I'm an electrical engineer by day and use AutoCAD on a semi-regular basis at work. Going back and forth between it a Sketchup is not the easiest at times, but I've found Sketchup to be much easier with basic 3D design. I drew up plans for a buffet for the wife from a picture in a couple of hours last week. I'm still experimenting with the CutList settings, but it seems to be a pretty good material takeoff extension.