Which Software do you use? Sketchup, AutoCAD or another?

[kinsella]

Roger
You can import Sketchup to autoCAD, however i find i spend more time altering the 3D layout to get the 2D drawing i want that it works out quicker to just redraw. But i've been using ACAD for years so i'm quick enough. If you use the full version of Sketchup you can use "LayOut" which takes the Sketchup 3D model and allows you to do print outs to scale, add dimensions outside of Sketchup. Very handy tool. So that might be the option rather than looking at dedicated software.

 

[riclepp]

I use a very expensive and high tech programme called a Pencil, ruler and paper, easy to use

 

[kinsella]

Richard
I initially trained in pencil, only when we had mastered that did they let us use ink pens, and only when we mastered that did they let us near AutoCAD release 12. I tried to go back a few years, realised i wanted to change the design and make something smaller. I thought, right use the fecken computer in future!

 

[longinthetooth]

Graphite. In a cedar sheath.

 

[baysider]

Came up old school, with a pencil and drawing board, moved onto autocad back when it was still R14, now I use autocad 2013 for 2d stuff and sketchup for quick 3d, autocad 3ds max for fancy interior renderings as well as blender.
All depends what I need to do, as a professional joiner/cabinetmaker/setter out I have to deal with all kinds of clients who all require different things.

 

[weekender410]

I use a very expensive and high tech programme called a Pencil, ruler and paper, easy to use

Especially when you have to make revisions. :lol:

 

[rdesign]

I love solidworks! did my thesis on it and have to teach it to students 15 to 18 great program and does 3d and 2d stuff really nicely use cad but it Zilch-Wedlock me off :/ solidworks is so easy to do patterns and make stuff parallel or perpindicular or at an angle. and u can change these without drawing a new line and deleting the old like with cad. using 09 and its very good here 2012 is much improved but sticking with 09 as have to teach the 09 software.

 

[weekender410]

How much for a seat of Solidworks?

 

[Jacob]

Paper n pencil. Recently acquired an A0 drawing board with drafting machine which is brilliant. I like the whole thing about hand drawing, not that I'm any good at it. I've still got some Rapidographs. May have a proper old ink pen tucked away somewhere - used to use them for very fine lines.
Saw a show in Leeds* a few years back with original pencil drawing of Mies van de Rohe which were spectacular; small, discrete, delicate - complete opposite of his buildings.
I wonder how much the medium affects the design process itself?

* other stuff too - bits of the Barcelona pavilion, big stroppy nude statue (Maillol?) and the chair*

* largely designed byLily Reich

 

[Duncumb.fc]

Hi there,

I like to draw my instruments or tools in Rhino, which the OP mentioned. Personally I use it simply because it's what I learnt on, and I haven't looked for anything else! Sketchup never quite seemed to do what I wanted it to, but It's definitely quick!
I tend to design 2D, with front, side, top etc. But sometimes I like to bring it together 3D on the package, in which case it's easy to get an engineering drawing and take it to the printers!
Having said that, I really like a handmade look to my work. My philosophy is that I want my work to look like it was done by someone who knew exactly what they were doing (I've got a long way to go on that one!) but that it was done quickly and not pedantically. So I then like to switch to hand cut templates, and decorative work I will hand draw onto the work, rather than tracing.

Fraser

 

[Spooky]

How much for a seat of Solidworks?

The full version? Between £8k and £26K depending on requirements. I run Solidworks and Solidworks Sim and that's about £19k plus subscription.

best wishes

Dave

 

[kinsella]

Fecken hell, a little out of the league of the weekend DIY'er. I'll stick to sketchup and Autocad i think. Sketchup free and AutoCAD from work. Still can't get my head around AutoCAD Fusion or Inventor, Sketchup is so effing simple. Anyone tested the new 2013 version yet?

 

[weekender410]

I'm with kinsella. Recommending a product that costs more than most folks have invested in their entire workshop and tools is ridiculous!

Kinsella, I have been using SketchUp 2013. It works just fine. Lots of under-the-bonnet improvements that most folks won't notice but they should make the experience better. New, custom toolbars are cool and the Extension Warehouse makes it much easier to install plugins.

 

[rdesign]

ok thats the legal price of it but no company is going to come after one person using their software for hobby work. real cad costs around the same price. down load it will get 2011 really easy online.

Regards Rick

 

[weekender410]

ok thats the legal price of it but no company is going to come after one person using their software for hobby work. real cad costs around the same price. down load it will get 2011 really easy online.

