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Susan Smith
Susan Smith
Susan Smith has worked as an editor and writer in the technology industry for over 16 years. As an editor she has been responsible for the launch of a number of technology trade publications, both in print and online. Currently, Susan is the Editor of GISCafe and AECCafe, as well as those sites’ … More »

More low-cost CAD options

 
May 23rd, 2014 by Susan Smith

Last week I wrote about Low Cost CAD Options for AEC professionals. This week we add to this list with the following products:

Bricsys BricsCAD

BricsCAD is a company that does not put out press materials, but instead offers BricsCAD release notes. These are for those hardy engineers who want to tools at a low price to really build their own open platform CAD solution. Bricsys provides a DWG engineering design software “BricsCAD,” which is said by the company to be an “industrial strength CAD software platform with industry leading support for the AEC, GIS, civil engineering, process and power, and mechanical CAD markets.” The company is a founding member of the Open Design Alliance, founded in 2002.

New installsets for BricsCAD (Windows) version 14.2.06-1 en_US are available for download. You can also subscribe to the BricsCAD Releases RSS feed.

ProgeSOFT progeCAD

progeSOFT has been producing progeCAD for over 10 years using the IntelliCAD Engine. IntelliCAD, as developed by the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium, a quasi, open source, non-profit organization, is directed by volunteers elected from the membership, and has evolved over the years into a powerful toolkit available to be customized and its features evolved by the liecesees of the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium.

The ITC is a group focused on putting all its resources into the core CAD engine.

The IntelliCAD engine was developed as an option for those using the DWG file format, and for the software developers whose products depended on the DWG format. The believe is that by providing an engine that allows users to read and write from and to the most popular file format used by popular software, the more expensive CAD software’s pricing will stay more within the consumers’ reach. The founders of progeCAD believe that it has become the most “AutoCAD-like” of any CAD software on the market today

Since progeSOFT was a founding member of the ITC when it was formed, they have had the ability to build progeCAD into what has become the most “AutoCAD Like” of any CAD  software available. progeSoft North America, includes  several add-ons for vertical industries such as Civil Survey, Mechanical/Structural, and other specific products.

IMSI/Design DesignCAD 3D MAX

DesignCAD 3D MAX is an easy-to-use, versatile CAD tool that’s perfect for novice designers, but powerful enough to create high-quality 2D/3D designs, models and animations. It’s everything you need to design anything, from simple hobby projects to professional precision drawings.

  • Precision 2D Drafting Tools
  • 3D Solid Modeling Tools
  • Mechanical Design Tools
  • Architectural Design Tools
  • Realistic Rendering
  • Intuitive User Interface
  • Extensive Online Help

It is apparently easy to get started using this product to create 2D drawings and then create complex 3D shapes that are extruded them from the 2D shapes. You can also add a variety of materials, colors, brush styles, lighting effects and textures to the design to add to the images and realism. Professional level animations and walkthroughs of finished drawings can be created, as well as users can access over 10,000 2D/3D symbols with a free, 3-month subscription to CADsymbols.com. New compatibility with AutoCAD 2013/2014 DWF/DWG  as well.

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Categories: AEC, architecture, building information modeling, Cloud, construction, engineering




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