No, not the board game. I'm referring to how the architectural community is becoming dependant on AutoCAd. Can you image the industry without it? Have we become addicts, who must purchase the newest version of the program even though most of the time the improvements are minimal? In the 3D modelling sector there is healthy competiton (3D Studio Max/Viz, Maya, Rhino, Lightwave. etc...), but in digital drafting I see no challenger.....
Has the architecture field become like the internet/pc with Microsoft's internet explorer/windows?
Is traditional drafting as we used to know it, dead?
Oh man, our office uses microstation and it's full of quirks...we spend a lot of time trying to emulate AutoCad, but it sometimes doesn't work. I think the reason we keep it is because it's cheaper and you can write your own code to personalize the program and mold it into whatever it is your office needs most.
I can't comment on the traditional drafting. I think it has become obsolete but it is still vital to one's education.
Yes...Im kinda old school...a good ol pencil and trace for me.That is the traditional way that everyone learns.We are junkies they are not cheap...even the "student versions" are high.Iknow CAD 2004 and Architectural Desktop 2005 but once I blink my eyes they'll be coming out with CAD 2010 then everyone will have to buy it to keep up.lol
I have never used Autocad in an office though it was my software-of-choice in school. Smaller firms still tend to use Vectorworks and powercad, or other alternatives like the dreaded Microstation (what ana awful bit of work that is).
But not to fear about AC-monopoly; a huge portion of the architects here in Japan use a straight up 2d shareware called JW-Cad that is surprisingly powerful if less than frilly. More than enough for drafting in any case. Apparently it is developed and constantly updated by a group of power-to-the-people open-source-is-god sort of crowd. It has in fact a lot of features that AC (and other software) could benefit from.
In 20 years the world will end for the biological humans. In 15, Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, - Architects - will all be replaced by intelligent machines. In 10, people will be able to purchase 3D Home Architect at Wal-Mart for $20 and it will deliver them full sets of plans that will link electronically with the building department - AI module. In 5, Autodesk will be acquired by Time-Warner-AOL-Mitsubishi-Netflix for $1.50 / share.
I hate it. I much prefer working on a Mac and MS bullshit software blows but VectorWorks is just so impossible to do real drafting on in an efficent way adn AutoCAD is fast and solid adn the model space/ paper space thing make sso much sense. I atually had to buy a PC recently to run it.
These companies have no sympathy or consideration for single users/young professionals/students outside US..........Imagine starting a design business, just by getting programs like autodesk autocad and 3d studio max, macromedia studio mx, adobe photoshop and illustrator you risk braking the bank............meanwhile, they earn millions by adding this new tiny feature, like file browsers or a layout facelift.......
I remember walking in Milano towards the Castello Sforzesco and seeing a McDonald's map saying YOU ARE HERE and WE ARE HERE with 5 of them all around me............felt kinda creepy........
barbaric - not sure what you mean 'no sympathy or consideration'? Really, if you think about it, you can start an entire business for less than $10k, buying legal copies of all these softwares. That's pretty amazing, and you can work for anyone anywhere.
Show me another business where you can earn a very, very good living, working from home, with only $10k invested. It's a cheap entry point. Think about how much it costs to buy a Domino's (like a million, right?), or some other franchise.
I think Autodesk sucks in their pricing and flexibility (I HATE paying for Max updates, just because they won't make a f$ckin' down save option!! And I would really like a modular purchase plan), but all in all, most software packages these days are a steal and you get a lot for not much $$.
I am just glad they make Autodesk LT.
This isn't to mention the cracked copies and lack of copyright laws in many of the outsource arenas. It's all kinda ironic, imho, how we get undercut by cheap outsourcing, and yet we are the ones that are paying for the software development.
LT sucks more than the full program as the many productivity tools that make AutoCAD worth drawing with are missing. Do what everyone else does who doesn't care for the law or registration, get on a peer to peer network and download a hacked and packed full version... so I've been told!
