendly access to them.
• Making A Ribbon Cable
• Making A Jumper Wire (and Making the KiCad Footprint)
• FreeCad To KiCad (and Making the KiCad Footprint)
I’ve added a link to this page from the FAQ. If you plan on adding more we could turn this page into a WIKI.
Wow! Thank you!
I guess I learned a lesson from this: “Make Better Video’s”.
I’ve been rushing through them and exporting at Fast Play Speed to save File Size (and no real need for viewer to watch uninteresting details).
Thank goodness, YouTube’s display window has a Settings Wheel so Users can adjust speed.
Hopefully they’re useful for others.
[EDIT] Fixed the links.
I finished the Tutorials on Making Cables (added #4 - A Complete Process sans some clean up…)
#1 Tutorial: Shows the process of ‘Making’ the FreeCad model (A Ribbon Cable) and Exporting it without using StepUp plugin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxPRGyvBuTU&feature=youtu.be
#2 Tutorial: Shows a completed Jumper Wire and it’s implementation into KiCad. (same process as for making the Ribbon Cable. This time, the model contains Two Bodies).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMlu-rxtYSQ&feature=youtu.be
#3 Tutorial: Shows a more complex model - a Coffee Cup with two contact pins (on cup bottom). Shows it’s implementation in KiCad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88NsRVC-Mo8
#4 Tutorial: Start To Finish -> Making A Cable Assembly & Footprint
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szj5xV5UF9Q)
Here’s the Playlist with all four vid’s
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU_C9afJ9z7VFw9Hf-SUJykonZlZ6nOtw
I did not fuss with making Actual/Real size Cable or Connectors.
This is Only a Graphic part for a KiCad Footprint. But, you can certainly make a ‘Real’ cable and connectors, is desired…
For first 3 links I get “Movie inaccessible” so answering without viewing it. May be I’m right and may be not. As I know KiCad would like to get two files .step and .wrl and there are some scaling problem. I suppose that may be you show export to only one of them, why using StepUp takes a care of both. Sorry if my suppose is wrong.
I think a set of videos of “FreeCad use for KiCad users” would be very helpful for users knowing KiCad but don’t knowing FreeCad. But the Ribbon Cable should be understand as advanced. The more simple examples should start the serie.
Thanks for pointing out the link problem. They’re fixed.
KiCad can use either .WRL or .STEP.
Newer versions prefer using .STEP but, both file types work.
StepUp exports both at the same time.
Sometimes I don’t use StepUp.
Sometimes I export from FreeCad the usual way. I depends on if I’m using Boolean, Compounding and the PartDesign or the Part workbench.
Added one more video (#5 Tutorial) goes into More Detail on Making the Parts in FreeCAD and in higher display resolution.
just a side note… in your tutorial you use to align elements in kicad using inside the 3d-viewer rotation and offset… this is not the best option IMO because you cannot check any real dimension in 3D viewer…
The suggested option would be to load the footprint in FC and model your 3D model inside FC using the footprint as reference for the real 3d dimensions and placement.
Then when you have aligned your model to the footprint in FC, you can export it to kicad and it will be perfectly aligned in kicad 3d viewer as in freecad, having offset and rotation to zero.
This is what has been done for all the models in kicad 3d library.
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