Expert: Bob - 5/10/2004

Question
Bob,
I am a metal sculptor, and I have always been wondering if AutoCAD would be useful in this type of art. I know how powerful this software is, but I do not know if it is either too advanced, or more engineering oriented. I want to take a course at a local university but I want to find out first if it worthy for me to do it.
Thank you
Alfredo Alamo


Answer
Hi -- well, start by going throught the websites of Autodesk (maybe Inventor is more for you) and Solidworks: see if you get fascinated with the programs. If the point is to represent your work to a metal fabricator, and the work is fairly geometric, perhaps AitoCAD would be a good choice. If it is quite abstract, with compound curves, perhaps not. Frank Gehry's office uses Catia, which costs the price of a Mercedes.
One idea would be to show the work to someone who does AutoCAD and have him comment.
If you are thinking of doing your creative work in a computer program from scratch, you have a good deal of learning ahead -- again, no way to comment without seeing the complexity of the work.
Bob