caber
|
| posted on 8/11/05 at 07:48 PM |
|
|
Just to be different you could try Vectorworks. It is a full power 2D or 3D available on Mac or PC a fraction of the cost of Autocad and really
intuitive to learn unlike Autocad that I still find a PIA after a full specialist course last year. In vectorworks you draw in scale and see exactly
what you will get on paper as you go. Unless you want to earn money in CAD then I would avoid autocad as there is too much to learn IMHO
Caber
|
|
|
|
|
Rorty
|
| posted on 8/11/05 at 08:16 PM |
|
|
I use both AutoCAD and Solidworks and frequently switch between them depending on what I'm trying to achieve.
Some of the newer or lesser known CAD products are very good and often put the big names to shame, but there's such a dearth of on-line support
for the likes of AutoCAD, Inventor, Solidworks etc that you'd be better starting off with one of them untill you have the confidence/time to
play with others. IMHO that is.
Cheers, Rorty.
"Faster than a speeding Pullet".
PLEASE DON'T U2U ME IF YOU WANT A QUICK RESPONSE. TRY EMAILING ME INSTEAD!
|
|
|
flak monkey
|
| posted on 8/11/05 at 08:28 PM |
|
|
All of the major named 3d solid modelling software is very similar, both in looks and ease of use.
I have used Solidworks, ProD, Mechanical Desktop, Inventor, Pro Engineer etc. If you can work one you can work any of them, most of the features are
even called the same thing. About the only thing that differs is the order you do things in, but thats easy enough to figure out.
As for 2d, I would say now-a-days not to even bother. A lot of the software is difficult to use in comparison (AutoCAD is just horrible!). All of the
3d solid modellers can generate 2d drawings direct form the part/s you have drawn.
I havent used any of the lesser known freebie modellers so cant vouch for their ease of use or compatability with any other systems. I have both ProD
and shortly will be getting a student version of Solidworks.
David
(PS if anyone wants a copy of freeware ProD U2U me)
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
|
|
|
Mark Allanson
|
| posted on 8/11/05 at 10:06 PM |
|
|
CommanderAce used SketchUp on his roll bar modelling - certainly the best looking job I have seen.
What is it like to use?
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
|
|
|
Triton
|
| posted on 8/11/05 at 10:44 PM |
|
|
Call me strange but what is wrong with a pencil........o i wish i could make autocad work!!!
My Daughter has taken over production of the damn fine Triton race seats and her contact email is emmatrs@live.co.uk.
www.tritonraceseats.com
www.hairyhedgehog.com
|
|
|
CommanderAce
|
| posted on 8/11/05 at 11:01 PM |
|
|
Thanks Mark
Yeah SketchUp is very user friendly and easy to pick up. You can get some good results once you know how. You can
download a free trial from their site if you want to play, and they have lots of very useful
video tutorials to watch and learn from.
Pete
Edit: I could even send you a Sketchup of my chassis, mind its 22mm box rather than 25mm and not complete but its something to play with to get your
bearings
[Edited on 8-11-05 by CommanderAce]
Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!
|
|
|
Mark Allanson
|
| posted on 8/11/05 at 11:23 PM |
|
|
Limewire is wonderfull isn't it!! 
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
|
|
|
CommanderAce
|
| posted on 8/11/05 at 11:29 PM |
|
|
 tut tut! Bit Torrent is betterer 
Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!
|
|
|
TheGecko
|
| posted on 9/11/05 at 06:39 AM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by CommanderAceEdit: I could even send you a Sketchup of my chassis, mind its 22mm box rather than 25mm and not
complete but its something to play with to get your bearings
Pete,
I'd be interested in a copy of your SketchUp chassis. I'm poking around with SketchUp at present and most examples are architecture
oriented rather than mechanical.
Send it direct if you want: dominic AT diysportscar DOT org : making the obvious substitutions to turn that into a real email address.
Thanks in advance,
Dominic
|
|
|
CommanderAce
|
| posted on 9/11/05 at 05:03 PM |
|
|
Done!
Right as I'm all for open source I thought that I'd make my plans avaliable to everyone to download and play with and in keeping with the
idea of open source I ask of you to make your version avaliable to everyone if you make any major changes.
My plans
SketchUp free trial
Cheers
Pete
Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!
|
|
|
girlzlover12
|
| posted on 9/11/05 at 07:55 PM |
|
|
I have solid works 2004 I like it but Im not good enough to do anything useful in it yet I played around with Rhino for a bit a few years ago
I need to Design a frame for saleen S7 style car and then I need to design the body which I first desided to use CAD for because I want to use the CNC
machine Im currently building to cut the molds out of foam.
Is there any tutorials on how to design a car body in solidworks or any help on designing it in general. Drawing is not one of my strengths and I am
actually quite bad at it so anything to help make it easier would be great
|
|
|
BKLOCO
|
| posted on 9/11/05 at 08:05 PM |
|
|
I'm with ayoungman on this one I use pro desktop and can endorse it 100%.
Especially if you have a school aged kid who can get a nice free copy
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want!!! 
|
|
|
kreb
|
| posted on 9/11/05 at 08:55 PM |
|
|
It's interesting that answers are all over the board. I think some folks are forgetting that the title says "easiest to learn".
I've got a pal who self-taught himself autocad, then 3-D studio. Took him about a-year-and-a-half, and he's a pretty obsesive guy.
https://www.supercars.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/1966_FiatAbarth_1000SP1.jpg
|
|
|
Stew
|
| posted on 10/11/05 at 12:55 PM |
|
|
You could try using Pro/Engineer, you can pick up a full domestic version from www.ptc.com with a tutorial book for around £170. Plus if you do a
search for Pro/Engineer tutorials on google, it'll give you a page at staffs.ac.uk with really good tutorials. I'm a designer and I use
AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and ProEngineer daily, I'd thoroughly recommend going down the Pro/E route due to cost and ease of learning.
HTH.
Sit down, shut up, and hang on!!
|
|
|
kreb
|
| posted on 17/11/05 at 06:01 PM |
|
|
My collegiate sister's going to get me a stiudent edition of Solidworks. Now my old computer probably isn't up to the demands of this
program, and as my company will pay for it, I'm going to get a new computer. I'd rather not go too much over USD $1k. What specs will I
require?
https://www.supercars.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/1966_FiatAbarth_1000SP1.jpg
|
|
|
Kowalski
|
| posted on 17/11/05 at 11:08 PM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by kreb
My collegiate sister's going to get me a stiudent edition of Solidworks. Now my old computer probably isn't up to the demands of this
program, and as my company will pay for it, I'm going to get a new computer. I'd rather not go too much over USD $1k. What specs will I
require?
A couple of years back I was working for a company that wrote its own CAD software (as a developer). When I started we were using Pentium II 400
machines, which were obsolete at the time. Eventually, we upgraded to Athlon 1100s, and the new (bottom end) machines coped absolutely fine with
complex CAD parts. I found that the spec of your CPU is irrelevent, as long as you've got a reasonable 3d graphics card that supports OpenGl,
thats all you need, anything from the Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon onwards is fine. The video card is the important bit, as long as you've got a
proper one with hardware T&L and not an integrated / shared memory video setup you'll be absolutely fine.
I've got an Athlon 800 here and it handles Solidworks absolutely fine.
|
|
|
.jpg)
