Does Anyone Use SKETCH-UP ?

[ezdays]

The design work I have done for GCLaser, is done with Autocad.
For my personal use, Autocad, works just beautifully.
I will probably never go to 3D printing, when I can "build-up" just about anything I need in the way of "detail".
That said, my "hobby" is model building, my hands, are "my 3D printer".
To each, their own.

Autocad can be a bit pricy... make that a lot pricy. ($4,000 +) For our business, I used Turbocad which was a whole lot cheaper (around $50 at the time) and did a fine job with 2D, plus it could read and create Autocad files. Over the years, it kept getting more and more expensive ($130 for the "Deluxe", and up to $1700 for the "Pro" versions), still a lot cheaper than Autocad, but more than I wanted to spend. They are now up to version 20, but I still use version 8 and it works fine, even with Win7. It does 3D, but I can't find a reason why I'd want to take the time to learn since I really don't have a use for it. Maybe if I got a 3D printer that would definitely change.

And yes, I have downloaded Sketchup and do plan on spending time using it. There was an article in "Wood Magazine" a few months ago on how to use the 3D function for woodworking projects, but still I'm concerned about the learning curve on the 3D even for that. From what I understand, it is a powerful CAD program, and the price is right.