In this Civil Experience Civil Engineering Blog, I provide 12 best software for civil engineers because There are many computer design software out there but today we will cover 12 of the best cad software for beginners.
Top 12 Best CAD Software for Engineering
This includes some of the simplest ones but also professional software that is commonly used by beginners and has a nice learning curve. This list I prepare by my personal experience.
Drawing feature of civil engineering software enables the users best experience in designing and planning with high accuracy in a short time.
#12 LibreCAD
Type: It is a free and open source software made to do 2d drafting only.
Platforms: It belongs to the cad family and it is available on all platforms such as windows, Mac and Linux.
Functionality of LibreCAD
It is made to make all kinds of technical plans and construction details and it even can be used to do interior design sketches, mechanical parts, schematics and diagrams and it supports different kinds of formats like dfx, SVG and pdf.
The tools and features are easy to use and they can be used by students, hobbyists and even professionals.
#11 Tinkercad | Create 3D Digital Designs
This software is used a lot by students and professionals because it helps them start designing simple objects and make progress when making complicated objects.
Type: It can also be completely free software used in 3d printing jewellery design, interior design, and toys prototypes and so on.
Functionality of Tinkercad
The software offers a lot of good features like an intuitive interface. Some design tools and modelling tools in addition to code blocks.
You can save your work in the cloud in addition to that the software is very light and it doesn't require a lot of space or strong computer and the best part is it is completely free.
#10 BlocksCAD
It is a web-based application to do 3d modelling and animation. the 3d designs that the software generates can be used in webinars presentations websites and even social marketing.
This web application is used a lot by startups and agencies. It offers a lot of good features like 3d modelling using drag and drop coding and so on.
It is also very similar to openscad. It uses the same coding to create and combine geometric objects
This web application costs 149 US dollars per year.
#9 QCAD
This is a free and open source cad software.
It was made to do 2d drafting but it has good tools for creating complex technical details.
It is especially great for graphic design you can precisely set all the measurements and the dimensions relative to your design or mechanical piece. It is compatible with ocad software because you can open QCAD files in other cad software.
You can also use metric and imperial systems and the software needs a little bit of training before you can use it especially for beginners and students who are not familiar with cad software.
#8 Moment of Inspiration
It is an intuitive 3d modelling software with powerful tools and anyone can use it even if you are a beginner or if you are not a designer because the interface is so simple and straight forward and it is one of the low-cost solutions in the cat family.
It can also work perfectly to create mechanical pieces solid and hard service models additionally you can use the software on a tablet with a pen easily which allows you more freedom in the design process.
You can get this software for 260 US dollars and it is available for windows and mac.
#7 OpenSCAD – The Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller
It is great software to create solids in 3d.
It can also be used to create parametric geometric objects. The workflow of this software actually depends on your experience whether you are a beginner or a professional working on parametric object designs help you adjust them in the future to suit different needs.
You can also use coding to set up all the parametric parts relative to your objects.
It also offers git configuration management which is very great and a helpful option overall openscad is a great software to program in multiple languages and can be used in 3d printing as well.
#6 OpenSCAD – The Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller
It is one of the first products released by Autodesk and it is a great start for beginners and students since it has an easy interface and the tools and the commands are direct and easy to use.
AutoCAD is commonly used in drafting in different fields like architecture, mechanical, electrical parts and so on.
The 3d part of AutoCAD can be a little bit complicated and it doesn't offer a lot of features in terms of 3d compared to the other 3d software but learning AutoCAD will open for you.
The way to learn more software more easily is available on windows and mac and later on a web app called AutoCAD 360.
#5 SOLIDWORKS
Solidworks was made essentially to do complex 3d designs such as mechanical and electrical pieces because it has great tools for creating complex details.
The software can help you create all kinds of objects assemblies and presentations of products to clients at the end.
It also offers all the necessary basic tools to create simple products like the ability to change area weight, dimensions and it has advanced and precise drawing tools that you can use to create complex models and assemblies.
Solidworks is known for being one of the simplest to use among professional CAD software but it is a little bit more limited in terms of using curves for instance when it comes to car design it can be hard to use it especially when creating curved services.
Overall it has great and easy tools since its users pay very close attention to details especially when it comes to technical drawings and 3d modelling.
#4 FreeCAD: Your own 3D parametric modeler
Freecad is a modelling software made essentially to design complex objects especially mechanical stuff.
It can be considered simple and easy to use especially for basic designs.
It can also be used in different industrial fields in addition to architecture.
You can also use it to design complex objects and even to do rendering in addition to that it has a great parametric workflow where you can regenerate your models by changing some variable values.
You can also use this software to design from scratch or to do reverse engineering the software offers great features that can be found even in paid software besides that freecad is open source and it is valid for free it also has GUI mode and it can run on Windows and Linux.
#3 Rhino – Rhinoceros 3D
Rhino – Rhinoceros 3D is great modelling software that can be used in different fields.
It can be used to model houses furniture and objects such as cars, jewellery and so on.
It is relatively easy to use because its interface is clear simple with many tools and features.
Its tools allow you to have a high precision when working on complex 3d models like cars and jewellery and over time the workflow with the software will be fast because you'll be able to get used to it.
Especially when you start using shortcuts and hotkey overall it can be used by beginners for small projects or by professionals when working on complex ones and the good thing about rhino is that you can download plugins and customize the software and have a smooth workflow and better results.
#2 Fusion 360
Fusion 360 was made specifically to do mechanical and technical object design.
It also offers you the possibility to model artistic 3d objects and it can also be used to do 3d printing or to design electronic pieces and toys.
It has powerful tools to model quickly but with high precision, it also has features of cooperations so that all members on the project can work together besides.
The software has an intuitive UI and you can also use parametric design which helps you gain time and effort fusion 360's accessible tools help especially for beginners.
It also enables you to save all the work online which is great and better than saving them on your computer which can take up a lot of space in addition to that this will allow you to continue doing your work anywhere anytime.
Moreover, fusion 360 helps you create realistic 3d rendering.
It can also give you the possibility to choose different materials for your objects.
#1 SketchUp: 3D Design Software | 3D Modeling on the Web
SketchUp is one of the best and easiest cast software for beginners.
It was made for 3d modelling and 2d drafting you can work on 3d from scratch or import 2d plans and work based on it.
The basic tools of the software are simple and easy to handle.
It is perfect for beginners but you can also import plugins and customize the software based on your needs.
Sketchup also has the ability to integrate powerful third-party rendering plugins that can help you enter images in addition to cool animations.
Especially for architecture besides it has great control over lighting and cameras and it has a large variety of textures and materials.
It also has a large warehouse to download assets for your projects and the good thing is it is a paid software but it also has some free versions and it runs on windows and mac.
I hope you found this civil experience article useful and informative. If you have something to add you can leave it in the comment section below also you can check some of our previous articles thank you very much and I’ll see you in the next one.
#0 AutoCad
Autocad doesn't need any explanation. Autocad is the grandfather of designing software. Drawing feature of civil engineering software enables the users to understand every functionality for other software too…
FAQ1: Best Design Software for Civil Engineering?
SketchUp: 3D Design Software | 3D Modeling on the Web is Best Design Software for Civil Engineering
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