VW 2010 and latest Chief Architect CAD

[Acadia]

So, I'm and architect and I've been using VW for many years

light commercial and residential.

A friend of mine, drafter-designer,

mentioned she's been using Chief Architect for a while and she loves how easy is to get elevations, sections, etc from the plans plus very nice rendering. (I've seen them too).

I love VW however I find the interaction of 2d and 3d not to be so easy (for me at least) when it comes to complex elements (aside from windows, walls, basic roofs etc)and for sure I am frustrated with Renderworks quality or actually ratio of quality/time to render at best settings.

I often export to Bryce 3D to get nice raytracing renderings.

Has anyone here have had any experience with Chiefarchitect or even Softplan and what's your opinion?

Are they too "light" as CAD for high-end architectural work? I know they cost about the same as VW Architect.

Thank you

Edited March 22, 2010 by Acadia

[Jaime]

I use Chief Architect for all of my residential projects. I have just completed my first project that all drawings and schedules are generated from the building model. The rendering tools are also easier to use and produce a better finished product. They also have excellent residential symbol libraries.

I love Vectorworks for 2D drafting and the graphic capabilities are great. But, I wish that the modeling and rendering capabilities would improve.

[D Wood]

There doesn't seem to be any future for the program in Australasia, as of October 2009:

http://www.chiefaustralia.com.au/