Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

hi all,

Which CAD program should I use for an IMAC ( OS 10.4.something Tiger )?

Google found these for me, which is very helpful if I had time to try & compare them all
http://www.pure-mac.com/cad.html
http://www.freebyte.com/cad/cad.htm
http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/imagecad.html
http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad_downloads.html

So I'm soliciting your opinions . . .

I've heard qcad recommended here.

And have used Turbocad 7 & 8 previously on my long gone WIN98 beastie. I didn't like it that much as I was continually having to re-glue joins every 5 secs or so ( it certainly felt that frequent ). It's import/export facilities definitely weren't working properly

I'd like something thats ( in random order )
- easy to use,
- relatively cheap ( ie under $100 ),
- has reliable metric capability,
- is able to produce pix for you to peruse &
- hopefully swap drawings.

TIA
David

If you are looking for simple 2d drawings, qcad is perfect. And it's cheap $29 if I recall.

If you would like some 3D stuff, sketchup seems to be pretty popular here on the forum. And it's FREE!!!
http://www.sketchup.com/

Mike...

Hi there,

I've used Turbo cad and it will get the job done but I don't know if it will render 3d images very well or at all... VectorWorks will but is expensive as is most high-end CAD applications.

for bang for the buck SketchUp is your best bet. Simple, great rendering and an easy learning curve. Not absolutely perfect for documentation but it will certainly do the job for what you need here (unless you're going to machine parts for your tow vehicle)

One drawback is (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) it doesn't handle DWG (common CAD file format developed by Autodesk) as an export format in the free version.

Canvas was a decent technical illustration program but I just read that it was killed by its developer... and i'm sure it wasn't cheap. $400 back in 93.

If you are or someone you know is attached to a school as a student you might find an education version of any of these. Some even give away edu versions free to get students hooked on one program.

for edu versions look at:
www.academic superstore.com for TurboCAD
or
academicsuperstore.com for VectorWorks
Just a little more than your budget but you'll be pretty impressed with what you get for that price.

Good luck,
Tom

I've just downloaded & installed the free version of Sketchup.

So far so good. Almost

Does anyone know how to set shapes to a precise length? Using the VCB mentioned in HELP ? I can't find it. And am hoping that it's not a pro-version feature.

Tomorrow I'm going to try more tutorials

Tom,

I don't qualify as a student. In NZ or elsewhere.

Vector works looks promising, but if I can get the VCB working in Sketchup, then I probably won't need anything else.

David

David--let me download that program and join you in this adventure.

I've never used a CAD program in my life.

Welcome Ira,

to the wonderful world of CAD.

Not to mention the growing pains that go with learning something new. I experienced some of those this morning, when it took over an hour to get this created. It's actually 2 Rectangles Push/Pulled into the right size. One is inside the other. Creating the first beam of my trailer frame.



I think I found the VCB ( sometimes ). It's at the bottom right of the window. I found it easier and quicker to use the Dimension Tool to tell me the measurement of the piece. And then use the Push/Pull tool to make the shape the right size. Using the Orbit, Pan & Zoom tools to make the target easier to see.

One extra thing I just thought of. If I didn't create a plan, then I wouldn't be able to say that ongoing progress was going to plan. Or conversly that I'd created a new feature ( AKA mistake for the un-initiated ) when they didn't.

I can see benefits & otherwise in each method. My reason for creating ( or at least starting ) a plan, is so that I can show others what I want to do. Without having to write a couple of thousand words every 5 minutes. To enable accurate feedback & revision of the plan. To hopefully avoid creating features that I'll end up hating or worse.

Also I've heard that people hereabouts "luv da pix".

Ira, I can't say I am particularly familiar with a Mac, but I would like to suggest you check out Google's Sketchup tool. I studied up on using CAD, but it was just too complicated. I even bought a book! In one evening I was able to install Sketchup, run through the examples and start drawing. Even if you decide to use CAD, you can still use Sketchup to modify the files. I just started drawing a tear drop trailer a couple of days ago myself.

Rhett--that's what I downloaded. I just haven't played with it yet.

Basically, once you're in an actual program, the OS doesn't mean crap. It's pretty identical.

Mike, thanks for the pointer to SketchUp. I've loaded it, and while I haven't had much of a chance to play, it looks fantastic... as expected from Google. I didn't think I would get any 3D CAD software, as I have no justification for the usual cost.

By the way, I'm not using a Mac...

Muggnz wrote:Does anyone know how to set shapes to a precise length?

I'm a real SketchUp newbie, but the dimension can just be typed into the box (lower right corner) where it appears. There seem to be some context constraints on whether your typing goes into the dimension box, but it works at least under some conditions, and is what they recommend in order to set precise dimensions.

Muggnz wrote:hi all,

Which CAD program should I use for an IMAC ( OS 10.4.something Tiger )?

Google found these for me, which is very helpful if I had time to try & compare them all
http://www.pure-mac.com/cad.html
http://www.freebyte.com/cad/cad.htm
http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/imagecad.html
http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad_downloads.html

So I'm soliciting your opinions . . .

I've heard qcad recommended here.

And have used Turbocad 7 & 8 previously on my long gone WIN98 beastie. I didn't like it that much as I was continually having to re-glue joins every 5 secs or so ( it certainly felt that frequent ). It's import/export facilities definitely weren't working properly

I'd like something thats ( in random order )
- easy to use,
- relatively cheap ( ie under $100 ),
- has reliable metric capability,
- is able to produce pix for you to peruse &
- hopefully swap drawings.

TIA
David

I've used Google Sketchup and CADintosh, both pretty good:


http://www.lemkesoft.com/xd/public/cont ... E3MA_.html

I use ViaCAD on my 24" iMac at home. Supposedly it was programmed by the same guys that used to work for Ashlar Vellum (super high end stuff that was used in the modeling of SpaceShipOne).

ViaCAD can be had for $99, does 2d and 3d, and uses universal binary so us Intel mac guys can use it without having Rosetta slow it down.

http://www.punchcad.com/products/viacad ... ggExviacad

At the shop we have all pcs, and I use Autocad (learned it about 20 years ago, and can't let go), but can't find anything similar for the mac.

Happy drawing,

Ira wrote:David--let me download that program and join you in this adventure.

I've never used a CAD program in my life.

Good luck.

My experience with CAD is that it was definitely developed by engineers -- like HTML and other such stuff. And, engineers don't seem to want anyone outside their profession using their stuff.

I have yeat to find one that an art major, like myself, can figure out without much cursing.

I actually use Illustrator to design things.

Earlier today I downloaded trial versions of QCAD & CADIntosh.

Just to see if they're any better that Sketchup for my needs.

In Sketchup I've tried to create 2 identical beams in parallel, with identical start points. No matter how I try I cannot get their start points to line up on the line Sketchup provides. This may well turn out to be an Imperial to Metric conversion problem. As I was think that I was using the highest Zoom resolution possible. Sorry no pix ara available, it seems that in between Imperial-cursing & Metric-cussing I deleted the drawing.

Should I start using Imperial measurements?

Heck, if I could find a demo version of ViaCAD, I'd try that to. Their intro page looks promising.