Autocad Lt - Are 3D images possible?

[Anonymous]

Hi I am new here and to autocad software. I am looking to buy software to draw front elevation of residential houses and some interiors including kitchens for clients. Is it possible to do 3D images with Autocad Lt?

TIA

[steven-g]

 It is posible, but it's not straightforward, and if you want to do any sort of shading then I'd say not really. Autocad LT doesn't have any real built in tools for 3D. And you come up against a lot of brick walls, That said I work for a joinery/ shopfitting company, designing furniture- kitchens etc. and I draw 95% in 3D using LT.

[Anonymous]

Hi Steven thanks for the reply.

Do you have to use any other software to get the drawings in 3D? Do they come out looking like Autocad quality rather than animated quality?

I am a total novice with this software but I soon will have a lot more time to learn this. I aslo thought I would look at doing a beginners course. Not sure though if a beginners course will cover the problems with making 3d drawings.

[steven-g]

Jamhind,

   No other software just out of the box Autocad LT. But let me put you out of your misery, it can be done just from normal autocad commands but it takes too much time. you will need to learn at least the basics about creating macro's and programming in Diesel, and how to create dynamic blocks. It isn't something that I would recommend to anybody that has the possibility of using full autocad. If you can get the full version, go for it. But for the type of drawing you talk about LT and 2D should be ok.

[Anonymous]

I don't do programming or coding so that does sound beyond me. Of course my clients want 3D being the easiest to visualize. I would love to get AutoCad. It's just the price is too steep for me:(

[steven-g]

I don't have any choice either a lot of company's think it is more economical to use LT. Try looking on the internet for some of the free CAD programs, but you get what you pay for, and they can be limited in what they do.

And it doesn't matter which program you use, at the end of the day it all comes out as 2D on paper. I've known people produce some stunning drawings in Isometric.

[heinsite]

You really might like the price of SketchUp then.  You can do an awful lot with the free version - maybe everything you'd need.  But if you find you want more the Pro version can be had for less than an AutoCAD LT license.  SketchUp is 3D out of the box.  Elementary school kids learn it like a video game.  And professional architects and engineers use it for real work every day.

You might be surprised how much you can do and how quickly you can be doing it with SketchUp.  It used to be a Google product.  They recently sold it to Trimble.  You can find it all -Here-.

Dave.

[Anonymous]

SketchUp Pro looks great and affordable at under $500.

There seems to be all sorts of programs you can use to do rendering with SketchUp Pro. Would you recommend any in particular?

Do you know if there are courses you can do to learn SketchUp - since I am not a school kid lol?

Thanks so much for your help. This is great:)

[Anonymous]

Actually don't worry about the courses - I will google that so they will be in my area. Thanks:)

[steven-g]

They have loads of instruction videos on their site. And if you get bored with them there are hundreds more on youtube.

[Anonymous]

I found loads of tutorials and videos. Fantastic as a course here is $1000 - eek!

But do you have to use a rendiering program to get the photographic look to your sketches?

[heinsite]

No.  You don't have to, but you can do more advanced things with lighting if you want using plug-in helpers.  Most everything you see in the 3D Buildings layer of Google Earth has been done with SketchUp and photo textures.  It helps to have a little bit of Photoshop or similar image editing skills too... but it's not entirely necessary.

Dave.

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave

I would like to achieve ultimately images like this.

Do you think you can do this with SketchUp Pro?. Or will I need to use some plugins as well?

[heinsite]

You could get up to speed to create something close to the second one fairly quickly.  The first one however requires some pretty advanced skills.

As you go thru your SketchUp learning process you will see projects like this however.  Don't forget to search places like YouTube and the iTunes store.  Lots of good tips, tricks, and instructionals in both.

Dave.

[Anonymous]

I think it might take several months of hair pulling out to get to the level I want. But I just want to make sure I am not being unrealistic of what is possible.

I hadn't checked out Itunes - thanks for the tip.

Do you have any images you could show me of interiors that I could draw up in SketchUp? Everything I have seen on the internet looks very sketchy and animated as against more photographic.

