Is the Term AutoCAD a Misnomer?

Definitely not. For me and the people I use to talk to, CAD drawings is a common term. And, currently, lets be honest, electronic format is the standard. Its strange when you refer to some drawing that is not in electronic format. And, in this case, I run to the scanner to make a good copy of it... You never know how long paper will last. AutoCAD is well known to be a particular software. No misuse or confusion about it at all. The guy in the convention is quite isolated from the rest of the world, because there are several (better) alternatives to AutoDesk software, depending on what you need and what you do.

both of you are correct.

CAD is Computer Aided Drawing, and is the generic term for the soft copy of drawings generated from drawing and drafting softwares (AutoCAD being one of them).

having established itself in the market ^{(that statement can draw contradictory comments, I know)}, AutoCAD has become synonymous with CAD, in the same manner that, in my home country, Colgate means toothpaste, or Xerox means photocopier. because of that, its use has become interchanged, and probably to some extent, misused.

your insistence of qualifying drawings done from either AutoCAD Lt or AutoCAD Achitectural or AutoCAD 3D Max, as an AutoCAD drawing is therefore also precise.

HTH!

The AutoCad file formats became an industry standard.

Personally I don't use AutoCAD but have to be able to read the files or sink.

so close....

CAD is actually "Computer Aided Drafting." AutoCAD is not just one of the drafting software vendors, but the first significant computer drafting software for PC, starting from the early 80's. This situation has arisen because Autodesk has long promoted the exchange of data between applications. Many applications developed in the 90's developed utilities to be able to translate the DWG/DXF file formats into other applications. AutoCAD was also one of the first applications to offer 3D drafting, and as such, it developed that primordial reputation, and the name became conversant with the industry of computerized engineering graphics.

The DXF file format (Drawing Exchange Format) was created as a text editable file type for data exchange. (yes, its just a text file) You can read the dwg/dxf file in virtually any serious drafting application, from visio to solidworks to bentley etc etc.

Technically you should refer to each file type by its program name plus version (ie solidworks 2007), and generically call them either 2D CAD or 3D CAD. It is important to understand the use of the program name and version, as many vendors can open older files and save as current version, but not all of them will save as older file versions. If you have older software, you may not be able to open newer version files.

Autodesk is also the company that owns 3D Studio Max, amongst other applications. They are definitely one of the biggest of the engineering graphics industry.

Chris

thanks.

my set of graphic tools unfortunately doesn't include AutoCAD. but 20 or so years ago, they called it "drawing". oh well, I guess Engineers call them drawing, but draftsmen prefer to call them drafting. and draftsmen being the primary users of the app, naturally prevailed.

and another poster said "design". IMO, this term is used in when the app becomes part of an ERP system, where drawings become part of the process, the computer aided manufacturing. thus, CAD-CAM.

Ok, so far it looks like this guy's off handed comments about AutoCAD were erroneous.

It just seemed funny to me that a long time member of the faculty of a well known East Coast "Technical" Institute would refer to AUTOCAD as a "misused term".

Thank you all.

Smitty

I'm afraid I have to agree with the statement from the convention. AutoCAD is a brand name. For a drawing to be an AutoCAD drawing, it must have been created by, or editable directly with, one of the several versions of that brand of software. I create hundreds of CAD drawings, but only a small fraction (those I have to share with others who don't have my particular software) are converted to DXF/DWG formats. That small fraction could be called AutoCAD drawings, but the rest definitely are NOT!

You are both right

In my experience the statement is right, in that people will say 'I have an autocad drawing of the part,' and if you ask what software it was done in, there can be half a dozen different answers.

It is also correct in that people incorrectly use CAD to mean computer aided drawing or draughting.

Well, guys, I think CAD is actually Computer Aided Design.

If you think about the processes you go through in it, there is design. You don't arrive at the computer with everything finalised....also, looking at wikipedia..

To me CADCAM means computer aided design, computer aided manufacture.

But Smitty how can anyone say you are wrong? You do the drawing in Autocad, it's an Autocad drawing

I take the points about market leaders becoming the term for the product, good or bad.

I regularly get customers saying 'I've got proper artwork, I did it in Word', and I have to resist going 'Pfffff'.

jim

not true. the drafting and plotting functions were the first to be created.. design is somethat that they (original developers) realized was inherent in the realtime drafting capabilities.

I agree there is confusion, but... even though most people have accepted the term as Design, if you look a little deeper, it really was drafting first (and numerical control), which was my point.

