<p>Do you have any experience eith these? D wants to give it a try during the year but can't figure out which are any good or reliable.</p>
<p>I have worked with CAD for many years. The most important thing is to take a course for the most common CAD program. I work on mechanical parts and can give advice in that area, but if she is interested in architecture, perhaps someone else can advise. For mechanical, I would suggest AutoCAD for 2D, and SolidWorks for 3D.</p>
<p>AutoCAD can do 3D too. It is actually pretty good.</p>
<p>AutoCAD can do 3D, as can a lot of programs. It's just not the program of choice for 3D. It is superb with 2D though. You won't find many engineering firms using AutoCAD for 3D. The same company makes Inventor, a dedicated 3D program, which is good also, but isn't used as much as SolidWorks. 3D programs take a lot of computing power. AutoCAD is easy to run at home and students can get a great discount to purchase it. What is she hoping to get out of the course?</p>