3D modelling

[Colapop]

You've heard of "A lady in the street, a hooker in the sack"? Kinda similar to me and work. When it comes to what I do professionally for money (instead of standover) I'm very serious. (and not too bad at it either)

Playtime is for playing, but when its go time...

[fische]

When it's go time? Fuck you watch too many movies mate!

[TonyB]

I've done a bit with ArchiCAD, a bit with ADT and Map3D, a lot with Vectorworks, and am now using Revit building.

ArchiCAD- been too long since I worked on it to give any useful info. From what I could gather listening to a new ArchiCAD user grumble at my last job, it has very limited 2D capacity, to the point where you actually import 2D stuff from another package. Could be wrong about that.

ADT 2006 and Map3D 2007- not really fair to lump them together as they are quite different, but... how can I put it... the only people who could love any AutoCAD product are those who have never used something else.

VectorWorks- I notice you haven't considered it. Don't be put off by the low price, it has serious grunt. They got version 12 at my last job just before I left and it's starting to offer some excellent tools. One bonus is that it hasn't been dumbed down so much that it becomes inflexible. One possible down side is that either Mac's aren't all they're cracked up to be, or the program requires excessive grunt from your workstation. Not sure which one it is though.

Revit- pretty bloody impressive. Only been using it for about 2-3 months, but it has mostly impressed me so far. Supposedly they actually created the whole BIM terminology. It automatically puts everything you draw into the correct 'family' (or class as Vectorworks calls it- Vectorworks requires[ed?] a switched on user to ensure everything is put in the right class). It has automatic referencing, which seems to work VERY well, and updates automatically if you move drawings around. One thing I am finding a bit frustrating is that the program seems to have been 'dumbed down', so sometimes basic tasks have me grumbling while I figure out the 'Revit way' of doing it, whereas Vectorworks might have had two or three ways of doing it, and AutoCAD would probably have ten.... if you knew the obscure command prompt to make it happen that is. That said, I think new users will produce working drawings faster on Revit than anything I have used. V12 of Vectorworks would be pretty damn close though. Not sure if you realise it or not but Revit also has a Structural and Mechanical version... but then so does Vectorworks.

I'd hate to have to pick a software package for a large company- there will always be people who hate it and will make that known at every possible oppertunity.

[avgas]

Did the whole CAD, 3DCAD thing at school/tech....at Uni did Solidworx.....my conclusion was they are all overcomplicated.

[Colapop]

Thanks for that TonyB. I'm not after a 3D Cad package - just trying to find out what cost management/quanity scheduling packages people are using in conjunction with their 3D software. And what sort of output these packages produce in terms of usable transportable data.

[Beemer]

The companies I was profiling were at the top end - Sidhe Interactive, Urban Voyage, ARANZ, Right Hemisphere, etc. I have contact details if you want, but they may not be up-to-date.

[TonyB]

what sort of output these packages produce in terms of usable transportable data.

Not sure about the others, but both Vectorworks and Revit are designed to output to a schedule, which can be exported to excel or whatever. Revit probably wins here because it is designed so that any object you create must fit into a 'family', once its in a family the object will ouput data to the BIM, even if it's only say '1 window 600x1000'. Vectorworks is set up in such a way that you have to make a concious effort to put things in the right 'class' (family), plus you have to make a concious effort to assign even minimal BIM data to the object. The danger is that when people are in a hurry, they are tempted to 'sort that out later' meaning that say a brick veneer wall can be in the internal walls class.

I'm just pointing that out so you have an idea of what to look for in the software you are considering