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AEC Newsletter archive:
Geoffrey Moore Langdon
CADENCE AEC Tech News # 19 (February 3, 2000)
Update on Updates - Part 3
Architectural design software certainly is changing very quickly. In addition to updates on the features of the various existing CAD packages, there is a change in how a number of these packages are marketed and sold.
Bricsnet will now be distributing and supporting IntelliCAD (formerly owned by Visio) and will develop a new commercial version called Bricsnet IntelliCAD 2000, which you obtain via an innovative "annual subscription" of US$99. Their 3D architectural product, called Bricsnet Architectural, will soon be available in the USA under a similar subscription plan. The 3D architecturally smart Revit, by Revit Technology, also due this spring, will be available only via a small monthly subscription.
Both TurboCAD and VisualCAD are now available only via the Web. The parent company IMSI has stopped development on future versions for now. The new VisualCAD 3.0 is reviewed in the Jan. 2000 issue of CADENCE.
Meanwhile, VersaCAD users are anxiously waiting for the new Windows version that the development team is actively working away on. Tom Lazear, the chief developer, says the new Macintosh version is very good.
Even comparatively huge Autodesk is turning to some innovative new ways of delivering various flavors of its AutoCAD software, with the first "AutoCAD Store" at 52 Broad St. in Boston.
You can also add an incredible amount of power to the new AutoCAD 2000 LT with the 3D modeling tool called LT3D2000 by drcauto (the same Australian company that makes SmartArchitect) and with the new RealArchitect 2000 for LT, which, in both cases turn LT into much more than a "light" program.
Autodesk also licenses the core engine of AutoCAD for other developers to build their own entirely different graphic programs upon (while still entirely AutoCAD compatible), which is how EaglePoint developed their new stand-alone LandCADD and Civil/Survey software series.
AutoCAD Architectural Desktop 2000
Truth can be a very elusive thing as the world continually changes, and in this fast changing architectural CAD milieu, what you may have thought was true--good or bad-- about previous versions of AutoCAD may very well not be true any longer. If you've avoided doing so in the past, you should now take a look at what Autodesk has developed in AutoCAD Architectural Desktop 2000.
Many 2D drafting oriented Autodesk users seem to be happy to chug along with their established polyline-offset-trim-wblock techniques of getting projects out. Sales of the new Architectural Desktop are not as vigorous right now as they soon will be (in my opinion). It took a while for AutoCAD users to warm up to Paper Space (now called Layouts) and xrefs too, but now most design firms regard those as the most important features of AutoCAD essential for business. Similarly, once people discover the advantages of using Architectural Desktop and its ease of use, those debates about "3D is not what we need to do" will likely disappear. Instead, they'll likely see that it is all just an easier way to get coordinated 2D production drawings done faster, with automatically coordinated sections and elevations generated from the plan.
The current controversial issues of proprietary smart objects and loss of bi-directional compatibility with people using older non-smart versions of AutoCAD will eventually seem moot. Other issues that may have caused concern for some of you who experimented with the beta-esque ADT Version 1, such as floors and internal compatibility with other AutoCAD entities, have been resolved and fixed. Now a system of xrefs is used for floors, and all the ACAD solids will trim and cut each other so that you can carve unusual doorway arches in the smart walls and make custom furniture or building elements extremely easily.
On its post-ADT2 efforts, Autodesk is tight-lipped. What we can guess, because of its purchase of Discreet Logic, is that some sort of LightScape level of rendering will make its way into either AutoCAD or, more probably, 3D Studio VIZ, which enjoys an extraordinary interlink ability with ADT2.
Links to companies mentioned in this edition.
Bricsnet IntelliCAD 2000 and Bricsnet Architectural = [http://www.bricsnet.com]
TurboCAD and VisualCAD = [http://www.imsi.com]
VersaCAD = [ http://www.archwaysystems.com]
AutoCAD (2000, LT, ArchitecturalDesktop2) = [http://www.autodesk.com]
LT3D2000 and SmartArchitect = http://www.drcauto.com]
RealArchitect 2000 = [http://www.mcneel.com]
LandCADD and Civil/Survey = [http://www.eaglepoint.com]
A/E/C SYSTEMS = [http://www.aecsystems.com]
About Geoffrey Moore Langdon, AIA
Prof. Langdon is a registered architect and is the principal of Architectural CADD Consultants, a firm that specializes in helping architectural firms with computing and CADD. He has taught Design, Solar Energy, and Architectural CADD at a number of colleges in the Boston area. He is the author of Architectural CADD: A Resource Guide to Design and Production Software Appropriate for Architects, a guest speaker at many AIA events, and the founder and organizer of the Designers 3D CAD Shootout competition. contact him at aectechnews@architecturalcadd.com, or through his website: http://www.architecturalcadd.com
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