The Designers 3D CAD Challenge 2002

Note : Following the lead of the 2001 event to provide a public service, in 2002 we chose to do a straightforward side by side comparison and comentary of the leading architectural CADD choices at this time.

Architectural CADD Awards for 2002

BEST ARCHITECTURAL CADD SOFTWARE

ArchiCAD 7

Revit 4 1/2

VectorWorks Architect 9 1/2

ArchitecturalDesktop3.3

Not presented in 2002 -- DataCAD, Arris, Architrion, BOA, MicroStation TriForma for Architecture, ChiefArchitect, VersaCAD, AllPlan, etc.

BEST ARCHITECTURAL 3D CAD MODELING SOFTWARE

SketchUp 2

ArchitecturalStudio 2 1/2

Viz

FormZ

SketchUp - ease of use, visualization

ArchitecturalStudio - ease of use

Viz - power, third party support

FormZ - easiest for all freeform shapes and most powerful

Not presented in 2002 -- DesignWorkshop, MegaModel, SoftCAD 3D, Zoom

BEST GENERAL PRODUCTION 2D CADD SOFTWARE

AutoCAD 2002

VectorWorks 1/2

MicroStation

Not presented in 2002 -- PowerCAD, IntelliCAD, TurboCAD, Vellum, DataCAD

BEST ARCHITECTURAL CADD TECHNOLOGY

o2c

gbXML

GDL 1/2

Acrobat PDF

Piranesi

o2c is a 3D modeling technology developed by Dieter Heimlich and sold by DataCAD LLC and Spirit USA

gbXML is the "green buildings" variety of XML file standard for transferring information between programs for energy analysis

GDL is the geometric description language that enables smart parametric 3D objects developed by Graphisoft

PDF is the new paper plot standard (overshadowing HPGL plt files) that retains lineweights by Adobe

Piranesi is a digital imaging software that is perspective depth smart

Not presented in 2002 -- iDrop, CADoverlay

BEST ARCHITECTURAL RENDERING SOFTWARE

LightScape

ArtLantis

FormZ RenderZone 1/2

Viz and 3D StudioMax

Not presented in 2002 -- Rhino, AccuRender

BEST ARCHITECTURAL COLLABORATION TOOLS

eproject.com

ArchiCAD Teamwork

buzzsaw.com 1/2

Not presented in 2002 -- EZ Meetings, bricsnet.com, XREF - exernal reference files