Stop Designing in 2D
I am always surprised, no make that astounded, by the number of companies that are still designing in 2D software. 3D CAD has been around, and relatively mainstream, for over two decades. When I ask this question of my customers they tell me things like “Oh, Mike can crank out 16 drawings a day in 2D, but the 3D CAD jockey only puts out 8 drawings a day.” I have my response ready: “How long does it take Mike to make another view of that drawing? Can he export a 3D model for rapid prototyping? How hard is it for others to use that 2D data?” Sure there are 16 drawings out there, but how many of them are being recreated in another format for CAM, Marketing, Sales, etc.? Those 8 models the 3D guy is creating can easily be made into 2D drawings if needed. They can also be quickly exported to STL, STEP, IGES, or a whole host of other formats to support other functions within the company, and partners/contractors/suppliers outside the company.
When I started using 3D CAD in college, I was certain that within 5 years, paper drawings and 2D drawings would be obsolete. Why would I want a 2D representation when the 3D model has what the 2D version has, and so much more? If you have ever read the book Flatland you have a good idea of the importance of dimensions, especially when there are 3 of them (dimensions, that is) out there. Please spare me any commentary about how time is the fourth dimension. My question is, given that we live in three dimensions and now that we have the capability to model in all three dimensions, why do we continue to represent three dimensions using two?
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