3d CAD program needed pref free download

[Justme]

I am looking for a CAD program. It need to be able to do a wooden stick framed house & not just an interior floor plan or decor type. Need to make plans of the actual individual timbers in the walls, floor, celling & roof. The few that I have found are in the $2-4k range (Intelli Framer & Chief architect X2).

Far to much money for a one off small job.


Justme

 

[BMAK]

Try applying on the student section of the auto cad website, students get free downloads of most of their programs. Not sure if you need a University email, but it would be a breach of terms if you used it for commercial. Up to yourself!!

 

[greyshirtguy]

I tried looking for free 2d (and 3d) CAD applications a few times before....it's one of those areas where I came dry, time and time again.
There is a non-commercial (community edition) of a 2D CAD program http://www.qcad.org/qcad.html (but it has no polyline support)

(I am still wishing for a free Non-Linear video editor that includes all of the small subset of features in Premiere that I actually use)...




Side note:
Artistic 3D modelling/animation is a different story however.....Blender is an amazing free software package for artistic (non-accurate) 3D visualisation/animations.
Although, it has nearly no CAD tools, some people (myself included) have laboured through using it for accurate modelling of simple stuff. (Which will no doubt feature in some of my future posts when they involve welding)

 

[MarkMG]

Have a look at Progecad, http://www.progecad.com it is an autoCAD clone, but legal as it uses opensource dwg.

It is quoting £285 for a full lic, but i thought for private you get it for free

 

[MarkMG]

Here is the free version http://www.progesoft.com/?page=smart2008

 

[snowcat]

the xpress version of this is free, and works in 3D, I have it sit on the computer but have never used it, as its not command line driven like auto cad its slow to draw in, but for small amounts of work I'm guessing its fine....

It will save in dwg, by the looks, but do remember many of these programs that are only dwg compatible cross drawings into autocad very badly, dims change, and layers do interesting things, there much better if you use there default format save in that and only expect the files to work on that program.....


another point, whichever program you choose make sure its a true solid editing program, some cheepies are just wire frame, although wire frame is perfectly adequate to work in, it is very slow and large assembles soon get confusing, Its also much harder, and your be sitting there with the calculator to work out masses of construction lines before you even get going......

 

[MrFluffy]

Im using qcad for some of the more bespoke parts of my plans as i can have it open on the second monitor on the linux computers while architect3d is on the first, but have only used it for drafting purposes of the elevations to work round bugs in my other proggy.

For visualization in 3d and basic 2d plans we're using Arcon's architect3d, although mostly because it is accredited in france for plan submission, i have no idea how though, its crap! It saves in a proprietory format only (.acp) and theres no export dwg dxf or 3ds facilities. I wouldnt be certain it can handle framing details like you want and other oddities (for instance our roof trusses impinge on the edge of the rooms, yet I can't draft this into architect3d as it declares the roof a seperate layer, if I declare the roof and upstairs as one layer, theres no way to define the wall heights except by tweaking the roof pitch till its about right). In fact theres no way to drop a block wall in and define its limits by typing them in, you have to fiddle round with the mouse stretching it out till it fits then check it by declaring a measurement between the two ends! In fact all its really good for is making eye candy exports and sending off to the planning office and getting a easy ride through. Even my architect who had to sign off the plans (read, rubber stamp mine ) hates it. Having said that I think its about 40 quid to buy a license for


Heres a plan and image produced with the arcon ones...

 

[MrFluffy]

I just checked £199 for the uk market!!! Someones taking someone for a ride...
Ill try find out the exact price we paid in euro's for our license im certain it was about £50...

Edit, checked, 14e! for the classic, so apples to oranges I guess.
They do however sell the 3d architect ultimate for 179e, which is still a fair bit cheaper than the uk price. Nb, dont buy the french one to save money unless your french is good, theres no facility to switch language

 

[Justme]

Cheers for all that info. Will be checking it all out today

Justme

 

[Normsthename]

For a 3D CAD Package I would recommend Varicad
It is geared towards Mechanical Engineering.

http://www.varicad.com/en/home/

Very easy to learn and has some good features
I have been using it for a couple of years now

Its not free (£360), but you can download a 30 day Full Version to see if its to your liking

the xpress version of this is free, and works in 3D, I have it sit on the computer but have never used it, as its not command line driven like auto cad its slow to draw in, but for small amounts of work I'm guessing its fine....

