Curious to garner the opinions of kindred spirits who use CAD to work out their projects before setting board to blade. Specifically, what is your preferred software and how well do you manage workflow with it.
For example...
I model everything I build in CAD. Doing so provides me several important benefits:
- manipulate and visualize various designs within their virtual full-scale setting;
- discover and remedy interferences, joinery conundrums, and miscellaneous constraints;
- generate layout patterns to optimize sheet goods and straight-to-board cut templates; and,
- procrastinate physically building the thing by virtually building the thing.
I used to use Sketchup--a violently simple 3D modeling software. But it's simplicity is its greatest limitation and I've come to dislike it at a visceral level. So I'm learning Fusion360--a violently powerful 3D modeling software, though comparatively unintuitive and thus, somewhat difficult for me to grasp (Sketchup takes a day to grasp; with Fusion360, proficiency may take a month or two.) The thing is, Fusion360 is a robust parametric modeling tool. After you discover yummy parametric modeling, you'll adore it for design regardless of your prefered modeling software.
Care to share anecdotes about your preferred CAD software?
For example...
I model everything I build in CAD. Doing so provides me several important benefits:
- manipulate and visualize various designs within their virtual full-scale setting;
- discover and remedy interferences, joinery conundrums, and miscellaneous constraints;
- generate layout patterns to optimize sheet goods and straight-to-board cut templates; and,
- procrastinate physically building the thing by virtually building the thing.
I used to use Sketchup--a violently simple 3D modeling software. But it's simplicity is its greatest limitation and I've come to dislike it at a visceral level. So I'm learning Fusion360--a violently powerful 3D modeling software, though comparatively unintuitive and thus, somewhat difficult for me to grasp (Sketchup takes a day to grasp; with Fusion360, proficiency may take a month or two.) The thing is, Fusion360 is a robust parametric modeling tool. After you discover yummy parametric modeling, you'll adore it for design regardless of your prefered modeling software.
Care to share anecdotes about your preferred CAD software?
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