Cad questions

[Moosemt]

Ok I have looked through everything until my eyes are now pin holes and have a question probably asked before but I am going to ask again.

Is there an easy way to take a line drawing from a cad program to a 3d image. Which program would be best to us to make a "blueprint" out of, I have sketch up but want something more refined, not a drawing, would like to put in more detail. I also have knowledge of only Arcview programs so the line drawing and 3d rendering are new to me. I will pay for a program if it does not cost me an arm and a leg. Think that about does it.

I am about to drag out the old square and triangles and start doing it the old fashioned way but would really rather have a way to do it on the computer. Having worked in a metal shop for so long would like to be able to make some detailed drawings for the build so I can figure and measure on paper and not have to make them during construction and this is my first build and my "wardepartment wife" is keeping a close eye on the finances.

 

[starleen2]

My suggestion is to get familiar with skeptchUp first - the learning curve is somewhat high - but you can put a lot of detail to produce a 3D model. I have taken a 2D (flat drawing) and scanned it into a JPEG file and imported it into SketchUp and traced the design to make a flat image on the face of the drawing and went from there, using the scale tool to put it into the correct dimension. I guess the key to sketchUp is knowing how to group components and using layers. Once that is mastered explore some plug-ins that do some photo realistic rendering. The Free version is quite robust.

 

[danlott]

I agree with Starleen2. I would continue to learn SketchUp. Watch the help videos and just start using it. I did not really think the learning curve was that large. I just started building my trailer in SketchUp after watching the videos. When I could not do something I googled it to figure out how to do it. Did not take long. Like you I did not think it was very accurate at first, but figured out that you can be as accurate as you want to be. It is different than other CAD programs, but it is a very fast 3D modelling program. Check out my photo album for pictures of my build. They were all created in SketchUp.

Dan