Price: $199.99

Affordable 2D/3D CAD software that is extremely powerful and easy to use

ViaCAD 2D/3D offers precision design tools for beginning to intermediate CAD software users. It allows you to create in 2D or 3D and quickly toggle between views. Our price to performance ratio blows the competition away. Amateur users will be thrilled by professional-looking results, while professionals will love how budget-friendly this version of ViaCAD is. You may also want to check out ViaCAD Pro.

ViaCAD 2D/3D can help you design projects such as:

• Architectural drawings
• Remodeling plans
• Invention prototypes
• 3D printer projects
• Mechanical drawings
• Interior decorating plans
• Furniture design
• Jewelry making
• Musical instruments
• Objects for use in video game development
• Graphics and technical illustrations
• Classroom, science fair, and robotics club projects

Compatibility and file sharing

ViaCAD software plays nice with others. ViaCAD is compatible with AutoCAD with up-to-date DWG import and export capabilities. So your team will be able to work together without forcing everyone to be on the same brand of CAD software.
ViaCAD is also compatible with over a dozen popular CAD and Graphics formats, so you’ll be able to deliver files that can be opened and edited by users of other popular design software. In our newest release (version 12) you can import PDF and Adobe Illustrator files, and be able to import/export SketchUp 2019 and Collada files.

• ViaCAD providescompatibilitywith AutoCAD DWG files
• DXF/DWG versions from R12 to 2019
• STL Import/Export for 3D printing
• SVG Import and Export
• 3MF Import & Export
• VMRL 2.0 Texture Support
• OBJ Texture Support
• Adobe Illustrator Import
• PDF Import
• SketchUp 2019 Import/Export
• Collada (DAE) Import/Export
• Complete support for Metric and Imperial units

We will help you learn

While ViaCAD is feature-rich, we work hard at making it easy by including intuitive tools like our LogiCursor that makes CAD a snap by suggesting your next move as you draw.
Your purchase includes access to our training tutorials, so you will not have to learn through trial and error. We are experts at creating CAD software and our tutorials will help you to become an expert user quickly.

Key Features

ViaCAD 2D/3D is packed with 3D modeling and 2D drafting tools

Make your designs come to life with our powerful 3D CAD software. Begin exploring the powerful world of 3D mesh modeling! ViaCAD provides solid modeling technology found in many higher-end products.There is behind-the-scenes programming that connects 2D and 3D so that you can edit 2D profiles used to create 3D objects and the 3D shape will automatically update.

• Powerful 3D design tools including mesh, surface, and solid modeling
• 3D editing tools such as blending, chamfering, and shelling
• Complete design tool with extrusions, Booleans, and surface modeling.
• Precise geometry suitable for ‘concept to manufacturing’
• Automatically generate 2D drawings from 3D models
• Tools to create 3D from 2D shapes
• Over 275 tools for 2D drafting (text, dimensions, points, lines, arcs, etc.)
• 3D printing verification tools
• And much more!

Intuitive Design and Editing Utilities

Drawing precisely is easy with ViaCAD! We have designed it to be user-friendly and intuitive to work with.
The LogiCursor anticipates your next action and guides your cursor to potential point selections in the drawing.
The Gripper adds drag and drop capabilities to make editing designs easy breezy.
Customizable Grids add another level of ease by providing precision drag and drop in rectangular, polar (circular), and isometric layouts.

3D Printing Tools

ViaCAD 2D/3D includes 3D printing tools to prepare and validate your designs to make them 3D printer ready.

• 3D Print Check

Checks for print viability, displaying warnings or errors to the user.

• Surface Normals Check

Facet normals define the inside and outside areas of a part. If facet normals are pointing the wrong way, the 3D printer may have problems creating the part. This will check for problems and we have several commands that can help you fix it.

• Overhang Analysis

This will help you visually inspect modeling areas that may require structural support for 3D printing. Meshes, surfaces, and solids facets normals are compared to the work plane direction. Angles that are less or equal to 45 degrees are highlighted as red.

