2-D autocad user but want 3-D (2024)

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5/15/24

Mike

I have been using AutoCAD 2-D for years and it has worked for me, but I would like to be able to provide my customers 3-D cad drawings in black-and-white. Im not interested in learning color renderings or anything of the sort.

I have been paying for a subscription through a company for AutoCAD, as many of you have been since they no longer sell the program. I am not very happy with the service being provided with the company I am currently with and as of December of this year, I will need to find a different company to have my subscription through. I asked them what program they would recommend to draw cabinetry, piece by piece in 3-D without having to relearn AutoCAD 3-D. I know there has to be a more user-friendly program than AutoCAD 3-D. Or am I living a dream here? For some reason, they cant seem to offer suggestions of which autodesk program would be easier to learn than AutoCAD 3-D. Im not looking for a program to do cut lists for me either, as I have a separate entity for that and it works well for me for the amount of times I need to use it.

Does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations of a 3-D CAD program by autodesk or someone else for that matter that will be easier to learn than 3-D AutoCAD? Ive considered learning sketch up, but I dont know what exactly is entailed and learning that either. Thoughts? Ty

5/15/24 #2: 2-D autocad user but want 3-D ...

Mike

I also do not know how to write code and Im not interested in learning how.

5/15/24 #3: 2-D autocad user but want 3-D ...

David Wishengrad

Member

Bricscad

See Also

AutoCAD Forum - Autodesk Community

5/15/24 #4: 2-D autocad user but want 3-D ...

Mike

David, can you tell me more about it? Is it intertwined with AutoCAD in any regard? How difficult is it to learn? Do you happen to know if theres a free trial? Do you have a website?

5/15/24 #5: 2-D autocad user but want 3-D ...

Michael

Member

Budget?

There are dozens of AutoCAD-like programs, from free to $100US to $1k US.
(Bricscad, AllyCAD, NanoCAD) that have that ACAD feel, and go 2D-to-3D.
There are dozens more 3D focused mechanical CAD offerings with perpetual licenses, still, from $1k to $5k US, that have excellent 2D drafting. (VariCAD at the lower end, IronCAD at the higher end)

Sketchup was great for a time, but I can't conscionably support Trimble, for what they did to my (not cheap) perpetual license. I replaced my Sketchup, with IronCAD.

If you are doing free modelling every day, IronCAD feels very productive for making ideas into reality, and the convenience is worth the price. Otherwise, VariCAD is cheap and full-featured

https://www.varicad.com/en/home/online-store/

5/16/24 #6: 2-D autocad user but want 3-D ...

David Wishengrad

Member

Mike,
They have a 30 day demo and perpetual licensing if that's what you want. It's the closest thing to Acad I can I've ever seen except, it's better and in many respects.
I know you don't do code, but I do and the source code I have complies for BricsCAD and Acad at the same time. So, it will probably be the shortest learning curve for those that already know Acad.

The 3d solid modeling tools allows the stretching of multiple 3d solids to a plane. That's something Acad does not have. It also has parametrics and bim and can unfold shapes flat too. It's basically Acad and Solidworks and Revit all at the same time, depending on what interface you might choose to use.

5/16/24 #7: 2-D autocad user but want 3-D ...

Mike

Ty michael and david.

Will any of these that you are proposing allow me the option to draw in 2-D and three separately? This way, I can avoid AutoCAD altogether and do 2-D for simpler jobs and then 3-D for obviously more complex jobs. Or am I going to be stuck still using AutoCAD for my 2-D drawings and 3-D for things more decorative?

Here is one job I would have loved to have drawn in 3-D. I would need to draw all four parts of a column, plus the fluted part of it as well and then make it into one assembly and then have the capability to stretch and shrink the entire assembly without losing Say the flutes are 2 inches from the top and 2 inches from the bottom are either of the programs you guys are suggesting have tutorials in YouTube that I can start to learn from before I activate the 30 day trial?

Also, the programs you are suggesting, are they strictly black and white or do they have the option to do color and how realistic can you make it? Im not really interested in learning the rendering part of things, as Im a one person company and I have enough crap going on that I really dont have Hundreds of hours to dedicate to learning another program to that degree but just curious to know what the program can do unless you guys know of a video that will show me what any of them will end up having the capability to do. Thanks again guys

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5/16/24 #8: 2-D autocad user but want 3-D ...

Mike

David, you are right regarding this is very close to AutoCAD. What is the best way to go about learning the actual program itself? Is there any type of support for people that would speak English, because it appears to be a European based software program. Here is a video I found that looks very close to what Im looking to do.

Does this have the same capabilities as plotting that AutoCAD does, as I Have a big plotter

https://youtu.be/jQGK0ypYyaw?si=kw5WvQxp6a0XCcSn

What does using code benefit you?

Obviously I have 1 million questions that cant all be answered in this forum. I remember the slice and subtract command, but I forgot how to use them. Is there a video that will go over the different commands and show you how to use them?

5/16/24 #9: 2-D autocad user but want 3-D ...

David Wishengrad

Member

Hi Mike, per our phone discussion, grab a copy and we can do a walk through and you can see what it will take. It works almost exactly like Acad and will plot and use viewport and flatshot in addition to having parametrics for standard cabinets.

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2-D autocad user but want 3-D (2024)

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