The CAD Setter Out’s top 5 CAD forums.

January 2011 Paul Munford
6 Comments
Resources

My Top Five CAD Forums – in order of personal preference.

[Edit: Thanks very much to R.K McSwain of Cadpanacea.com who promoted me to update this post on CAD Forums (See the comments!) ]

1. The Autodesk Discussion groups

The Autodesk discussion group CAD Forums are HUGE.

The big advantage is that Autodesk staff ‘Lurk’ the forums and can occasionally be tempted out to answer a particularly interesting question. If you want answers straight from the Horse’s mouth – this is the place to visit.

Autodesk Community CAD Forums[Edit: I moved the Autodesk forums from position 2 to position 1 – I am one of the Expert Elites that R.K Mentions in his comments. The EE initiative has worked really well. I’ve never seen the forums so active :) ]

1. CADtutor

CADtutorA UK Based forum with international support, concentrating on Autocad but slowly growing to cover Inventor and Revit.

The most friendly and helpful bunch I’ve met on the web. This is a very good place for Newbies to ask questions.

You can find me under the Handle ‘Pablo Ferral’ (It seemed like a good idea when I joined up – many years ago!).

 3. MCADforums SmackTalk

Solidsmak talkThese CAD Forums are focused on Parametric modellers such as Autodesk Inventor and Solidworks. They were set up by Sean Dotson and have become a very good place for Inventor specific questions.

[Edit: Sadly MCADforums is no more :( … However, It has been replaced by the Solidsmack Talk site, Click on this link to check it out!]

 4. The AUGI Forums

AUGIA.U.G.I (The ‘Autodesk User group international’) is the official Autodesk endorsed User group for all of the Autodesk products.

There a friendly people from all over the world ready to help you out, although the bulk of people are Northern American. AUGI is also the home of the AUGI Training program and the AUGI CAD Camps.

[Edit: I moved this down from position 3 to position 4 because the AUGI forums that I’ve always follow have become quieter in recent years. Sadly the ATP and the AUGI CAD camps are no more :( ]

5. The Swamp

The Swamp

The Swamp is the place where all the really hard core CAD programming Geeks hang out!

If you are new to AutoLisp, VisualLisp, VB.net, C++ or ObjectARX programming for Autocad – try the Autodesk discussion groups or AUGI programming forums! If you get really stuck – take a wade through the Swamp.

If you want more ideas of where to get help with your CAD problems – check out the CAD Setter Out’s ‘Help’ Page.

Do you know a good CAD forum that is not on my list? Why not leave a comment with a link to your favourite forum.

6 Responses to “The CAD Setter Out’s top 5 CAD forums.”

  • R.K. McSwain
    8 years ago

    I know this article was from 2011, but I saw it on Twitter today. It’s worth mentioning that since this was written, Autodesk has identified over 200 “Expert Elite” (EE) members who have demonstrated to be subject matter experts in one or more areas of Autodesk software. EE’s are clearly identified in the Autodesk forums (and many participate in the other forums also). If a question goes unanswered or unaddressed, EEs can frequently help expedite getting you a response from someone up the chain, so to say.

    • Paul Munford
      8 years ago

      Thanks for taking the time to comment RK, I totally agree.

      You’ve prompted me to spend a little time updating this post!

      Paul

  • James Blake
    13 years ago

    I am looking to hire a consultant to help my business further develop our AutoCAD programme: We have an old fortran programme we have been using for years and now need to get it re-written in java or C++ – whichever best suits. Need someone who can come to us for regular meetings or in-office work days so we can help with the interface.

  • Krislene
    13 years ago

    how does cad save cost and speed up production?