Expert: Bob - 12/29/2005

Question
hello i was wondering what was the best drawing package for for a tennager to use im 16 and doing my GCSES. in design and technology, resistant materials in school. i need to make a varity of things in 3d. and the 3d packages that i have at the moment are hard to use and are for architects. the features that the architects package has are great. but what i need is something that has all the same features that the architects package has but is easy to use. and has an instructions how to use the package to its maximum ability. could you please tell me what is the package for me to use, that comes with insturctions. and the package has to be free as i dont have a credit card. the package could also be a trial aswell.

Thank you
Yours sincerly

Amar Shafi  

Answer
Hi -- congratulations on your studies-- I will reply as best I can.
But first:

1-- It is absolutely essential to "use the terms that are used" in any industry, to be clearly and quickly understood.(the word "package" threw me -- you mean "software")
2--BE SPECIFIC BE SPECIFIC, BE SPECIFIC -- if you want to be seen as intelligent and thorough.
a-You have objects to make, but do not say what kinds.
b-You already have some software, but you do not say which ones (so I can know what you have tried, and what to rule out.) It is pretty tough for me to suggest something that has all the same features as X, except easier, if I do not know what X is.
c-You do not state the field --  Engineering, maybe, since you dont want Architect software. this does not compute to me - perhaps you are not in the US --"GCSES. in design and technology, resistant materials"

CLARITY IN, CLARITY OUT, NO???

Meanwhile, you probably need Autodesk Inventor or Solidworks, both of which you can find trials of, I think, on the Internet.  AutoCAD is also a possibility, but I cant say, with the information you give.

But even BEFORE all that, I cannot imagine that a school would assign a student, even in college, to make 3D objects on the computer, without suggesting the software to use. Cant your instructor tell you what his past students have used -- or are you trying to be innovative here?

I must caution you that most professional software takes quite a while for even very clever people to learn. I fell into the trap of slowing some of my student work by trying to learn complex software while doing my assignments.

So good luck, and be smart about it. If you have to do it the way other students do in order to finish on time, so be it.

BOB

ps-- sorry for the long reply: if you were more specific, I might have been able to say "get XYZ"