The Uses Of 2D CAD Software
Often time’s people think of CAD software as designing buildings or cars and they are surprised to hear about CAD suites that cater exclusively to 2D applications. This shouldn’t sound so strange though because 2D CAD has quite a few uses in the modern world and without it a lot of the things we use today wouldn’t be possible or would be much more difficult to design. While it’s true a great deal of the drafting done today and the CAD software used today has 3D attributes to it and it is without a doubt the most useful and sophisticated CAD software out there, 2D CAD software is still required in a lot of fields today.
Architecture for example is the most popular field which commonly employs 2D CAD software. In the architecture industry it was once common place to draft out floor plans by hand. This process could takes hours and a lot of paper. The other problem was that copies were difficult were make due to their size and each copy was incredibly vulnerable to damage. On top of it all making changes and editing could take hours. Changing one wall could require them all to be changed and thusly a whole new copy had to be drawn from hand. This is where 2D CAD software aided dramatically. 2D CAD software allowed not only for electronic copies but for editing and initial design to be much easier. No longer did architects have to spend their time doing monotonous tasks that simply took time and not skill. Creating floor plans is one of the most common tasks of 2D CAD software.
Another less thought of task has to do with electricity. Much like a floor plan a circuit layout can be a time consuming thing to make. They require large pieces of paper to draw and the problem of editing them is only intensified. Unlike a floor plan which usually has a lot of white space, a circuit diagram is packed with wires and transistors. It’s practically impossible to move anything to make room for something else without having to completely start over. With the ability to now electronically edit these diagrams and have the computer do the spacing the whole process of designing any electrical component has become much easier and much quicker. The other thing 2D CAD software has brought to the table is simulation testing. The 2D CAD software used to design the circuit and also test the circuit for any errors the engineer may have made. Both for its ease of use and simulation aspects 2D CAD software has become a common tool in an engineer’s arsenal.
While 2D CAD software isn’t the flashiest thing around it certainly is far from unneeded. The time it would take to design anything ranging from a floor plan to an electrical circuit would be dramatically more without 2D CAD software. As both 3D and 3D CAD suites continue to be developed and improved upon they will never merge. There will always be a need for a specifically 2D CAD program that can’t be replicated easily in a 3D CAD program and there are things 3D CAD programs can do that 2D CAD programs can’t. Neither is better and while often times the 3D CAD program is more impressive there is a lot more to 2D CAD programs than a few squiggles.
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