ArchT

by Ketiv

Note that most of the reviews posted here online are 1 review back usually representing a version from 1 or two years ago, and that the most recent reveiws are only available in the book "Architectural CADD : A Resource Guide". This page is due to be updated September 1997.

ArchT : Architectural Add on for AutoCAD 13

Pros And Cons

Strengths :

Faster and Easier than AutoArchitect, and quicker to learn, thus architects may actual use it.

Automatically creates sections and elevations - creating them and laying them out very quickly ready to plot out in PaperSpace, automatically updating if the plan is changed. Entities, such as walls, windows, and doors, are treated as intelligent objects - an approach that gives a designer the ability to, say, select a bi-fold door in a perspective and instantly have it swing another way, open wider, or even change into a double french door, all in that same perspective. A designer can choose to create 2D, 3D, or both at the same time, and work in plan or even isometric views. The 2D plans and elevations generate poched walls quickly, whereas the 3D version helps with visualization, roof design, and automatic sections and elevations. Elegantly, ArchT allows a designer to switch back and forth between these modes effortlessly. Walls also all automatically clean up intersections (no need for special wall cleanup commands). Exactly how the walls cleanup (such as when there are different materials or interior/exterior panels) is under control of the designer who can set priorities for important walls. The walls will also, when asked to, automatically project up to their intersection with the inner face of roofs (such as for a cathedral ceiling. This wall projection also works with any 3D Face surface or polymesh, which means that a designer can also take advantage of AutoCAD's new sophisticated ACIS solid modeling abilities to make very complex roofs that will still work well with ArchT roofs and walls. The designer can also design special walls with multiple composite materials shown in 2D (with infil poche) and in 3D, as well as determine heights of those materials. Thus the software allows for walls with soffits, chair-rails, ceiling cornices, baseboards, etc. Very fast perspective view setting.

The feature called "the Navigator" - accessible from a pulldown or icon - is a nice well organized central place to control many of the things that ArchT is capable of (as well as find all the symbols from the ArchT libraries.)

It is possible for a designer to easily add a number of new Door and Window styles to be used in a given drawing. It can be run effectively on a system much less powerful (486-33) than that required for AutoArchitect. Thus the combined savings between AutoArchitect and System is potentially 60% ($2300 vs. 5000 for System and Add-on).

To automatically dimension an entire side of a building, with centerline (or edge) dimensions to windows, doors, and overall, the designer just selects the appropriate wall and points where the system should start.

Unlike AutoArchitect, which makes it very cumbersome to copy a frequently occurring object like a door or window, ArchT makes the operation very fast and easy - automatically cutting the walls in 2D and 3D, merely by using the conventional AutoCAD copy command. There is even an array routine to instantly do an entire facade automatically.

For visualization, ArchT will automatically attach ARE-24 photorealistic materials to the entities in the drawing if you wish, in order to get some stunningly realistic images from ARE-24 (also made by Ketiv) or Accurender. Learning the software is comparatively easy, though patience and experimentation for several hours is required, and the manuals, fortunately, are excellent. The amount of support required is minimal, because it is possible to figure out virtually all the features relatively easily by oneself.

Inexpensive, relative to other architectural add-ons to AutoCAD ($1100 versus $1800+ for others)

Weaknesses :

Not as many features as AutoArchitect (but it does have the most appropriate and most-used features) The Stair "Generator" is weak, with only one straight run style available, and cannot even generate handrails for the stair automatically.

Strangely, the software frequently has no "cancel" command in a number of places where you would expect one. However, hitting "exit" or the escape key always exits out without crashing the program. In a few dialog boxes, though, it is possible to change the original settings by accident or ignorance, and not be able to get the original values back because of this lack of a cancel command. Similarly, the program somewhat awkwardly asks the designer to hit "add" and hit enter several times (frequently as many as 4 times) to go ahead and, indeed, add a particular entity such as a wall or window.

Though ArchT can be used on a Network - even as a network version where a certain number of licensed users can work simultaneously off the same software - the software is more oriented towards one person using one drawing at a time, and would be very challenging for a larger office project manager to try to work with external reference files across a network.

Fortunately, ArchT doesn't require a lot of support, because there is not a lot of support available. Unlike AutoCAD itself, which has numerous training centers, online support, books, and magazines, users of ArchT would be hardpressed to find such support.

Recommendations :

Min Hardware - 486-25 Rec Hardware - 486-66 or above

Appropriate for :

Small architectural design firms, builders, contractors, interior designers, of small to mid-size buildings (housing, small commercial).

Not Appropriate for :

Firms that do very large projects (airports, large commercial) where coordinating networked, reference-file oriented projects of many stories is important.

Relative to US Market :

ArchT moves into first place amung Architectural CADD add-on software to AutoCAD now for several reasons. Architectural Firms in the USA tend to spend a great deal less than their European counterparts. Also, architectural firms that use AutoCAD tend to be the larger firms. Those firms are now in a transitional stage where they are going from specific CAD departments where all drawings are filtered a few individuals,to having CADD design and drafting (and reviewing) systems on the desk of everyone in the firm. Typically, firms with 50 architects now may have only 10 to 15 actual AutoCAD seats. As that scene changes, those frugal firms are going to look for a less expensive AutoCAD add on that will not be too complex and will not interfere with running other AutoCAD add-ons. In all these respects ArchT wins hands down. Also, as there is more and more of a trend towards the 3D integrated project, more people will gravitate towards a program like ArchT that can do that.

Relative to European Market :

Nowhere near as sophisticated as many of the European integrated CADD packages and AutoCAD add-ons (i.e. AcadBau, ...), thus, it must be marketed as a low end solution for architects but better than merely using AutoCAD vanilla out of the box. European requirements for dimensioning on drawings is significantly higher than that required in the USA, thus, the lack of any added abilities in that area by ArchT becomes a serious disadvantage - strongly suggesting that yet another add-on utility, such as ArchDim, may be advised. Other requirements, such as those by Austria's building officials, for specific delineation of spacial area calculations must all be added by "hand" with AutoCAD - not a trivial task (something which is done automatically by the competition ArchT has in that country - AcadBau).

Executive Summary :

Extremely impressive software. Well worth the cost. Allows AutoCAD to be used effectively for doing architecture.

Review by Geoff Langdon 12/1/95

Send Inquiries to : glangdon@shore.net