Ship modeling

[Montalvo modeling]

Hii

I am a big fan of ships and I have lots of ideas that I have made in sketch up because every detail counts when it comes to a cruise ship but I would like to know if there's a good modeling program and if theses programs come with the tools to decorate them inside

[DrPR]

Most CAD programs will work with symbol libraries. These are things like furniture, light fixtures, etc. Some programs come with some symbol libraries, and you can purchase drawings from several places on the Internet that can be used fo symbols.

SketchUp seems to be a pretty useful drawing program. I have never used it but I know a number of folks who have. They usually say that it is a poor modeling program because it lacks the extensive set of drawing tools found in true CAD programs.

You ask about a "good" modeling program. I have no idea what you mean by "good." There are a variety of CAD programs, ranging from les that $100US to more than $15,000US. Some of the expensive programs cannot do what some of the inexpensive programs do, and some programs charge a fee for technical help and to access their user forums. You will have to decide which program is "good" for you.

I use an inexpensive but full featured CAD program called DesignCAD 3D MAX:

http://www.imsidesign.com/Portals/4/sal ... Qgodpg4AFw

It lists for $99US but you can find it retail for $69US. It comes with some symbol libraries. You can download a trial version for free, and it has an excellent user Forum (no cost to use it):

http://forum.designcadcommunity.com/index.php

Here is an example of what you can do with it for ship modeling:

http://www.okieboat.com/CAD%20model.html

Phil