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Going 3D: Survival Guide for 2D CAD Users
While preparing an article on the advantages of designing in 3D, I stumbled upon a vintage photo of people working in a 1920s architectural department. The photo shows serious men with wonderful moustaches, eyeshades, and bands around their shirtsleeves. They stand in front of drawing tables with T-squares, pencils, and drawing aids scattered about. In the background, wooden cabinets store drawings.
Strangely enough, in the office I stepped into for my first job out of engineering school, engineers stood at tables, drew on paper using T-squares and pencils, and along the wall stood steel cabinets for storing drawings. The big difference in the 50 years between the photo and that first work site was that people who were really serious about their work had purchased electric erasers.
Real change, it seems, didn't creep into engineering offices until the 1980s with the advent of 2D CAD. Its biggest advantage? Making changes faster than electric erasers.
The most significant change to engineering, however, came in the last 10 years with the advent of 3D solid modeling. It changed everything. Drawings in 2D, still the major product of design departments, are now just a quick slice of a model. And with accurate 3D models, departments outside engineering operations get a boost, as well. For instance, interference checking is automatic, stress analysts can get right to work because they aren't rebuilding models, and manufacturing people no longer have to rebuild parts for NC toolpaths.
But making the switch from drawing in 2D to modeling in 3D is more involved than just swapping one CAD system for another. It takes training, compatible hardware, and rethinking the way you work.
Fortunately, this book covers all the information you'll need to take your company to the 3D world. You'll learn about the benefits of using 3D, avoiding the technical and cultural pitfalls of implementation, and preserving the value of 2D legacy data. Plus, you'll discover many add-on tools that can help further sharpen your company's competitive edge. In the last chapter, you'll meet engineers who share their real-world experiences on moving to 3D. One of them may even be in the same business as you are. Imagine that: a competitor who is actually willing to help you work more efficiently. What a book.
— Paul Dvorak
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