How essential is knowledge of Autocad in ID?

I am not sure if this has been talked about, as i did a quick search and nothing pertaining to my question came up, but: How relevant these days is Autocad in product design? I took it for one semester for dimensioning and doing orthos,etc. but I found it to be boring compared to 3D modeling software such as Rhino.

Do engineers mostly use Autocad? If not, any product designers use it and for what exactly? Thanks!

Completely irrelevant I would say, at least in product design. If you are doing something that requires drawings for large parts like possibly exhibits or furniture, then it may be of use.

Rhino is capable of doing dimensioned drawings, and the rest of the product world has moved onto solid modelling software like Pro Engineer or Solidworks.

Leave it to you, Cyberdemon. You are always a great help to me. :slight_smile:

There I was thinking I should re-learn AUTOCAD solely to add to my list of software abilities! I am just beginning to learn Rhino and going to take Solidworks this Spring (my final year), so that, I think, should be sufficient. I am pretty proficient in 2D softwares, such as AI and PS already! Happy New Year, Cyber!

My one suggestion would be to get a book that teaches you how to properly dimension a drawing… Just knowing the software is 1/10th of the battle.

Chevisw,

Good idea. I haven’t dimensioned a drawing in a few semesters! First semester, we took a engineering drawing class but long since have forgotten most of it. For a few class projects, when we’ve been asked to dimension, it’s a very basic kind, not very “mechanical”. I have to go over my engineering textbook again and re-learn it. Thanks for the suggestion!