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AutoCAD for 3D? (MCAD Modeling Column)
1 Jun, 2007 By: IDSA ,Mike HudspethReaders weigh in on using AutoCAD for 3D applications.
A few months back I made a comment in an article, and a reader took me to task for it. I said that it was possible to do 3D modeling in AutoCAD—but when was the last time you heard of someone actually doing it? The reader informed me that there were tens of thousands of people out there who were in fact doing just that. I faced a dilemma. I had used AutoCAD in years past and had since spoken to a lot of people who still used it, and in my experience people were not overly impressed with the 3D capabilities offered by AutoCAD. The vast majority of users I spoke with used something else. Sure, when it came to 2D documentation, AutoCAD ruled, but for 3D they looked elsewhere. I suppose my comment was understandable given that experience. However, since then I have received a lot of reader feedback about 3D in AutoCAD.
Here are some representative quotes:
"Our company has been using 3D in AutoCAD since 1997. We started with a third-party add-on package by Context CAD but switched to using AutoSolids around 2000 and have been using that ever since." —Tom Gonsiorowski, vice-president of technology, Adaptive Optics Associates
"I use AutoCAD and AutoSolids to produce 3D layout drawings for my clients." —Mac Powell
"I work in the defense industry and create complex AutoCAD models using Mechanical Desktop. I use AutoCAD every day and dream about using it many nights." —Randy Van Nostrand
"I used AutoCAD for a while until I discovered Inventor. Now I only use AutoCAD if I want to use the Layer Properties Manager." —William Grunwald
". . . my work in 3D in AutoCAD was so long ago—I've since moved on to much more capable systems . . . Being motivated to be 'set free' from the hassles of changing every 2D view manually for every little design change was the driving force." —Kelly Lasse
"The last project I worked on . . . the contractor requested the drawings in 3D, which caused a lot of laughs in the office. No one knows 3D in AutoCAD, much less how to take a 2D drawing in AutoCAD and make it 3D. They requested it so that it could fit with the [client's] engineering drawings . . . How should I look to learning 3D in the future, knowing that today almost all the work is done in 2D?" —C. "VanDee" Van Deusen, landscape architect
"I still use Mechanical Desktop. I feel it far exceeds Inventor, Pro/E and SolidWorks." —Ed Galicki, Design Drafting Services, a division of Galicki Mechanical Design
"I absolutely love doing 3D design in vanilla AutoCAD, and why people say it is hard I do not understand!" —Jack Foster, 3D Design Services
"I use Inventor now, but in some ways I like AutoCAD better." —Brian Schumacher, project engineer, PTC
"No, I use LDT [Autodesk Land Desktop] for all my 3D work." —Michael T. Royall
"I have used AutoCAD 2000 and 2002 to produce 3D CAD drawings since April 2001." —Ted Kruysman
"I use Mechanical Desktop exclusively." —Lou DelCore
It's very obvious that readers are very loyal to their software. Everyone I heard from answered that AutoCAD was and is a great program for doing 3D work. If Autodesk representatives could read their comments, they'd pop a few shirt buttons with pride.
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