WHAT? I just bought a full course of Kicad, then i realized it was out of date... Then i was searching for the missing infromations in the internet and end up here in this video... Just shocked that it contains all informations i needed in only 13 minutes... I'm sad and happy at the same time... ahahhaha
Yes KiCad is pretty intuitive, you can find many other videos on RU-vid about it. For most functions KiCad 6 and 7 are very similar. Happy to hear it was useful for you.
It's actually a terrible tutorial. Here's why: 1 - Speeds up the video missing crucial steps 2 - Does nothing in the way of explaining to the view the reasons behind each step 3 - Missing steps for defining the footprints at J1, J2, D3
@@JamesLehartProductions ?!? It's a 13 min intro tutorial! It gives a brilliant overview. Then you can go in and fill in your knowledge gaps. Tutorials are usually painfully slow.
BRILLIANT SUMMARY! Most tutorials are PAINFULLY SLOW or contain a LOT of unnecessary commentary. They also are not "end to end" process explanations leaving users wondering "What came before?" or "What next?" Your video takes advantage of the fact that it's a VIDEO, not a live lecture - so if someone needs to reference a point that went by a little fast, they just REWIND! I will bookmark this video and refer back to it often. WELL DONE!
Hey, hey, hey! I did it! I have spent hours watching videos trying to figure out how to make a symbol and footprint for a couple of devices. Then I found this video. And I learned it wasn't so hard after all. You, sir, have my greatest gratitude! Thank you so much for this lesson!
awesome video, short, simple and beginner friendly, i refused to start learning pcb design multiple times after seeing 3-5 hour tutorials but today i finally started, just orderred my pcbs after no longer than an hour worth of tinkering around, cant wait to see the end results!
I havent used KidCAD is 10 years, was using Altium and mentor , I need a refresh course form Kicad 8 this video puts me back on track..KiCAD came a long way
Coming from Eagle, i didn't need an entire bare basics session, just a quick run-down from start to finish. For that this is a great tutorial!! Now to start the tedious process of migrating and updating all my libraries. Hard to believe i'm actually making the switch honestly. When i started in 2011: KiCad was a mess and CadSoft Eagle was what i was trained to work with in college. But then CERN got involved with KiCad and Autodesk with Eagle. Now there is a open-source powerhouse while the former champion is slated for deprecation...
EXCELLENT! I've recently worked my way through the 10 great Digi-Key tutorials to design my 1st SMD PCB, using a Teensy T4.1. But now, I'm searching through all of them, just to make sure I've followed all of the steps correctly. Thanks to you, I can do that within minutes. The only important step you've skipped over is drill holes for vias (AFAIK). EDIT: Just checked out your channel. Great content, right down my alley. Congrats on earning a new sub. 😎
You can easily make a combined footprint of THT and SMD pads, which lets you simplify the design process and the look of the schematics. And it's also a good idea to make ground-plane.
Dear Sir, this is by far the most well presented tutorial on how to use KiCad along with a practical example. I'm a recent graduate with electrical background. I decided to chase PCB design career. If you offer any tips/ pieces of advice for young adults/ and engineers on how to get good at this profession, that would be so kind. I made the circuit and can't wait to test it.
Thank you for your kind words, to become good at PCB layout I suggest you get familiar with the famous software packages and practice. Learning electronics basics is also very important because your main "customers" will be electronic engineers so it is key to speak their language. The requirements are different per industry, so you may need to pick a direction. Power supply or lighting (my specialty) has different requirements than digital design (phone/android box etc) . Wish you good luck and much fun in your career!
My major is power electronics, if would start now I would go for software (embedded or application all is ok). For PCB layout, suggest to get familiar with more systems and some analog electronics so you can imagine what the design engineer needs. Please consider (my opinion) that PCB layout engineer is a quite narrow field with job stability but not many career options.
Thank you so much, I haven’t finished the video yet I’m still on create custom foot print, but I’m just starting to get into circuitry and this video has been very helpful on learning how to use kitcad
Thanks so much for explaining things quickly, clearly, and succinctly . . . So many tutorials get lost in irrelevant details - it can be frustrating for people who want to get started! Excellent job 👍
The Y axis distance between J1 and J2 for the ATtiny25 pins to fit well is 7.62 mm apart, They're going to fit anyway, if anyone was wandering becasue of the design, but an exact 7.62 mm will give a nice snug fit. Then choose between the chip and the SMD as you desire with no issues.
Thank you so much! KiCAD is such a great tool, hope this video helps beginners to start using it. By the way, I am a big fan of your channel, always very detailed and professional content.
I had to return and refresh, you present fast for my old brain. I had a schematic designed but lost how go further. So i can back. some functions are so obscure you must study and learn each function. Nothing is intuitive. I usually can poke around and get by finding what I need to do. Bu this application has so little logical relationship with function and feature I am not sure I will ever be as swift and sure and you in this video. But I will continue to try. I just need 2 stupid simple boards made. Dennis I slowed the speed to .75 so I could take notes and follow along better.
Not so young myself ...1968'er ;-) I actually struggled with KiCAD myself at first but I wanted to have a PCB layout and schematic software that is running locally on my PC, no cloudy server stuff ...That is why I made the video after finishing my first layout. The best way to learn is to make a PCB, hope my video was useful for you though. It is edited very fast to make sure the younger folks do not get impatient.
