I Need A Cad Program

[echnidna]

Been using an old dos cad program.

But Dos is so cumbersome to use, its a pita.

Had a look at a few 3d programs including Turbocad and Autocad but what a steep learning curve.

Looked at Sketchup - same thing

Anyway so much for the rant

back ter me dos cad.

[jags]

Hi Bob


Don't know if this will help you but you could have a look at Rino www.rhino3d.com/download.htm -
You can download a free copy but it is missing some things and only has 25 saves .Also it is not a parametric modeler so is harder to get your head around how it works .

There is also ailebra www.alibre.com/ - 13k - 23 Jul 2007

- this is like sketch up and is a lot easier to get your head around but i still have trouble making sqheres you can also download a free copy .

sketch up is great i had a lot of fun doing the house plans .

best of luck

Rob

[Gingermick]

Autocad is easy. Easy easy easy. And, if you dont like the way it works, you can change it untill you do.

[echnidna]

Autocad is easy. Easy easy easy. And, if you dont like the way it works, you can change it untill you do.

I have AC14 and its a pain

any tutorials available?

[Gingermick]

What's giving you trouble?

Better yet, make a list of all the things you want to do (and a keyboard shortcut you want for the thing) and post it here and I'll stick it into a file for you.

[echnidna]

so long since I looked at it I've forgatten

I do remember that you need to read the manual just to draw a box

[Gingermick]

Read down the list on the right and enter the shortcut on the left (without the comma)
To draw a box, type rec for rectangle. To draw it the correct size, select the first corner then type @width,height return. (Width and height need to be numbers btw)
The commands are fairly self explanatory, and you can change the shortcut.


; -- Sample aliases for AutoCAD commands --
; These examples include most frequently used commands.

3A, *3DARRAY
3DO, *3DORBIT
3F, *3DFACE
3P, *3DPOLY
A, *ARC
ADC, *ADCENTER
AA, *AREA
AL, *ALIGN
AP, *APPLOAD
AR, *ARRAY
-AR, *-ARRAY
ATT, *ATTDEF
-ATT, *-ATTDEF
ATE, *ATTEDIT
-ATE, *-ATTEDIT
ATTE, *-ATTEDIT
B, *BLOCK
-B, *-BLOCK
BH, *BHATCH
BO, *BOUNDARY
-BO, *-BOUNDARY
BR, *BREAK
C, *CIRCLE
CH, *PROPERTIES
-CH, *CHANGE
CHA, *CHAMFER
CHK, *CHECKSTANDARDS
COL, *COLOR
COLOUR, *COLOR
CO, *COPY
CP, *COPY
D, *DIMSTYLE
DAL, *DIMALIGNED
DAN, *DIMANGULAR
DBA, *DIMBASELINE
DBC, *DBCONNECT
DC, *ADCENTER
DCE, *DIMCENTER
DCENTER, *ADCENTER
DCO, *DIMCONTINUE
DDA, *DIMDISASSOCIATE
DDI, *DIMDIAMETER
DED, *DIMEDIT
DI, *DIST
DIV, *DIVIDE
DLI, *DIMLINEAR
DO, *DONUT
DOR, *DIMORDINATE
DOV, *DIMOVERRIDE
DR, *DRAWORDER
DRA, *DIMRADIUS
DRE, *DIMREASSOCIATE
DS, *DSETTINGS
DST, *DIMSTYLE
DT, *TEXT
DV, *DVIEW
E, *ERASE
ED, *DDEDIT
EL, *ELLIPSE
EX, *EXTEND
EXIT, *QUIT
EXP, *EXPORT
EXT, *EXTRUDE
F, *FILLET
FI, *FILTER
G, *GROUP
-G, *-GROUP
GR, *DDGRIPS
H, *BHATCH
-H, *HATCH
HE, *HATCHEDIT
HI, *HIDE
I, *INSERT
-I, *-INSERT
IAD, *IMAGEADJUST
IAT, *IMAGEATTACH
ICL, *IMAGECLIP
IM, *IMAGE
-IM, *-IMAGE
IMP, *IMPORT
IN, *INTERSECT
INF, *INTERFERE
IO, *INSERTOBJ
L, *LINE
LA, *LAYER
-LA, *-LAYER
LE, *QLEADER
LEN, *LENGTHEN
LI, *LIST
LINEWEIGHT, *LWEIGHT
LO, *-LAYOUT
LS, *LIST
LT, *LINETYPE
-LT, *-LINETYPE
LTYPE, *LINETYPE
-LTYPE, *-LINETYPE
LTS, *LTSCALE
LW, *LWEIGHT
M, *MOVE
MA, *MATCHPROP
ME, *MEASURE
MI, *MIRROR
ML, *MLINE
MO, *PROPERTIES
MS, *MSPACE
MT, *MTEXT
MV, *MVIEW
O, *OFFSET
OP, *OPTIONS
ORBIT, *3DORBIT
OS, *OSNAP
-OS, *-OSNAP
P, *PAN
-P, *-PAN
PA, *PASTESPEC
PARTIALOPEN, *-PARTIALOPEN
PE, *PEDIT
PL, *PLINE
PO, *POINT
POL, *POLYGON
PR, *PROPERTIES
PRCLOSE, *PROPERTIESCLOSE
PROPS, *PROPERTIES
PRE, *PREVIEW
PRINT, *PLOT
PS, *PSPACE
PTW, *PUBLISHTOWEB
PU, *PURGE
-PU, *-PURGE
R, *REDRAW
RA, *REDRAWALL
RE, *REGEN
REA, *REGENALL
REC, *RECTANG
REG, *REGION
REN, *RENAME
-REN, *-RENAME
REV, *REVOLVE
RO, *ROTATE
RPR, *RPREF
RR, *RENDER
S, *STRETCH
SC, *SCALE
SCR, *SCRIPT
SE, *DSETTINGS
SEC, *SECTION
SET, *SETVAR
SHA, *SHADEMODE
SL, *SLICE
SN, *SNAP
SO, *SOLID
SP, *SPELL
SPL, *SPLINE
SPE, *SPLINEDIT
ST, *STYLE
STA, *STANDARDS
SU, *SUBTRACT
T, *MTEXT
-T, *-MTEXT
TA, *TABLET
TH, *THICKNESS
TI, *TILEMODE
TO, *TOOLBAR
TOL, *TOLERANCE
TOR, *TORUS
TP, *TOOLPALETTES
TR, *TRIM
UC, *UCSMAN
UN, *UNITS
-UN, *-UNITS
UNI, *UNION
V, *VIEW
-V, *-VIEW
VP, *DDVPOINT
-VP, *VPOINT
W, *WBLOCK
-W, *-WBLOCK
WE, *WEDGE
X, *EXPLODE
XA, *XATTACH
XB, *XBIND
-XB, *-XBIND
XC, *XCLIP
XL, *XLINE
XR, *XREF
-XR, *-XREF
Z, *ZOOM

