Preferred CAD software?

[hoggworks]

Hey all,

I was wondering if I could get recommendations for any fairly easy to get into CAD/3D software, specifically for the purposes of modelling armour pieces. A VERY long time ago I learned 3DSMax (v1.2!), but holy cow, it's expensive.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

 

[charades]

I believe most people here use Blender or Maya? I haven't gotten to the point of modeling my own armor, but those are names that I've seen around for free software. I think Solid Edge has a free trial period (my sis is a mechanical engineer) but then you have to pay after that. Like Adobe.

 

[Bandiet]

Blender is pretty easy to navigate and wrap your head around. I've spent the last few months learning the basics ( no previous 3D modeling experience ), and although I'm certainly no pro, I've managed to do a few crude models. I'm sure if you've got previous 3D software experience Blender would be a walk in the park. And it's free of course, so nothing to lose.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[laellee]

It all takes time, but go with Blender. It's a steep learning curve, but most all 3d modeling software has the same basic underpinnings. Youtube has an ENORMOUS number of tutorials to get you started. A good starter is this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y__uzGKmxt8&feature=kp

 

[hoggworks]

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll check Blender out.

 

[AJTaliesen]

Silo is great for the price. Also comes with some measuring tools that I actually wish Maya had.


I use Maya myself, but it is pricey.

For fine detail work I'm still a fan of Z-brush and the price isn't horrible.

 

[OldSkoolEffects]

It really comes down to what you're going to do with it. I prefer CATIA v5, but that's because I'm not doing many designs that require sophisticated surfaces and stuff, but it allows me to create "real" sheet metal parts as well as solids, and I can run kinematics for moving assemblies, as well as being able to do high fidelity wiring design. When it comes to doing serious surfacing though, it's a bit lacking unless your one of the Illuminati of surfacing.

Blender seems to be good, and I see a fair number of people going to Z-brush for more detailed stuff.

 

[godproject]

I'm partial to Solidworks for parametric drafting and 3DS Max for polygonal modeling. They're both quite expensive though. Solidworks being the worst at around $20,000.00. I think once you get past all the terminology and techniques for either you can pretty much pick any program up and be able to do a good bit of modeling with it.

 

[hoggworks]

Have any of you used 123D Design? It's from Autodesk and free. It's built to create models that get printed on a 3D printer. I've only played with it for a few minutes, but already it looks VERY powerful and a pretty good fit for the kind of thing I'd be wanting out of it.

 

[OldSkoolEffects]

Free software will always have its limitations, but if it does what you need it to do, go for it.