# found a free CAD program! \[CAD Discussion\] **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [December 7, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011 "2009-12-07T22:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/1 "2009-12-07T22:50:47Z")
Pretty sure I have read a few people that wanted some sort of CAD, and I have found one that is just like autoCAD. [http://www.doublecad.com/](http://www.doublecad.com/) ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/2 "2009-12-07T23:07:40Z")
if this thing cant go 3d I will be upset. It better be user error. ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/3 "2009-12-07T23:19:42Z")
f this. I just found out I can get a free 12 month version of all AutoDesk software as long as I am a student. haha now the question, which program would I be best served getting used to (future ME student)? Mechanical? SketchBook? Revit Architecture Revit Structure Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis Professional Revit MEP Autodesk Navisworks Manage Autodesk Ecotect Green Building Studio (web based service) AutoCAD (vanilla) AutoCAD Architecture AutoCAD Civil 3D AutoCAD Electrical AutoCAD Inventor Professional AutoCAD Map 3D AutoCAD Mechanical AutoCAD MEP AutoCAD Raster Design Autodesk 3ds Max (30-day trial only) Autodesk Alias Automotive Autodesk Impression Autodesk Maya (30-day trial only) Autodesk MotionBuilder Autodesk Mudbox (30-day trial only) Autodesk Showcase Autodesk SketchBook Pro Autodesk VIZ ---
**Author:** ![97FormulaWS-6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/97formulaws-6/32/7384_2.png) [@97FormulaWS-6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/97FormulaWS-6)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/4 "2009-12-08T05:36:15Z")
Uhm, none… AutoCAD is used primiarly for HVAC/Building layouts now a days. If you want to learn something that will be useful in a normal ME enviornment go download Solidworks or Pro/E off of a Torrent. ---
**Author:** ![drvnkd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/drvnkd/32/109615_2.png) [@drvnkd](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/drvnkd)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/5 "2009-12-08T05:56:42Z")
I really need to start using torrents… SW is good once you know how to use it… And I only use about 0.01% of the functionality. ---
**Author:** ![newman](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/newman/32/7569_2.png) [@newman](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/newman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/6 "2009-12-08T06:00:38Z")
> [@97FormulaWS-6](#): > > Uhm, none… > > AutoCAD is used primiarly for HVAC/Building layouts now a days. > > If you want to learn something that will be useful in a normal ME enviornment go download Solidworks or Pro/E off of a Torrent. A lot of engineering guys here are strictly 2D autocad users. ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/7 "2009-12-08T06:30:51Z")
[quote=“drvnkd,post:5,topic:77011"”] I really need to start using torrents… SW is good once you know how to use it… And I only use about 0.01% of the functionality. [/quote] word to torrents, ill look into SW in a bit after I relearn cad… I just bought some books off of [half.com](http://half.com) about autoCad and photoshop, time to learn over break… ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/8 "2009-12-08T06:33:03Z")
ya know, its weird how I can stay up till 4am doing CAD and/or photoshop with out being tired. hopefully this means I am finally heading in the right direction with my education. ---
**Author:** ![d3x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@d3x](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/d3x)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:35am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/9 "2009-12-08T06:35:37Z")
> [@97FormulaWS-6](#): > > Uhm, none… > > AutoCAD is used primiarly for HVAC/Building layouts now a days. > > If you want to learn something that will be useful in a normal ME enviornment go download Solidworks or Pro/E off of a Torrent. Actually Autodesk Inventor is just as much a standard in the ME environment as Solidworks or Pro/E. ---
**Author:** ![97FormulaWS-6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/97formulaws-6/32/7384_2.png) [@97FormulaWS-6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/97FormulaWS-6)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/10 "2009-12-08T06:42:34Z")
In the markets I’ve been in (Aerospace and Medical; I can’t speak for others) everythings SW, Pro, or Catia. AutoCAD is mainly used for Legacy products that were designed in it before 3D was mainstream. I’ve never seen/heard of Inventor in industry (Except for Newmans company!!!). ---
**Author:** ![ultradriver10000](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/ultradriver10000/32/7397_2.png) [@ultradriver10000](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ultradriver10000)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/11 "2009-12-08T06:49:09Z")
> [@newman](#): > > A lot of engineering guys here are strictly 2D autocad users. I’ll chime in and say maybe ~%80 of the industry still uses 2D cad for a couple reasons. 1) Old guys don’t want to learn / change. 2) It isn’t worth changing the system to go all 3D. It is great to know both though. I know Inventor, Pro/E, and CAD well, I can dabble in Solid Works but to use it daily I’d need a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![d3x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@d3x](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/d3x)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:23am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/12 "2009-12-08T07:23:47Z")
> [@97FormulaWS-6](#): > > In the markets I’ve been in (Aerospace and Medical; I can’t speak for others) everythings SW, Pro, or Catia. AutoCAD is mainly used for Legacy products that were designed in it before 3D was mainstream. > > I’ve never seen/heard of Inventor in industry (Except for Newmans company!!!). Our largest customer Joy Mining Machinery uses Inventor to design their assemblies. [http://www.joy.com/](http://www.joy.com/) And our second largest customer Bucyrus International uses Pro/E and Inventor. [http://www.bucyrus.com/](http://www.bucyrus.com/) And our third largest customer Komatsu uses Unigraphics [http://www.komatsu.com/](http://www.komatsu.com/) ---
