Though new versions of many familiar products are included here, a few are missing for one reason or another. But all of these design tools are capable of a broad array of work, whether they're destined to become a primary design tool or an adjunct to other applications. For example, a low-cost tool specifically for AEC design is now available. We've noticed some degree of specialization in budget CAD applications, which traditionally tend to be all-purpose drawing programs. New features such as freely distributable stand-alone DWF viewers and audio notekeeping systems appear in this roundup, along with support for the latest versions of the DWG file format. The level of development activity in this category is encouraging and should speak well to those interested in an economical solution to their design needs. At least one of the vendors covered here was in the late stages of beta testing a major release. The FutureVendors continue to develop these products and regularly add new features and improvements, some of which are certainly based on user input. Most of these applications benefit from avid user support, with newsgroups and forums for sharing information and resources with one another. And the extra features make the low cost an even greater bargain. These capabilities vary by application, so for a more detailed view of a particular application's capabilities, see the feature table.Īll told, these applications are remarkably capable, far beyond what you'd expect for such bargain prices. Some also include fairly extensive symbol libraries, support for VBA customization and support for external reference files. In addition to the CAD features considered standard requirements, some of these programs offer sophisticated capabilities such as OpenGL hardware acceleration, rendering, antialiasing, transparency, reflectance and ray tracing. Rich Feature SetsWhenever we cover inexpensive design applications in Cadalyst, the richness of the feature sets in these entry-level applications never ceases to amaze us. In addition, these same features make it much easier to move to AutoCAD should that be necessary, so there's not much effort wasted in training.
Many of the applications here offer compatibility with AutoCAD commands from the command line, customization via the same AutoLISP features supported by AutoCAD, and other features that allow them to fit comfortably into a work environment that uses AutoCAD.
It's even possible to use some of these applications to modify a DWG file that originated in AutoCAD, then open the modified drawing in AutoCAD again. Not only are many incarnations of the the DWG file format supported, DXF support is readily available. With AutoCAD dominating the midrange CAD market, it's not surprising that many of these applications tout their AutoCAD compatibility. This is definitely not a stagnant area for application developers, much to the benefit of end users. As capable as these applications were when we looked at them last January, these new versions offer many improvements and new features. We set two basic criteria for this roundup-CAD applications had to cost less than $600 and be significantly updated from the last time we reviewed them. Bargain Buys-7 CAD Packages to Stretch the Budget 31 Dec, 2004 By: Ron LaFon Cadalyst Labs checks out CAD programs that deliver impressive capabilities for less than $600
0 kommentar(er)
