CAD - Computer Aided Design

I first got into CAD in about 1997 when my mate Andrew brought round a piece of software called Real 3D. I hadn't had any experience in 3D software beforehand but I had a basic grasp of drawing principles from 2D computer work (although I'd never got as far as any vector graphic stuff) and I just kind of launched into it.

Truly speaking, CAD wasn't what I was doing, but they fall under the same umbrella of 3D modelling. CAD is more centred around engineering and architectural pieces of software used by professionals. Computer Aided Design in fact has had a large percentage of its work covered in 2D work and it should by no means be used as a by work for 3D modelling and certainly not 3D artwork. CAD artists may have no ability or experience to contruct a 3D mode, and similarly 3D artists such as myself may struggle to create a 2D Project.

One of the predominant areas of CAD use is in architecture. A good friend of mine who works for a comany called Infinite 3D works in the non-design end of things and this demonstrates just how broad the uses of computer software is. No doubt someone used CAD software to drawn up the original architectural plans from which the building will be built, and which my friend Daz used to create his models.

The leader in CAD has really been Autodesk which started in 1982 and produced AutoCAD which is still going strong with AutoCAD 2007 released in 2006 and remains one of the most poopular suites of authoring software.

Beginning as a general-purpose 2D piece of software fopr drafting purposes, AutoCAD evolved into a selection of products which incorporate both 2D and 3D applications for the likes of engineers, architects, and desigers. It doesn't include the advanced 3D features of software such as 3DS MAX but its still one of the most respected packages around. It's important to note that MAX was developed by Autodesk Media and Entertainment, which was formerly known as Discreet and Kinetix.

DWG has pretty much become the standard file format for exchanging 2D files, although DXF is well used too, and this can be employed in 3D work also. Its of note that despite is market dominance, there is no version available for Macs or Linux and it can only be run on Windows machines. This is at odds with the large number of industry professionals who chose to use Macs for work. My afforementioned friend Daz for instance does all his work modelling on a Mac.