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Hello

I'm working on a project which requires native DWG support - so I am having to invest in AutoCAD LT for Mac (once I've worked out how to buy it here in the UK - it's only available on the US App store for some reason).

I'm not looking forward to learning AutoCAD after all these years of Vectorworks, but I must say I am very impressed with the user interface / scrolling smoothness etc.

Makes VW UI look and feel archaic by comparison.

Anyone else tried it??

Andrew

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No, sorry, just that you have to tread carefully round here when comparing VW to other apps. ;)

I was quite impressed by Autodesk's effort to create a real native Mac version rather than a Windows clone (which bodes well for any future version of Revit for Mac). Graphisoft, makers of ArchiCAD, could take a feather out of their cap in this regard; the Mac version of ArchiCAD is an abomination in terms of Mac nativeness.

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We are running this. I am seeing no real difference between the Mac and PC version (full Acad).

We got ours online from a UK source. Out IT man is away. When he returns (if not too late for you) I will see where we got it from (if indeed I am right).

Meanwhile look at this list http://www.autodesk.co.uk/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=452932&id=17263185

It is for the full version. However, if you contact them, they will price LT no a UK tariff. We went with the Autodesk Suite as we got almost the entire Autodesk range of products incl 3D Studio Max that in its own right is nearly the price of the whole bundle.

The only downside is you have one license. So you can only run one product at a time. But if you can afford the uplift and see what you get for your money (when you price separately) you will benefit from a massive range of products.

Good luck, will be interesting to know your thoughts, get onto the Autodesk forums as well, with the same name. I am more out of this, but may see you around.

.

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Hello

I'm working on a project which requires native DWG support - so I am having to invest in AutoCAD LT for Mac (once I've worked out how to buy it here in the UK - it's only available on the US App store for some reason).

I'm not looking forward to learning AutoCAD after all these years of Vectorworks, but I must say I am very impressed with the user interface / scrolling smoothness etc.

Makes VW UI look and feel archaic by comparison.

Anyone else tried it??

Andrew

If you want to keep if low budget have a look at Dassaults Draftsight. I use this when there is a need for native dwg manipulation. Works fine and is OSx native, some minor Beta bugs otherwise fully functional.

Edited by Vincent C
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Makes VW UI look and feel archaic by comparison.

If you like 8 colours of lines on a black background. Like in the eighties.

I used AutoCAD for 10 years before moving to VW and what a revelation is was, filled colours, white screen. I realise you can set ACAD background to white too, but nobody does because every file you receive has lots of yellow and green lines.

The only nice thing is the dark palettes.

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Makes VW UI look and feel archaic by comparison.

If you like 8 colours of lines on a black background. Like in the eighties.

I used AutoCAD for 10 years before moving to VW and what a revelation is was, filled colours, white screen. I realise you can set ACAD background to white too, but nobody does because every file you receive has lots of yellow and green lines.

The only nice thing is the dark palettes.

It's interesting, I prefer VWs over all of the competition partly because I think the UI is so attractive (sure it could be made more effective\intuitive but still.)

Edited by Vincent C
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Makes VW UI look and feel archaic by comparison.

If you like 8 colours of lines on a black background. Like in the eighties.

I used AutoCAD for 10 years before moving to VW and what a revelation is was, filled colours, white screen. I realise you can set ACAD background to white too, but nobody does because every file you receive has lots of yellow and green lines.

The only nice thing is the dark palettes.

Not sure when you stopped working on Acad, but you have been able to do VW style for a very long time, even since before .stb (plot) files came into existence. But with .stb plot files, it is miles better than VW if you are talking simply in terms of shades, block colours, opacity etc

How can anyone can work on a black background?

Thats what the real professionals do.... kidding, I do, simply because working on a white screen on a large monitor gives me a head ache.

You can set personal preferences and also map colours, so if you work on a white background and do not want to see yellow, it automatically changes them. Their is a mapping tool in VW, but it is not very well thought out yet.

.

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I do, simply because working on a white screen on a large monitor gives me a head ache.

