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Non AutoCAD CAD - Looking to fuel further discussion

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Rustabout:
Some that are familiar with my posts know that I have been interested in this topic for some time. Every now and then I try out a different CAD program to see what it's like. Sometimes my findings are less than popular. Now might be a good time to reignite this topic as many people are working from home, and there could be an increase in the availability of freelance work.

Since last posting something along these lines, I've started learning Rhino3d... I burnt out on the program a bit. But so far to date, it was the best "not AutoCAD, not Revit" program I've used. As one may be quick to point out, Rhino3d is clearly not an 'AutoCAD replacement'. I've been learning Rhino3d because I am worried about my aging skillset, which is proving less and less sale-able in the world of freelance drafting. Rhino3d gives you a 90 day free trial so that is a bonus (and shows a lot of confidence in their sofware).

I did a trial of ProgeCAD and found that not to be a viable option. One thing I didn't like is how they claim that they include a raster converter, but it's really just the freeware version of Wintopo.

After going full circle, my conclusion was to simple subscribe to Autodesk's Revit LT/AutoCAD LT suite (no LISP!!! I'm gutted ;-( ), and slowly try to work Rhino 3d into my workflow.

I'm tempted to try out one more program called GstarCAD. Trying out new programs can be exhausting however. Basically, the same routine I encounter when testing out a new program goes something like this: I run into an operation which I can easily and quickly accomplish in AutoCAD; the same operation is either like pulling teeth or painfully slow in the AutoCAD alternative; I then A) accept it or B) spend time thinking of/developing a 'work around'. Many AutoCAD alternatives also lack documentation/tutorials. BricsCAD has a great support community, which isn't the case for some of the other alternatives. Rhino3d, so far, has the best documentation and also a great community. And of course, help with AutoCAD is just a google search away, owing to the fact that their software is so popular.

MickD:
I've said it before and I'll say it again - BricsCAD is dollar for dollar the best value AutoCAD (and verticals) alternative on the market IMO. The 'Platinum' version is cheaper than AutoCAD LT!
It comes with Civil/Structural/Sheetmetal/Mech and BIM and all of these save to native DWG. An AutoCAD user will be productive from the get go as all typical/standard commands are the same.

So, given that and the chance you may need to work from home etc then anyone who needs a tool to do serious, real world projects for a living then it's hard to go past it, especially coming from AutoCAD. If you can model it in AutoCAD then it's the same (and probably easier) to do it in BricsCAD.
Sure, some of the more vertical features will require a bit of training but any sophisticated software requires some work/training from the end user otherwise things will seem harder than what you're used to.

Greg B:
I used to use DataCAD and it worked pretty good.  Doesn't look to be too expensive either.

nobody:
What kind of work are you doing?  Can you share?

I recommend staying away from anything open source or non profit for these reasons:

1) Top talent (the software engineers) will always end up working for private business like Autodesk for the pay and bonus structures that typically comes with private business.  Basically, you don't work for donations right, why would you expect a company that does be successful in the long term?  Non profit corporations have never, ever been more successful than private enterprise so it will always suffer.

2) Because of reason 1 there will be a cap on what non profits can do. Eventually updating their own software will be too complicated, and because they can't pay like private business, updates will end.

In my opinion Autocad, nor any of Autodesk products were ever intended for solo / indie type work originally.  What happened was people all over the world stole their software through pirating or lying about education activity and started to use them for everything under the sun from setting up fake online classes and schools to teach it to doing outsource work for companies around the globe.  So everyone thinks they should have affordable access to software that really has always only ever meant to be for professionals in industry.  That said, I don't think it hurt them in the end. Everyone around the globe in design industries knows who Autodesk is.  What it has done is put people in positions who should have never had access to the software be angry they don't get free, cheap, or open source.

I don't hate Lamborghini's because I can't afford it. Nor will I go into every forum everywhere and complain about how I should have an alternative just like Lamborghini for a price that suits me.  I have to settle for the Honda, and just be content with it. Or I have to do what it takes to buy the Lamborghini. Either way, it's not Lamborghini's problem, its mine.

Rustabout:
To be completely honest, if I were chasing the right type of work, the cost of a yearly subscription to Autodesk's AEC collection wouldn't be that bad (but why can't they just give us Revit/AutoCAD for a lower price without all that other crap! argh!!). A person should divide the hours they work by the cost of their licensing. Then they can decide the true cost/value of their software (I'll refer to this later).

The type of work I used to do was repetitive structural type stuff: Multi-Residential mostly. There was HUGE potential for increased productivity using LISP which is the reason I acquired my meager LISP programming skills. I realized that even if I double, quadruple, or even quintuple productivity, there was limited benefit for myself. I can earn much more in other areas of building construction and hence now have a totally different day job. One office I worked in did small jobs. It turns out these types of jobs can be quite lucrative (and I don't mind drafting them compared to bigger, repetitive jobs). So I'm chasing that type of work; permit drawing sets (architectural drawings for small buildings let's say) and structural plans for small jobs.

The main reason I want to shy away from Autodesk is because I feel like their product is getting bogged down. AutoCAD performs 'laggy' on even fast computers. And the more complicated it gets, the more things that can go wrong. With that said, I have chosen (for the short to medium term) to stick with Revit/AutoCAD LT Suite. It's actually very good value (it's also on sale right now I think).

I know lots of people default to the 'BricsCAD' suggestion. And I also know MickD hates it when I roast on BricsCAD. Unfortunately, I can only conclude that BricsCAD came up a little short for myself. BricsCAD's pricing is actually not that great: AutoCAD LT's and BricsCAD's classic's yearly licensing fees are actually about the same. And for a little more a person could get the AutoCAD/Revit LT suite. One could opt for BricsCAD's perpetual license, but the new problem that arises are the maintenance fees. There isn't exactly a lot of transparency on Bricsys's site regarding this. Imagine subscribing to a program for $400 per year, or buying another software program for $1,000 upfront, but they also charge $300 every time you have to upgrade. After purchasing the software, you realize you have to upgrade every 2 years. So basically at year 4, both options have amounted to the same overall cost. This is a similar conundrum I've been battling with the decision whether or not I should go with BricsCAD Classic (I won't get into why I'm not considering their vertical options). I've tested out BricsCAD twice and have concluded that it would slow my productivity (just) enough to not make the purchase worthwhile. If, however, their prices came down and/or there was more transparency regarding their maintenance fees I could see myself giving BricsCAD Classic another look; there's potential there.

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