Is basic CAD design easy to pick up?

Golf1.6 · 20 Feb 2014 at 10:23

I want to get a 3d printer and print my own stuff.

Was wondering if Cad drawing is doable - very simple stuff. Nothing complex.

Or whether it takes weeks and weeks to learn?

Also what would be the best package to pick it up if you were to start as a beginner

stufflol · 20 Feb 2014 at 10:35

U should start with cinema 4d/3ds max/blender - if you are wanting to print stuff.

Golf1.6 · 20 Feb 2014 at 10:38

Thanks

And what would be the rough learning time for this? If you're fasmiliar with this stuff was wondering if you were open to taking offers for side work?

Raymond Lin · 20 Feb 2014 at 10:41

Basic CAD is all about extend, trim, offset, snap.

What takes time is the shortcuts and knowing the interface. Little things like dragging a box from left to right instead of right to left has different effect on what you are trying to select.

And think in 1:1 scale.

stufflol · 20 Feb 2014 at 10:42

Might be able to , depends what do you require?

Learning to model in 3D is not that difficult to be honest Id say if you spend 2 months in your spare time and watch a lot of tutorials you should have a problem creating basic models.

Cinema 4d is in my opinion the most beginner friendly but I prefer 3ds max

Golf1.6 · 20 Feb 2014 at 10:50

Time is not on my side. I would rather pay someone to do the design for me than learn how to design for 2 months.

They're basically larger 80mm size discs - very simply objects.

stufflol · 20 Feb 2014 at 10:52

I can do that for you. Email me the info

Golf1.6 · 20 Feb 2014 at 10:55

Thanks - sent you an email.

You can edit out your email now, in case bots crawl the forum, pick it up and add it to their spam list.

arknor · 20 Feb 2014 at 11:14

probably harder to setup and calibrate the printer than it is to learn basic cad

dirtychinchilla · 20 Feb 2014 at 11:56

Yeah, CAD is ridiculously easy (most people see it as a black art, but you just have to be a bit clever).

Gruber · 20 Feb 2014 at 12:04

dirtychinchilla said:
Yeah, CAD is ridiculously easy (most people see it as a black art, but you just have to be a bit clever).

Shhhhh! Don't tell everyone!

arknor · 20 Feb 2014 at 12:04

dirtychinchilla said:
Yeah, CAD is ridiculously easy (most people see it as a black art, but you just have to be a bit clever).

bound to be tons of youtube guides that are easy to follow as well and as he said

They're basically larger 80mm size discs - very simply objects.

W!ll · 20 Feb 2014 at 12:14

CAD is easy, making educated decisions about geometry for what you require is the much harder part.

lucky13 · 20 Feb 2014 at 12:16

Equally I dont mind doing them for you

email in trust.
Learning what the buttons do in the CAD software is the easy part and does not take long. Learning how to model efficiently and in a correct manor takes a lot longer. However from the sounds of the job, it sounds like it will take an experianced person 5 mins.

dirtychinchilla · 20 Feb 2014 at 15:03

Gruber said:
Shhhhh! Don't tell everyone!

Haha sorry, trade secret

lucky13 said:
Equally I dont mind doing them for you email in trust.
Learning what the buttons do in the CAD software is the easy part and does not take long. Learning how to model efficiently and in a correct manor takes a lot longer. However from the sounds of the job, it sounds like it will take an experianced person 5 mins.

Absolutely. You can learn SolidWorks, for example, in a few days, but to be effective it takes a lot more practice.

stufflol · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:40

Other factor is the cost of the software. CAD is around £5000 3Ds max is £3000

Would take a lot of work to get your money back!

Dunks · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:51

CAD is easy. The designing is the hard part.

airwave99 · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:54

YOu could always start off with something free link Tinkercad if you're wanting to create designs then produce them with a 3D printer.

jakedude182 · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:13

Learning Solidworks is how i've began as I have heard it is easier. Am not onto autocad yet

dirtychinchilla · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:15

jakedude182 said:
Learning Solidworks is how i've began as I have heard it is easier. Am not onto autocad yet

Yeah SolidWorks is much more intuitive and easier to use than AutoCAD is. I learnt primarily on SolidWorks, at uni. Coming to work, using AutoCAD, was a big step up. Also, once you've done something in AutoCAD, you can't really go back on it like in SolidWorks, making it great for designers.