Autocad Vs Autocad Mep

[Fortun Bawa]

HiI never used autocad architecture with 3d tools. I am a revit user and wonder, Autocad Architecture is a BIM software or not. Coz it has also intelligent objects and paremeters. But im not sure about collobortaion, central file etc. What is the difference Revit & Autocad Architecture within BIM context?

Also the statement "NO" (to the question if AutoCAD Architecture is a BIM Software" is a most to hard answer without knowing details about the whole project ... I would say you can use it as part of a BIM project.

If you understand the software development terminology... think of AutoCAD ARCH as REVIT 1.0 (with all that it implies). BIM? yes. Sophisticated to be translated into building systems for the owner to use after you are done with the project? nope.

Are you thinking of switching or adding AutoCAD ARCH to your workflow? Don't do the latter, while the two software come from the same company, that's all they have in common: inter-operability leaves a lot to be desired.

AutoCAD Architecture organizes helps organize individual drawing files together into a project. Changes to geometry occur in constructs. Documentation and detailing occurs in view files. Plotting arrangement occurs in sheet files. You cannot change anything in any view since it is a one way flow, semi-automated. Users must refresh the project. To collaborate, individuals are responsible for individual files.

Revit is a single file structure (except with linked and shared projects). You can change things in most any view they show up in. To that degree Revit is more BIMish than AutoCAD Architecture but they both work well on real projects. The training curve on AutoCAD Architecture is steeper but most users already have AutoCAD experience and so only the extra features of AutoCAD Architecture need specialized training. In my opinion, detailing is easier in AutoCAD Architecture and modeling and scheduling is easier in Revit.

I strongly disagree that all parts of a project need to be on the same software. It should just look like its on the same software. I use AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, Revit, 3dsMax. , GIMP, Adobe Acrobat, Premier Pro, etc. sometimes on the same project. The end result is what counts. Since I also prepare shop drawings, I see the end results of a lot of different A/E Offices, both small and large, and they almost always end up with PDF files of greatly varying quality, with some being very poor image scans even though you can tell they were done in BIM software. In some cases, I've found it easier to work with with good sketches than with CAD and BIM produced documentation.

Autocad Architecture (ACA) is very different to AutoCAD, to the point where you can consider it almost an entirely different platform. It has it's own object model, display system that is not dependent on layers, object/style data model and file management approximating a BIM system. In some ways it is more sophisticated than Revit, precision at small scale, and in others way behind.

The real difference is the change engine in Revit replaces ACA's reliance on operators to update changes. In most cases ACA will manage that change but it is using an elaborate web of AutoCAD technologies (xrefs, sheet set manager etc) to fake BIM Management.

AutoCAD is extremely powerful when it goes to high precision and high performance CAD work of any kind in the same multi-package. Combining AutoCAD Architecture and AutoCAD plain or even AutoCAD Civil3D a small business can quickly do extremely efficient work. The problem with Revit in small businesses is that it's extremely optimized for BUILDING INFORMATION without the maturity or capability of AutoCAD at efficiency of pure CAD so it can practically waste the time of a small business that does not need perfection in building information and they can usually be faster by using Architecture and plain CAD and avoid going with a package of higher BIM concepts since Architecture does some "BIMing" anyway and to be fair EVEN PLAIN AUTOCAD does in effect some "BIMing" if you only take full advantage of Fields let alone Blocks with dynamic coding.

Autocad Launches OK but as soon as I try to open a drawing I get a Fatal error message saying unhandled C0000006h and then Exception 471034aah. Each time I try to open a drawing I get a different Exception eg. 481934aah or 43f934aah or fb5c34aah

Have you installed the latest updates for AutoCAD LT 2016? You can download the latest updates using the Autodesk Desktop App, or through your Autodesk account portal at manage.autodesk.com, under Product Updates. Based on what I'm seeing in your crash report, installing the updates might fix this problem.

