Posts made by PeterCharles

This guy has featured in several UK TV programmes over the years.

Solid modelling - Inventor

Surface modelling - SketchUp Pro

CAD - ChoiceCAD (16 bit UK version, available now as AllyCAD) This was my second CAD program, after X-CAD on my Amiga, and I still love it for quick 2D drawings.

I wasn't sure, is the spiral 2D or 3D ??

http://www.dyson.co.uk/about/story/battlefordesign.asp

Oh product design, as in the "arty" type of design. Here's two tales -

1. My son in secondary school had to design a kite which included a graphic design to be printed on the sail. He got only average marks. I queried this with the teacher who was lukewarm about his artwork. "But it flies beautifully" I said, the teachers response being "we're not interested in if the kite flies"!

2. A college lecturer in engineering I was in conversation with had been asked to judge the designs produced by a group of design students because he would be independent. The design was for a teapot and a wide range of models had been produced. But none would pour properly as not one student had considered that a teapot needs to pour tea.

To me form follows function, if a kite doesn't fly, or a teapot doesn't pour, the rest is irrelevant (unless you're just producing a piece of art).

Was this a rant? If so I'm sorry

Um, I see you've selected only the new "universities", no "old" ones. Is that a good idea? What are their drop-out rates? What are the post university employment statistics? Times is hard, you'll get into debt, you'll need a decent job after graduating. Are you going to get one with the degree you end up with. It's not a popular thing to say with the education authorities but there is little future in a Mickey Mouse degree from the University of the Watford Gap Service Station. In engineering you should make sure your course is accredited { http://www.intstudy.com/articles/ec185a15.htm }.

http://www.unofficial-guides.com/guides/brunel-comments.html
http://www.unofficial-guides.com/guides/shefhal-comments.html
http://www.unofficial-guides.com/guides/loughboro-comments.html

However good they are "you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear" and most of the drawings where we could use it are real sows ears!!

I was googling for a 2D CAD program with "constraints" and came across SketchFlat.
http://www.cq.cx/sketchflat.pl

I'm just playing with it, but I have some ideas how it can help me lay out simple 2D pieces of handling equipment while maintaining critical constraints between them. I can then save the simple outlines as DXF files and load them into other software to make pretty drawings.

@anglaret said:

I feel that no company is interested with 2d,

Interesting as I've just read this....

upFront.eZine
the business of cad, enlightened
Issue #550 | March 11, 2008 | English Edition

@unknownuser said:

Autodesk wishes it wouldn't but AutoCAD LT continues to outsell everything else, with sales up 33%. Seems there is quite a market for sub-$1000 CAD software.

Have you checked out this? It talks about parametric relationships to maintain design intent.
I would try it but I run Win2K at home, says it needs XP.

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/Images/fs_se_2d_drafting_tcm53-24085.pdf

@john sayers said:

we differ from US football by the fact that we wear no helmets or padding.

Aussies are real blokes!

Could it be that while SketchUp was once "novel" and "new" it has now become "standard" and "old"? As a result its lost some of its "cool", perhaps losing a bit more with the free version?

Are the old glory days gone?

@mike d said:

you could alway look at autocad lite its alot cheaper than autocad
but works almost the same

Except there are no programming options without buying extra software.
But if you only want an electronic drawing board it's fine.

@rhankc said:

looks like a 30 trial to me...

...and to me! And it's a flavour of IntelliCAD

drawhelix13.rb ---> 1647
So a good number downloaded my Ruby.
Alas, these days I just don't get the time to program using Ruby, have to concentrate on VB/VBA allied to Inventor and ACAD .

We've got slightly different problems here. Really surreal driving round seeing water bowser's on street corners and people queuing for bottled water from the back of a lorry!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/glou ... 915987.stm

Freddie Starr says hamsters are very tasty

I did have a go with the free version of Alibre, didn't look too bad. But events overtook me in the form of Autodesk's Inventor!

However, I think all these programmes work in much the same way and I think Alibre has progressed since I tried it. If your'e interested in the more "mainstrean" 3D modelling I'd go.

Could it be that while SketchUp was once "novel" and "new" it has now become "standard" and "old"? As a result its lost some of its "cool", perhaps losing a bit more with the free version?

Are the old glory days gone?

From the ACAD 2007 programmers help file

Header group codes :-
$INSUNITS 70
Default drawing units for AutoCAD DesignCenter blocks:
0 = Unitless; 1 = Inches; 2 = Feet; 3 = Miles; 4 = Millimeters;
5 = Centimeters; 6 = Meters; 7 = Kilometers; 8 = Microinches;
9 = Mils; 10 = Yards; 11 = Angstroms; 12 = Nanometers;
13 = Microns; 14 = Decimeters; 15 = Decameters;
16 = Hectometers; 17 = Gigameters; 18 = Astronomical units;
19 = Light years; 20 = Parsecs

Open the DXF file in a text editor and check the setting.