WMcD Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I'm considering starting to use some sort of 3-D CAD software for horn designs and general noodling. It seems to me that Solid Works or Auto CAD is too complex and expensive. Google Sketch Up is out there and there is Pro version. It would be nice to work with something where the learning experience will be useful for something more complex, should I ever go that way. Any recommendations? Freeware would be nice but I could invest, say $100, toward something which is worth the learning investment. Thanks, Wm McD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Turbo Cad was the cheapest one I knew of ( couple hundred) but don't kmow if they are still in business. This stuff is normally about $15,000.00 to start and typical $30,000.00 and those are 1980 prices. The only thing close to what might work (adapt) are those "housing" softwares for designing a house and looking inside rooms, etc. So if you designed a living room shaped like a horn it might work. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 It seems to me that Solid Works or Auto CAD is too complex and expensive. At the beginning it can be complex but the main thing it is expensive, especially for general noodling. say $100, You can eliminate Sketch Up Pro as that is $500. Any recommendations? Freeware would be nice I would go with Sketch Up or even take a look at Blender. Blender has the modeling and rendering plus others things that you can get into like animation and real time 3D/game creation. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 I'm considering starting to use some sort of 3-D CAD software for horn designs and general noodling. It seems to me that Solid Works or Auto CAD is too complex and expensive. Google Sketch Up is out there and there is Pro version. It would be nice to work with something where the learning experience will be useful for something more complex, should I ever go that way. Any recommendations? Freeware would be nice but I could invest, say $100, toward something which is worth the learning investment. Thanks, Wm McD They did away with the free Sketchup version? The only difference was the layout/presentation program, which isn't important for doing stand alone models and such. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 They did away with the free Sketchup version? The only difference was the layout/presentation program, which isn't important for doing stand alone models and such. Dave Nope they still offer both, the free one and the Pro, the Pro version does have the layout and style builder additions. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Turbo Cad was the cheapest one I knew of ( couple hundred) but don't kmow if they are still in business. Current version is 16, for $129. Older versions are commonly available from ebay for much less. I'm still using version 7, and find it quite adequate for enclosure design. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 I spent my entire career designing. I started on the drawing board and finished on CATIA V5. Today all the cad programs are big and complex. I don't know if it's still true but Autocad ruled with smaller companies and the software was unlocked and free to use for training purposes. I don't know if that's still true but you might check it out. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtnfoley Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 HA! A topic in which I'm (over-) qualified to post. First, my bona fides: I'm a Mechanical Engineer by training, and a CE by trade. I'm a 15 year veteran of Automotive Industry M-CAD/E-CAD/FEA support, and am sufficiently expert in the support of I-deas, Unigraphics, Catia v4, and Catia v5 to pass muster with Ford, GM, Chrysler, and Ford/Chrysler/Volvo/Toyota/et al as an administrator. My own company uses Pro/Engineer, AutoCAD, and SolidWorks as principle MCAD environments. As a user, I can design myself out of a paper bag in I-deas, Pro/Engineer, and AutoCAD. On top of all that, I, too, am evaluating Sketchup and other cheap/free alternatives for my purposes. Currently, I'm trying Sketchup for my "'Bout time I started my HeresyII centers..." project. First impression with Sketchup, coming from the fleet or market-leaders listed above, is "Arrrggghghghghgh!" I'm still trying to figure out boolean ops and parameteric dimensions: Some of the common-sense 'should be there' features (such as parametric dimesions: Click and edit an associated dimension should drive the model) seem to be lacking. Granted, I'm only into Sketchup for an hour or so but coming down from on-high, as it were, it just 'feels' incomplete and inadequate. I'll be evaluating more tools in the near future. If I find one that suits my purposes (currently my only CAD interest is in speaker enclosures) I'll certainly reply here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy W Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I would say SketchUp (free version). I started using it about 2-3 weeks ago, and the online tutorial videos help out a bunch. I'm about 20-30 hours into it. My biggest complaint is that circles are not, and drawing any curve other than a circle or arc takes a very long time - an ellipse tool would be very nice. I end up doing "string art" to draw curves and arcs. Now that I'm starting to understand how it works a little better, I can suggest that you make each part separately and then make is a "component", then put the parts together into an assembly. To make a component, draw the 2D outline then "extrude" it (assuming it can be extruded). Then select the entire outline and click "make component". I'm not a CAD guy so I don't know if that's how normal CAD works or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtnfoley Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I would say SketchUp (free version). I started using it about 2-3 weeks ago, and the online tutorial videos help out a bunch. I'm about 20-30 hours into it. My biggest complaint is that circles are not, and drawing any curve other than a circle or arc takes a very long time - an ellipse tool would