I was actually talking about this with someone the other day, we came to the conclusion that AutoCAD may be on the outs(as far as a monopoly is concerned). Why?
Their refusal to incorporate technologies and code that the rest of the industry is using, specifically parametric modeling ( as far as I know autodesk has no immediate plans for this and microstation next release will fully incorporate this concept.) Even if you don't feel parametrics are the new wave in cad, how about 3d modeling, sure cad does it, but well? Though I don't think autocad will totally disappear, I do feel microstation and other software packages like archicad and autodesk's own revit will start to take a lot of cad's market share.
Let the record state that I think Revit and ArchiCAD are absolute sh@t.
i USE VERSION 3.3 AND I LIKE IT ...OR JUST USED TO IT....VERSIONS 2004 / 2005 THE "IMPROVEMENTS" ACTUALLY SLOWED DOWN THE PREFORMANCE AND ALL IT DID WAS IMPROVE 3D RENDERERING (WHICH HAS ALWAYS SUCKED) AND MADE THE ICONS PRETTIER AND BIGGER. NOT WORTH IT. STICK WITH 3.3.
I've read that MicroStation sells more stations to architects than AutoCAD does. This doesn't necessarily mean more firms use MicroStation though, because a few of the largest firms do (like NBBJ), and they probably account for most of the stations sold.
Anecdotaly, in my 15-year architecture history I have yet to work in a firm that uses AutoCAD. I learned it in school and that's the last time I touched it.
My impression was actually that there were fewer and fewer firms using it, because the last time I was job-searching (about 4 years ago now) almost none of the firms with which I interviewed were using AutoCAD (2 or 3 firms out of about 18 candidates.) Some of the firms I've worked in have been ones that formerly used AutoCAD and switched away from it at some point. I don't see it taking over the world.
Apr 12, 05 11:44 am ·
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monopoly in architecture
No, not the board game. I'm referring to how the architectural community is becoming dependant on AutoCAd. Can you image the industry without it? Have we become addicts, who must purchase the newest version of the program even though most of the time the improvements are minimal? In the 3D modelling sector there is healthy competiton (3D Studio Max/Viz, Maya, Rhino, Lightwave. etc...), but in digital drafting I see no challenger.....
Has the architecture field become like the internet/pc with Microsoft's internet explorer/windows?
Is traditional drafting as we used to know it, dead?
What about microstation and vectorworks?
Oh man, our office uses microstation and it's full of quirks...we spend a lot of time trying to emulate AutoCad, but it sometimes doesn't work. I think the reason we keep it is because it's cheaper and you can write your own code to personalize the program and mold it into whatever it is your office needs most.
I can't comment on the traditional drafting. I think it has become obsolete but it is still vital to one's education.
Yes...Im kinda old school...a good ol pencil and trace for me.That is the traditional way that everyone learns.We are junkies they are not cheap...even the "student versions" are high.Iknow CAD 2004 and Architectural Desktop 2005 but once I blink my eyes they'll be coming out with CAD 2010 then everyone will have to buy it to keep up.lol
I have never used Autocad in an office though it was my software-of-choice in school. Smaller firms still tend to use Vectorworks and powercad, or other alternatives like the dreaded Microstation (what ana awful bit of work that is).
But not to fear about AC-monopoly; a huge portion of the architects here in Japan use a straight up 2d shareware called JW-Cad that is surprisingly powerful if less than frilly. More than enough for drafting in any case. Apparently it is developed and constantly updated by a group of power-to-the-people open-source-is-god sort of crowd. It has in fact a lot of features that AC (and other software) could benefit from.
In 20 years the world will end for the biological humans. In 15, Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, - Architects - will all be replaced by intelligent machines. In 10, people will be able to purchase 3D Home Architect at Wal-Mart for $20 and it will deliver them full sets of plans that will link electronically with the building department - AI module. In 5, Autodesk will be acquired by Time-Warner-AOL-Mitsubishi-Netflix for $1.50 / share.
