# Which Software do you use? Sketchup, AutoCAD or another?



## kinsella

Colleagues
I'm a weekend DIYer, I've deduced from trial and error that my preferred method of design drawing is using full AutoCAD and Sketchup. I initially trained in AutoCAD so using this is familiar and easy for me. I use full AutoCAD to do simple 2D drawings, for basic cut sheets.

I then convert these to 3D in Sketchup to test the design, proportions or how it looks, followed by some basic materials hatching to see how it will look when finished. 

Example.






Over the years I've looked at some other packages for furniture design, Solidworks, 3D Studio Max, Vectorwork, Rhino 3D. Some more complicated than others. 

I only recently seen a copy of AutoCAD Fusion. I did try using AutoCAD, but the 3D functions with the basic package are pretty crude without all the 3D add on software. Anyone using Fusion and if so what do you think?

I'd like to use only one piece of software to do both 2D and 3D drawings, that can also break the 3D down into a component drawing and be able to manipulate it.

I'd be interested to know what DIY'ers or professionals are using for designs?


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## Shultzy

Having used TurboCad and then finding Sketchup, there's no contest. I find Sketchup is the ideal tool for woodworking design especially the materials function. It so mimics the real creation of joints I find it invaluable.


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## redmoorphil

Hi Kinsella,
Just posted this on another thread - have a look at sketchlist (www.sketchlist.com)


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## Hudson Carpentry

Funny you should post. Im currently installing Solid Works to see if I get on with it.

I also used AutoCAD to do 2D years ago and have since been using pen and paper or sketchup. I don't fully get on with sketchup. I find at time it just don't act as expected but that could be because im used to other 3D programs.

EDIT: Im having loads of problems just trying to install solidworks. If the program is as complicated to use as it is install think ill give up now.


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## houtslager

if you have no book or been tutored on Solid works, truthfully, forget it. It is a heavy program and not intuitive unlike SU. As a TurboCad user I found the step up/over to SU quite painless. As I am now on SU8 and through a member here, DaveR I am now trying out Layout to make presentation drawings for clients,

hth,

K


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## deserter

I'm very interested in your verdict on layout, I really need a package that will allow me to present my work professionally however as I work full time I only make half a dozen items in a year, and am not sure that the cost of layout would justify itself. There is no tial version I know of so if you could review it that would be awesome.


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## houtslager

Best go to DaveR's site and see the master at work. as I said, I am trying it seriously at last, the end product that I pass on to the client, can be better or in old school script - "can do better" 

hrh,

K


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## Hudson Carpentry

houtslager":ewan6zil said:


> if you have no book or been tutored on Solid works, truthfully, forget it. It is a heavy program and not intuitive unlike SU. As a TurboCad user I found the step up/over to SU quite painless. As I am now on SU8 and through a member here, DaveR I am now trying out Layout to make presentation drawings for clients,
> 
> hth,
> 
> K



Which SolidWorks version do you speak about? The reason I want to exploror solidworks is because I have has 3 students in over the past few weeks building there projects as two of them, use solidworks 2012 and say its very easy to use.


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## siggy_7

I use a mixture of Solidworks which I was taught during my undergraduate degree (2003!) and Sketchup. Sketchup is alright for basic things, but it's horribly limited in others - like when dealing with curved surfaces. Personally I think Solidworks is a dream to use, of the proper packages it's massively easier to use than any other professional products (having battled through Pro/Engineer, Catia and others in the past). I'm quite out of touch these days though as I don't do CAD for a day job. Sketchup is handy for sharing designs around due to it being free, but really it's a toy compared to proper commercial software.


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## Hudson Carpentry

Got SolidWorks working now, turned out I was installing the 32bit which isn't compatible with 64bit systems.

Im struggling but I have nearly got my first design done. I am finding it fairly easy to use one I find the tool I need.


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## houtslager

hmmmmmm might have to try the newer version, as the one I tried was 2000 version.

K


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## Hudson Carpentry

houtslager":2c01atk5 said:


> hmmmmmm might have to try the newer version, as the one I tried was 2000 version.
> 
> K



It will be worth your while I think. I have the 2011 version and up to yet im very impressed. Just completed my second model and I think the software is far better than any I have used and fairly easy. I have spent a couple hours watching tutorials on youtube and glad I did as the features it boosts are amazing but most I wouldn't have known.

Also its an all in one package. You create your 3D model either from 2D drawings made in other programs or SolidWorks, you can then can create exploded 3D drawings (animated on screen or even exported as a video) and it will also create the 2D engineers drawing for you, labeling parts automatically and creating bin lists etc and it does the final renders


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## mkeeley

I've been using Sketchup and rendering, when required, in Kerkythea. Works well but am still learning.