I do not buy that perhaps it is just what you are used to

Strange that you take time to reply with such a comment. Lets be constructive shall we?

I answer and give information on how to work on a black screen if you so desire and simply express the real problem I do unofrunaly have. It is not something I enjoy suffering from and know only a small number of others that do.

.

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I wasn't really referring to the black screen - more the look and feel of the toolbars and the UI in general.

But, after a couple of weeks of using it, I am yearning for VW. Ok ok, it's a different way of working and people like what they are used to (I am used to VW), but just doing simple things seems to take lots more key presses / mouse strokes than VW.

I am just moving things around on an exhibition floor plan in 2d, but am missing the simple align / distribute options, dimensioning etc

Finally, unbelievably, unless I am badly mistaken, AutoCAD LT 2013 is TWICE THE PRICE in the UK than the US for the exact same piece of software. WHY ON EARTH IS THAT????

$899 on the US Mac App Store (about ?520)

?1,250 + VAT for the electronic download version on the autodesk website.

Where is the sense in that? I only need to use it for a couple of months too!

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$899 on the US Mac App Store (about ?520)

?1,250 + VAT for the electronic download version on the autodesk website.

Where is the sense in that? I only need to use it for a couple of months too!

Thats not good at all. I got mine for the US price but in ?'s direct from Autodesk right on the release of 2012. We also paid between 4-5k for the full autodesk suite at work, thats through a trader that seems to have room either side. I do not understand how these companies retail.

If you only need it for two months, you can get a 30 day free trail and if you have another work station do the same again. Or rent a work station. I am not sure if this is still done, but I used to do this often about 8 years back.

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Makes VW UI look and feel archaic by comparison.

If you like 8 colours of lines on a black background. Like in the eighties.

I used AutoCAD for 10 years before moving to VW and what a revelation is was, filled colours, white screen. I realise you can set ACAD background to white too, but nobody does because every file you receive has lots of yellow and green lines.

The only nice thing is the dark palettes.

My own AutoCad 90's flashback is the hatches. They're somewhat independent things, loosely associated with lines and polys - you can move a hatch outside of the bounding poly. And if you edit the lines and polys, you run the risk of losing that association, and even crashing the application. For a while, AutoCad hatching got so bad, I had to resort to making solids for the insides of wall lines (esp. version 13). The improvements to AC were so minor through the versions, too - very little hatching improvement, and no custom hatches. Don't know how much of the hatching angst is carried over to the Mac now.

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  • 1 month later...

Ok

So I have been using AutoCAD pretty constantly for a couple of months now.

I have though, just had to do a quick drawing in Vectorworks, and quite frankly for me it is like a breath of fresh air.

I don't want this post to turn into a AutoCAD sucks / Vectorworks is fantastic post - but these are my observations.

- AutoCAD is SOOOO expensive. ?1,500 for 2d only? (and half that price if you buy in the US for the exact same software.

- VW Classes and layers are so flexible and useful. There are only layers in AutoCAD (which behave like VW classes)

- snapping - as there are only layers in AC, there doesn't seem to be an equivalent of show others / show, snap, modify others etc. As a result I am constantly turning snap on and off (and cursing a lot).

- viewports are just so much easier and quicker to make in VW

- drawings seem to look nicer (important). AC drawings are angular, limited in colours and blocky.

- I love the way the array function works in AutoCAD - very forgiving and flexible. Will miss that.

- Can't find a way of 'nudging' objects in Autocad. Use that a lot

- Can't find a way of distributing / aligning objects in AutoCAD - use that a lot too.

- Can't fill objects with a colour in AutoCAD. You can only do a clunky hatch. That's ridiculous.

So that is just a small selection. IN all honest, I have not bothered much with any manuals or tutorials with AutoCAD - so there may be ways of doing these. Certainly no way am I paying ?1,250 for it - my trial version will last just about long enough (I trialled the Mac version, then the PC)

But for me, and the way I work and what I am used to, Vectorworks is FAR superior.

Andrew

Edited by Andrew Davies
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  • 2 weeks later...

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