"Upscale" wrote in message
...

"Leon" wrote in message
So now I am happier than ever with Sketchup. I have no problem admitting
that I have invested a few thousand in CAD programs in the last 20 years
and
have moved up to a free program. It is different than a CAD program but
it
certainly holds it's own in this medium.

I think many people looked to CAD (if only the basics of it) because there
were few really capable graphics programs around and if you learned enough
you could design most anything with it. Now with faster and more
affordable
computers around and the plethora of available, cheaper (and free)
graphics
programs that abound, we can pick and choose what will do the job with the
least amount of effort. That's not CAD anymore for most people.

Robatoy will chafe (as will many of us) at all the "experts" who suddenly
appear in the design arena solely because of the cheapness and
capabilities
of new software. People will have to put in a fraction of the time
necessary
to learn more advanced programs than what was originally necessary for any
CAD program. It's exactly that same as the $700 I spent some years ago on
my
first 80 meg hard drive. Now all I can do is reminisce about it because
hard
drive space is thousands of times cheaper. Life's a bitch sometimes.

I employ both; as a long-time TurboCad (v.2, mostly v.7 and more
recently Deluxe v.12) user and SU not long after I discovered it and it was
still @Last Software in Boulder (currently v.6 Pro). SU has been
particularly useful to render project drawings that allow clients to
envision the finished look of a project. AAMOF I have a drawing to do today
for an associate's client, another who "just can't picture what it will look
like! (the WHAT IF MY GIRLFRIENDS WON'T LIKE IT!!! syndrome ) )"
Coincidently, the "staff" architect for a timberframe builder my SYB and
I employed for a piece of dirt we have in southern Colorado is the voice of
the early SU tutorials. At the time (2006?) SU had just been bought by
Google and Mark had left the company to strike out on his own. I was
excited enough to plop down another $95 on our return to Houston for the v.6
upgrade. I doubt those plans/drawings will be the final project site plans
especially for the trades.
But, when I need to dimension cabinetry or built-ins or permit plans I
still revert to TurboCad (though City of Houston has accepted SU drawings).

Dave in Houston