This is something they have added to AutoCAD 2006. In
AutoCAD 2006 you now have dynamic input. It helps to
stay on focused on the screen.
You're not in a command. You move the cursor over the
screen. The X position and the Y position of the cursor
are displayed.
Even better. You're in a command. What normally is
displayed in the command window is now displayed next
to the cursor.

Suppose you want to draw a line. You click on the Line
button in the Draw toolbar. The first prompt of the
line command is displayed. Next to the cursor.
Behind the prompt are two numbers. Those numbers give
the X position and the Y position of the cursor. Click
to get the first point.
The first prompt is no longer displayed. Now the next
prompt is displayed. We now have two numbers. Not
exactly behind the prompt.

The first number gives a distance. From the cursor to
the point that we picked. And the second number gives
an angle. From the first point to the cursor.
We pick another point. We now come to the next prompt.
That prompt is displayed next to the prompt. We can
pick another point.
But there is something in the prompt. There is
something in each prompt that is displayed. We see the
icon of a down arrow displayed in the prompt.

Press the down arrow on your keyboard. A shortcut menu
shows up. All available options are in the shortcut
menu.
Press the down arrow again. A black dot is displayed
next to the first option. If you want to invoke that
option, then press the Enter key.
Of course. You can keep on pressing the down arrow. You
go to another option. And press the Enter key to invoke
that option.
Do you see? With dynamic input you can keep your eyes
on the screen of AutoCAD. No need to look down into the
command window.

OK. I gave an example. Using the LINE command. But if
you use another command. Still the same. The prompts
are displayed in the screen.
There is much more to dynamic input. We will talk more
about dynamic input in the other articles in this
series. But allow me to make another remark.
This is the first article of a series of four articles.
The subjects of all articles are:
1. What Dynamic Input is.

2. Status bar. Switching on. Switching off.

3. Settings

- Enable Pointer Input

- Enable Dimension Input

- Dynamic Prompts


4. Settings

- Appearance

- Options

Jos van Doorn. AutoCAD specialsit and AutoLISPO programmer. Also writer AutoCAD articles and AutoCAD books.

If you want to have the other articles, then send an e- mail to:

dynamicinp@aweber.com If you do you'll get the article in consecutive days.

About the author:

Jos van Doorn. Get the IntelliCAD newsletter. About IntelliCAD and about free stuff for AutoCAD and IntelliCAD. To subscribe send a blank email to: intellicadnewslettersubscribe@yahoogroups.com

AutoCAD is used by professionals world-wide to create the drawing files that define the buildings, equipment and products we use every day. If you are looking for a job in design or construction, you need to know AutoCAD in order to command high wages and job security. These easy tips will help new users get up to speed fast.

Use the Pull Down Menus

If you look at the top of the AutoCAD screen you will see menus like Draw, Edit, Modify, etc. Use these menus to launch AutoCAD commands. As you become more familiar with AutoCAD you may elect to use the toolbars and the command prompt to issue commands, but new users learn and work faster if they use the pull down menus.

Keep Your Eye on the Command Prompt

At the bottom of the screen you will find the Command prompt. Keep your eye on this space when you issue commands. You will find that every command you issue puts its options on this line. So, if you start the CIRCLE command, you will find you can type D to indicate that you want to specify a diameter for the circle you want to create.

Learn How to Identify Points

New AutoCAD users struggle with the many ways in which they can enter points in AutoCAD. You can type them (3,4), you can click your mouse to select them, you can use Object Snaps to pick up points on existing geometry (hold down the shift key and right-click to see the Osnap menu). You can Also select a point, move your mouse up or down, right or left and type a distance. Take 30 minutes and learn all the ways you can select points in AutoCAD by reviewing its Help files. you will save yourself hundreds of hours of work and create better drawings.

Never Ever Draw What You Can Copy

New AutoCAD users spend too much time drawing. If you've ever drawn something, you should never need to draw the thing again. Learn how to use the BLOCK and WBLOCK commands to create named geometry you can use over and over again. Learn how to use the INSERT or DESIGN CENTER and EXPLODE commands to place editable geometry in your drawing.