Thanks. Its seems I can open a new document and work with that. The fault only seems to be when trying to open an existing drawing. I have tried to download the latest update to 2016Lt as you suggested. There is one dated September but when I try to update after download I get the message my version of autocad 2016LT-English (?) is not compatable with the update. Any thoughts as I am getting desperate

It also sounds like it could be file related, since the issue doesn't occur when you open a new drawing. Can you post one of the existing drawings you are trying to open? If you can't share it publicly, you can PM it to me.

That update still comes back as unable to install with my version of Autocad LT 2016 - English what ever that means. I have sent you an example DWG file by mail that causes the fatal error. Thanks- hope to hear from you

Thanks to all who tried to help. The fault is resolved now and it turned out to be a conflict with a recent Windows update and also some implication with Norton antivirus update, but primarily the Windows update. Program required deinstall and clean reinstall. Autodesk Customer support were very helpful (Kevin) in getting this done for me

Is there any way to enable a warning that another user has an autocad file open when you go to open that same file throught dropbox? I am looking for something similar to the dropbox badge that appears when you open files in mircrosoft products.

I guess it will be easy to implement this option in dropbox because when you open a .dwg file, Autocad creates a temporarly .dwl and .dwl2 files in the same folder that could indicate the file is open by other user. Could you add this option in Dropbox?

It is so absolutely amazing that Dropbox and Autodesk are partners but can create an environment when drawings are open they show up as read-only across the Dropbox network! I know it can be done because that environment exists with the Microsoft Office environment.

+1 for this feature. Our Architecture firm is planning to move to Dropbox as a "server" and while we are normally very good about communication and not working in the same file at the same time, it would be great to replicate what currently exists for the Microsoft suite and display some sort of notification that the file is currently in use by another Dropbox team member.

Suggesting to use the file lock setting shows a complete lack of knowledge for and understanding of using Dropbox as a central server for CAD files. Especially disappointed given the existing partnership and relationship between Dropbox and Autodesk.

Hey @Yoav_Weiss, thanks so much for taking the time to comment on this idea.

While we really appreciate every suggestion here, unfortunately not every idea gets enough support.

We do regularly re-review ideas that continue to get support and we will update you if anything changes.

+1 he ledo todos los comentarios y me sorprende que a da de hoy esto no haya cambiado, espero que en un futuro no muy lejano cambien ste problema ya como han dicho anteriormente dificulta el trabajo cuando no se hace aviso del archivo que abre un compaero y ste lo puedas abrir en modo s lectura sin crear archivos de conflicto con X nombre y fecha, es muy molesto.

The question that needs to be answered is how do we open the AutoCAD drawing in the app from Teams. We do not want to use a mobile app but the actual AutoCAD software. Currently you have to download the file, work on it, then save it back to Teams. This creates more work and defeats the purpose of Teams. Please advise @Snehal_Harshe

@Jraby we are currently also looking at this in our business. We do not use autocad but produce and edit .DWG files in specialist cad software. Currently testing only using teams but if we right click on the .DWG file within teams then choose the option to open in app the file opens in your default .DWG software or viewer. It works best however only if we choose to sync the folder first.

Among the best-known CAD programs is AutoDesk's AutoCAD, but there are many others, proprietary and open source, out there. So how do the open source alternatives to AutoCAD stack up? The answer depends on how you plan to use them.

The trick for deciding whether a replacement piece of software, whether open or closed, is a good choice for you is to tease out exactly what your needs are. The situation is no different than discovering that the person who insists that they "need" Photoshop is just using it to draw a few geometric shapes and remove red-eye from photos; what they really need is a graphics editing tool that can replace those specific functions. Whether it has all of the bells and whistles of the original is irrelevant if those features sit paid for but unused.

My personal journey through open source CAD programs was no different. I worked with AutoCAD briefly in grad school, so when I wanted to play with drawing three-dimensional plans for something, it was pretty much all I knew. But that alone didn't make AutoCAD the best choice.

As I've strived to replace more and more software in my life with open source options, Blender turned out to be just as good for my 3D modeling needs, whether I was playing with models created for a 3D printer or looking at landscapes exported from other programs. And for the relatively simple task of planning out my home landscaping projects, Sweet Home 3D has been an excellent open source alternative.

3a8082e126