"Due to the very high cost of early computers and to the unique mechanical engineering requirements of aircraft and automobiles, large aerospace and automotive companies were the earliest commercial users of CAD software. First-generation CAD software systems were typically 2D drafting applications developed by a manufacturer's internal IT group (often collaborating with university researchers) and primarily intended to automate repetitive drafting chores. Dr. Hanratty co-designed one such CAD system, named DAC (Design Automated by Computer) at General Motors Research Laboratories in the mid 1960s. Proprietary CAD software programs were also developed by McDonnell-Douglas (CADD released in 1966), Ford (PDGS released in 1967), Lockheed (CADAM released in 1967) and many others.

Also in the mid 1960s, the Digigraphics division of Control Data Corporation released the first commercially available CAD software system. The system was a successor to ITEK's earlier CAD software research system (which was named "The Electronic Drafting Machine" and ran on a Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-1 mainframe computer) and as with the Sketchpad CAD software, input was made using a light pen. Digigraphics was priced at $500,000 per unit and only a very few units were ever sold."

http://www.cadazz.com/cad-software-history.htm

Even this link acknowledges the common use of the term as design, however.

very informative. GA

Actually, as per my knowledge, it is a software in 2d and 3d technologies. And is used for drawing and planning a shape of a picture and building. It is more helpful to the civil engineers for their professions. View this thread, it will explain this concept in a much better way.

you forgot about solidworks dwgs. pro engineer dwgs. and other design software

of course. today, many will say that SolidWorks has overtaken AutoCAD, and that it has become the new industry standard.

but AutoCAD was there first. and that's a position that's difficult to displace.

AutoCAD is "Jello", "Kleenex", inthe old days "Mimeographed", and so on. The first big name becomes the general term.

You all have got me curious..........

What else is there for "drafting" or drawing 2D images besides AutoDesk products and can you show me any examples?

I use a very old version of AC all the time .

I am seriously interested in anything new. I am NOT an engineer , but I need to make accurate drawings for bids and instructional purposes.

Thank you for any examples you can send my way of "other" CAD softwares.

Smitty

I've been using Vectorworks and its predecessor MiniCAD for around 20 years for both electronic and mechanical drawings. Any original drawings sent to you would be considered unreadable formats, so you would be unable to see them. They would have to be converted to DWG/DXF, pdf, jpg, etc. for you to be able to view them.

Unfortunately, the CR4 images are way too low resolution to show a drawing of any complexity, unless I've missed something.

Auto CAD was originally designed as an architectural software but became the standard for drafting. For drafting it is still probably the best. Unfortunately the file formats do not work well for CAM. DWG only translates as a flat pattern, and DXF is nearly useless for CAM without a lot of work.

Most solid modeling softwares such as Solidworks, Pro-E, or Catia include drafting capabilities. CAD/CAM softwares such as Mastercam (which I use), Surfcam, Gibbs, etc. can do drafting but not without a bit of struggle.

Solidworks does seem to be the new standard and I strongly recommend to anyone getting into any type of design to learn it.

Freebie Cad

There are quite a few highly capable FREE Cad systems available there. Google cad for more.

Have at it.

Hooker

Intellicad used to be a good cadd program, fully conversant with DWG/DXF Files. They were bought by Solidworks, and it now forms the basis of the DWG Editor you get bundled with SW.

There have been dozens of 2D cad programs.. even some put out by Autodesk (Generic CADD)

Here's a list

Chris

I'd say the term can only correctly be used for .dwg files. Once the file is converted to a more user-friendly format such as .pdf, it is no longer editable in CAD and so is not an AutoCAD drawing. As far as being developed using an Autodesk software, a quick visit to the web-site would show Autodesk also offers Revit (also in various specialties) which isn't CAD at all. In the future, it's likely CAD and Revit will merge leaving CAD as a memory of the past.

Actually, in my experience, unless there is a clear delineation in the work or group using the software, they will tend to keep using the same term. People would routinely, for example, refer to needing to pick up some "VCR tapes" regardless of whether they were using Betamax or VHS formats.

I would guess that we'll be refering to our 3D models as "CAD models," and if anyone asked, we might just use the newer reference to Computer Aided Design rather than the original "drafting," regardless of the generation of the term CAD.

We'll likely be getting used to descriptions and requests calling for "a planview Section plot through the 2nd floor showing the CAD outlines" or a "Northwest view of the rendered CAD model" with or without textures applied.

