Blue View - Finding the Right CAD Software
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I’ve been searching for a 2D/3D CAD graphics app for my iPad Air. I can find any number of inexpensive or free graphics apps for iPads and iPhones, but most are meant for sketching, drawing and other, more artistic illustrations. I’m looking for an app that I can draw two and three dimensional parts to scale, then fit and combine them together to design the next round of upfits for Blanche.
When we’re home in Las Vegas, I use two programs that run on my laptop. One is the free version of SketchUp, which is a dumbed down variant of the expensive full featured app. It does some of what I need, and while the full featured version probably has all the capabilities I could ever want, I have trouble justifying the $120-$700/year subscription price.
The other program I use is Xara Designer Pro. The copy I have is a few years old now, and while I’m sure there are several new features and capabilities in the latest release, I’m happy with the revision I have. (This mindset is probably why so many software companies, including Xara, have gone to annual subscriptions. Instead of trying to convince people like me that the latest release is worth the $150-$400 charge to update, with a subscription plan, either I pay the monthly or annual fee or the program stops working.)
Alas, my laptop isn’t here and I’d like to get all of Blanche’s new cabinets, drawers and bike racks designed while we’re traveling so I can hit the ground running when we return home. I could go back to that quaint method of designing using a pencil (with a big eraser), paper and ruler, but surely, with the millions of iPad apps out there, there must be a free or inexpensive design app that will do the job.
One major criteria is that the app must have lots of tutorials and learning tools. CAD design software isn’t trivial. Each app has its own user interface that can be difficult to understand and master. There’s a big learning curve, especially for my old, sluggish brain. It took me several days to get proficient with my other graphic design software, and learning tools that can shorten the process on a new app are important.
What I found is there are several apps that will work, but most aren’t cheap. One potential exception was AutoQ3DCAD. It has a one time purchase price of $30, and seemed to have the features I wanted. When I checked the available learning tools, however, I found them to be lacking… they seemed to be written by someone who needed to depend on Google Translate to generate the verbiage.
The other candidates were all subscription plans, ranging from $70 to $2100(!) a year. One of the highest rated apps, Shapr3d, is $240/year. Kind of steep for what I need.
Interestingly, the highest priced app, Onshape, which costs a whopping $2100/year, is free of charge if used for non-commercial use and as long as any designs created remain in the public domain. I can live with that. Further, there are a plethora of learning tools including entire online classes. It sounds great except for one teeny-tiny problem… it’s cloud based, meaning I need reasonable internet to use it - not something that is typically available in the campgrounds we’ve been frequenting.
So, I’ll continue my search and research in the hopes of finding just the right app. In the meantime, if anyone has thoughts or recommendations to share about other graphics design software options, please don’t be shy.