Good 3d cad software

[Adam Marshall]

I am in need of a good cad program I can design small steel buildings, timer frame buildings. I would need to be able to make measurement references on them also. If there is a free one even better

 

[bigegg]

fusion 360 or sketchup?

 

[heldtogetherwithblutack]

operating system?
if apple, no idea but for for windoze
https://librecad.org
or from google search
https://learn.g2.com/free-cad-software

 

[mtt.tr]

Don't think autocad can be beaten

If not freecad or turbocad

 

[Adam Marshall]

A lot of people on you tube use sketchup and it looks great however i am not sure if you can put measurement references with the drawings.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

A lot of people on you tube use sketchup and it looks great however i am not sure if you can put measurement references with the drawings.

You can.

 

[Ali]

I’d really like to have a crack at Revit, but they don’t make it easy to get a longish demo. I find Sketchup hard work after Inventor.

 

[Tangledfeet]

I’d really like to have a crack at Revit, but they don’t make it easy to get a longish demo. I find Sketchup hard work after Inventor.

Revit can be a bit hard to crack if you're used to Inventor; it's a more recent acquisition to the AutoDesk stable and is a very different beast if you're familiar with their applications. It might arguably be overkill for this, perhaps?

That's exactly my experience with SketchUp too! Can seem very tedious if you're used to Inventor.

 

[Ali]

I was thinking a bit of Revit experience would look good on the CV, and designing a shed or two might be a good place to start. Perhaps overkill for this case though, I agree.

Designing a timber framed building in any of the parametric solid modelling lot can get surprisingly awkward in my experience, but without having used any of that I’d guess Sketchup might be the best bet for the OP. Certainly plenty of learning material online, I just got bored having to watch it all to figure it out.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I was thinking a bit of Revit experience would look good on the CV, and designing a shed or two might be a good place to start. Perhaps overkill for this case though, I agree.

Designing a timber framed building in any of the parametric solid modelling lot can get surprisingly awkward in my experience, but without having used any of that I’d guess Sketchup might be the best bet for the OP. Certainly plenty of learning material online, I just got bored having to watch it all to figure it out.

That's my main use. Designing roofs. Sheds and furniture.
A bit of a learning curve but once you get the gist it's quick. The push pull tool is your friend. Draw a square. Pull it up into a cube /rectangle.

 

[Screwdriver]

I "designed" this in sketchup:

...and made this:

The simplicity of the program is both its strength and weakness. I find it incredibly easy to use, after so many years it's difficult for me to say otherwise. On the other hand, I realise that sometimes you have to go "the long way round" when creating compared to most if not all of the other professional 3d apps out there.

So to make those 7 purlins, I make one (in a new group) I make it a "component" so that any copies will follow changes made to one on all of the components. Option drag to copy the required distance being careful to select the required axis (using the arrow keys or "shift" to hold the correct axis). Then after option dragging one, I just type "x6" and it makes six copies all moved the same distance in the same direction.

When you create an object you can just drag it out so it looks about right then literally type in the exact dimension you want (I do that in millimetres).

Some of my "cheats" if you like are to maintain a library of "stock" so that if I happen to have a ton of battening, I'll have a model of it in a separate document I can just copy/paste into the new construction. I also over the years have made a complete copy of the entire property so I can easily dump new items in place and be confident they will fit.

Like I said, one of these days I will do a quick video demo if anyone's interested.


<edit> eagle eyed viewers will spot the dirty hack that Sketchup allowed me to calculate. The top of the 3m run of poly roof is slightly curved (I thought that would be slightly better). I did that by making the required radius from end to end giving it a rise of about an inch in the middle which I obtained by doing a quick real world test with the actual item. I then offset the mounting for the purlins by an amount which meets the radius, about 10mm difference each. I could then work out the dimensions for each tenon and pre make each part to the calculated size to keep the frame as low a profile as possible and to ensure each joint had the maximum strength (mortise vs. tenon)

 

[Screwdriver]

There is one problem with "Google" Sketchup. It got bought up by "Trimble" (inexplicably) and they are reneging on the promise to keep the program free so now you have to use an online cloud based version. I am sticking to my ancient copy (v. 17.2.2554) 2016 version which is the last free local program I keep on my Mac desktop. New users will probably have to just go with the flow

Personally, I wouldn't be without it. I use it every single day to plan virtually everything it do.

 

[Screwdriver]

Sketchup also allows me to go through a number of iterations for the design including an apex roof style (not shown) and the classic "typical" way a cover like this "should" be made.

So yes, it "should" be more like this:

But the fall means the front edge is head bumping height and you'd be walking under a shower unless you fit a gutter. I could do without that extra work, complexity and bulk for this simple shelter.

Once happy with the design, apply a simple "style" to the model and use the built in "dimension" tool to give you a printout of the cutting guide to take into the real world.

Also I appreciate the slight curve isn't really enough of a fall and I "should" have made the entire thing sloped by at least 3 inches. That would have looked silly...

Also I made the side struts a lot bigger than the design. I figure nothing too strong ever broke, plus I did it in such a way I can easily modify the support to be a more interesting shape or even a forged bracket or something else more pleasing to the eye. just needed to get it up and done in a hurry, in preparation for rainy season.