Learn How to Use Model Space/Paper Space or Layouts

Its really very simple. You Click the MODEL tab. You draw your objects at full scale (one inch in the real world is one inch in AutoCAD's model space). Select a Layout to toggle into paper space. Specify the size of your paper. Use the MVIEW command to “cut a hole” in the paper and display the objects in model space. Select the edge of the hole, right-click and choose a scale for the view. Double-click inside the hole and pan the view so its centered. Double-click outside the hole. From the File menu choose Plot to plot your scaled drawing. The instructions for using Layouts vary slightly based on which version of AutoCAD you are using, but the basic technique is always the same. Draw full scale in model space. Create scaled drawings in Layouts.

Be Organized

If you don't know how to create and navigate to folders in Windows, life with AutoCAD will be a misery. It will scatter your files all over your hard disk or network. you will never be able to find anything. There are a million books and websites that review Windows fundamentals, take a moment to master the basic skills they review. you will spend less time looking for things.

Use External References

If you are working as members of a team, put the geometry you need in one file. Everyone can then create new files which externally reference that file. The result is, multiple people can work on the same project at the same time. You use the XREF command to place one drawing inside another. You can also use Design Center to insert external references.

Learn How to Use Dimension & Text Styles

To define text fonts that you use in your drawings, use the STYLE command. To define how dimensions look use the DIMSTYLE command. If you don't use dimension and text styles, you spend a great deal of time tweaking each and every dimension and text block you create. If you define a style changing the style updates all the text and dimensions.

Back Up All The Time

If you don't know how your drawings are being backed up, go find out right now. Every drawing represents hundreds or thousands of man hours. A lost, deleted or corrupt drawing file can mean lots of lost revenue. Small design shops using AutoCAD are the worst offenders. They rarely back up, they often lose data. You need to back up in such a way that you can go back four or five versions of your drawing, because often problems in a drawing aren't noticed for a long time. So many lines, so little time . . .

Find Out What Other Folks In the Office Do

Don't be the lone wolf in your AutoCAD office. Use the templates, title blocks, text styles, dimension styles, plot styles and block libraries everyone else uses. It saves everybody time. Your drawings are easier for others to edit and plot. You can edit and plot the drawings of others. Its always better to ask questions (even multiple times) than do something no one else in the office will understand later.

I hope these ten tips will help make you a better AutoCAD user, and that you will learn to love the application as so many have. As complex as it is, as confusing as it can be, there's almost nothing you can't do in AutoCAD one way or another. You can't say that about every CAD application.

Nancy Fulton owns and operates the http://www.Complete-Support.com training site which has hundreds of free AutoCAD tutorials currently online.

Most AutoCAD Architects need to create geometry in 3D at some point. Sometimes they need to show a client or a community group what spaces will look like when they are built. Sometimes they need to gain a better understanding of the environments they are designing.

Fortunately AutoCAD makes it easy to convert a 2D floor plan 3D geometry.

Converting a 2D Floor Plan into a 3D Model

The first step in creating a 3D model from a floor plan is simply displaying a top (or plan) view of the floor plan in model space. Then, from the View menu, choose 3D Views and South East Isometric. You will then see a 3D view of your flat floor plan.

Select the wall lines in your floor plan. Then from the Modify menu choose Properties. Change the Thickness of the lines to represent the height of the walls. Press ESC to indicate you are done modifying wall lines.

Select the lines representing one or more window sills. Modify their thickness property to make them the right height. You will have to specify the correct height for every window sill which may require multiple selections.

Select the window and door headers. Set their Elevation property to lift them up off the ground. Set their thickness to determine how wide they are.

By this time you should have a fairly reasonable 3D wireframe model.

Viewing Shaded Views of your 3D Model

Once you have converted a 2D floor plan into a 3D model, you may want to view that model with hidden lines removed. To do this, at the command prompt, type HIDE.

To view a shaded view of the same model, from the View menu choose Shade then select one of the Shaded options. The color applied to walls, headers and sills will be the color of the lines used to create them.

What Next?

Using the techniques covered in this tutorial you should find it easy to create thick 3D lines to create window glass and doors.

AutoCAD features more sophisticated tools for creating and exporting photorealistic images of 3D models. It also has other commands (like UCS and REGION) that will let you create and position 3D geometry.

