oh hai guys!

[bauf]

Hello there, i just joined the 3d printing club, and went ahead and ordered me a max v2 a couple of days ago..
I've done some reading on the forum,looked at the awesome prints you guys have done with these printers.. i'm impressed!

Many tips and tricks i've come across..but when it comes to designing my own prints..what pogram is recommended,what do you guys use?
I've looked at many,some are easy to use and some are for more experienced ppl.

I landed on solidworks, is that a good program to start with? For the record..i'm a complete noob,have no knowledge at all about any of this..
The printer is probably a week away,but i figured it's good to find a program and maybe make some stuff while waiting.
Got a few pieces i want to make,so..

Anyways,this looks like a friendly and helpful forum. And i'm guessing it wont be long before i need help...

[Captain Starfish]

OHAI2U2

Solidworks ain't cheap.
Nor is Inventor.
Nor is Creo (formerly Pro-E)
Nor is AutoCAD.

The other thing these pro level packages share is that they have a mongrel of a learning curve to climb before you can use them with any sense of purpose.

Just getting started, I'd look at simpler stuff. Sketchup or FreeCAD for example. Autodesk also do subscription based and free versions of other software specifically targeted at people getting into the scene and wanting to put together simple stuff.

I suggest these over the big boys because you're going to have enough on your plate for a while just getting that printer tuned and learning how to get good prints out of it, you don't want to be bashing your head against a wall with the CAD side of it too. Not at first. Come back to SolidWorks etc later on if you need to, would be my advice.

[bauf]

Oh..wasn't aware of the price, have just been looking at lots of youtube videos about it.. hehe
Ok,i'll try those programs you suggested thanks!

[nitewatchman]

I have learned to like DesignSpark.

[Captain Starfish]

Tragically, I've not been able to play with DesignSpark yet due to Mac.

[Tinyhead]

geneb pointed me toward Designspark Mechanical when I first started and I haven't looked back. I don't know my way around any CAD programs and designspark is very visual based.

If you check out the DS Mechanical website, there is a video there showing just how simple a lot of functions are. Check it out. Made a lot of my little projects very easy.

[bauf]

Thanks! I have looked at some youtube videos about that program, it looks very noob friendly, or atleast easier to use than lots of other programs i've been looking at.
Will definitely check that one out.