Which Skill is More Vital for Mechanical Engineers: Illustrator or 3D Modeling?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relative importance of Illustrator versus 3D modeling skills for Mechanical Engineering students. Participants explore the applicability of each tool in engineering contexts, particularly in relation to automotive engineering and graphic design.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether Illustrator is necessary for engineering, suggesting that it is primarily a graphic design tool and not useful for engineering tasks.
  • Another participant counters that Illustrator can be useful for creating graphics for scientific publications, although they acknowledge it may not be essential compared to parametric solid modeling tools.
  • A later reply agrees that the previous statement about Illustrator being useless is an exaggeration and shares personal experiences using Corel Draw for specific engineering tasks, such as preparing DXF files for laser cutting.
  • Participants note that most mechanical engineering job listings emphasize CAD skills, with no mention of vector graphics editors like Illustrator.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the utility of Illustrator in engineering. While some argue it has limited relevance, others highlight its potential applications in specific contexts, indicating that the discussion remains unresolved regarding its overall importance.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference specific software tools and their applications, but there is no consensus on the necessity of Illustrator versus 3D modeling skills in mechanical engineering education or practice.

basty
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For a Mechanical Engineering student, which one is the most needed skill? Illustrator (which can create a cutaway illustration of a car such as below image) or a 3D modeler (which can create a 3D surface model of a car)?

autowp.ru_ferrari_550_gts_maranello_12.jpg
 
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Illustrator is for graphic design and is no use for engineering.
If you are interested in auto engineering I think most manufacturers use NX:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens_NX

All of the major solid modelling packages can do cutaways.
 
billy_joule said:
Illustrator is for graphic design and is no use for engineering.

That a bit of an exaggeration. I use it pretty extensively for making graphics for scientific publications, though it doesn't require me to know how to use it all that well and certainly isn't worth learning instead of a parametric solid modeling tool.
 
boneh3ad said:
That a bit of an exaggeration.
Yes, I guess it is.
Come to think of it, I've used Corel Draw (a vector graphics editor, like Illustrator) twice in my engineering degree, once to arrange DXF's (exported from solidworks) for laser cutting and once for poster design. I don't know why we were required to use Draw for DXF prep, we had access to more appropriate 2D drafting software.
Time spent on corel draw was probably 1/1000 of the time spent on SW over the degree. Pretty much all mechanical engineering job listings mention CAD, I've never once seen any vector graphics editors mentioned.
 

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