On Feb 20, 8:33 am, "Gary" <[email protected]> wrote:
> What are some favorite CAD programs for simple design work? What features
> do they include?
Platform?
Budget?
3D?
On Feb 20, 8:49 am, "Gary" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Platform: Windows XP Home
> Budget: Less than $200.00
> 3D: Nice but not necessary
> Ease of use and intuitive design more important. Entering exact dimensions
> instead of dragging a line.
>
Take a peek at Google's SketchUp.. it is free, as far as I know.
The guys here are pretty happy with TurboCAD.
I hear good things about DesignCAD as well.
The learning curve is always steep when starting off with a new
program. Any CAD I have ever been exposed to, has always demanded a
lot of attention to work-space, paper-space, units, scale, attributes
etc. If you are unfamiliar with even the basic things like line-
weights, there's a lot to learn.
But learning CAD is very rewarding in the long run...and it all
doesn't have to be as ominous and bulky as AutoCAD.
On Feb 20, 9:33 am, "Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Feb 20, 8:49 am, "Gary" <[email protected]> wrote:> Platform: Windows XP Home
> > Budget: Less than $200.00
> > 3D: Nice but not necessary
> > Ease of use and intuitive design more important. Entering exact dimensions
> > instead of dragging a line.
>
> Take a peek at Google's SketchUp.. it is free, as far as I know.
> The guys here are pretty happy with TurboCAD.
> I hear good things about DesignCAD as well.
>
> The learning curve is always steep when starting off with a new
> program. Any CAD I have ever been exposed to, has always demanded a
> lot of attention to work-space, paper-space, units, scale, attributes
> etc. If you are unfamiliar with even the basic things like line-
> weights, there's a lot to learn.
> But learning CAD is very rewarding in the long run...and it all
> doesn't have to be as ominous and bulky as AutoCAD.
I second the vote on SketchUp and can confirm that it is free and
relatively easy to learn. There is an upgrade to a more professional
version if you really need it.
I use Turbocad Pro and Intellicad. Both are probably more program than you
need or want to learn. I have other uses for them. Best for the money would
prbably be Deltacad. Quick to learn but quite capable. About $40.00.
"Gary" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Platform: Windows XP Home
> Budget: Less than $200.00
> 3D: Nice but not necessary
> Ease of use and intuitive design more important. Entering exact
dimensions
> instead of dragging a line.
>
>
> "Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > On Feb 20, 8:33 am, "Gary" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> What are some favorite CAD programs for simple design work? What
> >> features
> >> do they include?
> >
> > Platform?
> > Budget?
> > 3D?
> >
>
>
"Gary" wrote in message
> Platform: Windows XP Home
> Budget: Less than $200.00
> 3D: Nice but not necessary
> Ease of use and intuitive design more important. Entering exact
dimensions
> instead of dragging a line.
The most intuitive I've found thus far is AutoSketch9, and I've used
TurboCAD and DesignCAD.
I've been using it for about 5 years now (QuickCAD first, which somehow
morphed into AutoSketch about a year ago, had been recommended in a magazine
comparison of 2D CAD programs suitable for woodworking).
It does what I need for design/measured shop drawings, and until a few weeks
ago I had never looked at the documentation.
About $100, IIRC.
A plus for me is that it'll allow me to import and edit my architects
AutoCAD drawings.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 2/07/07
Platform: Windows XP Home
Budget: Less than $200.00
3D: Nice but not necessary
Ease of use and intuitive design more important. Entering exact dimensions
instead of dragging a line.
"Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Feb 20, 8:33 am, "Gary" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> What are some favorite CAD programs for simple design work? What
>> features
>> do they include?
>
> Platform?
> Budget?
> 3D?
>
Gary wrote:
> What are some favorite CAD programs for simple design work? What features
> do they include?
I've tried several times to get SketchUp to work for me and I just
can't. I think the problem is that it defaults to treating everything as
a skin-deep surface instead of an object with volume.
As bloated as it is, I use CorelDraw 12 for drafting. It lets you enter
dimensions for shapes, you can edit the scale so you're talking about
everything in the document in real-world size, you can place unprinted
guidelines which you can snap to (or not), it understands when a node is
moved to sit on a line or another node so you can line shapes up
exactly, it makes it very easy/automatic to draw in dimension
lines/arrows. I only wish it had more options for dotted lines.
On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 08:33:14 -0500, Gary wrote:
> What are some favorite CAD programs for simple design work? What features
> do they include?
SketchUp works great for furniture! The 3D visualization is so quick
and simple it is more practical than the full blown AutoCAD
Architectural Desktop I use as an architect.
IMO, if you can't model it in SketchUp, no CAD program will help you.
--
Steve Hall [ digitect dancingpaper com ]