Whatever the project size, or the industry, the most basic building tool of any technical drawing is usually a CAD software. CAD stands for Computer Aided Design, meaning that technical drawings, which up until the 80s were traditionally created manually, are now "aided" by software solutions to boost productivity and speed - but chances are that if you are reading this, you already knew that. Odds are, you also started your designing career learning how to draw lines on a computer screen. To this day, CAD is the most used 2D drawing method in the industry, and most design offices have a few copies of some CAD software products. 

A typical CAD interface and content. Image courtesy ZWCAD Spain

For a long time, the concept of CAD meant the AutoCAD product family. In recent years, many alternative drawing product emerged, including ZWCAD and GstarCAD. The main charm of these product is uniformity: they provide the same CAD drawing tools and commands (polylines, chamfer, heavy use of layers, etc.) that professionals already know, and always seek. The strongpoint here is that you don't have to re-learn anything - if you have used one CAD software in the past, chances are that starting to work in a new software will be a breeze.

Although some CAD products offer 3D abilities, too, most CAD products are still focusing on creating 2D plans. CAD products also tend to get specialized, and there are many products tailored for architectural- electrical- landscape design, city planning. CAD is basically everywhere, where technical drawings are required. CAD is great for documentation, but if you need rendered visuals, you need to go a bit deeper into 3D modeling.

So what happens if you do need 3D? Especially when your end goal is to create renders, or you need models where things have substance and mass, you need to be able to model 3D spaces and objects. What you crave is the freedom of imagination, to model anything you want, with lighting speed. 

Luckily, there are many products for such aims - SketchUp, Blender, etc. The workflow is simple, but powerful - we draw simple shapes, extrude and sculpt them, until we hit the desired forms. Then, we apply materials and push our model into rendering. Such tools are great for architectural, interior, landscape or product design, or basically any areas, where computer-generated images are desired. Again, based on what you need, you have tailor made solution for product design, the film industry, etc.

 

Well-known 3D modeler SketchUp in action. Simple, yet powerful tools to create 3D solids. Image courtesy Ibercad Ida

• the ability to equip your design with information, which is accessible to all stakeholders
• a method to import and export parts or the whole of your design in a way that it stays editable in other BIM software

Enter ARCHLine.XP