It may be an .rvt file, but it will still be CAD.
And in this particular case, some may even call it "my AutoCAD Revit model," without realizing they've just mixed product names, as the company has done such a good job of marketing their product that many refer to them by their flagship product rather than by Autodesk.
either way, we'll still know what they mean ;)

IMO, "He" is right.

Long before AutoCAD came along there were a variety of CAD systems on the market. I happened to work for ComputerVision, the premeire CAD vendor, starting in 1981.

We had a product trademarked CADDS (Computer Aided Design and Drafting System). It had CAD (design), drafting, CAM (manufacturing), and CAE (Engineering) modules.

Computer Aided "Design" preceeded Computer Aided "Drafting" as lots of design was being done, particularly in VLSI, before a need for documentation forced the drafting capability.

After AutoCAD hit the scene, we were forced to address the PC market and came out with our own PC based CADD system called MicroCADDS. It was too little, too late, as the cost of an AutoCAD seat so severely undercut the cost of our systems, the company could never recover from the revenue loss. It was bought up by PTC and is still marketed as CADDS 5.

Long story short, to most of us old timers an output sheet of paper or a pdf rendering is a "drawing". A prorprietary cad file on disk is referred to as it's source system; ie, AutoCAD file, or in my case, Inventor files. CAD, CAM, CAE, et al, are just generic terms.

Hooker

For me it was always Computer Aided Drafting and Design. Designed was enabled because you could superimpose different layers of a product or stsructure, and all the intersecting elements would be able to be aligned. (the basis of concurrent engineering)

but google searching turns up both versions, so it doesn't matter. Wiki has it your way. I'll aquiesce.

I think a lot of it depends on what world one is brought up in. I came up from discreet manufacturing (NC/CNC machining) into CAD/CAM. The drafting world was one I generally avoided as I only wanted to work with 2D/3D digital data to do my programming.

I always thought in 3D for machining so translating a 2D paper drawing to 3D in my head was always a pita. When good 3D systems hit the street (ComputerVision CADDS4X) I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Hooker

Hello Smitty,

You have the full answer to your question already, but to add my bit,................. AutoCAD is a software, and to be pedantic, the only correct way to describe a drawing on this software is, it was done on Auto CAD.

However, in the 'real world' auto CAD has become synonymous with any computer aided design graphic.

Take care my friend.

bb

Thank you everybody for the replies.

Now, could you all give me some direction if I were looking for a 2D and/ or 3D software, that is user friendly and reliable?

I need exactly what AutoCAD 97 LT or 2000 LT can do with maybe some more tweaks.....not a lot....just a little more ability to draw out shapes and do hatches better.

I really do not want to just search, I would like to actually hear comments from folks like you all that have used the programs and experienced the good, bad and ugly of CAD programs.

Thank you all again,

Smitty

One tends to like what he/she is accustomed to. Every time any software is 'upgraded', it takes a while to learn the changes, especially when the changes remove one of your favorite features! I think it is pretty safe to say that no one (even including individuals who wrote parts of the software) knows all the features of any major program.

Having used Vectorworks and its predecessors for over 20 years, I'm very comfortable with it. It is much more affordable than most of its competition. and is more capable than I! I have to confess that I only know the barest rudimentary steps of 3D...

I've tried Solidworks, and liked what I saw, but it is so much more expensive that I can't justify switching. If my company decides to buy it, then I just might be convinced to switch. I've had Windows running on my Mac, so could use Solidworks, But I'd much rather stick with Mac programs... (Vectorworks is available for either Mac or PC).

What is your budget?

Budget is flexible right now.

Then i would recommend Solidworks.....

And I would recommend Inventor...

Hooker <--- who has used both

Inventor, or SolidWorks?

download the trial versions of both and try them out.

-- langyaw

I have worked a few CAD drawings with many different CAD programs AutoDesk's AutoCAD is well established and recognized as having been a leader in the field. I always found it best to either the DWG of DXF from AutoCAD. DXF stands for Drawing eXchange Format and while it seems to be the logical file format for portability, the DWG file format is much better exchange of drawing files or components thereof.

I suggest refer to the file format first (DWG) and then what software was used to generate it later. The other thing to use is the print in a PDF format function to exchange CAD prints since the recipient wil not have to have the same CAD software and you will not be given them your drawing data such as layers, hatching, fonts and file structure.

Thank you all for the input.

Smitty