Replies

1. 
   butch | Mar 06, 2005 03:21am | #1

   bump

1. 
   Piffin | Mar 06, 2005 04:15am | #2

   fast bump. in a hurry tonight?I am totally unfamiliar with it so I spent half an hour perusing their site and the demo.
   I was going to suggest that you visit their forum of users but it is apparantly closed for use - maybe no users?the demo makes it appear to have basic minimal CAD tools, a little weak and clunky, nothing impresive. No way to evaluate whether it is truly functional or buggyAnd some of the openning shots and literature give the impression that it can design a 3D project, but there are no tools demoed for this. I don't believe they exist.You could email the company and ask specific questions and whether you can get an evaluation copy or a thirty day trial with refund.I would suggest getting a basic copy of a more powerful program like Turbocad for about the same money, then you can upgrade to TC pro as you grow. IMSI Turbocad even had a program called Floorplan available for free at one time. You registered, then downloaded it for free, and later, you get offeres in the mail to buy the full program at discounted prices....But maybe somebody here has some actuall good experience with it... 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   butch | Mar 06, 2005 06:33am | #3

   fast bump. in a hurry tonight?NOt me.I tried their forum of users and said it was closed,so I resorted to this forum hoping someone elsehere might have it or is familiar with.I was wondering to if maybe it was a new programand they had no users or very few.I get this mailer w/3x5 cards in it with a bunchof different companys and that is where I foundabout CAd pro.Thanks for the look, now I'm off to ck. out TurboCad.I had there free trial at one time, but I couldn'tfigure it out to save my life as I was still prettynew w/this computer stuff, so maybe now I be able to do something with it

1. 
   Piffin | Mar 06, 2005 07:10am | #4

   I never heard of it before - not that I'm all knowing or anything like that, but i did get the impression that it is a new program.New name and marketing anyways. all the tools incorprated in it have been around for awhile, so it is probably a repackaging of old tools that might or might not work well together. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   CloudHidden | Mar 06, 2005 10:21pm | #7

   >I was wondering to if maybe it was a new program and they had no users or very few.They claim over 2 million users on their site! I'm convinced!!! :)

1. 
   Piffin | Mar 06, 2005 11:33pm | #9

   Given your stimulation, I searched some buasiness data, assuming a company with over two million customers world wide would have some public info on earnings out there.they are international, marketing, based in OK, but barely exist it seems. They claim to have a software developement staff but mostly to bring together other's programing into a synchronous platform, as I suspected. The developement and marketing of this particular piece of software is directed to homeowners and DIYs, as we can tell from first looksee, and not intended for professional use. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   CloudHidden | Mar 07, 2005 02:52am | #10

   And there's no Mac version, so it's obviously for amateurs! <G>

3. 
   Piffin | Mar 07, 2005 03:01am | #11

   dunno.I was doing a search for free cad the other day for a friend wanting to sample the goodies and came across a homeowner version of something for mac. Didn't stop to look tho. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   JeffBuck | Mar 06, 2005 09:03am | #5

   hey Pif ..

   did I miss the demo at MikeFest ..

    

   and .. are ya gonna rerun one at BigCalFest?

   do U take requests?

    

   I think U and Mike run two different deals ... maybe we can have a duel?

    

   not for me ... for my kid ... he's cuter ... can't turn that face down, now can ya?

