by: Ranjit S. Sahai
Ask someone to name the most popular PC-based CAD software and the answer will likely be AutoCAD. It's long been a standard setter, but the high-end design package is targeted to technical professionals and carries a price tag of thousands of dollars. About a year and a half ago, Autodesk plunged into the highly competitive, under-$500 CAD market with AutoCAD LT. This "lite" edition of AutoCAD has just been revised, and version 2 of Autodesk's low-end entry has several usability enhancements that should help CAD newcomers get up to speed faster.
Consistent with Windows application design standards, AutoCAD LT Release 2 provides a menu bar, a toolbar under the menu bar and a redesigned floating toolbox for quick access to the program's commands. This version retains the familiar command line at the bottom of the screen that displays command options and accepts typed commands. However, if you've looked at Autodesk's top-of-the-line AutoCAD Release 13 and its impressive interface enhancements, like a floating command window and multitude of tool palettes, you may be disappointed with its new sibling. Such features are lacking in AutoCAD LT 2, which is based on the AutoCAD Release 12 interface and graphics engine.
With its toolbar and floating toolbox, the screen is filled with dozens of icons that may be confusing at first. To get through the ocean of icons and give novices some help, this version includes tool tips that pop up as your mouse lingers over an icon. Other learning aids have also been added, including enhanced online help that supports cue cards and improved documentation.
When you select New from the File menu, the Create New Drawing dialog box lists a choice of Quick, Custom or None for the drawing setup method. This new feature simplifies the setup of drawing units, extents and grid settings--important tasks that may not be intuitive if you're a new CAD user. Several standard drawing borders are provided, or you can create your own. Also new in this version is the ability to embed user name, filename, and date and time when printing drawings.
AutoCAD LT's drawing features are outstanding and virtually identical to those found in AutoCAD Release 12. Drawing commands supported include lines, polylines and double lines; rectangles and polygons; arcs,ellipses; hatching, text and dimensioning. Ellipses continue to be constructed from polyline segments as opposed to being the true ellipses found in AutoCAD Release 13, and text is still composed of individual lines. However, hatching is now associative so that if a hatched area is changed, the hatch updates to fill the shape. It's also easier to "hatch" areas: You just click inside an enclosed area and AutoCAD LT detects the boundaries and fills it with the selected hatch pattern.
AutoCAD LT's commands for modifying existing entities in a drawing are also top-notch. You can perform transformations like rotate, scale, move, mirror, break, extend, trim or offset on a larger selection of element types than with other similarly priced packages. For instance, not only can you extend lines, but you can also extend arcs. Most commands let you build a selection set of entities on the fly for editing flexibility. A handy new feature in this release is the intelligent entity property modification tool on the Modify menu. When you select an entity, the tool recognizes its type (line,or other) and brings up an appropriate Modify dialog box for that specific entity type.
Some features still missing--and missed--in AutoCAD LT include MDI (Multiple Document Interface) support, which would allow you to open more than one drawing at a time, a macro language, line thickness as an entity attribute and b-splines for complex curved shapes. Also, it still relies on the command line for command options, rather than a tool-settings box, which is frequently found in similar packages. There are no 3-D drawing commands, but you can extrude existing entities along the z-axis to make them three-dimensional.
AutoCAD LT can reference external drawings, a feature that's useful in a workgroup setting. You can create "blocks" from an existing selected set of entities for reuse in the same or other drawings. The program's undo and redo functions are flexible, and it provides an ample array of snap modes, including the new cursor tracking and direct-distance entry familiar to Generic CADD users. AutoCAD LT supports Clipboard, OLE, and export to .BMP, .GIF, .PCX or TIFF graphics file formats.
AutoCAD LT is very capable low-end CAD software, enhanced by its reputable family name and perfect file compatibility with its bigger, more fully featured sibling, AutoCAD Release 12.
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AutoCAD LT Release 2
Price: $495
In Brief: Version 2 of Autodesk's low-end CAD software has enhanced usability and some advanced features borrowed from Autodesk's high-end CAD products.
Disk Space: 16MB
System Resources: 8%
RAM: 8MB
Autodesk
800-228-3601, 415-507-5000
by: Ranjit S. Sahai
Roll back to the early '80s and Cadkey was there. One of the first PC-based CAD packages, it was traditionally targeted to the mechanical design market, such as the aerospace and automobile industries.
Cadkey's success is well-earned. Given its longevity, it's no surprise that the first Windows version has a comprehensive feature set for both 2-D drafting and 3-D modeling, along with all the trappings of a modern Windows application--status bar, toolbar, settings window and floating palettes. But it needs some usability improvements. I tested Cadkey, a 32-bit application, on Windows NT.
Like most Windows applications, Cadkey has a toolbar below the menu bar. Under the toolbar, Cadkey has a Conversation Bar where you can enter input data when prompted, such as the radius of aApplication Menu window, or the main tool palette, can float or you can dock it along an edge. Instead of grouping tools by type and placing them in separate palettes, Cadkey consolidates them into a single palette that includes a set of five buttons. You click on the palette's Create button to display drawing tools, the Detail button for dimensioning and notation tools, and the Modify button for entity modification tools. Clicking on the XForm button gives you transformation tools and the Layout button switches to the layout mode.
