3d modeling

As a student you may obtain a free Maya license. Forget Autocad it is a toy. is not too bad.. Blender3d.org is a great 3D modeler with a very good interface and it is free. is one of the best. Softimage is also very strong in 3D
Yves

Have you considered open source? If it's solid modelling, I'd recommend Brd CAD. Links below.
-- OPENSOURCE/FREE CAD/3D/GIS/ETC. SOLUTIONS/INFO: .Why Software Should Not Have Owners: .Brl CAD CAD .FreeCAD .Varkon CAD .Art Of Illusion .Wings .Persistence of Vision .Grass GIS .Repository .3d File Converter

AutoCad is NOT a 3D modelling program.
Let's compare Word to 123 next. :o

for fast and easy 3D sketching check SketchUp: for real 3D surface and solid modeling on Win or Mac check Concepts Unlimited: N.

......oh, Yves of limited knowledge. ;-)
AutoCAD (basic) will actually perform modest 3D solids modeling, but only on it's best day. However, it lacks any parametric relationships between objects in assemblies. It's totally dumb, but does a great mimicking of solids modeling. It's quite quite to keep up with parts between multiple users. But, you must actually know how to utilize the software as a 3D tool.
Because I do consulting work, I often hear the client company remark that " ..... they didn't even know that had a 3D CAD package with AutoCAD. We always use it for 2D stuff. Besides, we don't have anyone on staff that can work with 3D parts." That's the problem.
I'll be happy to provide you a link ( ) to my website where you can download the AutoCAD 2000 format of some 3d Solids (in this case, flanges) if you want to review what solids look like. The part flanges can be isolated by freezing and thawing specific layers in model space.
Who knew that AutoCAD could do 3D!? (heheee)
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Sounds more like you are the one with limited knowledge. TomD knows very well that AutoCAD can do solids but he also realizes that it is not it's strong point. It doesn't mimic anything. It does solids. You seem to be under the impression that solid modeling and parametric are the same thing. They aren't. There are a lot of solid modeling programs out that are not parametric. If that's good or bad depends on what you are doing. AutoCAD is far from being my choice for solids but is have used it for that.
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Won't be necessary, but thanks anyway. I use solids quite a bit, though not normally for my work. My use of Acad is 99.5% "2 1/2D" in the civil/surveying field.
While it has 3D capability, that's not it's strength. I doubt you'd disagree.