Best CAD for E/Cs

Status
Not open for further replies.
lordofpi

lordofpi

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Up till now, I have always used good old pencil and paper to draft plans, but I am ready to move to some sort of computer-aided design. Is there anything on the market that specifically caters to us E/Cs? I know AutoCAD is pretty much the be-all end-all of CAD, but does it really have everything to make someone in our field happy? I appreciate your thoughts.
 
lordofpi said:
Up till now, I have always used good old pencil and paper to draft plans, but I am ready to move to some sort of computer-aided design. Is there anything on the market that specifically caters to us E/Cs? I know AutoCAD is pretty much the be-all end-all of CAD, but does it really have everything to make someone in our field happy? I appreciate your thoughts.
Click to expand...

If you just want to create your own doodlework Turbocad, EasyCAD and a host of close to free softwares will do the job.

Most of the time the other trades drive - primarily Architects - what the EC may want to use, since you would want to use the Archtectural drawings as your background, starting point. Saves a lot of time from re-drawing what is already done, especially if there are changes.
 
This came up a while ago, I recommended Visio Professional, its a great program that does not have the steep learning curve with CAD. I do electrical drawings, floor plans and more. If you are interested PM me and I will email you some PDFs of drawings I've done.
 
I've got a couple of Auto Desk programs that I use.

Auto Sketch Release 9 and Auto Cad 2006.

If you've never used a drawing program, you need to start with something that's fairly easy to learn, and then move up as you get the hang of it.

I attended a technical college (at night) to learn Auto Cad .
It's definitely not a good program for a beginner (unless you have a teacher)...plus, it's expensive.

The Auto Sketch program is a lot less "involved" (i.e. complicated), plus you can get a copy for around $50.
It has a good symbol library, and works well when creating floor plans and electrical drawings....or any drawing in general.

The Auto Cad program has all of the "bells and whistles", hundreds of commands, and is difficult to learn....but...you can create any type of drawing that you choose, and is really a great tool once you get the hang of it.

steve
 
TurboCAD is what I learned CAD on in college; it is fairly easy to pick-up on quickly. I've also used Microsoft Visio, but don't recommend it for technical drawings.
I've also used AutoCAD 2000 and I currently use AutoCAD 2008LT on a daily basis at my job and like it a lot. However, it is not a good beginning CAD software package- it will take some time to learn.

Note: I purchased TurboCAD on ebay while in school in 2004 for $10; can't beat the price for all the features that are included. :cool:
 
As good as AutoCAD seems to be, does it have a lot of symbols/stencils that are appropriate for electrical drawings as people are saying about the lesser programs? On top of that, does it actually support the planning of circuits, or everything just a point and line to AutoCAD?
 
(IMHO) For practicality, Microstation and AutoCAD are probably the most prevelant softwares used. I've used Microstation, but primarily with big corporations; AutoCAD seems to be utilized by most engineering firms, contractors, architects, most governments, etc. If you plan on 'works well with others' I'd recommend you stick to AutoCAD....plus Autodesk is PUSHING the MEP software for use in AutoCAD, and also REVIT. It's a 'real world' decision!:mad:
 
I work for alarge corporation that uses autodesk as a standard, but in discussions with friends on the outside the number 2 and 3 software packages are Vectorworks and TurboCAD respectively. Also, if you just need something down and dirty, you can do fascinating things with Excel.

I have also used Google Sketchup for 3D coordinated drawings for home, best part, it's FREE.
 
lordofpi said:
As good as AutoCAD seems to be, does it have a lot of symbols/stencils that are appropriate for electrical drawings as people are saying about the lesser programs? On top of that, does it actually support the planning of circuits, or everything just a point and line to AutoCAD?
Click to expand...
It does come with some symbols, but not much. You can find them free on the internet, or make your own. I did about 50/50 when I set up ACAD 2007. If you're not interested in 3D drawing, you may want to look at a light (AutoCAD Lt) version.

It doesn't really support the planning of circuits, it's still point to point and line to line.

I have heard good things about AutoCAD Revit. It's supposed to be more aligned with Architectural work.

Your best bet may be to find a dummies book (at your library if you don't want to pay for it) and download a free trial. Try to set a lot of time aside while you have your free trial to try to learn it and see if you like it.

Don't forget that compatibility will be an issue if you plan on using other people's drawings.
 
DanZ said:
Don't forget that compatibility will be an issue if you plan on using other people's drawings.
Click to expand...
That would be an issue with any CAD program but almost all of the nicer CAD programs have conversion capabilities. While the conversion is not perfect, you could ask the other person to save in a more universal or compatible format.

Conversion is a lot better nowadays. It is really not that big of a deal, unless the customer requires you to use the same program they have. This can happen with government jobs at times, but sometimes there are work-arounds.
 
lordofpi said:
As good as AutoCAD seems to be, does it have a lot of symbols/stencils that are appropriate for electrical drawings as people are saying about the lesser programs? On top of that, does it actually support the planning of circuits, or everything just a point and line to AutoCAD?
Click to expand...
mivey said:
see
http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/file...0118238_us.pdf
Click to expand...
lordofpi said:
That looks -- wow! Now is that an upgrade to AutoCAD, an independent version of AutoCAD, or...?
Click to expand...
What type of circuits? Perhaps AutoCAD Electrical is more suitable... and less expensive.

http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/autocad_electrical_overview_brochure.pdf
 
I just completed an AutoCAD class,using AutoCAD 2008. I had never even drawn a line on CAD before taking this class. Well I learned real quick that your not going to learn this program in a couple weekends. Unless you have ALOT of time on your hands. You need to take a class and do alot of homework. It is well worth it. Once you get used to the commands and tools.
You will be amazed how fast you can draw Single Lines,Detail sheets,etc.
I messed around with Revit MEP it had symbols and panel schedules etc.
But, I just found it just as easy to draw my own Library. Like other people have mentioned conversion is an issue you need to be aware of if your going to be working with multiple Architectual,Engineering firms.
 
AutoCAD Electrical looks, at least from the brochure, more like it is for electronics design and circuit boards. My goal is to be able to draft electrical plans and layouts for proposal to customers as well as for permits. MEP seems to be the best I've seen so far, but has anyone worked with this?

It seemed to get better reviews than AutoCAD MEP here, and it is one-fifth the cost (though it seems you do have to buy it again every year, so I don't know how good that really is).
 
lordofpi said:
...and it is one-fifth the cost (though it seems you do have to buy it again every year, so I don't know how good that really is).
Click to expand...
It is about the same. Design Master Electrical runs on top of AutoCAD so you will still have to buy AutoCAD (although you could run it on AutoCAD 2004 or later).

AutoCAD MEP is combined with AutoCAD and only costs about $1000 more than plain AutoCAD ($3,995 plain, $4,995 with MEP). The $1,000 extra was the Autodesk online price but you should be able to get it cheaper.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top