I’d like to buy some simple CAD software that is easy to learn, has good documentation, so that I can draw my own buildings, etc. for scratchbuilding, NOT layout design software. Can anyone recommend something, including the version? An important feature is to be able to print the plans to scale. Thanks!
I understand the point you make re: layout software, but that said, I often use “3rdPlanIt”, layout planning software to do general cad work. Once you’re familiar with the interface its sophisticated enough to do light-to-medium weight cad work. I have used it for everything from doing track plans and benchwork, to designing shelving, modeling our family room to decide what style/size furniture to buy, mocking up my office and other interesting stuff. Randy Pfeiffer, 3rdPlanIt’s owner/developer is very easy to talk to and loves getting feedback from users about new feature ideas and program directions. And there are several good forums for feedback and assistance.
Another program I’m still learning-- it’s much more complicated and complex, but also more capable-- is TurboCAD. Its a full-fledged cad package. I’m nowhere near as proficient with it as I am 3rdPlanIt but I crank it up and use it whenever I need more horsepower or functionality than I can get from 3rdPlanIt. One reason I chose to learn it is because both it and 3rdPlanIt support .dxf and .dxw file formats and can interchange drawings. And of course it costs considerably more than 3rdPlanIt as well, so there’s that to consider too.
I have investigated other cad programs looking for something decent in the freeware / shareware sector but have not found very much that is usable (or recent), even for Linux. There seems to be a big hole in that market segment. My guess is that people develop stuff and then discover they can make a buck and take it proprietary. shrug
I use for my drawings DoubleCAD and prodgeCAD smart, both have free versions.
Wolfgang
Hello Karle
The only system I’m familiar with is CadRail - mine is V9.08. I received mine as a birthday gift from my wife - bless her non-model railroading heart.
It appears to me to be a very flexible CAD system without thinking of it as a ‘layout design system’. You can use it for anything including room design, furniture design, building design or almost any other application you can think of. It is particularly useful with respect to scale, because you can print out your work in any scale you can imagine including 1:1. You can also import, for example, a photograph of a building and trace it, then make any changes you want. [:D]
About my only comment is that, because if its power and flexibility, it seems a bit complicated to learn. However, there is a Yahoo users’ group that has been helpful for me.
Download a free trial copy and have a look.
All the best
Bill Rice-Johnston
Have you considered Google SketchUp ( standard version is free yet still fairly powerful - differing from the pro version in what formats can be imported ).
It has an easy learning curve with a simple push / pull interface - you draw a simple 2 dimensional shape to create a surface and then pull the surface into the 3rd dimension.
There are a lot of on-line tutorials and many are step by step self pacing in which you build the same model on the screen next to the example.
You can import a couple of photos from different perspectives to make a 3D model of the photographed object.
It has a scaling feature that let’s you build it full size ( and do a walk through ), and then by picking a single dimension ( like the height of a wall or door ) and reducing it to the scale size, it will then change the entire model to match.
Give it a try - download it and the self paced tutorials and if after trying the tutorials. you decide that you don’t like it, all you have lost is time.
Here is an overview and brief video of what it can do http://sketchup.google.com/product/gsu.html
This takes you directly to the standard version download http://sketchup.google.com/download/gsu.html
Here is the website for the guy that wrote SketchUp for Dummies - he has allot of videos & tips that give a good grounding in SketchUp http://www.aidanchopra.com/tableofcontents
I just want to thank all those who took the time to reply, Thanks very much!
Try VersaCAD. Its what i’m currently learing on in school. Its a 2D Cad, but is very flexible, and your able to design just about anything. Then there is Rhinoceros CAD. A bit more complex, but it works in 3D.
Oh, geez. Never mind on the VersaCAD. I just looked, its $795.00. Rhinoceros CAD is free though.
I would recommend doing a search for free 3d modeling packages. I use Maya and 3d Studio Max in my professional work and both will do what you want. Basically you build the structure to scale in the program then break it apart based on how you would cut the parts out and asssemble them. I created a simple company house to prove the concept to myself and it worked well. Once I created the model and dis-assembled it in the 3d program I could import the pieces into a vector based program like adobe illustrator and print the part out. I then overlay the paper onto sheet styrene and cut the parts out. Because you designed it in 3d, you know the pieces fit together. This is essentially how the guys make the laser kits.
Chris