• Wall Thickness Analysis

This tool provides a means to visually inspect modeling areas that may be too thin for 3D printing. Meshes, surfaces, and solids facets are examined using ray intersections.

• Preview Slices

This interface will help you to slice models given a direction and thickness. The dialog box allows for animation through the slices and single-stepping. Use to verify that a part has closed, non-overlapping sections, a requirement for 3D printing.

• Auto Position

The Auto Position tool translates the model to the positive x, y coordinate system at z=0.

• Support Structure

Manually adds geometry to support material as it is created by the 3D printer. Support structures controls, include Attach Radius, Midpoint Radius, Base Radius, Base Thickness, and Drag base and midpoints to modify structure location.

• Show Printer Volume

Toggles the boundary of the default 3D Printer. The volume is defined within the Printer Definitions dialog box.

• Printer Definitions

Sets key parameters of the 3D printer, including length, width, and height of the volume accessible by the printer. The parameters in the Printer Definitions dialog box are used for commands such as 3D Print Check and Auto Position.

New Features

3D Design Advancements

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  Split Mesh

This tool will divide a mesh into two portions based on a cutting plane. Split Mesh is an ideal tool for those working with facetted data along with 3D printing manufacturing processes.

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  Mesh Booleans

This advancement provides a means to add or remove material from a mesh body. Previous versions only allowed Boolean operations on ACIS based solids. Now with the introduction of mesh Booleans, you can add/remove material imported from STL, OBJ, 3DS, and SketchUp.

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  Weight and Volume Tables

Whether you’re designing an aircraft, automobile, or picnic table, weight is the key control parameter in design. Tracking the weight of materials is a key control parameter in design. V12 introduces a new Bill of Material (BOM) attribute specific for creating a summed weight table.

Drafting and Annotation Updates

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  Best Fit Line and Best Fit Circle

Great for tracing precise curves over rough sketches. This tool will “best fit” a line or circle from a sample collection of points.

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  Angular Tolerance Updates

The Angular Tolerance interface has been updated to dynamically provide input from the Inspector dialog box.

Usability Improvements

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  Show/Hide Face

The Show/Hide Face tool will hide faces within a part enabling access and visibility into the internal representations of complex models.

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  Save Layers with View

Now you can save layers associated with view orientations.

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  Repeat Previous Command

This “right-click” feature will save you lots of time by maintaining a list of last-used drawing commands. Select an item in the list to quickly change the current tool.

Interoperability Updates

Now you can work with file types from these other programs:

• PDF Import
• Adobe Illustrator Import
• SketchUp 2019 Import/Export
• Collada (DAE) Import/Export

Minimum System Requirements:

• Operating System: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
• Processor: 64-bit
• Memory: 4GB
• Storage: 8GB available space
• Additional Requirements: Windows Recommended Requirements Microsoft Windows 64-Bit versions of Windows 7, 8, or 10 ¹ Intel Pentium IV or AMD Athlon64 class 64-bit processor 3 GB of hard disk space 8 GB of RAM Mouse Pointing Device (wheel button recommended) OpenGL/DirectX9 Compliant video card with 256MB of dedicated RAM Macintosh Recommended Requirements Macintosh OS 10.11 through 10.15 or higher¹ x64 Intel Mac 3 GB of hard disk space 8 GB RAM or greater Mouse Pointing Device (wheel button recommended) OpenGL Compliant video card with 256 MB VRAM ¹ Program compatibility is not guaranteed for later operating systems ²User is responsible for all Internet access fees and phone charges. PC & Mac require a machine with an operating system using x64 (64-Bit) architecture.

Date First Available ‏ : ‎ August 20, 2020
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Encore Software, LLC
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08GDFRXX4

Extensive 2D drafting tools (text, dimensions, 3D to 2D drawing generation tools, bill of materials, etc.)
Powerful 3D tools such as mesh, surface, and solid modeling, blending, chamfering, and shelling
Compatible with over a dozen popular CAD and Graphics formats, to deliver files that can be opened and edited.
3D advancement tools
Price: $199.99