3D CAD software

[71jeep]

At work we use Alibre design and if I remember i just saw something that they cane out with a hobbiest version that is very reasonable.
It is very powerful cad with very good support.
Edit I just checked and alibre atom is 199.00 for licence.8

[haasmarc]

New user prices for ViaCAD Pro (probably the minimum version for doing 3D printing) is $499.99  up from previous versions.  Upgrades run as low as $149.99.  ViaCAD runs on both Windows and Mac platforms.

Wow!  I just bought v10 for $249.

Looks like v10 is still available on Amazon.  Not sure if v11 is worth the price jump or not but you could buy v10 on Amazon and then upgrade to v11 for $149 and come out $100 cheaper than buying v11.

[reinhardtjh]

Wow!  I just bought v10 for $249.

Looks like v10 is still available on Amazon.  Not sure if v11 is worth the price jump or not but you could buy v10 on Amazon and then upgrade to v11 for $149 and come out $100 cheaper than buying v11.

@haasmarc  Hold off on the upgrade. Sign up for PunchCAD emails.  Last year for Cyber Monday they had a 35% off sale and that counts toward upgrades (Upgrade is then $97.50) as well. This past Labor Day it was 20% off.  There will be others coming as well.

[narrowminded]

I think you'll find most of these programs will be adequate for modelling train parts.  And sometimes, the simpler the better.

I've got Turbocad Pro 19 a couple of years ago which I bought after the release of the next, latest, greatest version, therefore at a substantial discount from the latest and greatest.  A few months prior it WAS the latest and greatest.  My recollection is that the biggest differences were for tools that might be useful to someone using it for major, highly involved, complex projects, and rendering of the 3D video type stuff for presentation work.  And the v.19 already had WAY more features of this nature than I will EVER use.  Absolutely nothing that mattered to me drawing 3D mechanical parts and devices.  In fact, it might be better to have a more basic program that DOES do the device drawings and less emphasis on the fluff (for our purposes).  Less stuff to confuse you when learning the necessary tools for proper drawing of the parts you're after.

And I still have to spend some time with the tutorials to put some polish on the skills needed.  I wasn't familiar with Turbocad so have the whole thing of learning all of the idiosyncrasies of their way of getting to the end.  As the need comes to reality I may even take some of my own advise and just grab one of the free ones like Sketchup instead of following through with my not totally cheap Turbocad program.

One thing that I HAVE found handy when doing cad drawings is a good size monitor.  If you don't already have one, maybe that would be a better place to spend a few dollars than in features that are of no use for our simpler needs.  Just some thoughts.

[Mark W]

One thing that I HAVE found handy when doing cad drawings is a good size monitor.  If you don't already have one, maybe that would be a better place to spend a few dollars than in features that are of no use for our simpler needs.  Just some thoughts.

Good call out!  And Black Friday is the best time to buy monitors on the cheap!

Many desktops now days support dual monitors.  There are also USB devices to add even more monitors. 

I have dual graphic cards to drive the two main monitors on the right, and a USB extension for the monitor on the left. 

https://i.imgur.com/X2l3XXR.jpg

[peteski]

Do I also see a digitizer tablet there?  Those are great tool when using CAD apps.

[narrowminded]

Good call out!  And Black Friday is the best time to buy monitors on the cheap!

Many desktops now days support dual monitors.  There are also USB devices to add even more monitors. 

I have dual graphic cards to drive the two main monitors on the right, and a USB extension for the monitor on the left. 

https://i.imgur.com/X2l3XXR.jpg

WOW!  

That's cool but what I had in mind was any one of those in lieu of the monitor on a laptop.   I don't want to get a stiff neck drawing a 3/4" x 1" mine car.    Correction: a 19 x 25.4 mm mine car.

[Lemosteam]

I have been lurking in this thread for a little bit, and I feel I should chime in.

You all know I have been a mechanical designer for many years.  I have been trained on many CAD systems, in college and where I work as well as mechanical drafting (pencils, triangles, etc.) and descriptive geometry (using orthographic projection to manipulate points, lines and planes in 3D space).

Personally, I see push-pull CAD as being introductory at best.

