archicad
vectorworks

and the sad thing is that these have been around for ages but all of a sudden Autodesk has created the buzz with revit. Makes me wonder what will happen when Autodesk becomes truly dual platform

I first used Revit starting back in 2003, so its not some sort of trendy fascination with BIM that makes me want to find software that works like it.

When I tried archicad I felt like the interface was too not as friendly as most mac interfaces, but it still felt less powerful/professional.

I have yet to try vectorworks, i sent off for a software sample kit.

If i'm not mistaken, Autodesk is going to give a sneak peak of Revit 2010 which will be mac compatible at Autodesk University this coming week. This version should be available around april 2009.

If thats true, I would be in heaven. Now, to be able to afford it.

bootcamp with Revit?

or Tekla as that is more useful to the construction process.

I have never heard of Tekla ... i'll have to look it up.

The problem with boot camp and revit is that dual booting requires you to keep shutting down and restarting whenever you need to run a windows only program.

Archicad is the only BIM program on the Mac.

Are you familiar with it?

Vectorworks isn't there yet.

Tekla?

For what? A stadium?

I assume that Lepler is a sole proprietor.

I would venture that Tekla is about $20k a seat.

I don't see any reason to use Os X

tekla for any steel structure bim. or the contractor will do it/have it done for themselves

You need an expensive program to detail in steel?

What's wrong with paper and pencil?

@make I'm not even a sole proprietor yet, just a soon to be licensed architect looking at ways to start working side jobs and competitions with the technology i have at my disposal and which i prefer to use. $20k a seat is well beyond the ballpark of what i would be willing to expense. I was hoping something closer to ADT prices (if not less).

@Antithenes - I have used PC's for all my collegiate and office experience. While they are good for architecture software, that is the only really strong point. I prefer the mac OS to windows, but if there were commercial software available for Linux (name your flavor) i would look into it as well.

Part of this is also, that if i know what software is available i can start to research my costs and make everything fit into my budget. Its hard to design a building using inkscape, gimp and sketchup; but if i cannot find a stellar BIM or CAD program for the mac (that is within reason) i might end up going that route.

yup i would do linux too if given the choice of available software on that platform. you do know you can have all the features of OS X in a windows skin? (the rolling icons etc).

BIM is being used on big steel projects from what i see best for the purpose it is intended, is that the type you work on?
If you are just looking for cheap and most useful I'd look at Rhino VisualArq and Intellicad Architecturals stuff.

good luck, and macs do seem to run windowsXP faster than comparable PCs, is this a back room deal between gates and jobs? i don't know.

Remember, always chose the software before the os. That's where you make the money. I used a Macbook Pro as well for about a year and notice that it wasn’t performing in Bootcamp as good a regular windows notebook. Besides, I was spending full days in Bootcamp and not in OS X. And the whole Mac is better than a windows machine is a myth. My Adobe CS package has the same performance if not better on windows Vista. So therefore I went back to windows. Don’t get me wrong. I love OS X and I wish more products natively would run on it. But to use Datacad instead of Autocad just for the sake of the OS isn't the way to go.


Btw, archinect is a synonym for Rhino Apologist. So you will never find an unbiased answer here. The other day some dude even gave advice to use Rhino for desktop publishing instead of Indesign

Antithenes - Tekla is definitely more of a structural engineering software isn't it? A stadium or a bridge, sure...but as a whole package of a building, I'm not sure that would be the way to go...

as far as i know Archicad whats actually one of the first ones to come up with something which was like an early BIM no?? as someone just said up here its funny how autodesk made so much noise about it when it has been around for some years before their revit....

The reason i'm looking at a BIM solution is that i tend to feel more comfortable "building" a model as if it was a building, instead of "forming" it out of blocks that have been cut and modeled to look like a building. If there is an interior wall, I want it to be a wall, not a plane with a wall skin applied and rendered to look like a wall.

My problem with most BIM software is that it seemed to evolve as a drafting program that added modeling features. So the modeling features are very clunky to use, and not very convenient. I've used both Microstation/Bentley and Vectorworks, on both OSX and Windows.

I'd like for a program to start with the modeling core, and add on drafting and annotation features.

Has anyone used Rhino to produce a real and complex drawing set for a building that was built (rather than for a competition or a student project)?

What does SHoP use?

S:Leper, then i think ArchiCAD might be a good choice for you.... i've seen couple of complex projects being developed with it and is not a bad choice.

couple of years ago i "tried" to use rhino to develop a whole set of drawings for a project (@ rojkind arquitectos) the problem came that being a complex geometry (and without the use of scripting) some of the "geometries" used in the rhino model where not actual "flat surfaces" which on rhino seemed flat so we basically had to check the whole geometry in solid works to know that it was ok..... but as i said before, i had seen a project being developed with archicad, more specifically the AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER of SadarVuga architects, a project which has all building drawings ready and specifications and such, seem was held in stand by by goverment/contractor differences.... but thats a project fully developed on ArchiCAD

farwest1 yes the new ArchCut and VisualARQ ontop of rhino would what you are talking about
and yes i have put full sets of CD's together in it as well as other graphic design and page layout work, in v4 that is, before that LINO was nessisary

farwest1 ...SHoP uses Revit Architecture, Structure & MEP for documentations & coordination on their BIM projects. However, they also use 3ds max, rhino, Digital Projects, Generative components on their projects, each having their own specialities.

At the end, each tool is made for a specific task that needs to be pulled in at the right time to be productive. It is therefore strange to try to document and coordinate a whole healthcare center or airport with Rhino just for the sake of using Rhino. Can you imagine the length you got to go get some decent pressure calculations or basic information out of a rhino modelled duct work?

I Agree with Harold, each software is just another tool, the best thing to do actually is to now how to mix the tools in their proper moment and proportion.... techniques and technologies are not the same thing.

Here is a description of a SHoP project that uses several application to get to the final product.

farwest1

CoopHimmelblau used Rhino on many of their more complex built projects. BMW, Akron, Leon and HS9 for example.

Rhino was great for modeling the complex buildings and cutting sections and plans but we'd clean them up and do our CD's in Autocad. But Rhino doesn't currently offer much in the way of BIM comprable to Revit does it?

I was at a demo of ArchiCAD recently and was very impressed indeed. It very much started with 3D conceptions later extracted to 2D views and could be loaded with all the meta-data required for cost and environmental estimates via a menu of construction and component types. I was told the programme was conceived originally by an architect (whereas, say, AutoCAD was originally designed for some other discipline: engineering?).
Anyways, I was most impressed and would seriously consider it (and certainly ahead of AutoCAD) if I were starting my own gig.
Of course, it was only a demo seminar...

those marketers are pushy i know first hand

It's quite natural as a student to want to use the same tools your super heroes are using. Remember the time when everyone wanted Jordan’s and hope they can jumps as high as him? But seriously, what's good enough for CoopHimmelblau doesn't necessarily means it would be good for a sole practitioner. First of all, Coop’s architecture requires freeform modeling tools. So yes, Rhino is great as a starting point. But even he needs at least a parametric tool like Digital Projects, inventor, Solidworks to do iterations and fabrication documents. Plus he needs some sort of BIM engine to schedule the panels. Second of all, Coop has a bunch of underpaid slaves to draw each line in autocad. When a door move 2 inches, everything needs to manually be updated in the Rhino model as well as all documentation sheets (floor plans, elevation, section, schedules). Now, is that what a sole practitioner is looking for?