1st parametric AEC CAD

[Rob]

I just would like to know (curiosity) why Revit claims to be the 1st parametric AEC CAD on the market since 1997. Is that true? or it's just another misleading marketing slogan? What about GDL then, wasn't it parametric before AC 6 got released?

[Anonymous]

Steve wrote:
SoftPlan has been parametric longer and more fully than ArchiCAD or Revit.

ArchiCAD in not fully parametric. You can not change a dimension and have the wall move to match the dimension as you can with fully parametric progams like SoftPlan. SoftPlan has also has had voice recognition since about 1995? You can work by voice commands if you like.
I didn't like it but it was fun for the clients. They liked the presentations by voice command and seeing the changes made by voice.

ArchiCAD has been parametric since the mid-eighties. How long has SoftPlan been around?

The dimensions of ArchiCAD elements are parameters and thus are parametric. The fact that they are not editable via associated dimension strings does not make them any less parametric, just edited differently (at least from Revit). The direct entry in Revit dimension strings is very nice but I don't find it makes up for having to dig through layers of fixed size, modal dialogs to edit non-dimensional parameters.

[Steve Jepson]

I don't know how old SoftPlan is but I was using it in 1986 or 87? It ran on DOS until version 9 or so.
When I switched to ArchiCAD in 1994 or so I remember how much I missed having parametric dimensions.
I bought ArchiCAD in part because I was told it was parametric. When I got it I felt ripped off because is was not as parametric as what I already was using.

As far as I know ArchiCAD has never had parametric dimensions. How about Revit? Does it have parametric dimensions?

It looks like VectorWorks has something new in associative dimensions which is more like SoftPlan.

[Rakela Raul]

when i evaluated 3D software years back, Softplan was one of them and i didnt like it for 'mickey mouse'.. i do remember a blue house as the cover in Allplan cd !!

and there was another one that is out of the picture, i think from Australia

i picked AC6 mainly because it was friendlier (@ that time)

[Anonymous]

Revit's two, three, four and even five layers of dialogs deep in some cases is a sore point with some users. I find it just kills my brain, because mentally, by the time you've gone that deep in the dialogs and then get back out, the flow of design really gets broken (for me).

And yes, dimensions in Revit can be made fully parametric in both loaded objects like doors and windows, and within the project.

[Anonymous]

For those who don't know the way revit deals with parameters, take a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkzdONqVjy8
If a picture is better than lots of words, a video...

[Steve Jepson]

feio49 wrote:
For those who don't know the way revit deals with parameters, take a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkzdONqVjy8
If a picture is better than lots of words, a video...

Being able to make a surface of that shape would be fun. I wish the buildings I get to work on had some use for that.

I am not impressed with the all the configurations necessary for the dimensions.

[Anonymous]

The dimensions aren't required, but they allow numerical flexing of the dimensions of the shape once it's loaded into a project. If you didn't add the dimensions, you would just change the shape by clicking and dragging and then reloading the form into your project with the changed shape.

[Steve Jepson]

Yes. I could surmise that. VectorWorks is also making improvements in the area of associative dimensions.
http://download2.nemetschek.net/www_misc/2010/VW2010_whats_new.pdf

It seems like they get a lot more bang for their buck with upgrades than we do.