fszeman@oz.lerc.nasa.gov (Pat Zeman) (04/30/91)
I'm looking for any information on very basic, inexpensive drafting (not drawing) programs. I use MacDraft 1.2 because it has the basic tools and in it's day cost about $100. It's showing its age with repeated system upgrades. Now version 2.1 and other fancy programs are $200-$600. Any comments on Generic CADD Level 1 ($83). Is there anything else to look at? Also, is Architect by Abracadata ($64) strictly a floor plan program, or a basic drafting program with templates? Net discussion prefered, E-mail is ok. Thank you, -- Patrick L. Zeman USAF/NASA Lewis Research Center Wk. Ph: 216-433-6788 21000 Brookpark Rd. MS 5-11 Eve Ph: 216-845-7223 Cleveland, OH 44135 E-mail:fszeman@oz.lerc.nasa.gov
owen@raven.phys.washington.edu (Russell Owen) (05/01/91)
In article <1991Apr30.105216.1721@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> fszeman@oz.lerc.nasa.gov (Pat Zeman) writes: > > I'm looking for any information on very basic, inexpensive >drafting (not drawing) programs. I use MacDraft 1.2 because >it has the basic tools and in it's day cost about $100. It's >showing its age with repeated system upgrades. Now version >2.1 and other fancy programs are $200-$600. > > Any comments on Generic CADD Level 1 ($83). Is there anything >else to look at? I looked at Generic CAD when it first came out, but it offered little beyond MacDraw. Maybe they've finally put in some functionality in level 1, but I doubt it. If they offer higher levels, check those out. A friend uses Generic CAD level 3 (or maybe higher) on an IBM and it is very powerful -- it even does 3-D. Unfortunately it's about as clumsy as you'd expect an IBM application to be. We use Vellum, which is very powerful and is spectacularly easy to use. The tools are well chosen, and there is a "smart cursor" which IS smart and incredibly useful. Vellum beats any CAD program I've seen anywhere by a mile. Unfortunately, it's expensive (reasonable to universities, though). By the way, having mentioned IBMs above, let me add that Vellum is now available for the IBM. Some cheaper choices... Claris CAD is reasonably powerful and easy to use. It's the only program besides Vellum that I know of with a smart cursor of any kind. Unfortunately, the rest of the interface has a "function/method/modifier paradigm" (or some such nonsense). Claris is proud of it, but we found it clumsy, annoying, and MUCH less intuitive than Vellum's elegant simple interface. Pegasys was the third program we looked at which we liked. It is a good basic CAD program, and we almost bought it, but it isn't as easy to use as Vellum, and the demo crashed too often for comfort. They claimed to have fixed the problem, and they may well have -- if you are interested, get the demo first and try it out. -- Russell owen@raven.phys.washington.edu
jess@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Jess M Holle) (05/01/91)
In article <1991Apr30.105216.1721@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> fszeman@oz.lerc.nasa.gov (Pat Zeman) writes: > Any comments on Generic CADD Level 1 ($83). Is there anything >else to look at? I would advise looking into Claris CAD. The newest version has a wonderful interface, a kind of extended MacDraw, but with much better CAD features. It may or may not be in your price range; I don't remember the price, and you did not specify a range. There are probably other packages as well, but I don't have any experience with other medium to low end packages. I play around with an old version of Generic CADD for a while, but it just wasn't for me. It's feature set was smaller than that of Claris CAD, and I didn't like the interface. Maybe things have changed since then. Jess Holle
jhi@tsunami.Berkeley.EDU (John Im) (05/01/91)
I also recommend Claris CAD 2.0, but only if you can't afford Vellum (like me). I tried out Vellum and a few other programs, and Vellum was easily the easiest to use (and most powerful) in its price range. Claris CAD is the next best, although it started slowing down noticibly after about the 3rd layer (16-color mode, IIcx). I gues that's what you get for a program that needs to work on any Mac all the way back to the Plus. Vellum did not have any trouble with multiple layers. Actually, you didn't mention what type of Mac you have. Vellum only runs on a MacII or later, and you need tons of memory (I think 4meg). If you have access to University prices, Claris CAD is the best deal (got mine for $230+tax, but it's around $350 now). - John