To draw a line, you first click on the Create button to access your drawing tools. Next you click on the Line icon to display a subpalette of all available line drawing commands. The 15 available line drawing tools--such as line by points, line parallel to existing, line at a specific angle and line tangent to arc--reveal Cadkey's breadth of commands.
Cadkey's feature set is impressive. It includes a rendering module, called Picture It, that lets you visualize 3-D models by adding shading to them for a more realistic appearance. The Layout mode lets you place multiple views of a model--plan, isometric, side and elevation--on a single sheet for printing or plotting. The software supports IGES, .DXF, .DWG and CADL file formats and TrueType fonts. You can have multiple resizable and overlapping views that are handy when creating 3-D models. Cadkey also provides mass properties of 3-D models, and offers stereolithography (STL) output. It does not support a digitizing tablet, and it can't reference external files.
Cadkey boasts high-end features at an affordable price, but its interface needs improvement. Specifically, the program should provide better dynamic feedback and eliminate the procedural nature of its commands. For example, after identifying the center for adynamicnot track along with the cursor until you identify its perimeter point. The procedural commands require that you respond to prompts in the Conversation Bar and enter data one parameter at a time, a tedious process. It would be much more convenient if all parameters were displayed simultaneously, with default values filled in and ready for any necessary editing.
Whether you wish to create a simple 2-D drawing or a rendered 3-D model, Cadkey has the requisite tools. It also features the Cadkey Advanced Design Language (CADL) so you can create scripts using any text editor. This program offers a powerful feature set, but the steps and methods required to access those features need some fine-tuning.
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Cadkey
Price: $795
In Brief: Cadkey is a capable 2-D/3-D CAD program with many high-end features, but its interface is awkward at times.
Disk Space: 14MB
System Resources: NA
RAM: 8MB
Cadkey
800-394-2231, 203-298-8888
by: Ranjit S. Sahai
Put away your T-square and triangle. Prop up your PC onyour drafting table and load it with QuickCAD, the latestentry in the low-end two-dimensional CAD market. Whateveryour design needs from drafting a building plan tolaying out a home office or even creating a landscapedesign this new CAD package is not only affordable, it'salso powerful enough to tackle demanding design projects.QuickCAD is based on the same core graphics engine found in Drafix CAD Professional, its sibling application. QuickCAD boasts a refreshingly mature interface that is nicely complemented by a comprehensive feature set.
QuickCAD is essentially a trimmed-down version of Drafix CAD Professional. It offers its more substantial sibling's basic features, but it lacks Professional's macro programming language, customization features and the thousands of predrawn symbols. QuickCAD has a new scalable toolbar that switches between Beginner, Advanced and Expert modes. Also new is the AutoScale feature, which automatically sets up a standard scale for your drawing based on your input about thereal-world extents of the specific object you wish to draw.
When you start QuickCAD, you're asked to enter an experience level in a dialog box. The three choices are represented graphically by icons that are similar to the international skiing symbols: a greenBeginner, a blue square for Advanced and a black diamond for Expert. Depending on the level you select, the QuickCAD tool palette adjusts appropriately. For instance, in Beginner mode, the tool palette offers only one method each to draw an arc and aExpert mode, it offers three ways to place an arc and six ways to draw amatter which level you first select, you can switch the palette to another level using the menu that pops up when you right-click on the palette. You access all QuickCAD features from the menu bar, which always remains the same regardless of the currently selected palette level.
The other elements that comprise QuickCAD's interface include a Property Bar located directly under the menu bar, an Edit Bar, a Status Bar along the bottom edge of the mapplication window, and a tool palette of drawing, editing and viewing commands. The Property Bar provides easy access to active attribute settings such as layer, color, line style, width and hatch pattern. The Edit Bar provides editing options for selected commands or properties of highlighted entities. And the Status Bar prompts you with helpful messages as you select commands.
In addition to all the standard CAD entities such a point marker, multilines, polygons, curves, text, associative dimensions and hatch patterns, QuickCAD offers features you wouldn't normally expect to find in a low-end package. Its symbol library manager with preview capability, integrated nongraphic data tagging facility with flexible reporting, and selection set modifier with Boolean logic reveal the software's sophistication.
QuickCAD can read and write .DWG, .DXF, IGES, .WMF, HPGL, .PLX, .HOM and DC2 file formats. It also supports Windows' Multiple Document Interface for editing several drawings concurrently and the OLE 1.0 specification for letting you embed QuickCAD drawings in other Windows applications.
QuickCAD offers excellent drawing and editing commands, especially for a product in its price range. However, its undo facility is a little weak. It can undo several steps of entity deletions, but it can only undo your last edit. The software is network-aware and can run from a server. However,it does not support file referencing, a high-end feature important in a professional workgroup CAD environment.
If you are on a tight budget or you just want a nonprogrammable two-dimensional CAD package, QuickCAD is a well-designed and capable alternative.
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Drafix QuickCAD
Price: $99 (street)
In Brief: The QuickCAD package is a well-rounded, noncustomizable, two-dimensional CAD program that belies itslow-end price.
Disk Space: 7.5MB
System Resources: 21%RAM: 4MB
Softdesk Retail Products
800-231-8574, 816-891-1040