In today’s world, technology is becoming more and more advanced, helping us find better, faster and more efficient ways of doing things. CAD design refers to computer-based drawings used for interior planning, architectural structures, and for product design. Gone are the days of architectural plans, pencils, compasses and templates. CAD software has managed to change the architecture industry for the better, compared to 2D drawing by hand, CAD and CAAD software is more efficient. The software minimizes drafts because instead of erasing or crumpling paper, you can undo actions with the click of a button.
CAD and CAAD (Computer Aided Architectural Design) are very similar in concept, the only difference is that Computer Aided Architectural Design software includes more architecture-specific elements, for example, architectural techniques and a database of terms that they are only found in industry. Both types of software create accurate and complete drawings.
An advantage of CAD or CAAD software (over hand drawing) is the automation feature: this feature will automatically draw a digital representation of your structure from previous drawings. For example, if you drew the front view of a building using CAD, smart software could automatically generate a bird’s-eye view from your 3D front view drawing. As long as the software has a 3D view of your building, it will be able to generate all the other views, saving you the time of drawing each view. CAD software allows architects to easily manipulate and modify images.
CAD software produces more realistic, accurate, and complete drawings than hand sketches. The software can create photorealistic renderings and can automatically generate other views from a previous drawing. Using CAD gives you access to existing designs so you don’t always have to start from scratch when planning a building, or at least have a starting point to start planning. When an architect chooses to use an older design without using CAD, it will usually involve tracking down an old blueprint, which takes much more time and energy than using software to complete designs.
Most architects and architecture firms use CAD software for a more enjoyable and cost-effective experience when planning new buildings. If the client wishes to review a certain aspect of the design, it can be easily edited with a few clicks, saving both architect and client time and hassle.
CAD design software is not only used in the architecture industry – it is also beneficial to interior designers for room planning software, to retailers selling kitchens or bathrooms, and to product designers who need to manipulate the design of images for prototypes before they go into production. Today’s market is competitive for engineers, so CAD interior design software allows more time to modify the design instead of drawing and redrawing.