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CAD that Won't Break the Bank (Cadalyst Labs Review)
1 Jan, 2008 By: Ron LaFonInexpensive CAD applications can offer significant functionality for substantially less money than top-of-the-line products.
Cadalyst knows that inexpensive CAD applications can offer significant functionality for substantially less money than top-of-the-line products. In our annual survey article of affordable CAD products, you'll find applications that are feature rich and flexible. Many of these applications can read and write DWG and DXF files, and some offer integrated visualization features. These products have capabilities significant enough to warrant consideration as primary design applications for many purposes, rather than as just low-priced alternatives to pricier software.
Not everyone needs or can afford major design applications such as AutoCAD, so many individuals and small design and engineering firms must look elsewhere to meet their software needs. Complex and sophisticated applications are remarkably capable, but not everyone needs all the bells and whistles. You may not need 3D design tools at all, or you may not need radiosity rendering or customer-level programmability. Fortunately, many low-cost design applications provide rich and capable tools without breaking the proverbial bank. And you might be surprised to find that many of them even offer 3D design tools, radiosity rendering, and programmability.
AutoCAD dominates the midrange CAD market, so it comes as no surprise that AutoCAD compatibility is touted by many of the applications described in this article. They may be able to read and write DWG and DXF files or even enter the same commands used by AutoCAD on the command line. Most of the applications evaluated here offer the flexibility of customizing and extending the interface and functionality of the product. These popular design applications thus offer the ability to fit well into an AutoCAD-centric work environment and make it easier to move designs to AutoCAD itself, if the need arises.
The depth of features found in these design applications is remarkable; in fact, this development has become expected, rather than surprising. Many of the applications offer OpenGL hardware acceleration, rendering, antialiasing, transparency and/or reflectance, and ray tracing. Some have symbol libraries, hatch patterns, and linetypes that match those in AutoCAD and support for external xref files. A number also offer programming language interfaces such as VBA or C++ for customizing how the program works, which allows you to focus on your specific needs. For more information about the features of each product, please see the accompanying online table at www.cadalyst.com/0108budgettable.
User input frequently results in new features. The continued and growing popularity of this segment of the software market has caused individual vendors to innovate in many areas to make their products easier to use and more productive for their customers. Smaller firms generally tend to be more agile and responsive to their customer base.
Many of the vendors offer newsgroups and forums of avid users who share information and resources with one another, which often is a much faster way of getting information than either trial-and-error experimentation or calling technical support. Some vendors offer e-mail support, which can be faster for end users and inexpensive for the software developer.
The design applications discussed here can handle a wide range of tasks and are suitable for numerous types of work. Whether the applications are intended as a primary design tool or as an economical CAD seat, you'll find much to like.
What We Requested
It will come as no surprise that product costs, along with just about everything else, have continued to escalate, but Cadalyst still was able to keep the $800 upper price limit for budget CAD applications for this 2008 review the same as it was last year. We invited several vendors to submit applications and reviewed only those that had been updated significantly since last January. Some vendors did not respond, and others hadn't updated their applications. Despite these factors, Cadalyst received even more applications to review than last year. Obviously, there is a lot of interest in economical CAD applications, as this category of design software continues to grow steadily. Users now get even more for their money, because the increased competition has kept prices low while the applications themselves have become more capable.
This group of applications have greater diversification, with budget CAD moving into slightly more specialized areas. For example, this roundup includes a solid modeler as well as applications geared toward AEC users. This move toward specialization is a product of both customer demand and the need for products to distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market.
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AutoCAD Tips!
Autodesk Technical Evangelist Lynn Allen guides you through a different AutoCAD feature in every edition of her popular "Circles and Lines" tutorial series. For even more AutoCAD how-to, check out Lynn's quick tips in the Cadalyst Video Gallery. Subscribe to Cadalyst's Tips & Tricks Tuesdays free e-newsletter and we'll notify you every time a new video tip is available. All exclusively from Cadalyst! |
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