Future personal developments in using CAD

From completing and reflecting on this CAD skills audit, along with visual evidence, I can see the areas of CAD that I have worked on and also the areas that need development/research. 

Software such as 2D Design and Pro/DESKTOP I am comfortable using and exploring. These are two design areas that I have been working with for many years, and have included them in such projects as my A Level work and Product Design 1 and 2. 

New CAD areas to me include Adobe PhotoShop and Google SketchUp. For both of these I have been able to experiment with and explore many features.

My development work/areas are using programs such as Pro/ENGINEER and Adobe Illustrator.

Other evidence - other CAD software

Other evidence - CAD software

- SpeedStep, ProSketch/ProPainter

Software such as SpeedStep is very useful for creating fashion items, accessories, designs for outputs, etc.

In education, software such as this can be used to to accompany textiles based projects, used to produce designs for construction/cloting, also for use with outputs such as sublimation printing, etc. Also, certain software allows for colurs, patters, etc to be added to designs, to make them more real and visual.

Here I have created a shoe design using ProSketch.

Using ProPainter, I have added colour and patterns.

Computer generated illustrations

Computer generated illustrations -



Using different CAD software to produce design presentations/images, etc is particularly valuable. Images created can be posters, adverts, packaging and so on. These images/products, can be used and placed in a virtual environment that is appropriate to the context, and text, layouts, other images, etc, can be included.

Photoshop

PhotoShop-ed poster (tea advert)

I have produced a (poster) tea advert using Adobe Photoshop. It is a resourceful program that allows the user to create 2D graphcs for various end uses. Here I have made a tea advert to promote a new range of tea. This was used in my Product Design 1 module.

Pro/DESKTOP / SolidWorks - Rendering image ('Album')

Rendering an image -

The Album feature in Pro/DESKTOP is used for rendering designs that are created. It is predominantly used to visualise a product that brings into play texture mapping, backgrounds and lighting tools. Also, visual ‘materials’ can be added along with other techniques.

To show an example for a rendered image, I firstly designed a 'lego brick' using Pro/DESKTOP Design, and opened it using the Album feature. I then selected the material (plastic, polished), added it to the design and changed the colour of the brick and the background to create an effect. 

Pro/DESKTOP / SolidWorks - Engineering drawing

Engineering drawing -

3D modelling on Pro/DESKTOP allows the user to create a 3 view orthographic drawing with isometric features.

Orthographic drawing showing different views and anles of my 'lego brick'. The various dimensions are shown.

Pro/DESKTOP / SolidWorks - 3D model of part of a product

3D model of part of a product –

I have created this (my pewter cast design) as a 3D digitally produced CAD drawing, using the program SolidWorks. It demonstrates the use of 3D modelling.

Reverse engineering -

Using software such as Pro/DESTOP or SolidWorks links well with the National Curriculum requirements for Design and Technology, to investigate and assemble/disassemble products.

Features allow the user to create accurate designs, produce components, analyse form and pupils can learn about the software.

To create this shape I have used a revolve profile on Pro/DESKTOP.

This is a helix shape I have created, also using Pro/DESKTOP.

Pro/DESKTOP / SolidWorks

Pro/DESKTOP / SolidWorks

Pro/DESKTOP is a feature based solid modelling and assembly modelling package with an inbuilt feature-based drafting package designed to run on a PC. The software allows for 3 major parts – these are 3D Design, 2D drafting and a 3D Album or visualisation package.