Start 2012with Artlantis vs full AC15 with lightworks

[Anonymous]

Hi All
Just asking for some opinions. After making a detailed investigation I can just about get away with using START in my new, small, residential drafting business. I have used full/EDU versions for a few years and am aware of most of its capabilities. But I do need good quality renders. I have no experience with Artlantis. Start 2012 with Artlantis is considerably cheaper than full AC15.
Will these two products prove to be an effective tool vs. the full AC15 version??
Thanks for your time
Nick

[Karl Ottenstein]

Sounds like you're quite familiar with the product, so if none of the missing 15 features impact you, and rendering - particularly interiors (which are very time consuming to illuminate nicely in AC's version of Lightworks) - is critical to your workflow ... I'd go for START and Artlantis.

http://www.graphisoft.com/products/acse2012/comparison.html

Do note that Artlantis R will ONLY produce still renders. If you need animation or VR, you need the more expensive Artlantis Studio. In contrast, while ArchiCAD's animation tools are quite primitive, you can product animations with whatever rendering engines are available. So, you could do a simple OpenGL animation even with START .. but would need the full license to produce an animation video using sketch or lightworks.

Artlantis had a free trial version, so you might want to watch the videos on Abvent's web site and give the trial a go before deciding for sure?

http://www.artlantis.com/index.php?page=tutorials/index

http://www.artlantis.com/index.php?page=download/demo/index

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

Hi Karl

Sorry for what ever reason I have only just been alerted to your response.

I ended up getting START along with Artlantis R. As a pair they are a brilliant package.

My only regret with START is that it does not have the 'external content/drawings' function. It is a feature that I can work around, but do miss.

Thanks again

[Karl Ottenstein]

Glad that it the combo is working out well for you.