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## Togalosh

Although I love to do 'technical drawing' as it was called at school I have to admit that getting an instant cutting list & faster, better results make me think that a good software is needed. I have many years experience of photoshop & a good grasp of (non code writing) web design software & need something that is acurate & stable.

Could I get some pro's & cons of the software you are using please to help me make up my mind..or should I look for trial versions?

The 1 thing that has really P*&^%$ me off is that I cannot find a price for Solidworks anywhere on the net !..Is there an international code of secrecy that everyone has sworn to ? I do not want to waste my time looking into something if it costs £100's or £1000's ..

Is sketchup a happy medium or a poor 2nd or 3rd

Thanks in advance for your advice.


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## Shultzy

It depends on what you want to do with the software. Sketchup is very versatile and I can't think of any woodworking project that you couldn't produce with it. There is a Cutlist and rendering addons plus many more.


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## RogerS

SketchUp works for me.


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## mailee

I used to use autocad and then turbocad and finally got into sketchup for my designs. I have found sketchup so easy to use I wouldn't go back to anything else now.


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## Mister Griffiths

I completed a degree in 3d visualization software, and I used to use a now-free piece of software called true space 7 for all my designs. That may be worth a look at, it was particularly good for architectural work as its coordinate system was excellent.

Nowadays, however, I just use a pencil and paper, and occasionally a 2D android CAD package called AndCAD. I guess I have regressed, but I'm happy that way


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## kinsella

Thanks Griffiths, will give it a look, but it seems that most people are using Sketchup and its so simple to use and render, i probably will stick with it. I've found that i've now stopped using AutoCAD and just do all assembly drawings using sketchup.


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## RogerS

I'm a great fan of SketchUp but now faced with a bit of a quandary as I want to give a fully dimensioned drawing to someone else (who is not familiar with SU). I'm wondering if I ought to bite the bullet and redraw it using some CAD package. There are around 60-70 pierces in the construction. I've just downloaded a trial of Layout but an initial poke around leaves me not convinced.

I know cutlist will produce a list of dimensioned pieces but it is a bit of an article of faith to rely on it! Much rather have a proper dimensioned drawing.


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## kinsella

Roger
You can import Sketchup to autoCAD, however i find i spend more time altering the 3D layout to get the 2D drawing i want that it works out quicker to just redraw. But i've been using ACAD for years so i'm quick enough. If you use the full version of Sketchup you can use "LayOut" which takes the Sketchup 3D model and allows you to do print outs to scale, add dimensions outside of Sketchup. Very handy tool. So that might be the option rather than looking at dedicated software.


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## riclepp

I use a very expensive and high tech programme called a Pencil, ruler and paper, easy to use


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## kinsella

Richard
I initially trained in pencil, only when we had mastered that did they let us use ink pens, and only when we mastered that did they let us near AutoCAD release 12. I tried to go back a few years, realised i wanted to change the design and make something smaller. I thought, right use the fecken computer in future!


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## longinthetooth

Graphite. In a cedar sheath.


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## baysider

Came up old school, with a pencil and drawing board, moved onto autocad back when it was still R14, now I use autocad 2013 for 2d stuff and sketchup for quick 3d, autocad 3ds max for fancy interior renderings as well as blender.
All depends what I need to do, as a professional joiner/cabinetmaker/setter out I have to deal with all kinds of clients who all require different things.


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## weekender410

riclepp":2gfyn7ru said:


> I use a very expensive and high tech programme called a Pencil, ruler and paper, easy to use



Especially when you have to make revisions. :lol:


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## rdesign

I love solidworks! did my thesis on it and have to teach it to students 15 to 18 great program and does 3d and 2d stuff really nicely use cad but it Zilch-Wedlock me off :/ solidworks is so easy to do patterns and make stuff parallel or perpindicular or at an angle. and u can change these without drawing a new line and deleting the old like with cad. using 09 and its very good here 2012 is much improved but sticking with 09 as have to teach the 09 software.


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## weekender410

How much for a seat of Solidworks?


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## Jacob

Paper n pencil. Recently acquired an A0 drawing board with drafting machine which is brilliant. I like the whole thing about hand drawing, not that I'm any good at it. I've still got some Rapidographs. May have a proper old ink pen tucked away somewhere - used to use them for very fine lines.
Saw a show in Leeds* a few years back with original pencil drawing of Mies van de Rohe which were spectacular; small, discrete, delicate - complete opposite of his buildings.
I wonder how much the medium affects the design process itself?

