Hi, I am new to this forum. I wonder if someone can help me please. I want to do some basic drawing for a Chalet Bungalow which will require floor plans and elevations, which workbench tool would you suggest I use, I am assuming ARCH? Also, are there any youtube videos to help me set it up and achieve this ambition or can anyone suggest a simple process for going about this, perhaps there is a less complicated free CAD to download? Thanks in advance. Brian
Hi,
The arch workbench (or BIM), as mostly the rest of FreeCAD, is mostly geared towards 3D. You don’t draw, you model (and extract drawings from the model afterwards). You can draw too (the Draft workbench), but it’s not the strong point (yet). If you have never worked with CAD before, it’s not necessarily more complicated than drawing. In fact, children use to learn freecad far better and faster than engineers…
If you are going to do this for yourself, I would recommend spending the time to learn 3D modeling and doing that way, as having a 3D model of your chalet will expand greatly your creativity and finding problems in the project than drawing.
If you are already used to CAD, though, there are indeed much easier solutions if you are going to stay 2D. I would look at librecad, or qcad (qcad has both paid and open-source versions)
I recommend the written tutorials, and also the video tutorials.
If you are an absolute beginner you may need to learn many concepts of CAD. If you are experienced with another software, then the transition may be easier.
Hi both. Thank you for the replies. I have used a Total Cad software in the past to do some house plans for myself but it won’t load onto my computer with Windows 10, so I bought the Luminar Cad Suite but found it more complicated than my old basic software. I’ll have a play with it and see how I get on. Thank you again. Brian
My follow up question is – does FreeCAD “convert” floor plans into house structure/elevations in 3D or even 2D?
In other words if I draw floor plans of main and second floor of a house, will they be converted into house exteriors? To then you go back and forth and adjust?
Is there a better software for this, other than full blown professional drafting software?
Basically I want to be able to draw house floor plans and see/adjust/create the house shape, elevations from there.
Which software do you recommend for this if not FreeCAD?
FreeCAD does not convert things. You need to draw your floor plan, and from it, you generate the 3D objects.
If you import the floor plan, then you can use it as reference to draw the 2D geometry that will be extruded into 3D shapes.
Again, see tutorials and video tutorials explanations on how that works.