AUTOCAD/ADT VS ARCHICAD

[JKVMAD]

I have using AutoCAD since 1989. Recently I got a trial version of ADT 2005 which I am still figuring out, but like it so far. In the past I have used Animator, 3DS, and even I got to play a bit with ArchT back in the 1990's.

I have never used Archicad. However, in this company they used it unitl 3 years ago. Even, last year they contracted a job out that was originally all done in Archicad. I cann't even tell the number of headaches we had dealing with it.

There are rumors of going back to Archicad and dropping Autocad as soon as the team of about 10 people gets familiarized with it in a few months, after some sort of training.

I like to know the pros and cons of Archicad to have better arguments for helping prevent such a move, which is mostly due to budget constraints: Two 5-seat licenses of ACAD 2005 are something like 10 times more expensive than Archicad's.

THX,

JK/04

[gregcashen]

If your company is looking at Archicad as a BIM solution, and they want a more apples to apples comparison of BIM solutions, it might make sense to take a look at Revit. It is much more Archicad-like than ADT is. I am not knocking ADT, I don't care to get into that. But they should definitely take a look at it. Almost anything that Archicad can do, Revit can do and in many cases, do it better.

[Scott D Davis]

to tag onto Greg's thread: you can also get cost benefits upgrading from autocad/ADT to Revit, which should make it more cost effective than going to ArchiCAD. Revit will 'keep it in the family' of Autodesk products, and Revit works very well with AutoCAD. Revit's support team is an Award winning group, providing unparalleled user support, and the rapid release cycle and subscription program means that you are getting updates and extensive new tools yearly.

Totally worth it for your firm to look into it. If you want to keep AutoCAD, look into the Revit Series which currently bundles ACAD 2005 and Revit 6.1 together. Basically, you pay for Revit, and get AutoCAD for only a few hunder bucks more per seat. Talk to your reseller. I think think is your best solution if your office is truely looking into a BIM solution other than ADT....Stay with base AutoCAD, and get Revit.