When you feel comfortable converting 2D floor plans into 3D model, it will take just a few hours to master those more advanced tools.

Nancy Fulton owns and operates the http://www.Complete-Support.com training site which has hundreds of free AutoCAD tutorials currently online.

If you've been watching any television this past two weeks, you will have seen some amazing architecture from the Olympics in China. There was a quote from one of two athletes from Somalia that was interesting. They didn't know for sure what the bubble like building was, let alone that it was a building that housed one of the world's premier swimming venues. That and all of the other strange and wonderful buildings built just for the occasion. Some of the structures on paper looked like they would be nearly impossible to build. Fortunately there is computer aided design and drawing. Without it, it would be interesting to figure out the angles, curves and loads to be able to support such a bizarre structure.

Computers are integral in today's architecture design world. It is so integral that you can get an online AutoCAD program that can be shared amongst several users so each designer can have access to the latest drawing. There is no more waiting to print out an idea and share it and make sure that it is the latest rendition. One of the best is a Buzzsaw alternative that can be found online. The benefits are amazing to the architecture world as well as the construction world. To be able to build these amazing structures takes a construction team that fully understands how to read an architect's drawing. Some of the buildings in Dubai are more examples of art and architecture combining into functional structures.

Without the ability for hosting AutoCAD file management it would be practically impossible to build these structures. It makes you wonder how they built some of the amazing structures in the past. How did they get the designs for such wonderful architecture as the Taj Mahal without the aid of computers? Who then built them to the specifications of those fabulous minds that created the plan? Makes you wonder what's next?

For help with the best online AutoCAD program and Buzzsaw alternative along with everything you need for hosting AutoCAD file management contact Phase 2 International at Phase2int.com.

Many corporations use Microsoft SharePoint Server as a way to exchange, manage, and collaborate on Microsoft Office documents throughout the organization.

But because the information repository is geared towards the business software, it provides no effective way to handle AutoCAD engineering data during design projects. Fortunately, the CADnection program solves this problem, letting users incorporate AutoCAD drawings and reference files into SharePoint managed workflows.

Installing CADnection requires standard IT administrator experience and should take less than a few hours to complete. However, it is good practice to have an experienced SharePoint administrator on hand to establish new workflow processes in SharePoint after CADnection is installed.

Once in place, CADnection works inside AutoCAD, providing designers a menu with tools to manage, maintain, share, and control critical design data. For example, clicking the Save Drawing to SharePoint button saves the file into the repository and ensures data integrity by rebuilding drawing relationships and mapping attributes in the drawing's title block.

The integration between AutoCAD and SharePoint, additionally lets users activate SharePoint's search capabilities to review data on the server, retrieve drawings, and even locate text information in drawings. CADnection has an efficient and reliable database. The program also makes it easy to reuse existing data without losing track of related files. Designers need only insert blocks of design data directly into a new drawing or use the Attach command to create an XREF (external reference) file that then appears in the File References panel.

What's more, users can generate DWF files so anyone on the team can see drawings inside SharePoint for fast visual identification. (DWF stands for Design Web Format and is Autodesk's lightweight CAD format.) CADnection also facilitates the use of Design Review with SharePoint to enhance multisite collaboration and workflow processing. This function is vital for many companies with dispersed or outsourced design and manufacturing operations.

Despite CADnection's many capabilities, a downside is that the software does not support bulk loading. This means that companies must spend additional time and money to process data into and out of SharePoint, for example, while transforming DWG to DWF files. In addition, the loading process stalls with any potential file duplication. These tasks currently require manual input before processing.

One of the biggest benefits would be the increase of efficiency, speed and quality. All of this is done by a solution that creates few mistakes and reliable content data. When you have to go back and modify something, that is where you lose momentum and efficiency. With CADnection's configuration, the workflow will remain well organized and efficient.

The developer provides immediate telephone support for new customers, ongoing free telephone support, and free upgrades under the maintenance contract. The software also comes with a comprehensive digital (PDF) installation and maintenance guide.

CADnection requires Windows XP and Vista-based clients with Windows Server 2003 and SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007.