Regards Rick

That's great. You're recommending pirating software. Where I come from that's illegal even if the pirate is "using their software for hobby work". No thanks. :roll:

 

[fby]

SolidWorks is by far the best 3D design package I've used, but, as someone mentioned, you would struggle to figure it out in your spare time. After several years of using it, its complexity is a boon, but it took me six months of daily usage before I stopped banging my head against it.

Basic AutoCAD is actually a fairly capable 3D application too. I used it in a commercial setting to draw 3D models of climbing walls since version 14. It doesn't (or didn't, I don't use it now) have any parametric modelling options, which makes revisions a bit of a pain. Creating plans in the layout side of it was always a bit time-consuming and repetitive too. It has a fairly simple scripting language with which you can make extremely sophisticated custom tools if you're into that sort of thing. The last version I've used was 2005, and watching the videos online I'd say it has progressed significantly in terms of ease of use since then.

I've tried to use Blender, but gave up in the end. The thinking behind how it works was too alien to me, which is a shame, as it's obviously a very powerful application with a vibrant open source community, and it's free. Really it's a 3D modelling and animation program though (3D modelling for games etc.), and I suspect the learning curve would be steep for most people.

Sketchup is another one that I simply can't use, despite how easy everyone says it is and me spending weeks trying to get to grips with it at work. It seems to me that it was designed originally for doing not-totally-precise architectural mockups, and has been hacked and coerced into other fields such as production drawings because it has a free version and is very approachable. So it always seemed to me that I was using some convoluted workaround to get it to do what I wanted. The lack of solids - everything is made up of surfaces - always seemed to make my approach not really work. That said, I've noticed that it's only people with a background in other applications (SolidWorks mainly) that share my view; most newcomers to it seem to pick up Sketchup easily.

Sketchup and Blender both have sophisticated scripting capabilities too of course, but I still think that AutoCAD is better suited to production drawings for woodwork.

 

[weekender410]

SolidWorks is by far the best 3D design package I've used, but, as someone mentioned, you would struggle to figure it out in your spare time.

Sorry. Not going to go into debt for a bit of software. :roll:

Sketchup is another one that I simply can't use, despite how easy everyone says it is and me spending weeks trying to get to grips with it at work. It seems to me that it was designed originally for doing not-totally-precise architectural mockups, and has been hacked and coerced into other fields such as production drawings because it has a free version and is very approachable.

Well, that's not really true.

 

[aideym]

My own perspective, for what it is worth.
I was faced with a year of convalescing and decided to spend the time designing a wooden bicycle, well not all the time but you know what I mean. The first thing I needed to do was get to grips with a design package. I downloaded quite a few of the free ones, even paid for a few of the cheaper ones after all I didn't have a lot of money coming in and I wasn't looking to change careers, so the ones costing hundreds of pounds weren't even in the equation. Call me a knob but I don't like pirated stuff, be it music or software and I believe in giving credit to people who make my life better by buying from them where necessary. So there was no copy of Solidworks left in a brown paper bag at a motorway services for me.

Out of all the ones I looked at, Sketchup had the edge over the rest, it was understandable even for a eejit like me and there was a dummies book, written with me in mind, a vibrant community of users and a wealth of information on the internet for the daft stuff I didn't understand. It didn't feel daunting and it didn't cock its' nose up at me for daring to have a go.
I spent literally two weeks learning the processes, downloaded a few plugin's to make life easier and got on with designing the bike, which my son and I built. Since then everything I consider making goes on Sketchup first and whilst it may not be the most accurate, most singing and dancing programme, I'm no where near as accurate a woodworker.
After reading this thread I downloaded some of the suggested software on a trial basis and have quickly come to the conclusion I don't need anything better than Sketchup.
Keep the suggestions coming though, I am always happy to check stuff out.

 

[fby]

A couple more I've seen this week:

Autodesk Fusion 360 - PC & Mac, free. On the surface, this looks like it should be excellent. Really advanced-looking modelling in the videos I watched. Sadly, it seems to be extremely buggy at the moment. The Mac version just kept crashing for me before I could even draw a cube.

Alibre Geomagic - PC, I think this is about $100, but they're a bit opaque about the price. I've not used this, but it looks interesting. Supposedly fully parametric as with Autodesk Inventor, Solidworks, Pro Eng, but with fewer features and a fraction of the cost.

 

[aideym]

A couple more I've seen this week:

Autodesk Fusion 360 - PC & Mac, free. On the surface, this looks like it should be excellent. Really advanced-looking modelling in the videos I watched. Sadly, it seems to be extremely buggy at the moment. The Mac version just kept crashing for me before I could even draw a cube.

.

Not free, only trial. $25 to $200 a MONTH, depending on usage