CAD, BIM & 3D

While the "regular" press and websites already talked about ArchiCAD 16 in depth, I want to add a more personal comment here. For me, this is the first version since release 8 where I was not involved in any sense during the beta-tests. I was quite active for r8, 8.1, 9, 10, 11 and 12, but due to lack of time could not participate fully for 13, 14 and 15. I'm currently using r15 educational again (for teaching and for an historical reconstruction project - images will come later). The core ideas of ArchiCAD are still fine. The long-due updates to some older gripes and limitations are (assumably, I haven't use the software yet) the same as ever. But they provide a quite compelling version with r16. However, much of what 16 is about has to be seen in the context of the evolution of ArchiCAD over the previous versions. 3D Modeling Freedom (from previous versions on) 3D modeling freedom has taken some big steps over the last few versions (check http://archicadwi...

While they still don't have the same popularity as AutoCAD, the Belgian team of Bricsys produces a solid and (mostly) homegrown CAD system: BricsCAD is a DWG-compatible drafting and modeling system, which could replace AutoCAD (LT) in many cases. It is a low-cost alternative for accurate technical drafting and 3D modeling. They offer their software now for free for educational users, as announced on  http://blog.bricsys.com/2012/05/new-bricsys-academic-program.html The programming interfaces, allowing you to develop add-ons in a variety of programming languages (Lisp, C++, .NET), should also be available soon. Currently, you can already apply for free access to the developers program. This is quite useful as some developers use this software as the underlying platform for a full CAD solution (add-on and CAD-system) at the price of the add-on. BricsCAD runs on Windows and Linux and an OSX version is said to be in preparation.