The software comes from CADnection Inc., 1592 North Batavia, Building One, Orange, CA 92867, (877) 887-7833. The website is www.CADnection.com.

Richard W. Bourke is principal consultant, Bourke Consulting Associates. The firm is a consulting and education organization with extensive experience in engineering and manufacturing systems planning, evaluation, and implementation. For more information go to http://www.bourkeconsulting.com

Coming from a background of what is mine is yours it is hard to believe that there are people who wouldn't share a box of fries with you no matter what. That happened once and it was amazing to see that this person, nameless of course, was aghast at the thought of me wanting to have one of her fries. Laughing wasn't an acceptable reaction either and the rest of the meal time was rather cold. This type of behavior can be found in almost every aspect of your life if you let it. Of course, if you are with a person like this and it drives you crazy, you may be in the wrong relationship.

However, when it comes to business, you do have some control of it. For instance, if your business uses software tools then you can use a Microsoft crm server and allow users to access key account information without having to upload and download it. This prevents your associates from hoarding information that may be key to your project. It also forces someone who has sharing issues out of their comfort zone and may even get them to lighten up a bit. It isn't the end all cure all to competition in the workplace but it is a good start.

Just like sharing a bag of chips with your best friend because all the money you have between the two of you is enough for one bag, as a business you may want to look at getting software for everyone to share. Again, for those who have to have their own, you know the kind, it will be a comfort zone thing. A good example is ShareCAD which allows you to collaborate with co-workers in another cubicle or in another country. It's a tool that is great for those who love to share and share alike. It can also be a cost feature for the business for many reasons.

For those who love to share there are products out there that allow you to plug and play. One avenue you may want to check into is SaaS AutoCAD if you are using or need to use AutoCAD as a tool for your business. It's a great way to share and to save money.

Whatever your reason's for sharing, whether to help those who are challenged in that arena or you want to run a smart business, let Phase 2 International help you with a Microsoft CRM server and also with applications like ShareCAD and SaaS AutoCAD.

With a shaky economy worldwide, companies are striving to boost productivity and remain competitive. As international markets decline, improved efficiency makes it possible to realize profits as others struggle to remain afloat. Software to collaborate AutoCAD files is a simple, effective way to streamline business procedures for maximum returns. Workers collaborate on projects without delay to increase the company's bottom line.

Modern companies are different from the corporations of yesterday. In decades gone by, everyone worked in one office between the hours of 9 and 5. Schedules were rigid and everyone was expected to be at their desks. As businesses grew and railroads were built, large corporations had their offices in main headquarters and opened smaller offices throughout the country or world. Communication became more challenging as businesses expanded. Updated telephone systems were introduced. Computers became part of offices everywhere throughout the 1980s and employees learned to work on the World Wide Web.

By the 1990s, everyone was online and realizing the benefits of communicating through the Internet. Computers were connected through in-office and external office networks. Because of Internet and computer networks, businesses and workers had more flexibility. Collaborating without speaking or seeing one another was a fast, easy way to get work done from anywhere in the world at any time of the day or evening.

Not just a fancy typewriter, computers were able to generate complex house plans, engineering reports and drawings of all kinds. Computer aided design (CAD) was developed for personal computers in the late 1980s. CAD uses computer technology to aid in designing, drafting and technical specifications of all kinds. Different CAD systems are used for various types of work depending on the profession of the user. Projects are shared through online autocad files so people can work together no matter where they are located.

Affordable CAD programs changed the face of drafting. Productivity increased as CAD operators were able to do the work of up to five drafters working traditionally. Engineers learned CAD programs and started to do their own drafting. Technological advances in the beginning were expensive and often only available to large corporations with the financial resources to pay for them. Modern software applications make it possible for businesses of all sizes to increase their productivity on multiple CAD platforms.

Single host cad file management keeps track of all AutoCAD files from a single central platform. Without delays or installations, workers collaborate on projects immediately. Searching, revising and reviewing is done without interruption or leaving the office. Workers can be in the same building or located across the globe and work together on projects without losing time. Instead of scheduling meetings, booking conference rooms or depending on snail mail, everyone gets the job done immediately. Ideas flow freely, productivity increases and businesses become more competitive during difficult economic times with the right software.