I tried Alibre, it looks really good but I could just not get on with it

Andy

P.S
I hate Autocad!

 

[Archie]

If you can get hold of a student email address you can download AutoDesk Inventor for nought. Don't use it myself (we use I-DEAS) but the aeros use it and seem to get on pretty well with it. I think AutoDesk are trying to push people from AutoCAD to Inventor.

 

[Blackjack]

I am looking for a CAD program. It need to be able to do a wooden stick framed house & not just an interior floor plan or decor type. Need to make plans of the actual individual timbers in the walls, floor, celling & roof. The few that I have found are in the $2-4k range (Intelli Framer & Chief architect X2).

Far to much money for a one off small job.


Justme

Google Sketch Up.

There's a free version, and a Pro version.

If you want to export dxf files, you need the pro version.

Otherwise, Sketch Up was originally written for architectural concept drawing.

If you've never used CAD but you have used MS Paint you didn't ought to have a problem with it.

There's a community, and plenty of video tutorials as well.

 

[Archie]

Please, God, no! I've downloaded and used SketchUp twice and on both occasions I've deleted it shortly thereafter, not having achieved what I wanted in the first place. It's horrible!!!

 

[Paul.]

I'm an Autocadder myself so I haven't tried this one from ashampoo, but the demo video looks pretty good, probably more for architectural use rather than mechanical, Its worth registering with ashampoo and then wait to see what offers they have, sometimes, they'll give you a free activation key for an older version of a program as an incentive to upgrade to the latest version.

 

[Justme]

Dont need to export any files just be able to print it out for my own use. Did download progeCAd today all 150mb of it on a dongle only to find it dont do what I need lol.

Justme

 

[snowcat]

Autocad lite, is cheapish I'm not sure it works in 3D tho......The beauty of Autocad is its been around for ever and a day, so theres a huge amount of resources to help you, learning any CAD package is going to be a chore, not the sort of thing you want to do twice, so picking one thats going to do what you want from the outset is fairly important.... unless you have Days of your life to waste.....

 

[Normsthename]

Not a fan of Autocad by any stretch of the imagination, too expensive, too slow and too clunky to use.
I have used (forced to use ) several versions of Autocad over the years and I never liked any version
Not tried the latest version, but I won't hold my breath
There are far better and cheaper CAD packages around.

Andy

 

[hotrodder]

No idea how it's rated but 'powershape e' offer a free version that includes 3d modelling. I've got autocad (not that i'm any good with it) so i haven't actually bothered downloading it but got to be worth a look- loads of tutorial vids on the site

 

[Wedg1e]

I use AutoCAD 2008 that...er... fell off the back of a 'mule...

I imagine various other CAD packages could, hypothetically, be found the same way...

As far as AutoCAD is concerned, I think it reached it's zenith with Release 14 and all the versions since then have just conspired to make it less user-friendly... although it's actual capabilities are undeniable. It's down to the user to have a spare decade to learn how to use it all. The basics are no more or less complicated than any other package.

 

[fungus]

I use AutoCAD 2008 that...er... fell off the back of a 'mule...

I imagine various other CAD packages could, hypothetically, be found the same way...

As far as AutoCAD is concerned, I think it reached it's zenith with Release 14 and all the versions since then have just conspired to make it less user-friendly... although it's actual capabilities are undeniable. It's down to the user to have a spare decade to learn how to use it all. The basics are no more or less complicated than any other package.

Wedg1e

Any idea where one might hypothetically find this mule?

I'm an autocad fan and been missing it since I changed jobs a few years ago.

Tried viacad trial and alibre but still like my comfy autocad blanket!