CAD software

[Annie Grieshop]

That is very cool, John -- thanks for sharing.  CAD software tends to have
steep learning curves (and require perceptual realignments), so SVG sounds
like a good alternative.

Annie Grieshop

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Delacour [mailto:JD at Pianomaker.co.uk]
> Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 6:03 PM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: Re: CAD software
>
>
> At 13:01 -0800 14/1/08, Terence Miller wrote:
>
> >Does anyone have any feelings about the CAD software they use?
>
> Do you use a PC or a Mac?  For the last few years I have been doing
> all my drawings (on Mac) with SmileLab
> <http://www.satimage.fr/software/en/> but I emphasize that this is
> not "CAD software".  I detest all the CAD packages I have looked at
> and especially Autocad. I used to like the old Claris CAD for Mac,
> which still works under the latest system, but I rarely use it now.
> SmileLab is free if you don't want to do 3D stuff.
>
> For the past few months, though, I have been using SVG.  If you're
> quick (before I delete it!) you can have a look at a little work in
> progress using SVG at <http://pianomaker.co.uk/cgi-bin/action2.pl>.
> You must be using FireFox or Opera (NOT Internet Explorer) to see
> this properly.  This page allows you to specify certain dimensions
> and redraw the key.  To see how the drawing is written, view the
> Source in the browser.  I emphasize that this is at the moment just
> an experiment and not very far advanced.
>
> SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is absolutely free  and is a W3
> standard mark-up language, like html.  The standard is published at
> <http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/index.html#minitoc>
> and there are various good sites to learn about it.  It is pretty
> easy to learn.
>
> The only advantage for me of Smile over SVG is that Smile will
> produce a vector PDF and that can be converted to DXF for CNC
> machine.  There are ways of doing the same with SVG but they are
> either clumsy or expensive or both.
>
> If you must use a CAD program, look at <http://www.ashlar.com/> but
> in my opinion all CAD progams are a waste of time and money.
>
> JD
>