

Ask HN: What CAD program is worth learning, if any? - idheitmann

I've learned that in order to get what I want from graphic designers, it's really worth it to know Photoshop, even if I have no interest in being a PS monkey. As a corollary, can I plan ahead and learn the rudiments of CAD if I have aspirations of pursuing product development? Would that be a useful endeavor for a biz-guy?
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MrDunham
Try solidworks. It's the only one I learned in engineering school but is
really intuitive for a CAD (autocad sucks, but that's because it was hard for
me and I never learned it).

Also sketchup will give you the fundamentals for free.

I'd say it is worth it to learn the basics of anything you'll be having
employees do for you. It's good to know what you're asking for and the scope
so that you can connect to your employees more easily. I wouldn't become an
expert at it though if you are not planning on using it too much.

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gregpilling
Yes it would be a useful endeavor. You will save hours of time on each new
product. I would suggest that Google SketchUp is easier to learn (and free)
but SolidWorks is very common in manufacturing. Doing a quick mockup in
SketchUp is the new version of the cocktail napkin sketch, but with 3
dimensions instead of two. I recently used it to explain to a contractor how I
wanted my bathroom remodeled (keeping my wife happy) and the time it save in
discussions was immense. The contractor could immediately see what I wanted to
do - move a wall, change a doorway, move a sink. Easy.

Make sure you learn how to specify dimension in SketchUp when you learn it.
That will save you a lot of effort, and find video tutorials on YouTube. It
was much easier for me to understand it by watching the video than by reading
Google's documentation.

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morganpyne
+1 for SketchUp. It has many limitations but it so easy to get started with
compared to the popular giants of 3d. Follow some of the tutorial videos.

It has a hugely active community writing custom plugins for just about
everything you could imagine. My tipping point was finding all these plugins
are written in Ruby :-) As a programmer I loved being able to hack together
new extensions based on examining the source to other peoples work.

If you plan to do anything regarding animation, physics engines, or spline-
based surface modeling etc then you'll need to look elsewhere of course.
Blender is free and has a massive amount of features but a steep learning
curve (and I personally dislike the interface).

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roxstar
I don't know that even your first point holds true, communication and the
willing to compromise is what is probably most key.

CAD isn't really going to help you much unless you are planning on building
prototypes yourself (even then you would probably end up having to start over
if you hired someone else with actual experience.)

If you want to learn a program still, Solidworks is probably the most widely
used, the two other big players for 3D are Pro/Engineer Wildfire (though I
think they changed what it is called now) and Autodesk Inventor (not quite as
used, also lacked major integration with FEA last time I looked).

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retroafroman
I've learned and used many of the major players and some minor ones in the CAD
market: AutoCAD (currently using at job), ProE, NX, Catia, SolidWorks
(school), Alibre (internship), Sketchup, OpenSCAD (personal). Once you've
picked up the ideas, it's mostly just learning the interface and use of a
program. They all will do extrusion, you'll just have to learn the command for
each one. I would say spend a good bit of time with 2-3 different programs.
This will give you flexibility, just like knowing more than one programming
languages is useful for programmers.

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CyberFonic
May I suggest that you learn to draw. The old pencil and paper way. Technology
marches on, but core skills will hold up well. You'd really communicate more
effectively with visually oriented people if you can sketch on paper or a
whiteboard to illustrate what you are trying to convey. You can always scan
your work or use a tablet to create directly on the computer.

Take a look at Betty Edward's book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain".
It's probably the best intro around.

As a "Biz Guy" your enduring quality and contribution is to hold the vision
and communicate it effectively to the specialists, be they PhotoShop or CAD
skilled.

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brudgers
> _"Would that be a useful endeavor for a biz-guy?"_

No. Learning CAD would be a highly inefficient way to improve your
communication of ideas due to the steep learning curve associated with
professional level products.

Playing around with Sketchup might have some benefit, so long as one
recognizes that Sketchup models typically have substantial limitations as
technical documents.

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curt
If you want to do consumer products learn Solidworks. Once you understand and
grasp it, it's amazing how quickly you can produce a product, I've gone from
concept to prototype within a couple days. The important part is to learn what
you can and can't do design wise (drafts, angles, thicknesses, etc), there are
quite a lot of limitations but most can be worked around.

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sharman
Google SketchUp is the awesomest for initial stage prototyping! And if you
know how to use a keyboard and mouse, it won't take more than a couple minutes
before you create your first model! Goodluck.

Also the 3D warehouse on it is awesome, for pre-loading community developed
models into your own.

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mcotton
My boss does everything Visio. It imports and exports to CAD so we can
communicate with the rest of the world. It might be worth looking into.

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phlux
I dont know why you're being downvoted. I design in autocad, revit, sketchup,
visio and inkscape.

I do network designs in visio, 3d BIM models in revit, small home stuff in
sketchup, presentation graphics and icons in inkscape.

I export visio stencils to .dwg format which we then bring into revit and turn
into 3D blocks for rack elevations etc...

There are so many tools to use.

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phlux
What are you looking to build/make?

If you want professional architecture Autodesk Revit is the best for this.

If you want quick and dirty modeling, even for products, use google sketchup!

There are a lot of product designs that have been done in sketchup.

