I am looking for some feedback for the MCAD community on how important is it for the creation of 2D drawings from 3D models.  I come from the AEC community where 2D documents are still king and BIM modeling software like Revit, Archicad, and Vectorworks all have the ability to create 2D drawings, directly from the 3D modeling.  The problem that all of these products struggle at being able to replicate what we have produced in just 2D.  Previously drawing plans and sections 2D we had the flexibility draw items anyway we wanted.  Now it seems that I am spending more time messing around with my 2D views of the model, all for more or less clarity reasons to get them close to what I would have produced in just 2D.  Right now it seems like I spend just as much time messing around with my 2D views of model, annotating, dimensioning, hiding elements ect... as I do creating the 3D model itself.

In my opinion it seems there needs to be a better way to transmit 3D data downstream without the 2D documents.  So what I was wondering, is since the MCAD industry and particularly Solidworks have been integrating 3D modeling in the design and fabrication a lot longer that the AEC industry, have you gotten past 2D documents or does the industry still rely on them.  Any thought you have would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

Dennis