Quote Originally Posted by Seanz0rz View Post
Solidworks for me was pretty easy, but I did have a couple of classes that used it heavily. They weren't Solidworks classes specifically, but that was the focus, along with basic drafting principles. To me, Solidworks makes a bunch more sense than autocad, which I tried unsuccessfully to learn. You draw a 2d shape, extrude it to a block, or make it a thin profile for tube. It is actually pretty easy with just the basics like creating planes, and the 3d sketch is important too, especially for tube bending.

The one we use at work was much easier than Solidworks to learn. But it has its own serious limitations. It is not parametric, so if you wish to change the size of the feature, it is not like Solidworks where you click on the feature in the tree, edit the size, and it works. You must add or remove material with other tools. The sheet metal tools in KC also suck, which is bad for us since that is 90% of what we do. I think it would be great for casting, molding, machining, etc.

I am actually looking for a good 2d program to do wiring diagrams. Eagle is a bit complicated just for basic diagrams. I do want something with layers so I can put each layout on a layer then combine them all to have a master diagram.
After attending the University of YouTube I found out what I was doing wrong. I was working with an under-defined 2d sketch (meaning I didn't read any instructions) and trying to extrude to 3d. I was getting errors that didn't make sense to me about my unfinished 2d sketch. It's hard to mess this program up once you get into it. I am still learning though.

As an afterthought I imagine this was my problem with going 3d with DraftSight as well. If all else fails watch YouTube. Old dogs can learn new tricks.

SolidWorks is very superior to Sketchup with regards to power in 3d modeling due to it's demands that you have a specific point in space that you must place everything and it has to relate to something else in the model. In Sketchup getting everything to relate is a learn as you practice skill and sometimes can be very difficult to place something in a specific locale. Since I do not have the mounting locations for the front bumper (and the front bumper is still light years away from getting funded) I am going to attempt to re-draw the idea for my BBQ grill and possibly add some animation to it. I think drawing it again in 3d will be hard enough let alone adding an animated piece but I've got a great program so I might as well learn it.