Phase 2 International offers ShareCAD, an effective way to collaborate autocad files and boost productivity. This clientless application manages online autocad files from a centralized platform. This host cad file management is available individually or bundled with ShareMeeting for maximum efficiency and productivity.

In a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, America’s advantages in the marketplace of engineering and science technology have begun to erode. There’s a way for students to enhance their math skills while still in high school. I suggest every high school student interested in upgrading their math skills to enroll in a drafting class. Curriculum advisers should encourage more high schools to offer drafting classes, with emphasis on designing small projects and constructing the design. In my opinion, this is a sure fire way to get students interested in engineering and understanding math. Speaking from self experience, enrolling in a drafting course made math easier to understand. After finishing a drafting course, I highly encourage the student to take a Computer Aided Drafting Design (CADD) course. Most colleges and technical institutions offer drafting and CADD together as one course. The student will be introduced to 3D modeling, 3D animation, desktop publishing, ADA codes and guidelines, and much more. The avenues to engineering knowledge goes on and on.

This is my driving force for writing this article; when I witnessed Mr. Bill Gates of MicroSoft Inc. (www.microsoft.com) testifying to the U.S. Congress stating, “we need to import engineers from third world countries, because there’s a shortage of qualified engineers in America”, hit me in the gut like a ton of bricks. Before I go any further, I want to make it crystal clear I view Mr. Gates with the utmost of respect in regards to his generosity to underprivileged people, and his computer business savvy to grow MicroSoft into one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. With that said, we all know, or we all should know, importing engineers from third world countries will drive the salary down for engineers graduating from prestigious engineering institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (www.mit.edu) and Virginia Tech (www.vt.edu), that’s a fact.

A brief history about CADD, CADD was originally introduced as a replacement for the traditional drafting board. I was introduced to CADD in 1980, using a CADD system by the name of Auto-Trol (www.auto-trol.com); the system I used was a DOS based system, no pull down menus and no color. All commands had to be typed in from your keyboard, if you wanted to draw a line or circle, you had to manually type it in, and make sure your spelling was correct. Later I worked on a CADD system by Sun Micro Systems (www.sun.com), which enhanced my knowledge in regards to 3D capability. Then along came AutoCAD!!! (www.autodesk.com), which in my opinion blew the lid off of Computer Aided Drafting. All of a sudden you had pull down menus, short cuts, and color. AutoCAD (www.autodesk.com) simplified CADD to the point where an idiot could understand it, and be proficient at it. I have to say, I don’t believe I would’ve been able to hit the ground running when I was introduced to AutoCAD (www.autodesk.com), without having the privilege of being introduced to Auto-Trol (www.auto-trol.com) beforehand.

This site offers a wealth of information on computer education, how to get jobs in computer engineering, CADD, 3D animation, and where to find these jobs. Click on the link to learn more. http://allcaddesign.com

Aliases? I thought this is about IntelliCAD. And this
isn't the secret service or so. I know. But aliases
have to do with IntelliCAD.

If you want to start a command, then you can click on a
button in one of the toolbars. But you can also type a
key in the keyboard.

Suppose you want to start the Line command. You can
click on the Line button in the Draw 2D toolbar. But
you can also press the L key.

Press the L key and press the right mouse button. Or
the Enter key. And the Line command is started. You can
now draw a line or lines.

The L key. That's called an alias. It's an alias for
the Line command. There are many aliases in IntelliCAD.
You can have a look at them.

Click on Tools in the menu bar and on Customize in the
pull down menu. The Customize dialog box opens. In it
are four tabs.

Click on the Aliases tab. You'll see two list boxes. In
the listbox at the left are all the aliases. In the
other listbox are the commands.

Click on an alias in the list box at the left. The
command that belongs to the alias will be highlighted
in the list box at the right.

All the aliases are stored in the IntelliCAD program.
But you can change that. Maybe you want to change an
alias.

Click on the New button. The Alias edit box below the
list box at the left will be activated. Here you can
type the name of the new alias.

Next select a command in the list box at the right. And
then lick on the Assign button. The command is now
assigned to the new alias.