be very nice. I end up doing "string art" to draw curves and arcs. Now that I'm starting to understand how it works a little better, I can suggest that you make each part separately and then make is a "component", then put the parts together into an assembly. To make a component, draw the 2D outline then "extrude" it (assuming it can be extruded). Then select the entire outline and click "make component". I'm not a CAD guy so I don't know if that's how normal CAD works or not. Look for Sketchup Ruby scripts (plugins) for extending functionality. One that I'm using now is a Volume tool: it creates a new component in place of a selected component, with the volume displayed as a text annotation. I've spotted more powerful elipse tools.I've not vetted the site yet, but one I just discovered a minute ago is "smustard.com" (dontcha just love the OpenSource movement? []) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 First, my bona fides: I'm a Mechanical Engineer by training, and a CE by trade. I'm a 15 year veteran of Automotive Industry M-CAD/E-CAD/FEA support, and am sufficiently expert in the support of I-deas, Unigraphics, Catia v4, and Catia v5 to pass muster with Ford, GM, Chrysler, and Ford/Chrysler/Volvo/Toyota/et al as an administrator. My own company uses Pro/Engineer, AutoCAD, and SolidWorks as principle MCAD environments. I'm afraid to admit That I know what non-rational b-splines and nurbs are! Plus years of constructing tangent conic based surfaces. And to think in the old days I just had a ship curve, some duck weights and a compass! jtnfoley, you have me beat I just used Cadam, CatiaV4, CatiaV5, Pro-E, Fibersim, Master Series and Autocad. Oh, yeah and I'm darn good with a t-square. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtnfoley Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Oh, yeah and I'm *** good with a t-square. Thanx, Russ Good to hear it! Far too few new engineers (and designers!) are nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy W Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Look for Sketchup Ruby scripts (plugins) for extending functionality. One that I'm using now is a Volume tool: it creates a new component in place of a selected component, with the volume displayed as a text annotation. I've spotted more powerful elipse tools. I've not vetted the site yet, but one I just discovered a minute ago is "smustard.com" (dontcha just love the OpenSource movement? ) Good to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invidiosulus Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 What is meatball? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtnfoley Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 What is meatball? ?que? If you are replying to me, and replying to et al (that's the only phonetic sound-alike in the whole thread that I can find! ) then Iwas using an abbreviation of the latin et alii meaning "and others." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InVeNtOr Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 i am not as near a good designer like some of the other posters, but in my opinion, Autodesk Inventor would work great. i use it for everything. i even have a Cornscala project started on it. it's almost identical to Solid Works, but you can buy Inventor for $200 or less. i have personally seen it for that. do a search and you will find it. cool thing about inventor, it there are lots of videos on how to do stuff. if you are super interested i'll even send you my book on how to use inventor. i went to school, got the degree.....yeah.....i don't even use it unless i am drawing my HT. sad huh? i purchased a brand new home and my first meeting with my builder i gave him a rendering of the future living room with my speakers, tv, gear, couch, etc all drawn in there. i wanted to make sure he was clear how important some of the placement i asked for was. i was real disappointed that i graduated with a 4.0 and Valedictorian and i couldn't take a single job. i already made more being an avionics installer on airplanes. i have been out of school now for over 3 years and still haven't taken a job. sucks to go to school and pay for it and not use it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Hey Inventor, School is never a waste but practical experience is useful also. The best situation is when you can find some job that you like and can use some of the education/experience you have but having a job you like is the most important. I worked 36 years as a designer, loved every day. Take a chance and look for a job you'll like. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Blender is user surly software and a pain to use. My LaScala cab images I did with Caligari trueSpace, now owned by Microsoft and FREE. It was about $400 when my son originally bought V 4.x. It is what I still use. Some things don't import well into version 7.6. http://www.caligari.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Have you used Sketchup, Marvel? I'd be curious on your impressions between the two if you have. I've tried Blender and Sketchup, but they're both incredibly painful to do anything creative in. The only real tool I've had extended experience with is Pro/E and it's so incredibly easy to use once you get through the initial learning curve. Btw, how long did that lascala blowup take you to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InVeNtOr Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 it's not about taking a job i would like. i have had seveal offers i would love to do. it simply comes down to money. i am the sole provider and the large paycuts i would have to take, i wouldn't be albe to make morage or provide basic needs for the family. my wife alone needs about $300 a month in medication (she's a type 1 dybetic) so insurance or good paying job is a must. it's not like i can ask her to cut back on the medication. not trying to make a sob story, i have faith i went to school for a reason. i hope someday i figure out what that reason is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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