Thank you! The only way to learn things is to really do it and build up your experience. I am happy to see you show interest in learning technology. Electronics was my hobby as a kid and became my profession, doing what you like is a key to happiness in life 🙂
I have seen people put holes on the board's edges while panelizing. This makes it easy to break them after receiving the boards. I am curious as to why you didn't do that and how you managed to take them apart.
I am also interested in that. Mousebites are not that accurate, but you can break it manually. This way looks more like for a machine milling the edges to separate. I guess he cut it by hand though with a saw or something. Could you find another video that covered the mousebites?
Thank You so much, some parts went by pretty fast but we can rewind. I am trying to find a simple yet effective App to build boards I need for my Model Train Controls. I would hope there would be more automated solutions but I see they sell those for big money. Maybe I can learn this one well enough. My Laptop in my upstairs office doesn't have a mouse so when you offer key commands that is a big help. Crt C for copy etc. I have always wanted to build my own board because i like to add pins for test points and Leds for Status indicators. Thank You Again, Dennis
Great video asside from a few things, 1. You didnt show the footprint selection for J1, J2, and D3, but i was able to see them in the logs when you transferred from schematic to PCB. 2nd, it is hard to follow what you did (or maybe im just dumb) im stuck on 7:45 wondering how you flipped the red pads (will edit when i figure it out) Edit: ok i went back into footprint editor and change the pads, idk if its the right way to do it but hopefully itll still work Edit: im on 8:09 why cant i put the track to the one where i want to. I'm trying to connect D1(1) to R1(1) but it only lets me connect to R1(2), pls reply if u know how to fix, is it flipped on schematic editor? bc i cant tell bc its symmetrical. Edit: Ok i just fixed it by flipping it, there were also other issues with wiring that i fixed by moving the wired around Edit: also what is the difference between this and the "make your own digispark USb in the description:
Thanks for this clear demo. @11.07 I always fill in the "Output directory" field so it’s much easier to find and select the needed files than having all mixed like @11.34. Also some plugins need them separate. (ie for JLC manufacturer)
thanks for the video please make a tutorial on how to place exposed copper tracks for higher current for example those high power tracks used on inverter boards linking mosfets and igbts
Thanks because I see that you are good, you can finish the job and see it work and that's it. Seeing the video is encouraging but yesterday I downloaded Kicad and started to make a very simple project, a power supply board with a bridge, two terminals and 8 capacitors and after a day of exercises I gave up when I saw that there is no library with the footprints and I had to create them myself. too difficult and I gave up because it is all very difficult. Many acronyms that I don't know what they mean... and non-existent commands, in my way of thinking. For example in EasyEDA there is a command to generate the PCB from the schematic. In Kicad I didn't see it, it doesn't exist, and then, after a day to draw the schematic I had to create the PCB and I didn't understand how to do it. I tried EasyEDA in the last few days with the online libraries and it was easier to find the components and generate the PCB but even there there were things that didn't work and I didn't understand how to solve them. In the end the PCB was beautiful in 3D but half of the components were missing and you could only see the pads but I looked for the components in the library and there should have been footprints with measurements in each imported component. I don't understand why it works halfway. And then, it's impossible to understand how to draw the tracks. They weren't there in 3D and it seemed impossible to me because the connections were exact and I had positioned the components as I wanted. And then I gave up because I don't understand these programs. I've been doing electronics since 1978 in the old fashioned way and PCBs with a marker and ferric acid but small tracks don't always come out well. I've seen these programs and the beautiful PCBs that cost little and it would be really nice to be able to make them of high quality but these programs are not easy to understand. I could do it if I had a teacher to ask him all the questions I want and they don't find an answer. With there's a good Help like in other serious programs on the PC with the search for topics and words... It's been 3 days now and I've gotten very little and I can't do more. I just wanted to tell you that you are good, it seems that you understood enough to finish the job and I wanted to give you my compliments. I hope the translation of this message is excellent, I don't speak English.
You are right 🙂, those functions are important. For this video I wanted to emphasize only the most basic basics to keep it short and not overwhelm people new to KiCAD. basically this is the video I wished for when I started using KiCAD...
Well... that's a very much simplified vid of the process. What's with annotating, DRC, ERC, and all those steps? Nonetheless, it may serve as a simplified reference for those of us who aren't using KiCAD everyday. Thanks for that!
Thank you for your reply 🙂. As you mention, the purpose of the video is to get people enthusiastic about KiCad without scaring them with too much complexity.
Where can I find the reference of the footprints for the D3, J1 and J2 components ? And I noticed at time 7:46 that the GND and the 5V USB were switched, why is this ?
I love this video! Precise, fast and all relevant subjects are mentioned to help a newbie in KiCad 7 like me. Is there any information regarding symbols connecting to 3D models? THX Kassen
You should also talk about SUPPORTING KiCAD via DONATIONS. Don’t just skip over the need to support Free/OpenSource Software. Even a dollar is welcome by software authors. After all, you are using KiCAD to garner attention to your RU-vid channel.
