Technical drawing

[MarWos]

Which module is better Drawing or Caxa Draft for making drawings ? Why have we two modules for making drawings in IronCad?

[SSIMMONS]

There are several threads on this already, but I will give you my opinion summary. There are two because one is essentially an AutoCAD clone (CAXA) and the other, ICD, is more of a internal drawing application that IC has been adding to and developing over the years. I use ICD because I find it easier due to the fact that it ties more directly and seamlessly to the 3D environment and properties (though with practice i'm sure it would be just as easy). Where CAXA excels and ICD lacks is functionality. There are many many situations where you must get very creative to make ICD do what you want and CAXA is much more versatile and forgiving. CAXA just makes me feel more disconnected to my machine designs for whatever reason, but once again......OPINION.

 

-Spencer

[SHORNBRO]

I agree with Spencer that, generally, the ICD (Drawing) environment feels more connected to the model - at least as to how it ties in to our workflow.  I think that determining which one is better comes down to personal preference at the end of the day.  If you are more comfortable in an AutoCAD setting, CAXA will feel more familiar to you, most likely.  If you are more comfortable in a SolidWorks setting, then I think ICD will feel more familiar to you.  With either environment, the key is getting practice and setting up a good foundation with good templates that work with your particular workflow.

 

- Sam

[Malcolm Crowe]

Regarding the feeling of "disconnect" that Spencer and Sam refer to above about CAXA DRAFT, this shouldn't be assumed to mean that this is a negative (in fact it can be a positive). As it has been explained to me (and I may not have understood this correctly), the way that the 3D geometry is projected within CAXA DRAFT is fundamentally different to how it is projected in ICD. In the link below, Joseph compares the zooming performance between both CAXA DRAFT and ICD, with CAXA DRAFT putting less load on the CPU compared to ICD.

Regarding your second question:

On 5/22/2021 at 2:08 AM, MarWos said:

Why have we two modules for making drawings in IronCad?

ICD was the original drawing environment within IRONCAD. I think it was in the 2009 release that CAXA DRAFT was added to IRONCAD. Compared to ICD, it offers more drafting capability and full compatibility with other DWG Editors. Since that time both products have remained side-by-side, with a lot of development effort going into ICD to improve its capabilities. While ICD has greatly improved over the years, it is not as versatile or capable as CAXA DRAFT.

Regarding your first question:

On 5/22/2021 at 2:08 AM, MarWos said:

Which module is better Drawing or Caxa Draft for making drawings ?

It depends on the type of drawings that you want to create (and edit) and whether you need to collaborate with others that don't use IRONCAD. If you are an advanced user (or want to be), then I suggest that you should be using CAXA DRAFT (as ICD is limited in comparison). If you need to collaborate with other CAD software (in house or externally), then you should be using CAXA DRAFT. If you need to create 2D models rather than just projecting 3D views, then you should be using CAXA DRAFT (as it has far far more tools for this purpose). If none of these apply to you, then it comes down to personal preference.

Note that (based on comments within this forum) very few IRONCAD users seem to understand or appreciate what CAXA DRAFT can do. Compared to the 2D drafting packages found in other 3D modelling software, being a genuine 2D DWG Editor makes CAXA DRAFT unique. It was one of the main reasons why we switched from SOLIDWORKS to IRONCAD, as we needed to be able to collaborate better with DWG files. There is a lot that I could say, but ultimately it depends on what is the best fit for your needs.

Malcolm

Edited May 23, 2021 by Malcolm Crowe