Software suggestions needed
Joe Johnson
and other planers are choosing to develop into housing subdivisions. We
looking for a consumer or prosumer level software program so that we can
start preliminary drawings to develop a vision on our own before going
to the architect for the final plans. Can I get some suggestions as to
some good software programs on our expertise level (NO autoCAD, LDD
etc...). We want to show housing lots, roads/streets,a huge lake or
lakes, wooded areas, ect...
Bob Morrison
Your kidding, right? You want a novice consumer level product to do the
land development scheme for 90,000 acres.
This is the kind of thing best done with a large scale map and some
colored pencils. Or if you prefer the "high-tech" approach, overlay your
map with some mylar and use felt markers.
When you're done give your scribbling to some design professionals.
--
Bob Morrison, PE, SE
R L Morrison Engineering Co
Structural & Civil Engineering
Poulsbo WA
bob at rlmorrisonengr dot com
3D Peruna
You're better off hiring a civil engineer or land surveyor (preferred)
to do this. You can put together a design team that would include
landscape architects, architects and civil/surveryors. 90,000 acres is
not something you want to just play with... Sure, you could do what Bob
said, play with some markers, but this is a project that's going to
require professionals...
You haven't even started with local planning and building officials,
either...
The software you're looking for to do what you want doesn't exist for
projects of that scale.
clintonG
Morrison's point of view but add more real world insight into how planners
actually do this type of work.
Planners start by collecting print sets of maps obtained from various
sources; county and state government, natural resource departments, federal
government and so on. They buy rolls of yellow trace paper from drafting
product suppliers or art supply stores and overlay the trace on the maps
they acquire using colored felt pens and markers to draw and layout
preliminary design concepts with the emphasis on "preliminary." You want a
large room with lots of table-top work surface and lots of wall space where
maps and trace can be laid out, pinned or taped up during the preliminary
design phase.
I hope you can trust what I say as I am trying to help.
Because there are several low cost or free CAD programs you can find I am
tellinmg you straight out you will be wasting your time with them. First of
all you have to learn to use them and doing so efficiently is a PIA for the
novice. Not even the so-called "best products" from vendors like Autoslime
support collaboration. The low cost or free software is even more difficult
to use efficiently. The vendors such as Autoslime and Bentley have the best
drafting features but they cripple their products to obstruct, hinder or
prevent the customer's from using their drawing assets on their own. They
cripple their products to prevent them from being used with web development
for example.
Coordinating CAD drawings for example is a hellish experience. If you don't
have at least one "workstation" with lots of RAM and multiple 22" CRT
monitors or the equivalent design and drafting becomes a hellish experience.
You will without question get "zoomitis" which will drive you crazy for a
land plan as large as 90,000 acres. Then for markups you still have to plot
at various useable scales using large format plotters which you likely will
outsource at up to $10-$20 a sheet. Do you see how using good old trace is
still the way to go for this type and scale of preliminary design? Finally,
if you can't draw a couple of parallel lines using a felt tip pen the CAD
program is not going to turn you into a skilled draftsman. Especially for
curvilinear linework so frequently used in laying out roadwork in
subdivisions. The low cost and free CAD programs do not as a rule have
optimized features for specialized drawing tasks.
Secondly, the reason you don't go to CAD at the preliminary design stage for
this type of project is because you do not own your land. The government
owns your land and using CAD on your own will be even more costly as I hope
to convey. You see, it sounds like you are a group of fools with their heads
stuck up their @ss that think they actually own the land. If you really
owned your land you would not have to go beg for permission to use your land
from a group of big fat @ssed cunts who sell wallpaper or work at insurance
companies as their day job who have been elected by fools to "represent"
them as as aldermen or county commissioners.
Until you have spent months and months and months planning and dreaming and
working late nights and weekends with your colleagues only to finally be
compelled at the point of a gun to go show and be told by some fat @ssed
cunt who sells wallpaper that she doesn't think your work is in the best
interest of her "constituents" you haven't even begun to enter the depths of
hell.
Using CAD is simply not wise at all during preliminary design phase by
novices involved in a large scale project unless you have a group of skilled
users who know how to use the best CAD programs efficiently noting again it
is Bentley that makes the best software for this -- not Autoslime -- and
still, the products are FUBAR crippleware compared to what the technology
has actually made possible.
So do yourself a big favor. Get your base maps, use trace to develop a
series of preliminaries and hand them off to a trusted land planner,
landscape architect or somebody who has the experience working with the big
fat @ssed cunts who sell wallpaper at their day jobs who now control our
land and other private property at the point of a gun.
Finally, be prepared to "discover" there is a little grass snake or some
little rat on the land that occupies 45,000 acres of "its" habitat that you
will be disallowed from using. After a few months of trying to use "your
land" you will know exactly what I mean.
Best of luck to you...
<%= Clinton Gallagher
NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com
URL http://www.metromilwaukee.com/clintongallagher/
"Bob Morrison" <SpamF...@junk.com> wrote in message
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rj
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martin pot
easy to get familiar with and very usefull if I understand your
question correctly.
Martin
Dezignaré
kinds of designer software with hyperlinks to their Websites.
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