**Author:** ![djdstar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/djdstar/32/7617_2.png) [@djdstar](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/djdstar)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/13 "2009-12-08T07:26:14Z")
> [@newman](#): > > A lot of engineering guys here are strictly 2D autocad users. what he said ^ 3D in autocad isn’t exactly the most popular thing in the world unigraphics and solidworks are two programs i remember being popular for 3D ---
**Author:** ![vq30de](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9dc877/32.png) [@vq30de](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/vq30de)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/14 "2009-12-08T07:39:07Z")
> [@travisn](#): > > ya know, its weird how I can stay up till 4am doing CAD and/or photoshop with out being tired. hopefully this means I am finally heading in the right direction with my education. When you have dreams in autocad… Revit makes me hottttttt ---
**Author:** ![97FormulaWS-6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/97formulaws-6/32/7384_2.png) [@97FormulaWS-6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/97FormulaWS-6)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:47am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/15 "2009-12-08T07:47:01Z")
Hey, like I said… “I don’t know about other industries”. travisn - I remember those days in college where I could just jam out to music and do CAD and not even know what time it was or how long I’d been doing it… to this day that’s how I end up doing it whenever I do design work (which is very rare anymore). ---
**Author:** ![drvnkd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/drvnkd/32/109615_2.png) [@drvnkd](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/drvnkd)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/16 "2009-12-08T08:49:54Z")
Time certainly does fly when you are trying to figure out how to mate things in 3D… ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:22am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/17 "2009-12-08T09:22:56Z")
> [@ultradriver10000](#): > > I’ll chime in and say maybe ~%80 of the industry still uses 2D cad for a couple reasons. 1) Old guys don’t want to learn / change. 2) It isn’t worth changing the system to go all 3D. > > It is great to know both though. I know Inventor, Pro/E, and CAD well, I can dabble in Solid Works but to use it daily I’d need a week or so. so what you are saying is that autoCAD is out? I have gathered on a quick google search that autocad is mainly for 2d drawings and revit/sw is for 3d modeling? and revit is for architectural while sw is for product design? I know 3d modeling is possible with CAD because I made a 3d model of a 240sx back in highschool (extrude was my friend)… too bad I dont have that file anymore. lol Should I download structure or inventor or figure out how to torrent Solid works? I would really rather not torrent a program if there is not that much of a difference between the characteristics of the program that I’ll be able to teach myself in the next year or so. I mean if one is totally preferred over the other and will definitely be taught/used in my near future then Ill go with it, but if they are marginally different I dont see the point. All I am trying to do is draw things in 3d; be it a shifter for my s10 or a random household object. Nothing crazy. :grouphug: ---
**Author:** ![d3x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@d3x](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/d3x)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:27am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/18 "2009-12-08T09:27:36Z")
> [@travisn](#): > > so what you are saying is that autoCAD is out? > > I have gathered on a quick google search that autocad is mainly for 2d drawings and revit/sw is for 3d modeling? and revit is for architectural while sw is for product design? > > I know 3d modeling is possible with CAD because I made a 3d model of a 240sx back in highschool (extrude was my friend)… too bad I dont have that file anymore. lol > > Should I download structure or inventor or figure out how to torrent Solid works? > > I would really rather not torrent a program if there is not that much of a difference between the characteristics of the program that I’ll be able to teach myself in the next year or so. I mean if one is totally preferred over the other and will definitely be taught/used in my near future then Ill go with it, but if they are marginally different I dont see the point. All I am trying to do is draw things in 3d; be it a shifter for my s10 or a random household object. Nothing crazy. > > :grouphug: I think you can come to the conclusion that the companies out there use many different cad programs. So its hard to pick one unless you know the company you will work for. I’d say find out what software the school you plan to attend uses and learn that. ---
**Author:** ![drvnkd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/drvnkd/32/109615_2.png) [@drvnkd](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/drvnkd)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:33am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/19 "2009-12-08T09:33:36Z")
It depends on the company. Where I used to work, One guy was interested in learning SW. Everything else was basic part and assembly drawings in 2D with AutoCAD. Where I am now, the drawing package of choice in R&D is whatever you want to use. We have guys that use, Inventor, SW, Autocad, Autosketch, Viseo and who knows what else. That being said, you have to at least know how to do the basics in 2D. In the beginning, I was convinced 2D was easier than 3D, but now I can make 305 2D drawings from one 3D model. ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:45am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011/20 "2009-12-08T09:45:15Z")
[quote=“d3x,post:18,topic:77011"”] I’d say find out what software the school you plan to attend uses and learn that. [/quote] good idea… anyone know what RIT pushes onto its students? [quote=“drvnkd,post:19,topic:77011"”] Where I am now, the drawing package of choice in R&D is whatever you want to use. We have guys that use, Inventor, SW, Autocad, Autosketch, Viseo and who knows what else. [/quote] How does the company justify purchasing licenses for all those products? Do you have any continuity issues because of different programs being used? [Next page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/found-a-free-cad-program-cad-discussion/77011.md?page=2)