gabriel wrote:

David Zaret wrote:

i agree that sketchup is great... but it's also $500.

Yeah, the only downside. I had a really good look at it, I made a sample
woodworking design and a sample bathroom remodel (with cabinetry, of
course) in the alloted tryout time.

It's amazing to me, that I could do three things in 8 hours of use (the
alloted tryout time): 1) Learn to use it with the online videos, 2)
Design a sample cabinet for my garage, and 3) Remodel a bathroom (toilet,
tub, shower, and cabinets) so that you could walk inside and see the
texture, color, and size proportions.

The really cool thing about SketchUp is that you can do a rough design
first, and then if you like it, you can refine it later. You do not need
to design stuff down to the millimeter at first. This is what frustrates
me about CAD. I need to see if it's a good idea first before I spend
hours and hours on details.

Even though I am not a pro, $500 is worth it because of the time and
material saved (I have made expensive design errors in the past), and
because I can use the program for our home improvements.

I'm not familiar with sketchup - but I noted that there's a
version 3 package on eBay - current bid: $70.

--
Morris Dovey
West Des Moines, Iowa USA
C links at http://www.iedu.com/c
Read my lips: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.