Sketch up vs autocad

[Mark Bolton]

I'm not familiar with Fusion 360 so I can't comment to that but I am familiar with Delta CAD and very familiar with Sketch Up. SU just is soo much faster than Delta CAD and I suspect Auto CAD as well. Can't tell you how many times I use previous drawings or portions of previous drawings to draw a new project and just alter the dimensions or something. I'm so use to SU now I can import / draw / alter a project right in front of the customer and get instant decisions right then. Especially important with built ins or kitchens and definitely a selling point for the customer to see a very good 3D image of the project before I ever make the first cut. Best birthday present ever from my wife was a 3 day class at my local Woodcraft to learn it really well from Bob Lang (thanks again Bob).

I believe he still has a bunch of learning materials for the beginner that are top shelf and there is a million videos out there to lean how to use SU. You do have to use it to make it sink in however.

This is our experience as well. When we were doing residential work it was nothing to sit down and completely work up portions of a large project right there with the customer. A massive massive sales tool for us. Now in the commercial work we do the same thing. After our shops are in, we can meet on-site with the crew and show them in 3D what the work entails. They love seeing it in 3D and being able to ask for a different view or perspective, a certain section view that wasnt in the shops. We can show them in real time and simply export a pdf or jpeg and shoot it right to their on-site Ipad or computer.

I really despise the subscription based format that everyone has gone to now because just like with SU they simply keep creeping the price up every year (including the maintenance) and soon we will be paying the same numbers that a seat for Autocad use to be. But it is what it is. At this point I would be hard pressed to be without it. We run all our casework through a paid plug-in Cabinetsense that handles the entire CNC side as well so a single job will pay for the lot.

[Randy Viellenave]

One other option if you're only doing 2D is Draftsight. You will find it is very similar to AutoCad LT . They have a free version you can use to learn.

[Bob Lang]

Best birthday present ever from my wife was a 3 day class at my local Woodcraft to learn it really well from Bob Lang (thanks again Bob).

I believe he still has a bunch of learning materials for the beginner that are top shelf and there is a million videos out there to lean how to use SU. You do have to use it to make it sink in however.

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the kind words. I've been teaching SketchUp for 10 years now and I'm still at it. I came to SketchUp after years of experience creating drawings by hand at a board, and then with AutoCAD. For me SketchUp wins hands down. The Pro version (which you need if you're making money or want to export vector files) is a bargain compared to AutoCAD LT or the full version of AutoCAD. When you get some practice in, the design process is much like heading out to the shop and putting hunks of wood together. You can create alternate versions quickly and examine them from any angle. As others mentioned it is a fantastic sales tool, but it is also a powerful engineering, problem solving and project management tool. If you think ahead about how you create and name your parts, you have an accurate and complete list when you're done. In SketchUp you focus on building a good model and when you're done you can extract everything you might want to know about the model and it's parts.

It does take some effort to learn. That effort will be lessened considerably if you have someone who knows what they're doing show you how.

Bob Lang

[Livingston Johnston]

Thanks for all the replies! Does sketch up offer the ability to draw in 2D? 3d would be great to show customers but if i need to send a profile to my tooling manufacturer, it nedds to be simple 2D

[Livingston Johnston]

Draftsight also sounds interesting. Does anyone have experience with it? It is easy to learn? Limitations vs sketchup or autocad lt?

[Jenny Trice]

Onshape is an excellent option. It is free. It is more like traditional CAD systems, in particular Solidworks. There is a lot of training material online as well. It is cloud based, meaning you never have to worry about version updates. It is far more capable than the relatively simple package that most woodworkers would require. The only limitation is that if you use the free version, you are putting your files into a public arena. For most woodworkers, this probably isn't an issue. I am an engineer by training and have had some CAD training although I am far from an expert or an every day user. I have tried to use Sketchup and found it very not intuitive and not easy to change features or parameters without starting over. And, I wasn't able to make dimensioned drawings. I'm not sure how long Onshape has been around and am surprised it is not brought up in conversations like this.

Good luck.

