CAD Programs

What CAD programs do some of you guys use to design rather than just manipulate. I've learned AutoCAD 2004 but its very hard to get what you want.

AutoCAD is for architects mostly, awesome progy. Dont realy f8cked around with any programs appart from Photoshop, my dad is coming back from Russia in a bout 3-4 days and i told him to bring me 3d Max studio, MAya 6 and Flash programs so gna try using those, however thoseare are quite hard to learn.

Hmmm Thanks....ne one else?

Pro-E if you're trying to make parts of something (learned in my engineering classes for part design). I just started messing around with bryce 5.0 which is an enviroment simulator. What are you looking at making, maybe i can find something a little better. I can ask Kris Horton what he uses to make the concept cars (2007 camaro etc...).

William

my dad loves autoCAD and it sucked for me cuz he was on my computer like 24/7 just screwin around with that program....it was gay as hell

I love autoCAD to but i mean its juss very consuming and i know that there are betterp programs out there. For 99civicchic im basically trying to design a die-cast car....im learning to use a CNC machine and ill probable juss take the prints a website transfer them to CAD so that the dimsension and anything else is more friendly to my CNC teacher and myself. We'll probably be using aluminum and try to make the front fender,the body,the wheels,and a seperate trunk as well. It'll probably take upwards of a 30hour project considering how long ive seen it takes for other projects. So already failing to keep this short lol, ill be designing a R34 GT-R Skyline as the car...but id like to make a seperate 3-D model and then a basic line 2-D model as a draft... any comments will be appreciated, thanks

I really like Pro-Engineer/Pro-Mechanica program, it wasn't expensive (though i'm not sure if they'll haev a problem if it's being used to make a diecast, it's a student copy i have). Learn how to make complex surfaces and from then on it shouldn't be anything too hard. Most difficuly part is learning how to use a program, once you know, it's easy.

William

p.s. I'm no pro at rendering i'm still learning alot myself!

i never even used it in my whole life because it wasnt that motivating to me hehe

As a design engineer myself, I use Autodesk Inventor and Solidworks a lot. Mainly, I work on sheetmetal products. AutoCAD is not maily for architects. Anyone in the design field will tell you that this is a very versatile 2D software package. It has the capabilities to model objects in 3D, but they are not very good. Solidworks has very good rendering capabilites with the addition of Photoworks.

If you need any more information or anything, let me know.

I also agree that solid works is a very good program. I'm about to start working more with that pretty soon since that's what they use at my new school. There are several 3d rendering programs out there and they are all basically the same it seems to me, once you know one you can learn the others fairly easily.

William

I've used Pro-E, Solidworks, Inventor, Mechanical Desktop and AutoCAD, the parametric based programs are nicer to design with since you can update parts in real time, whereas AutoCAD is always a good fall-back program.

Bulldog, I don't know where you come with the assumption that AutoCAD is mostly for architects, I'm an ME and have been using the package for 8 years now in its various guises.

I agree freakray. The parametric programs make revisions a snap. Gone are the days of updating a project drawing by drawing. Once you make a modification, everything is updated to reflect the change. It saves a lot of time and possible future errors. 2D designs are nice, but nothing beats a 3D model. Saved myself a few times by making a model for a customer to approve rather than a 2D CAD drawing. Smurff, what is hard about AutoCAD?

I've used Pro-E, Solidworks, Inventor, Mechanical Desktop and AutoCAD, the parametric based programs are nicer to design with since you can update parts in real time, whereas AutoCAD is always a good fall-back program.

Bulldog, I don't know where you come with the assumption that AutoCAD is mostly for architects, I'm an ME and have been using the package for 8 years now in its various guises.


if u go to architect schools mostly those use AutoCAD, my friend architect uses autoCAD my house architect uses autoCAD even Twin Towers in Manhatan were made in autoCAD. so i assumed architects use it. i dont realy use it so i dont realy know other uses of it :smile:

I highly doubt the Twin Towers were designed with AutoCAD seeing that the ground breaking for the towers was in 1966, and the initial release of AutoCAD was in November of 1982. :screwy:

if u go to architect schools mostly those use AutoCAD, my friend architect uses autoCAD my house architect uses autoCAD even Twin Towers in Manhatan were made in autoCAD. so i assumed architects use it. i dont realy use it so i dont realy know other uses of it :smile:

Well, that just goes to prove that architects aren't as sophisticated as us machine designers, so they only use the simpler software..... :lol:

AutoCAD sux. its all about Catia and I.D.E.A.S. Both are so much easier to use. you can change your drawing on the fly. you can resize any and all parameters in a second, it will then redraw the shape/solid. you can also make some parts of the drawing relative to the other parts. you can also assign material properties and add forces to see movement and stress. i ahvent used the others, but Catia and I.D.E.A.S. are sweet.

I have used Cadkey and DataCAD...

you can change your drawing on the fly. you can resize any and all parameters in a second, it will then redraw the shape/solid.
Solid works takes longer to do that, but it can be done
Pro E does exactly that
you can also make some parts of the drawing relative to the other parts.
Solidworks does that
Pro e does that
you can also assign material properties and add forces to see movement and stress.
Solidworks does all of that (assuming you have COSMOS to see stress analysis)
ProE only has material properties like mass, vol, surface area, etc)

I agree that Autocad is not my first choice. Pro e is (followed by a close second: solidworks). I have never used Catia or I.D.E.A.S., but they sound similar to SW and ProE.

Can we really say that AutoCAD sucks when comparing it to Pro-E, Solidworks, and Catia? It is like trying to make a comparison between apples and oranges. AutoCAD is a great 2d program. The 3d features are there but they are not too good.

YOU GUYS ROCK....but before i play with programs i have to learn the history of cars and how they were designed and produced....goin back to steam engines and wood chasis

The only one I've used is Autodesk Inventor Professional 8.

I work for a civil engineering firm and we use AutoCAD Architechtural desktop - works like a champ