Short for 'computer aided design', CAD is a design software most commonly used to create construction designs and plans. Artists, architects, engineers and drafters make use of this software to create drawings. CAD is more efficient than hand drawn plans as it creates lines in the form of vectors that are based on specific mathematical equations. CAD is sometimes known as Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD). Some of the popular CAD programs used by engineers and architects include TurboCAD, AutoCAD and Vectorworks. Different types of CAD programs serve different purposes. While the lower end 2D programs are often available for free on open source platforms, parametric solid modeling on 3D CAD is more advanced and allows you to make a number of adjustments to the model. Using CAD instead of hand drawn construction plans is a great idea because the software allows room for flexibility. The software allows the designer to switch between 2D and 3D views of the plan at any time. Close ups and distant views can also be checked with the zoom option. These drawings can also be rotated to be viewed from a different angle. Editing and manipulation of images is an easy and non messy affair. CAD is mostly used in industrial applications like architectural design, automotives, aerospace, shipbuilding, and prosthetics. Apart from these industries, CAD is occasionally used for pure design purposes in advertising, special effects, computer animation and technical manual illustrations. CAD is also vital to the extensive research on computer graphics and computer generated geometry. This website covers several services related to CAD including tutorials, legal liabilities of designs and other pertinent data. |