Wow, how do you sleep at night?
I hate it. I much prefer working on a Mac and MS bullshit software blows but VectorWorks is just so impossible to do real drafting on in an efficent way adn AutoCAD is fast and solid adn the model space/ paper space thing make sso much sense. I atually had to buy a PC recently to run it.
Dazed and Confused... but won't the robots in 2025 still be clicking and typing in commands on the same old Autocad command prompt?
long live AutoCAD ;)
long live AutoCAD ;) - I hope that was sarcasm or irony!
These companies have no sympathy or consideration for single users/young professionals/students outside US..........Imagine starting a design business, just by getting programs like autodesk autocad and 3d studio max, macromedia studio mx, adobe photoshop and illustrator you risk braking the bank............meanwhile, they earn millions by adding this new tiny feature, like file browsers or a layout facelift.......
I remember walking in Milano towards the Castello Sforzesco and seeing a McDonald's map saying YOU ARE HERE and WE ARE HERE with 5 of them all around me............felt kinda creepy........
barbaric - not sure what you mean 'no sympathy or consideration'? Really, if you think about it, you can start an entire business for less than $10k, buying legal copies of all these softwares. That's pretty amazing, and you can work for anyone anywhere.
Show me another business where you can earn a very, very good living, working from home, with only $10k invested. It's a cheap entry point. Think about how much it costs to buy a Domino's (like a million, right?), or some other franchise.
I think Autodesk sucks in their pricing and flexibility (I HATE paying for Max updates, just because they won't make a f$ckin' down save option!! And I would really like a modular purchase plan), but all in all, most software packages these days are a steal and you get a lot for not much $$.
I am just glad they make Autodesk LT.
This isn't to mention the cracked copies and lack of copyright laws in many of the outsource arenas. It's all kinda ironic, imho, how we get undercut by cheap outsourcing, and yet we are the ones that are paying for the software development.
LT sucks more than the full program as the many productivity tools that make AutoCAD worth drawing with are missing. Do what everyone else does who doesn't care for the law or registration, get on a peer to peer network and download a hacked and packed full version... so I've been told!
I was actually talking about this with someone the other day, we came to the conclusion that AutoCAD may be on the outs(as far as a monopoly is concerned). Why?
Their refusal to incorporate technologies and code that the rest of the industry is using, specifically parametric modeling ( as far as I know autodesk has no immediate plans for this and microstation next release will fully incorporate this concept.) Even if you don't feel parametrics are the new wave in cad, how about 3d modeling, sure cad does it, but well? Though I don't think autocad will totally disappear, I do feel microstation and other software packages like archicad and autodesk's own revit will start to take a lot of cad's market share.
Let the record state that I think Revit and ArchiCAD are absolute sh@t.
i USE VERSION 3.3 AND I LIKE IT ...OR JUST USED TO IT....VERSIONS 2004 / 2005 THE "IMPROVEMENTS" ACTUALLY SLOWED DOWN THE PREFORMANCE AND ALL IT DID WAS IMPROVE 3D RENDERERING (WHICH HAS ALWAYS SUCKED) AND MADE THE ICONS PRETTIER AND BIGGER. NOT WORTH IT. STICK WITH 3.3.
I've read that MicroStation sells more stations to architects than AutoCAD does. This doesn't necessarily mean more firms use MicroStation though, because a few of the largest firms do (like NBBJ), and they probably account for most of the stations sold.
Anecdotaly, in my 15-year architecture history I have yet to work in a firm that uses AutoCAD. I learned it in school and that's the last time I touched it.
My impression was actually that there were fewer and fewer firms using it, because the last time I was job-searching (about 4 years ago now) almost none of the firms with which I interviewed were using AutoCAD (2 or 3 firms out of about 18 candidates.) Some of the firms I've worked in have been ones that formerly used AutoCAD and switched away from it at some point. I don't see it taking over the world.
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