A true design tool must have these five capabilities:
-great point line and plane creation and manipulation, these are the foundation of solid bodies and complex models
-planar sketching, with dimensional and geometric constraint capability
-Booelan operations (joining or subtraction of 3D solid bodies)
-exceptional filleting capability
-easy replication of a body, such as a rivet grouping

As a plus, there are two additional capabilities that are desirable:
-parametric modeling (a solid body's history, that can be changed after creation)
-publication (the ability to publish a solid body from one design and copy within a model or to another model to avoid duplication)

There are several principles to use when designing complex designs:
-learn how to use planar sketches to create the shapes you need
-design planar cross sections for use in body creation
-break down complex designs into simple shapes and model those simple shapes as separate bodies and join or remove them for a resultant
-reuse bodies
-Learn to fillet well
-save the details for last

One more thing to understand. Only data created in a given software is considered "native" to the software. Imported data is not native or recognized by the importing software as native. It is foreign, but may be used to create new native data.

Don't let the software intimidate you. Start with basic shapes and learn how to modify them, and practice doing this to see how Boolean operations are affected by change

I would also submit this.  Since CAD is the foundation of all of this print capability and one is willing to spend $XXX for a printer, then one shoukd also be willing to spend $XXX or more for the software to balance the capability, IMHO.

PLease note that I am not criticizing anyone on their software choices, just commenting on capabilities that I feel will eventually make a novice into a confident designer.

[wcfn100]

-exceptional filleting capability

That's probably tool I use the most that some lower end software packages don't have.

Lofts and sweeps come in handy when faced with complex areas.  One tool that can easily be worked around but I love having is a shell function.

Jason

[Lemosteam]

That's probably tool I use the most that some lower end software packages don't have.

Lofts and sweeps come in handy when faced with complex areas.  One tool that can easily be worked around but I love having is a shell function.

Jason

Agreed, I shoukd have mentioned that!

[Mark W]

I would also submit this.  Since CAD is the foundation of all of this print capability and one is willing to spend $XXX for a printer, then one shoukd also be willing to spend $XXX or more for the software to balance the capability, IMHO.

This is a very good point.

My suggestion would be stick with freeware during the initial introduction to 3D concepts.  Once you're comfortable with the basics, download trial versions of some better software and make sure you're able to transfer knowledge and do the same things.  Then really spend some time exploring the advanced features, and try to build some complex models.  Once you get to that point, you'll probably find it very easy to decide if those extra features are worth it or not. 

[rodsup9000]

You know what. Maybe a better question would be how do I import an image to Sketchup. When I put a scale drawing into AutoCAD it is still to scale, but in Sketchup it wants me to make it a size. I could just skip the whole AutoCAD thing if I can get it into Sketchup.

 What I do when I import something into something else is I draw a box around it and write down the size of that box. Then when I import in into the next program, I have a known size. Then in the second program, I draw the same size box, and scale the imported box to fit.

[rodsup9000]

 
 
 I was talking to a friend that is a industrial engineer and he told me something tonight about browser based software.
In some cases, using this type of CAD or CAM, you don't own the right to said drawings, or something to that effect. I haven't went into depth into checking this out, but, just beware and read the fine print of the software you are using. It would be a shame if something you spent hours to design, and go to get a patent , and couldn't get it because of some red tape in the fine print.

Just saying.   

[C855B]

I was talking to a friend that is a industrial engineer and he told me something tonight about browser based software. ...

Not to mention you are at the mercy of the service provider. Think "Photobucket".

Great for getting your feet wet and/or knocking-out a quick project. Not advisable for serious projects, something you want another copy of 5 years later, or something you plan to sell. Yes, read the EULA.

[rodsup9000]

 OK, I'm finding some limitations of shetckup. The smallest rivet it will let you draw is 1mm in diameter. I even tried to scale it down with the scaling tool, and when it gets smaller than 1mm, it disappears. One thing I could do is draw, in this case, a caboose, draw it 4 times larger than actual size, and then scale it down in the slicing program.
  I like that John (@Lemostream) made reference to the different styles of CAD, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to tell which ones are parametric and the ones that are not. As I said before, I do have a license for educational solidworks, but I could never get it to download (I have slow and unstable internet connection living out here in the in the sticks) and installed on my computer. I have sent a email to them to see if I can purchase the software on a CD.
 I guess for now, I'm just going to stick with sketchup and only draw within it's capabilities.