Like many others I have been looking for a 3D CAD program which would not involve exposing the family wallet to light. Turbocad was OK-ish, but a pain to learn. Sketchup always seemed limited, and isn't CAD anyway. Alibre is nice but now the buggers want paying for it (threads
passim).
Gentlemen, ladies and others, may I present '
Creo Elements/Direct Modeling Express 4.0'? (Sadly, it appears to be missing a letter 'l' but is otherwise nice.)
I have just drawn my first Lego brick, a major achievement! The tutorials are aimed at the ignorant but not stupid and there are several youtube how-tos. Also, while meandering around the website, I found its cousin is Mathcad, (well-impressive software) so another plus.
HTH,
John
NB no conflict of interest here, just happy to share a discovery.