Need advise on AutoCAD/Autodesk.

So I am going to be downloading a 30 day trial of autoCAD and wanted any advise i can get. I have never used anything like this before....i personally hate photoshop because i think it is too complicated (I think GIMP is even worse in my eyes) so i think this might be a disaster waiting to happen. I need to design a computer concept so that is basically what i am going to attempt to do...any advice with trying to build a specially designed computer in it? My drawing skills do not exist and i was hoping maybe autoCAD maybe a better option for me since my wife is too lazy to ever draw the stuff for me....been bugging her for 2 months to draw my sketches in detail so whats new ^^

Thanks for any advice you can give me. Any ideas on how long this "may take me"? hours? days? months?

 

"computer concept " is it 3d drawing?
AUtocad can handle 3D, but inventor 2010 and up are much easy for it.

 

i am going to use the product design suite....it seemed most suiting to my needs (by their description)

 

is not suiite =pack of software?
Product Design Suite - Product Design and Development Software - Autodesk
inventor includeded=)
if you need 3d it will be best choise.
he is simple and very powerful

 

alright i'll give that one a try first thanks

 

Have you tried Adobe Illustrator? You might like that, or Adobe InDesign. I think they're a little more geared towards what you want to do.

 

You will also find CAD software to be complicated, it is unavoidable given that the software is geared towards professionals and the amount of functions and functionality is key for them. It will be complicated, but another king of complicated compared to photoshop imo. I'm sure you can find online tutorials if you're lost. If you're a student, Autodesk offers student versions of the software, you just can't use it for commercial or production purposes, but that would at least allow you to get familiar with the software.

As for the time it will take, it will take you days to get familiar with the intricacies of the software so the first thing you'll work on will take a bit of time, but the following ones should go faster.

 

ok thanks everyone. I'll try inventor and other autodesk products first....a 3d model would be best to get a good idea of size and how everything works but i'll also check Illustrator too.

Going to school today to download it. I can't use 35% of my monthly cap on garbage AT&T. 55GB

 

good god...i have no idea how to make a hollowed box. I make a box and I can't figure out how to make it hollowed but i can pull out a wall from it but it is still a box. Sigh. This is really difficult. I am going to stop and just watch a few hours of videos and than get into it again :/

 

i am not realy good in english.
you want to make a hole in the box right?

this is the same as making box
you make sketch
and using "extrusion" (i take this word form google translater=)
the difference is: you must chose "subtraction" (google again=)

 

The best 3D software in my opinion is SolidWorks...not sure what you are using it for, but I use it as a mechanical engineering student. Although SolidWorks is insanely expensive, but you may be able to get a trial version or something through your school. Most 3D programs are going to require some learning, I took a semester class, and will be taking another one in the future.

 

yea haven't had time eyt due to a million and one family events due to christmas so i'll take a look at that. I tried that but it looks still solid. I also noticed someething about multiple parts so i'll watch some tutorials soon and see how that goes. Thanks for the help

@kawasaki- Best thing I can saw is i am making a laptop or cell phone in it. I want to make case with opening and all the parts

 

Solid Works is really the way to go. You can make anything you could dream of in Solid Works. It is definitely one of the best CAD programs out there...but like I said it definitely is NOT free. If you want a free program I am not sure I can be much help as I have not messed with any of the free programs.

 

I took a class in high-school and another in college in AutoCAD. Man that was in 2000-2001. We didn't even scratch the surface of the programs potential. I couldn't imagine trying to learn it on my own. Definitely interested I what you come up with.

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS CM9 via Tapatalk.

 

looking into solid works. i got an appointment with the guy down the road in IL that is the local distributer. I also understand you can turn an illustration into a 3d image....how does that work? I figure it would give me a good bit of help to try to convert a designer or sketchbook image to 3d model. At least i thought you could do that....correct me if i am wrong....if so any help/advice?