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Can anyone recommend a good CAD program? Are there good freeware programs out there? I know virtually nothing about material design, but have an itch to get involved in a few projects. Are there good tutorials out there for this kind of work? I haven't had much time to poke around on the web, but I would be very appreciative if someone who has "been there" could point me in the right direction.

Thank you!

I was a 'board rat' for years and moved over to CAD programs in the mid-eighties. I've been away from it since 2003 and don't know who is currently 'on top' as far as affordable CAD software goes. At that time, everything seemed to be going in the direction of solid modeling and 'wireframe' drawing.

Autodesk's 'AutoCad' has always been the 'front runner' and as late as 2003 I was using AutoCad LT (light) for most of my design projects. Unless you are thinking about getting involved with high end automotive 3D solid modeling, I would say that even an older version of AutoCad LT would do about anything that comes along. Being Windows-based, it is (was) pretty intuitive. I see that AutoCad LT is going for around $300 these days.

At the structural engineering firm I work at, we primarily use AutoCAD. We are currently running a full version of AutoCAD 2013. Our software is updated annually to whatever the newest version is. The changes between versions are usually fairly subtle bug-fixes, so unless you are planning on getting heavily involved in drafting, an older, cheaper version should do the trick. One of the older guys in our office who is not tech savvy at all uses a version of AutoCAD LT - it is pretty much bare bones in terms of its features.

The technology in the architectural/engineering field is beginning to shift to a program, made by AutoDesk, called Revit. While we have only been using it for the last couple of years, the program is capable of doing a lot of cool stuff. The design team (architect, structural engineer, MEP, civil engineer, etc.) can link their models together to help cut down on conflicts that could arise during construction (such as pipes running into beams, etc.). The program also renders 3D images and can automatically cut sections of the building, which is pretty neat.

As for tutorials, the "Help" portion of the AutoCAD program is pretty clear in its directions and tips. The best way I found to learn the program was to jump in and just start drawing. The UI is customizable and can easily be tailored to fit your needs.

Hope this helps,

TMB

If want something simple and basic (and free) try Sketchup. The free version is called Sketchup Make.

http://www.sketchup.com/

http://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-make

I do appreciate the help! I will be diving into a few of these later this weekend, just to get my hands wet!