Looking for a Good place to ask this question....

[Anonymous]

Hopefully I won't get the boot on this post but here goes.

OK - right now we are using ADT 2006. We switeched from ADT 3.3 and are having difficulties with some of our older drawings. We are getting increasingly irritated at the liscensing scheme and forced upgrades. The tech support has become an irritant as well. I could go on but I am wondering a few things - I am sure there are some former ADT users here.

1. Of course there are tradeoffs with any software package but overall is there greater flexibility with the software over ADT or Revit?

2. What about liscensing? Do you feel "trapped" into a scheme or do you feel like there is flexibility?

3. Cross platform - if we were to switch what would happen to our dwgs - not to mention our clients who tend to use AutoCAD versions.

Well... this is just off the top of my head so I am sure there are other questions. A quick CAD search revealed a number of posts where CAD was brought up but I did not find an actual discussion as such. I am going to spend some time looking over this site and ArchiCAD. It may be that we will have to switch as things with Autodesk are becoming unbearable.

[TomWaltz]

Berk

welcome to the Forum.

ADT is one of the few systems that I have little first-hand knowledge of, and really cannot say how the files withh translate forward from ADT to Archicad.

I can tell you we've been sending base plans as DWG to engineers for years without any problems.

Graphisoft Tech Support is so-so. The first line is your local reseller. If you have a good reseller (or if they have a good trainer available), your transition will be much better. If you have to deal with US Tech Support, they can be a little slow in responding and, in my experience, are quick to blame the user instead of fixing the problem. It's the "Text Book Way" or no way.

I think Revit and Archicad are very comparable. It's up to you to compare which is better for your specific needs, but I have seen a few people go with Archicad because they are sick of dealing with Autodesk. It's even harder to compare since both programs are expecting new releases shortly.

Good luck in your search, and don't be afraid to ask questions.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tom. I think what I hoped to accopmlish with this post was to generate a little buzz so that I can get a feel for what people think of ArchiCAD. I could read a lot of stuff about ArchiCAD on the site but I think there is more value in asking the people who are really using it.

There are a lot of posts here that seem to give me a feel for the program so I will search those as well as the site.

I think I saw that I could download a trial version - or something like that? Right now I have been watching the tutorials for sketch-up so that's taking some of my time - but recent things here with ADT are pushing priorities around a bit.

Thanks

[David Pacifico]

Berk, you can't download one. When you fill out the form, one gets sent in the mail. Give me a call and I will send one sooner.

http://www.parch.com

[Anonymous]

Hi Berk,
You don't need to fear DWG compatibility. ArchiCAD has probably the best DWG compatibility out there. The Structural Engineers we work with have said on multiple occasions that we give him better DWGs than AutoCAD users. This is simply because I took the time to setup the translators and template files so that everything we export to DWG is automatically converted to their color and layer standards. It saves them time and makes exchanging files a real treat.

Licensing is not a trap. We have never been forced to upgrade. You also have the subscription option available to you now in the US.

Cheers,

[Anonymous]

Berk wrote:
Hopefully I won't get the boot on this post but here goes.

Of course not, we're glad to have you. Welcome.

OK - right now we are using ADT 2006. We switeched from ADT 3.3 and are having difficulties with some of our older drawings. We are getting increasingly irritated at the liscensing scheme and forced upgrades. The tech support has become an irritant as well. I could go on but I am wondering a few things - I am sure there are some former ADT users here.

I know what you mean about the pain of dealing with Autodesk. Graphisoft isn't perfect but the certainly don't have the kind of arrogance nor the forced upgrades.

1. Of course there are tradeoffs with any software package but overall is there greater flexibility with the software over ADT or Revit?

ArchiCAD is more mature than Revit and, from what I have seen, is more complete and full featured. Revit is newer and so has some more modern and advanced features that we are still waiting for in ArchiCAD, but some of these feature (such as the element relationships) still have some issues to be sorted out. In any case ADT is on the way out. Autodesk is betting on Revit (even if they won't admit it to ADT users).

2. What about liscensing? Do you feel "trapped" into a scheme or do you feel like there is flexibility?

I know of people that are still happily and productively using ArchiCAD 7. There are probably some still on 6.5. GS does not pressure anyone to upgrade (though it is very well worth it).

3. Cross platform - if we were to switch what would happen to our dwgs - not to mention our clients who tend to use AutoCAD versions.