* other stuff too - bits of the Barcelona pavilion, big stroppy nude statue (Maillol?) and the chair*







* largely designed byLily Reich


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## Duncumb.fc

Hi there,

I like to draw my instruments or tools in Rhino, which the OP mentioned. Personally I use it simply because it's what I learnt on, and I haven't looked for anything else! Sketchup never quite seemed to do what I wanted it to, but It's definitely quick!
I tend to design 2D, with front, side, top etc. But sometimes I like to bring it together 3D on the package, in which case it's easy to get an engineering drawing and take it to the printers!
Having said that, I really like a handmade look to my work. My philosophy is that I want my work to look like it was done by someone who knew exactly what they were doing (I've got a long way to go on that one!) but that it was done quickly and not pedantically. So I then like to switch to hand cut templates, and decorative work I will hand draw onto the work, rather than tracing.

Fraser


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## Spooky

> How much for a seat of Solidworks?



The full version? Between £8k and £26K depending on requirements. I run Solidworks and Solidworks Sim and that's about £19k plus subscription.

best wishes

Dave


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## kinsella

Fecken hell, a little out of the league of the weekend DIY'er. I'll stick to sketchup and Autocad i think. Sketchup free and AutoCAD from work. Still can't get my head around AutoCAD Fusion or Inventor, Sketchup is so effing simple. Anyone tested the new 2013 version yet?


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## weekender410

I'm with kinsella. Recommending a product that costs more than most folks have invested in their entire workshop and tools is ridiculous!

Kinsella, I have been using SketchUp 2013. It works just fine. Lots of under-the-bonnet improvements that most folks won't notice but they should make the experience better. New, custom toolbars are cool and the Extension Warehouse makes it much easier to install plugins.


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## rdesign

ok thats the legal price of it but no company is going to come after one person using their software for hobby work. real cad costs around the same price. down load it will get 2011 really easy online. 

Regards Rick


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## weekender410

rdesign":2yka3szm said:


> ok thats the legal price of it but no company is going to come after one person using their software for hobby work. real cad costs around the same price. down load it will get 2011 really easy online.
> 
> Regards Rick



That's great. You're recommending pirating software. Where I come from that's illegal even if the pirate is "using their software for hobby work". No thanks. :roll:


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## fby

SolidWorks is by far the best 3D design package I've used, but, as someone mentioned, you would struggle to figure it out in your spare time. After several years of using it, its complexity is a boon, but it took me six months of daily usage before I stopped banging my head against it. 

Basic AutoCAD is actually a fairly capable 3D application too. I used it in a commercial setting to draw 3D models of climbing walls since version 14. It doesn't (or didn't, I don't use it now) have any parametric modelling options, which makes revisions a bit of a pain. Creating plans in the layout side of it was always a bit time-consuming and repetitive too. It has a fairly simple scripting language with which you can make extremely sophisticated custom tools if you're into that sort of thing. The last version I've used was 2005, and watching the videos online I'd say it has progressed significantly in terms of ease of use since then.

I've tried to use Blender, but gave up in the end. The thinking behind how it works was too alien to me, which is a shame, as it's obviously a very powerful application with a vibrant open source community, and it's free. Really it's a 3D modelling and animation program though (3D modelling for games etc.), and I suspect the learning curve would be steep for most people.

Sketchup is another one that I simply can't use, despite how easy everyone says it is and me spending weeks trying to get to grips with it at work. It seems to me that it was designed originally for doing not-totally-precise architectural mockups, and has been hacked and coerced into other fields such as production drawings because it has a free version and is very approachable. So it always seemed to me that I was using some convoluted workaround to get it to do what I wanted. The lack of solids - everything is made up of surfaces - always seemed to make my approach not really work. That said, I've noticed that it's only people with a background in other applications (SolidWorks mainly) that share my view; most newcomers to it seem to pick up Sketchup easily.

Sketchup and Blender both have sophisticated scripting capabilities too of course, but I still think that AutoCAD is better suited to production drawings for woodwork.


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## weekender410

fby":22i3pjvd said:


> SolidWorks is by far the best 3D design package I've used, but, as someone mentioned, you would struggle to figure it out in your spare time.



Sorry. Not going to go into debt for a bit of software. :roll: 



fby":22i3pjvd said:


> Sketchup is another one that I simply can't use, despite how easy everyone says it is and me spending weeks trying to get to grips with it at work. It seems to me that it was designed originally for doing not-totally-precise architectural mockups, and has been hacked and coerced into other fields such as production drawings because it has a free version and is very approachable.