You can check what command is activated by using an
alias. Click on the name of an alias in the list box at
the left. The command is highlighted.

In the Customize dialog box you find the New button,
the Delete button, and the Assign button. You know how
you can use the New button and the Assign button.

The Delete button can be used to delete an alias.
Select the alias in the list box at the left. Next
click on the Delete button.

At the bottom of the dialog box are four more buttons.
There you find the Close button, the Import button, the
Export button, and the Rest button.

The Close button is clicked to close the Customize
dialog box. You were doing something with aliases and
now you want to go back to IntelliCAD.

Let's first talk about the Export button. You have
created your own aliases. And now you want to save them
in a file.

Click on the Export button. The Select Alias File
dialog box opens., In it you can give the alias file a
name and select a folder.

The alias file can be saved in two formats. You can
save it in the ICA format or you can save it in the PGP
format. That's an AutoCAD format.

This is how these files look. I only give the first
five lines of each file. You can recognize the alias
and the command that's connected to it.


ICA file

[IntelliCAD Custom Alias File]

nAliases=247
[Alias-0]

Alias=3A

LocalCommand=3DARRAY

GlobalCommand=_3DARRAY

PGP file

; BricsCad Generated PGP file.

3A,*3DARRAY

3DFACE,*FACE

3DLINE,*LINE


Now the Insert command. You have created your own
aliases. And you have saved them in a file. Now you
want to use that file.

Click on the Import button. The Select Alias File
dialog box opens., You can now select your alias file.
It is opened and used.

All the aliases are generated by the IntelliCAD
program. They are not stored in a file. And now you
have created your own aliases.

If you want to go back to the way as generated by
IntelliCAD, then click on the Rest button. The aliases
you created are removed.

Aliases. As you can see. It has nothing to do with the
secret service. It has everything to do with
nIntelliCAD.

It is in fact a feature that is also found in AutoCAD.
Some users prefer to use the keyboard to start a
command. True. It's quicker.

=======================================================

Jos van Doorn. IntelliCAD dealer. I've got a shocking
report. About AutoCAD. Get it. Send me an e-mail with
"Shocking Report" in the subject line. Send your e-mail
to:

mailto:cad-solutions@hotmail.com

=======================================================

Jos van Doorn. IntelliCAD dealer. I've got a shocking report. About AutoCAD. Get it. Send me an e-mail with "Shocking Report" in the subject line. Send your e-mail to:

mailto:cad-solutions@hotmail.com

Architectural software comes in many different types, prices, features, and quality. I won't talk about all of your options here, as there are literally dozens of different small, inexpensive programs available at your local software depot.

Instead, I will focus on the major players in the architectural software market for design professionals. This will also be useful for beginner designers...especially those who may want to share (or pass-on) their files to an architect or engineer without having compatibility issues.

Here are some of the most popular architectural software programs available, along with my comments, based on my 13 years of experience working with some of them. These programs are widely used in design firms all over the nation, but can also be used by everyday consumers, as well.

* Microstation
* Archicad
* Chief Architect
* SketchUp
* AutoDesk Products, such as AutoCad, AutoCAD LT, Revit, VIZ, 3ds Max, AutoSketch, Maya, and other plugins and add-ons.

Below are some descriptions and comments about the list above...

Microstation

Many who are die-hard microstation users will quickly point out that it is a much more stable platform to work with, as opposed to the industry standard AutoCad. Many suggest that it is much easier to deal with, and that the programmers did many things much more intelligently in their architectural software design, as it relates to user experience.

One glaring problem is this...
Even IF microstation is a better program than AutoCAD, it's still got some major flaws for the end user. The first and most critical flaw, is the fact that it only comprises about 5-10% of the architectural software market. Therefore, if the software is not COMPLETELY compatible in BOTH DIRECTIONS, this poses workflow problems for our design team...and yes, it has some serious compatibility issues with AutoCAD.

No matter how much Microstation users want to deny it, there ARE compatibility issus, especially if you use x-refs and images/OLE objects in your AutoCAD drawings. When someone opens your AutoCAD files in Microstation, often the x-ref's become unviewable, and the user will then need to contact the architect to either "bind" his drawings into one drawing, or other similar method. OR, they will have to convert the drawings themselves. As an architect, this is not practical.

