Week 2: Computer-aided design

I have used multiple 2D and 3D softwares through out the years. I started with proprietary softwares initially ( mostly free trials or original full copies through friends ). I used blender since it's first release but the honestly the user interface was so difficult to grasp back then specially if one has used the likes of 3DMax. The latest versions specially after 2.4 things were much easier to get but I think it still has a steep learning curve. It's very powerful and the new rendering engine is amazing.

For the CAD design i used a software I am more comfortable with and I think helps get you going with a first draft of your idea in no time hence the name 'SketchUp'. I got excited to use Antimony after seeing the demonstration by Neil so I decided to partition my new laptop with pre installed Windows 8.1 and install Ubuntu. I think now I have to go back and forth between both operating systems to use SketchUp and Ubuntu. ( I tried Wine previously and it crashed several times).

In sketchup i can simply trace a single plane of the model from an image or scan a sketch from a piece of paper and extrude the 2d plane to get a 3D object. Then something I found recently to be useful is the trim tool. (You can only apply solid tools on Components). I convert this 3D object to a Component.