Who is Chris Salomone?

When he got into making

How he became the un-official spokesman for SketchUp

What is CAD and why is it important to us as makers?

Our Levels of Experience

Chris is a semi-professional CAD user using his knowledge to design his projects and consult with other makers who need design help

Trevor is a professional CAD user and designer in his daytime job and uses these skills for his laser work

Stephen is considered a complete novice and hasn’t touched CAD software since 2005

What CAD softwares are available to the maker community?

SketchUp - Easy to draw and model any idea you can come up with, simple learning curve, web-based, relatively simplistic features, and FREE

Fusion 360 - Designed to be directly imported to a CNC/Laser, steep learning curve, advanced features, and free (with a few caveats)

Professional Level Software - Not recommended for the average maker

Catia - Commonly used in industrial manufacturing for aerospace, automotive, and

SolidWorks - Used by consultant/engineers for building design, MEP integration, and product modeling

Inventor

On Shape

Creo

SolidEdge

NX

Costs of SketchUp and Fusion 360

SketchUp

Free for non-commercial use and is web-based for ease of access

Professional/commercial use is a one-time fee of $695

Fusion 360

Free download for a trial period

Monthly plan for $40, one year $310, or two years for $620

Ease of use from the makers perspective

Chris is SketchUp all the way with simple intuitive use

Trevor is Fusion 360 all the way, he says SketchUp was was lacking features he was used to having

How to learn each software

Youtube - A variety of content creators provide tutorials

SolidProfessor.com - Provides walk-throughs and tutorials for CAD, CAM, and modeling software for every type of software from Fusion 360 to Sketchup to Rhino

The first Maker Vision Podcast Design Challenge

The 3D Stool Challenge