[echnidna]

Thanks Mick I'll have another play with it

[Toolin Around]

Mick had lots of good things to say...

Hi Mick

I've been using Pytha for a year now and find it all right but I've been doing things that seem to be a bit beyond it's ability. And the written materials that are available are worse than any other manuals I've ever read - they're a complete waste of time to be frank. I would like to see what autocad has to offer. Can you recommend any books to take a nube through a few lessons and get them grounded.

[scooter]

See here (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=49897&highlight=solid+edge), Bob :)

[Gingermick]

Well, short of writing lisp routines, all the 2D functionality is quite straight forward. It really depends on what you want to do. 3D is a bit more difficult. The solids editing is a bit lame, but unless you want to draw a 3d object and create sections through it, the solid editing is irrelevant.
What do you do with CAD?

[Toolin Around]

Well, short of writing lisp routines, all the 2D functionality is quite straight forward. It really depends on what you want to do. 3D is a bit more difficult. The solids editing is a bit lame, but unless you want to draw a 3d object and create sections through it, the solid editing is irrelevant.
What do you do with CAD?


I work for a shop fitting outfit. So do a lot of drawings in 3D. I also have it at home (boss lets me take the dongle home) and I draw furniture and such.

[Gingermick]

The people who do mechanical engineering and draw industrial fittings and pipes in my company use microstation. http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Products/MicroStation/Main.htm

[echnidna]

I draw furniture
Forget 2d thats easy
Does AC R14 only do wire frame 3d or does it do hidden line removal too

[Gingermick]

Only have 2004 at home and 2005 at work so I cant check. I imagine it should.
use the comand vports to set up diferent views. And shademode to set the views to wireframe or hidden.

[jow104]

A piece of scrap paper can still be the best way Bob. :)

[echnidna]

and a lot faster John. :)

bummer about your computer

[jow104]

bummer about your computer[/QUOTE]

Not too serious, just when I boot up I have to push F1 to get going, so loose about 10 seconds. Lock ups have gone away since new or larger fan fitted.

Keep well to you both down there. John

[martrix]

Echidna, what do you find hard about SU? It is easier than AutoCad IMHO.

[echnidna]

I suppose the times I've sat down with I wasn't in the right frame of mind to concentrate and got peed off too quick.

[martrix]

Set small goals. Do the tutorials. Let things you have learnt soak in, and then walk away for the day. Chip away at it. I almost think it is better than ACad.

[spazz]

I have been using PYTHA for about 3 years now and have found it to be really good for what we need at work ( making office furniture ). Because of the licence we have it is limited in some parts that althou are not really needed, would make a really cool addition to some of the custom furniture the we produce.

[martrix]

Can anyone post some example drawings (jpeg) from both PYTHA and Autocad? I would be interested in seeing how SU compares with them.

[marker]

There are some online Autocad tutorials here.
http://www.we-r-here.com/cad/tutorials/index.htm
Mark

[Toolin Around]

Can anyone post some example drawings (jpeg) from both PYTHA and Autocad? I would be interested in seeing how SU compares with them.


I did these in Pytha.

Considering SU is free and a bare bones Pytha package is $10,000 (there are no cracked versions anywhere on the planet - trust me I've looked) I'd say it probably stacks up well. The support for Pytha is virtually non existent (unless you read and write fluent German) and the manuals might as well be non existent also for how badly they're written.