Let us try and define what we are arguing about:
Engineering is the effort to use disciplines to define a process or device to perform a specific function.
Drafting is the communication of this process or device to people skilled in the production of the device or execution of this process.
My opinion.
As a communication tool, irrelevant information is bad. A 10 second hand sketch is just as good as a 15 minute 3d rendering if they communicate the information, and nothing more.
I'd rate the biggest advantage of computers as their ability to re-do, modify and repeat. Not dazzle you with BS.
No old fuddy duddy prejudice here. But I insist on efficiency. By whatever means.
Use whatever works quickest for your end result.

Thanks for the excelent summary. Fast and efficient drafting tools help the engineering process. Both are necessary, but one does not replace the other.
Cheers,

I agree with Dave. Being from the old school I designed everything on the board, not a computer. The computer just made more scenarios possible in a shorter time.

I also agree that IF I was smarter than everyone else I could show you all up too!!

Clayton

David…After learning the AutoDesk Inventor 7 Software…I would have to disagree with you to a point…there is no way a two dimensional pencil sketch is going to communicated a complex three dimensional object as effectively as a 3 dimensional parametric modeling program. To be able to rotate an object and look at it from any angle, to be able to display it as a opaque surface, or translucent surface, the possibilities are endless…And you end up with a fully functional scaled drawing that can be easily modified (as you pointed out) not a freehand sketch that will have to be redrawn to scale. Much, if not all the tooling trial and error is eliminated. Individual objects can be created, fitted together, and animated to check for correct interaction and fit before it ever comes off the computer screen. If the program is used correctly it will flag, and block you from continuing an error. You will have to correct the entry error before continuing, or defeat this feature, in order to move forward.

For someone who has drawn with conventional drawing instruments all my life, I can say without a doubt that “exploring the possibilities” with CAD makes things so much faster and precise, that one can hardly equate the two. The resistance seems to come from the fact that in every college level CAD class I have ever taken, there is always two or three high school kids that smoke every one in there ability to grasp the concept of CAD and execute the drawings. I had one 50-year-old guy kiddingly say he would like to break the fingers of the little 17-year-old girl at the station next to him, her hands were a blur and she had the complex 3D assignment done before he had 5% of his finished.

Well...Back to the custom house plan I am drawing for a client…with a pencil…ahhh…if I could afford a copy of Auto Cad I would have been done days ago…it was either the Cat or the software…LOL...what can I say?

Bob

$4,000 for Autocad. It's insane for one poor draftsman but dirt cheap in the long run. If you can find a job that is a long run these days.

Nobody said solids modeling wasn't great. If all you need is a pencil sketch, do it. If the job is a long one, that ties in with other structure, you had better not throw good money after bad. So start drawing it in cad. If you need to dazzle some fool, you would be best in 3d rendering, but most times the 3d line drawing (on computer)does all I need to communicate with a customer, or check an installation, pull off items for fabrication etc. If I have a bent section,(like skew ductwork) I'll make it easy on myself and connect the dots, before unfolding it into a flat plate!
The same goes for views. Use traditional views if that works. I'll do a 3d and slap it in the corner so the fitter gets up to speed quicker if it is cost effective (Does it save enough of his time to justify mine?)
Incidentally, CADKEY has a better package that is not write protected anymore. A true 3d.

well I got creative, and bored after work today and put some more touches on the trailer, then did a motion capture, which is crappy quality but gives you a better perspective.

Don't worry about the hulls, I only made them to rough tornado dimensions, not like I'm gonna use that as a basis for a mold :P

http://www.ncsailing.org/TRAILERASSEM.avi

(2 meg download, DivX 5.1 codec required)

Wow, I never knew there were so many cat-sailors who use Cad of some sorts, nice to know I`m in good company !
Good arguments from both sides, I agree with both parties - You can use Cad to automatically update models & calculate all sorts of things easily, but you have to know what the numbers mean & how to interpret whether what you`ve designed will be a good design or a dog.
There seems to be heaps of knowledge within this thread - I`m hoping to tap into some of it. Like some of you, I`d love to model sailboats in Cad(for fun only), I work on Autocad & have done solid modelling for architecture, but no mesh modelling yet. I`ve drawn up simple bulkhead frames and would like to "join them together" to form a mesh, for lack of a better description, anybody know how to do this in Autocad ? I`ve tried "ruled surface" but it only lets you use two curves to create the mesh, and not 10 or so that you would typically use in a hull shape. I`ve seen 3dMax used to do what I want, but I`d like to master Autocad 3d more before I move onto greater things.
I`ve found this thread to be informative & confrontational, two of the best ingredients - we`d have nothing to discuss if we all agreed.
Attached is an reception area I did in Autocad, off topic.

Regards
Steve