You can find more information about Bentley's Microstation on their website at http://www.bentley.com.

Archicad

Archicad is more of an all-around 2d/3d application that is intended to provide a total project output, including modeling & rendering, as well as 2 dimensional construction documents. Changes made to the model are updated in all views, such as plans, elevations, 3d model, etc.

Archicad stores all the information about the building in a central database; changes made in one view are updated in all others, including floor plans, sections/elevations, 3D models and bills of material.

Although I do not personally have experience with Archicad, they are definitely making an impact in the architectural software industry, however still only occupying a very small percentage of the market. One thing I am not so sure about, is the single database file structure.

My concern is that I need to be able to delegate different responsibilities to different team members, and if only one person can be working on the file at a time, then this poses a major workflow problem. It is possible that Graphisoft (the makers of Archicad) has addressed this, you can find out more information about their product on their website at http://www.graphisoft.com.

Chief Architect

Chief Architect is one of the leading software products for residential design. Since my business is 99.9% commercial, I cannot speak to it's effectiveness, but I do know they have marketed the product well. The graphics are limited, with respect to the more expensive competition, but it seems to provide a very acceptable output from that perspective.

I tried a demo about 12 years ago, and quickly realized it's limitations in architectural software design for commercial projects, so I have not pursued it for our design purposes.

You can find more information here at their website... http://www.chiefarchitect.com.

SketchUp

SketchUp is becoming extremely popular and more well-known, especially now that Google has purchased the software rights. We use SketchUp often to convey design ideas to our clients, as well as within our design team.

It's ease of use, and ability to quickly generate 3-dimensional representations of building design, make it a very useful piece of architectural software. It's rendering capabilities are limited, compared to 3ds Max, but the price tag is proportional. SketchUp will not break your bank account, whereas 3ds Max is only affordable if you are really making some good money from your 3d modeling efforts

I highly recommend this product. You can get more information at www.sketchup.com.

AutoCAD

AutoCad, by AutoDesk, is the standard by which all CAD software programs are compared...not because it's necessarily a better program, but because it occupies, by far, the greatest market-share for professionals than any other CAD software program available.

In fact, for the 13+ years that I've been using AutoCad (since version 10), only about 5% of our consultants or other design professionals have used anything other than AutoCad, or other AutoDesk products. You can find a link to a large selection of AutoDesk products at http://architecturalsoftware.jdlarchitects.com.

Now, of course, AutoDesk will tell you that this IS because their program is superior to the others. This may be the case, but you will get differing opinions from all sorts of designers, architects, and engineers. Many of the complaints, including my own, are that AutoCad is not very user-friendly. This is definitely the case.

The program is so powerful, that it could take someone decades to master it's features. Often, it is so much easier to just use the features you know, than to keep digging into it's vast feature sets...you could literally spend all of your time trying to learn all of the programs features, but you would never get any real work done.

That being said, I have used AutoCad for 13+ years now, and if it is used correctly, with the proper sheet setups and reference files, your workflow can be as efficient as with any architectural software product.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, even if there are debatable issues about architectural software quality and user-friendliness, it just doesn't make sense to me, to use anything other than AutoDesk's products. I may not be enthused about it, but I have to ensure that my workflow is efficient. The unnecessary hoops to jump through when using CAD software that only 5% of the world is utilizing, is not practical.

I want my file structure to be maintained on my consultant's end, and since the design process requires back-and-forth transferring of files throughout the process (sometimes dozens or even hundreds of times on large projects), it is obviously an unacceptable solution if you have compatibility issues to deal with.

Yes, there are plenty of design teams fighting their way through this process, but the problem is that their upper management, on the average, are not savvy enough to current software applications to care about "how" their production happens...they just care that it gets done. What they don't realize, is that if they implemented proper workflow usage of architectural software, they could save literally hundreds of man-hours on each job.

Jud Leonard, AIA, is the President and CEO of Jud Leonard Architects, Inc., located in Dallas, TX. Mr. Leonard has over 13 years of experience using architectural software for commercial projects. You can view this article and more about his firm at http://architecturalsoftware.jdlarchitects.com

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