Bottomline...... all of the comments on the programs listed above are valid. You'll need to decide what you are going to use the program for.

Do you need CAD? Do you need CAM? Do you need "whatever"? Answer these and then decide.

Do you know anyone with any of the programs listed? If so, sit with them and see how they work.

The best thing that you have going for you is that you draw "on the board"...... which means that you can already think in 3D.



--Eric

I learned Solidworks, Pro-E and MasterCam in college. Then when I started working we used Vectorworks (CAD for a Mac). I made them upgrade to Solidworks because Vectorworks couldn't accurately model in 3d. Once you learn one 3D cad program you'll be fine using any. They all do about the same thing, they just call each process something different and sometimes you have to do things in a slightly different order.

I would look into taking a class at a local college or jr college. It will help a lot! Or just compare costs and what each program offers and jump in head first. You can just get a book that will walk you through learning the program. I think Solidworks comes with "lessons" which are meant to teach you how to use just about everything starting at the basics.

Good luck!
-Dave

I've used Rhino 3D for years now. It's super cheap for a surface modeler, but that's about all it does. There are some plugins for CAM and hull design though. I'm also certified in SolidWorks. As a few have already stated it does it all and it does it well. Attached is a sample rendering of SBC that I modeled for fun in Solidworks. The rendering was done in Bunkspeed.