I'm a carpenter/woodworker who has spent the past 20 or so years working for various GC's, cabinet/furniture shops, etc. I'm finally just about over all that and looking toward going out on my own. The idea would be to start off small, doing simpler free-standing furniture pieces or accessories of my own design. There's also a chance I'll approach some of the local architects and designers I've worked with about producing some of their designs as well. I'm definitely trying to avoid getting pulled into full scale cabinet jobs, but the occasional built-in or vanity wouldn't be out of the question. This is definitely a "start small and see where it goes" sort of endeavor with a push for more time in the shop and less on the job site.
My question is which (if any) software I should be looking at for design work. I would be starting from just about ground zero here. I played around with sketchup a few years ago and honestly I had a really hard time making any sense of it. I've seen some mention of Fusion 360 with the caveat that it's a steeper learning curve than sketchup? I'd be pretty tempted to just stick with rough sketches on paper and full-scale drawings for dimensions and details, but I'm curious what others with more experience have found. I'd think it would probably be easier to get to a nicely refined, well thought out design using some kind of 3D modeling tool. I'd also assume that most people who are willing to pay for a commissioned piece will want to see a professional drawing or rendering before they say "go", and I certainly want to make sure they know what they'll be getting. Any suggestions?
Thanks for your insight.
Patrick