From all I've heard ArchiCAD is better at handling DWG's than Revit.

Well... this is just off the top of my head so I am sure there are other questions. A quick CAD search revealed a number of posts where CAD was brought up but I did not find an actual discussion as such. I am going to spend some time looking over this site and ArchiCAD. It may be that we will have to switch as things with Autodesk are becoming unbearable.

I have head that the folks at Revit don't much like their Autodesk bosses either.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Matthew wrote:

Berk wrote:
2. What about liscensing? Do you feel "trapped" into a scheme or do you feel like there is flexibility?

I know of people that are still happily and productively using ArchiCAD 7. There are probably some still on 6.5. GS does not pressure anyone to upgrade (though it is very well worth it).

Another point beyond the license-does-not-expire point is that you can legally transfer your license to someone else if you change your mind, end up with too many licenses, etc. There is a modest registration transfer fee. I don't know about ADT, but some software does not permit license transfers.

Karl

[Anonymous]

Berk

I was where you are at 1 year ago. I too had heard a lot about ArchiCAD but had a ton invested in Autodesk products, particularly ADT.

I decided to take the plunge last spring. There is no comparison between ADT and AC after you have used both programs.

At first glance AC seems too simple. The screen, the commands, the interface…everything. We old ADT’s need lots of stuff in front of us so to speak. Well its all still there times 10 in AC. The beauty is as an ADT user the learning curve with AC was really none existent. We haven’t even used our training that was included in the price of the each license yet. We will save it for the real advanced stuff.

At first Plotmaker seems like rocket science compared to the much improved plot commands in AutoCAD. Plotmaker blows AutoCAD away. That alone saves me at least 1 hour every time I must execute a large plot. I am having issues dialing in our Reprodesk down at the print shop but we are almost there….regardless all the in-house stuff is painless. Our engineers don’t even know that we are using AC and they are in AutoCAD. We can even import LandCAD files from surveyors with little issue. We can easily shoot embedded pdf files of any drawing to anyone who asks including realtors who know nothing about any version of CAD.

Editing. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Line weights and types. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Library’s. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Rendering. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Elevating and Sectioning. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Word processing. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Hatching. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Dimensioning. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Client presentation. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Construction Documentation. No comparison. ADT is in the dark ages.

Teamwork…goodbye to silly xrefs !!!

Model and paper space…gone !!!

Price….about the same.

I have an old version of 3d Studio Max. I paid huge bucks for the license. I lost the hardware lock. Autodesk either cannot or will not replace it unless I do an upgrade to the most recent version. Nothing like a 3K paperweight.

Take the plunge. We deal in very high-end residential and commercial design where nothing is normal. I have tried ADT, CADD Plus and Softdesk. All fell short as billed. WAY short. I finally found a program that does everything as billed…and then some. What used to take 500 man-hours now takes about 350…and the clients are beyond happy.

My take on Autodesk is that Architects and Engineers are not their main target market. It’s the giant conglomerate’s that are into robotics and such that is their full focus. Graphisoft products are all about you….the artist…the creator…the small businessman. I had been an Autodesk customer since 1989. No more!

My only request to the creators of this fine product is how about a multi seat license????

Mike Mahoney…a very happy customer.

[Rob]

Berk,

My 5c:

We are working in 99% dwg environment talking about drawings interchange with our consultants. We haven’t ever noticed any significant problem there and I can say it’s almost seamless process of in/out dwg converting. We used to work in a mixed cad environment – architects on AC platform, drafties on ACAD, mainly because of legacy projects and a shortage of skilled AC personnel on the market. A year ago or so we have unified office CAD and switched to AC completely. Besides of obvious benefits like instant 3D etc we have found Teamwork feature unbelievable efficient in the documentation stage helping us to reduce file/xref management, improve and simplify the project structure (using AC navigator) and improve over all transparency of drawing structure for anyone new joining the particular project. There is no policy of forced upgrades and finally Graphisoft is fully committed to the architectural/building construction market so you know that your license fee will be spent on the development of your tool as oppose to Adesk which is using its resources on a really wide variety of professions outside of our scope (as someone has mentioned above).

[Thomas Holm]

mahonz wrote:
Berk
My only request to the creators of this fine product is how about a multi seat license????
Mike Mahoney…a very happy customer.

In this country, there is one. Check with your reseller.