Well, that's not really true.


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## aideym

My own perspective, for what it is worth. 
I was faced with a year of convalescing and decided to spend the time designing a wooden bicycle, well not all the time but you know what I mean. The first thing I needed to do was get to grips with a design package. I downloaded quite a few of the free ones, even paid for a few of the cheaper ones after all I didn't have a lot of money coming in and I wasn't looking to change careers, so the ones costing hundreds of pounds weren't even in the equation. Call me a knob but I don't like pirated stuff, be it music or software and I believe in giving credit to people who make my life better by buying from them where necessary. So there was no copy of Solidworks left in a brown paper bag at a motorway services for me.

Out of all the ones I looked at, Sketchup had the edge over the rest, it was understandable even for a eejit like me and there was a dummies book, written with me in mind, a vibrant community of users and a wealth of information on the internet for the daft stuff I didn't understand. It didn't feel daunting and it didn't cock its' nose up at me for daring to have a go.
I spent literally two weeks learning the processes, downloaded a few plugin's to make life easier and got on with designing the bike, which my son and I built. Since then everything I consider making goes on Sketchup first and whilst it may not be the most accurate, most singing and dancing programme, I'm no where near as accurate a woodworker.
After reading this thread I downloaded some of the suggested software on a trial basis and have quickly come to the conclusion I don't need anything better than Sketchup.
Keep the suggestions coming though, I am always happy to check stuff out.


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## fby

A couple more I've seen this week:

Autodesk Fusion 360 - PC & Mac, free. On the surface, this looks like it should be excellent. Really advanced-looking modelling in the videos I watched. Sadly, it seems to be extremely buggy at the moment. The Mac version just kept crashing for me before I could even draw a cube.

Alibre Geomagic - PC, I think this is about $100, but they're a bit opaque about the price. I've not used this, but it looks interesting. Supposedly fully parametric as with Autodesk Inventor, Solidworks, Pro Eng, but with fewer features and a fraction of the cost.


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## aideym

fby":345r6fvb said:


> A couple more I've seen this week:
> 
> Autodesk Fusion 360 - PC & Mac, free. On the surface, this looks like it should be excellent. Really advanced-looking modelling in the videos I watched. Sadly, it seems to be extremely buggy at the moment. The Mac version just kept crashing for me before I could even draw a cube.
> 
> .



Not free, only trial. $25 to $200 a MONTH, depending on usage


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## fby

> Not free, only trial. $25 to $200 a MONTH, depending on usage



It was a few days ago when I looked at it so I'd forgotten about that pricing scheme. It was when I was looking further into what that actually meant that I found an Autodesk forum where they announced that it would always be free for hobbyist use. See the sixth post on this page:

http://autodesk.lithium.com/t5/News-and ... 212/page/2


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## aideym

Have to say that the Alibre software looks pretty minty, I'm just not convinced I would make good use of it, or more to the point how I could apply it to do what I do in Sketchup. The thought of not having to resize everthing every time I alter something is very appealing. Perhaps someone somewhere offers demonstrations


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## weekender410

aideym":1sj13cqg said:


> The thought of not having to resize everthing every time I alter something is very appealing.



What do you mean by that? Could you be more specific?


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## woodcrafter

I have used SketchUp for about 7 years, since before Google bought it. For my design needs it is utterly brilliant considering the software is totally free to use. The fact that there are so many useful plugins and so many tutorials available make it an absolute winner. I am certain there are better software suites out there but most carry a hefty price tag. I have designed all manner of furniture, jigs, even tools using SketchUp and have still to find its limits.
The best version in my view is Sketchup 8. Version 9 I could not get on with at all.
C.


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## weekender410

woodcrafter":2ydpeder said:


> I have used SketchUp for about 7 years, since before Google bought it. For my design needs it is utterly brilliant considering the software is totally free to use. The fact that there are so many useful plugins and so many tutorials available make it an absolute winner. I am certain there are better software suites out there but most carry a hefty price tag. I have designed all manner of furniture, jigs, even tools using SketchUp and have still to find its limits.
> The best version in my view is Sketchup 8. Version 9 I could not get on with at all.
> C.



Woodcrafter, that's a good testamonial for SketchUp except for one thing. It's no wonder you couldn't get on with SketchUp 9 since there never was a SketchUp 9.  The version after SketchUp 8 was and is SketchUp 2013.


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## MMUK

I used to use autocad but most of my drawings these days are 2d electrical schematics for control panels and cable schedules so I now use a free program called tinycad. It does everything I want it to and will save into several formats for compatibility.


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