Google Sketchup

[scottydoh]

Originally Posted by Tetraman

Google Sketchup is not CAD, nor is it useful for CAD applications. It is a program to make 3d sketches, not 3d final products

Just out of curiosity, how would you define "CAD" then? And that's a serious question, don't take offense.

And I'll agree with everyone else here, since Inventor, AutoCAD (and Solidworks?) are free, you might as well just stick with them. Sketch Up is excellent for concept sketches, and I feel the workflow is much easier to understand for inexperienced users than most of the "Professional" CAD packages. I can model/Draft just as fast in Sketch Up as I can in AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit (generic models) or Max

Also, if you have access to Sketch Up Pro, you can export those concept sketches/models as .dwg's or some other native CAD formats. 3dsMax also directly imports the .skp files.

All in all, just learn Inventor or Solidworks...it will pay off in the long run.