[Mark Bolton]

2d is displayed in sketchup by simply orienting the camera to the desired view and setting the camera to parallel projection.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the kind words. I've been teaching SketchUp for 10 years now and I'm still at it. I came to SketchUp after years of experience creating drawings by hand at a board, and then with AutoCAD. For me SketchUp wins hands down. The Pro version (which you need if you're making money or want to export vector files) is a bargain compared to AutoCAD LT or the full version of AutoCAD. When you get some practice in, the design process is much like heading out to the shop and putting hunks of wood together. You can create alternate versions quickly and examine them from any angle. As others mentioned it is a fantastic sales tool, but it is also a powerful engineering, problem solving and project management tool. If you think ahead about how you create and name your parts, you have an accurate and complete list when you're done. In SketchUp you focus on building a good model and when you're done you can extract everything you might want to know about the model and it's parts.

It does take some effort to learn. That effort will be lessened considerably if you have someone who knows what they're doing show you how.

Bob Lang

I dont think you can compare SketchUp and Autocad LT. They are two very different programs for two very different jobs. OP said he wants to do 2D and I just can't imagine doing 2D as quickly in SketchUp as I do Autocad. If 3D was in consideration then SketchUp would win hands down vs Autocad but I would recommend Fusion over SketchUp. SketchUp aggravates the hell out of me.

[Philipp Jaindl]

If you can afford it definetly AutoCAD. In my opinion it has a better UI, more options and its Industry Standard, at least here.

[Bob Reda]

I would stay away from subscription based software. Art cam users paid out over $12000 and a yearly maintenance fee just to have the company go belly up and they are all out thousands of dollars. Use a software where you actually own it.
Bob

[Bob Lang]

I dont think you can compare SketchUp and Autocad LT. They are two very different programs for two very different jobs. OP said he wants to do 2D and I just can't imagine doing 2D as quickly in SketchUp as I do Autocad. If 3D was in consideration then SketchUp would win hands down vs Autocad but I would recommend Fusion over SketchUp. SketchUp aggravates the hell out of me.

My comparison is based on the time it takes to create a typical woodworking project; figuring out what to build and presenting the information in the form of standard (and not so standard) printed drawings. It is more of a difference in mindset than any particular software, and I have a great deal of experience with both SketchUp and AutoCAD. When 3D modeling, I focus on solving the problems of what the thing will look like and how the parts fit together. When I'm done I can quickly extract any 2D or 3D view that I want. Because the prints are different views of a single model, there isn't any way for different views to disagree or to draw something that can't be built. Working in 2D, either on the board or in a CAD program the focus is on making the drawing, even in the initial problem solving phase. I started out in SketchUp trying to create 2D drawings and wasted a lot of time. I was learning how SketchUp doesn't work. I too found SketchUp aggravating, but my aggravation was the result of me trying to work with an AutoCAD attitude. Eventually I learned how SketchUp really works and the drawings I make take less time, are more accurate and valuable in the shop, and I have far more options in what I present to a client or the guy doing the building. Now when I need to go back to AutoCAD, I find it aggravating and slow.

Bob Lang

[Livingston Johnston]

Just a quick update. Ive decided to try fusion 360. I might pick a shaper origin cnc router in the next year or so and it can run using fusion 360 designs. Im a complete novice with computer drawings so im going to try and go through the tutorials. Ill update this thread to let members know how it is going as a beginner

[Bryan Lisowski]

Just a quick update. Ive decided to try fusion 360. I might pick a shaper origin cnc router in the next year or so and it can run using fusion 360 designs. Im a complete novice with computer drawings so im going to try and go through the tutorials. Ill update this thread to let members know how it is going as a beginner

There is a guy on YouTube named Lars Christiansen, he has a really good 3 part getting started tutorial, plus many others.

[Ben Rivel]

Just a quick update. Ive decided to try fusion 360. I might pick a shaper origin cnc router in the next year or so and it can run using fusion 360 designs. Im a complete novice with computer drawings so im going to try and go through the tutorials. Ill update this thread to let members know how it is going as a beginner

Smart choice learning Fusion 360. It will open a lot more doors down the road than SketchUp.

[Rick Alexander]

There is a guy on YouTube named Lars Christiansen, he has a really good 3 part getting started tutorial, plus many others.

I need to look him up as well. I'd love to see what the differences are and also love a competitor since Sketch Up is starting to get more aware of its profit possibilities. I don't mine paying for the software (I do have the paid version) but always helps keep costs down to have a good competitor.