TIA

[heinsite]

It'll be several months anyway.  But still way shorter than just about any of the other options, including AutoCAD.

Be sure to register at the Go-2-School SketchUp site -here-.  In my opinion these guys are among the best at this stuff.  They will point you to many other sites where you can get textures or learn how to apply your own.  They have an iTunes site too.

Dave.

[pendean]

Friend, the images you posted would be created by professionals with years of experience, and a lot of time/effort, and some serious touch-up with tools like Photoshop. You are not going to get to that level in a few months if today is your first day of 3D and using a tool like Sketchup.

Nor will you do the same if you buy full AutoCAD, or 3DMax (the correct tool BTW) in a month or two: if this is a career move, by all means jump in, but the study of lights and shadows alone (and we are not even taking about drawing the objects, finding and applying materials etc.) is time consuming. TIME is what you need to learn these tricks, trades, and concepts.

Do you plan on taking any classes? Or hoping to wing it on your own in a couple of months? Sketchup alone is not the final product, it's a start. You will need to eventually purchase add-ons: the more realistic the look/feel you want, the better software/hardware you need too.

So stop and think about your goal and timeline to do it. Enjoy the experience, you will eventually get great at it if you dedicate the time: there are no shortcuts and no software "to do it for you".

[Anonymous]

Hi Dean I was just sitting here looking at Photoshop. I was thinking it might be helpful.

Yes it is a major move and I am giving myself as long as it takes really. My DH is being transferred to Dubai for a minimum of 3 years. I won't do my Interior Design business whilst there. I can still run my Australian decorating forum but that's it. So I could spend my days in Dubai having my nails and hair done - but you can only do that so often lol.

I think this is the perfect time for a new challenge. And this is one huge challenge - eek!

There don't seem to be any SketchUp courses in Dubai so I will have to learn online.

I realise it will take forever to get the quality I want. I just want to be sure I an learning and buying the right program.

A friend who has used AutoCad suggested an Australian program called My Virtual Home.

This is the type of image you get though. Not very photographic. But it is free.

What do you think of it? Am I better to stay with SketchUp/ I still worry that SketchUp won't give me the photographic quality I would like (even with plug ins and a LOT of study). Do yout think it will?

[pendean]

I think SketchUp is a great starter tool to get you into that 3D thinking, getting to know geometry etc. It's a great tool that help conceptualize your thoughts into 3D objects and not just 2D flat drawings. There is so much free tutorial and content with it to make it worth learning and using.

There are similar and other tools you can start getting into as well, like BLENDER that get into more of the shading/composition and possibly video motion that you may seek (blender.org), Autodesk's currently free 123D software (http://www.123dapp.com/), and Carrara from Daz3D.com are worth exploring too. For lighting/raytracing realistic images, the free POV-RAY  (povray.org) is a good tool to practice those final well-lit shots you seek.

Realize that professinal 3D artists almost always touch up their final image with Adobe Photoshop to give it that "pop" or realism. Unless you got money to burn, explore using the free alternate to Photoshop called GIMP (gimp.org) that offers pretty much the same power (and is just as clunky to use LOL). The industry leader software for 3D is Autodesk's own 3DMAX, as complex to master as AutoCAD but the results are quite outstanding.

When I lived in Dubai, there was one bridge across the creek, not much on that other side of the old town, and not much hair/nails getting done unless you lived in one of the three small mud 'palaces'. Sounds like it's much more fun now 🙂

[steven-g]

  I would say go with sketch up and something like gimp. If you have three years to practise and you are dedicated then push those two as far as you can get them to go. There are differences between different programs, but the ideas and the drive to create is within you. Once you have learnt sketchup you can always change to another program and that should be fairly easy. But go with something that is popular, if you need advice on something you have much more chance of getting answers with a product that has the most number of users. I agree with Dean it is the practice that counts, I draw in 3D with autocad LT, but what I didn't mention is it took a combination of 30 years experience in drawing (starting on a drawing board), working as a joiner, and the same amount of time programming to get the computer to do what I wanted it to do.