In my opinion MoI is the best CAD package available by far, I trained as a furniture designer and have run a stone business for 32 years.
MoI is at the heart of my business, I like it particularly for 2 reasons, firstly using it is fun and a very pleasant experience and secondly Michael's passion shines through in his software and support for it.....an unparalleled combination in my book!
We manufacture wooden seating furniture, creativity is important. The design drawing should also be used for visualization for the customer as well as for production. I've been working with Moi for 1.5 years now. I didn't make any 3D drawings before. I am extremely satisfied because it is quick and easy to use, even in complex jobs. The results can also be used for CNC work in combination with corresponding programs, because the result is a nurbs surface. Visual representation for the customer is best done by exporting to Sketchfab. I finish dimensioned 2-D drawings in Q-Cad, also for printing and as PDF. This is fast and in most cases sufficient (whereas I finish the drawing work as far as possible in Moi).
Here are some works to look at in Sketchfab: https://sketchfab.com/plankf/models
I am very happy to have put my focus on Moi and enjoy the possibilities of the forum and the great contributions.
Because of my limited language skills (English) with automatic translation.
I apologize Keith if I tell you a thing that might seem a little bit intrusive :)
Please, don't let your son to be one of the hundreds people who waste their talents and their efforts for creating yet another 3D War game or 3D models for very violent "messages" :)
I think that too many very talented 3D artists are sacrificing their talents in that kind of things.
Hi
I appreciate your concern but I think he is only planning to make plans for furniture. Apparently he now evaluates the craftsmanship that has gone into every wooden thing he encounters.
BW
Keith
I have a wood workshop (in Belgium) and use exclusively MoI for designing and manufacturing (both with power tools and CNC). I have Sketchup on my computer for when clients send me .skp files, but it is not a very user friendly or intuitive program, compared to MoI. The only drawback of MoI (as mentioned before) is the lack of dimensioning and annotations, but that is coming in the near future as I read somewhere. And you can export Moi to .skp and add the dimensions there with the free SketchUp Make version.
MoI is easy to learn, cheap, simple yet rather complete, and one can always upgrade to a "real" CAD program if the need for something more elaborate comes up.
<< but it is not a very user friendly or intuitive program, compared to MoI.
Moi is the "SketchUp of the Nurbs"! ;)
So SketchUp is some friendly against other Polymodelers
and has the best Plugin Libraries, Objects System etc...seems rustic but so efficient! :)
You can but for this take ZBrush ($) or Blender (free)! :)
The right tool for the right function! (it can or Moi can but with very difficult efforts !)
Hi keith,
I would also encourage your son to look into a manufacturing forum. Although it appears he wants to avoid the "cnc and robotics" (i could have mis intetpreted that part) what he can get there are the "real world" tips and info on actual cuts and gap tolerances for building.
The number 1 lack of understanding from CAD engineers....