   Jeff  Buck Construction 

      Artistry in Carpentry

           Pgh, PA

1. 
   Piffin | Mar 06, 2005 09:37pm | #6

   I think I'll stillbe under the gun of a hot deadline when Joyce fests Cal and his buddies. you must have been whaling horseshoes when I did that thing. I sdiscovered that I had left one of my library archived discs at home and didn't have so much old wortk to display- just winged it with here is what you can do, blah, bnlah. Other guys using other programs compared nots too.Mike uses Chief architect which has a thirty day free trial - don't know if you can print from it. Softplan has a non-interactive demo disc free for the asking and a total refund policy - don't know if thirty days or ninety...pay on the AMEX card and return for credit if you can't get the hang of it.
   Vectorworks has some very interesting stuff on their newest version that is tempting. if I had the time and money, I would take a flyer on it too, just cause this stuff is fun, but I have plenty to confuse meself between Turbocad and SP.
   for what I understand what you do working pretty much alone( and figuring out the finer details as you simmer along...) it might be that Chief or vector is the better for you. I work so much with older hiomes where I have to create custom walls etc, and need to have detailed drawings to hand off to crew or subs so I think SP is better for me.
   Both chief and SP are object oriented for the 3D work. I think Vector is too, and has more tooling to create objects but is overall somewhat more complicated to run. SP has limited basic CAD tools so I sometimes use Turbocad to create objects or symbols for use in my SP. I also use iot to open and convert some ACAD files, tho less now that SP has a better import/export facility for DXF. DWG, JPG and BTMP files.this program mentioned - cadpro claims that it will import one of the ACAD formats but does not say if it will export it, better to be able to import and export in either format since the DXF aND dwg ARE THE NOMINALLY UNIVERSAL file formats for cadcam users.
   There is no real universal format though. For instance, if I convert a SPF drawing from mine into a DWG for export to an engineeer, he will see a drawing that looks pretty much like mine on screen or paper, but it will only be a collection of lines that represent whatever. It will have lost all the associated properties. For instance, when I draw a wall in SP, I see two, three or four lines, depending on my chosen settings, but the program itself haas not drawn a couple lines. It has drawn a WALL and includes information about wall height, materials to order, thickness of sheathing and siding etc. The engineeer won't know if the studs are 16"oc or 24"oc unless I so note it or do a separate framing drawing ( another four or five minutes converting stuff) with the surface materials made invisible. Now if the other professional and I both use the same program and format, we share ALL that info included in the drawing. Universality is one of the great tripstones for the CAD industry 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   MikeSmith | Mar 06, 2005 10:45pm | #8

   Chief also has the 90 day money back...

   i'm using vs. 9.54      i have the new version 10.0 on my home computer, but i'm not ready to switch over just yet.. in the middle of a project is not a good time to be peeking and poking in a new software version

   here's a link to the Chief site..

   http://www.chiefarchitect.com/Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

2. 
   butch | Mar 07, 2005 02:32pm | #12

   Yowzer, that is an expensive programbut like anything else ya get what you payfor. I'm look in the 100.00 price rangeand it is more for a hobby than anything else.I'm going to contact BHG on their Home Designer for $59.00,Home Designer6.0 for $99.00 and their Home Designer Suite Bundlefor 119.00. Any comments on these?

3. 
   MikeSmith | Mar 07, 2005 03:16pm | #13

   sorry, butch... i don't have a clue as to their capabilitiesMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

4. 
   BillHartmann | Mar 07, 2005 07:43pm | #14

   Those are reduced feature version of Chief Architech.If you look long enough at the website you will find some comparison charts.There is also a $500 version that is more of cross over between the DIY and the Chief Architech version.Either on the BH&G or the CA site there are comparisons between that and the full product.

5. 
   butch | Mar 08, 2005 12:13am | #15

   f you look long enough at the website you will find some comparison charts

   Well, I guess I didn't look long enough cause I couldn'tfind anything.

6. 
   MikeSmith | Mar 08, 2005 02:39am | #16

   butch.. one of the guys on the chief site is selling some of his software on ebay..

    autocad Lt

   and (2) sets of turbocad..

    if you're interested. here's a link..

   i know nothing about the TurboCad.. the Autocad  Lt  is a nice 2d program

    

   i don't know if the license is transferable... but itwon't urt to ask

   http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZfinedesignzMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

7. 
   butch | Mar 08, 2005 01:48pm | #17

   Mike thanks for that link, I sent theseller a question on a Turbo CAD 9.5 that was at $85.00.

8. 
   MikeSmith | Mar 08, 2005 02:58pm | #18

   butch... i think the guy's name is mike smith... there's about three of us that follow the chief user's group...

   say hi to my cousin...hah, hah,hahMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

9. 
   BillHartmann | Mar 08, 2005 06:29pm | #19

   http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/products/products.htmAnd for CAhttp://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/