Mark Bolin

Aaron, What's the price tag on VertexBD? I've requested and received addtional infomation from Argos and they still won't say what it cost. This leads me to believe that it is very expensive. Can you give me an idea of the price tag? I wish they had a working demo.

The paper on Vertex BD makes it sound like all other software packages only allow you to draw in 2D. If you take the paper and replace "VertexBD" with "Revit", "Softplan", Chief Architect or most other packages on the market, it would hold true. Minus the optioning feature which only helps production builders who do plans in house, I've used several packages that can do everything that it sounds like Vertex BD does. I wish I could get my hands on it to test it out and see how it really compares to other packages. Softplan, Chief Architect, Cadsoft Build/APDesign, and Architectural Desktop with VisionREZ I believe all do framing and material takeoffs. Just my 2 cents. Mark

Aaron, Did you say you are currently using "Softplan"? Are you not happy with it? I've used both and prefer Softplan for production work on the custom homes I do. This is coming from a long time ACAD user who thought he'd never switch to another cad package. I also use the models from Softplan in Sketchup, Piranesi and VIZ. My personal opinion is that CA is more interior designer oriented. Again, that is only my opinion so I hope I don't offend anyone. VertexBD is interesting but it is a little pricey for me and is geared toward production builders which may suit more what your doing. I'm not married to Softplan and if I felt something better was out there, I would make the switch. But for my work, Softplan is currently a better fit. Hope this helps. Mark

FYI SPHAND is a Softplan font that is licensed to the user of their software. This is why you are having trouble finding it.

Keith, I use Softplan for residential design and their add-on Softlist for takeoffs. I like it cause I can pull off any information from my plans and easily write my own forumulas. No product is perfect but this comes close. As for Digital Canal (use to be Eaglepoint), I haven't used their products. About 10 years ago while I was a cad manager, I evaluated their products for the firm I was working for. It was interesting but the interface and usability was terrible. They were also very pushy and practically gave the product away so they could get their foot in the door. We went with ARCHT back then. Take a look at it closely before buying. Rember the saying "Believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see". In other words, test it before you buy. I'm still a little skeptical from my experiences with them many years ago. If they were so great, why didn't their products ever take off? What type of work will you mainly be using this on? Mark

It's hard to justify if you're not using it full time. But if you are doing residential design, it makes your life so much easier and also makes it fun. You'll wonder how you lived without it. And this comes from someone who thought they would never switch from Autdesk products to a small software company in Tennesse. While the current version might not be technology wise up to Revit, who is? It looks fairly simple at first glance but it simply gives you the tools to do the job and nothing else. What a concept! By keeping it simple, they can focus on giving you the best tools for residential work. Mark

The link that Travis is pointing to is one that I started. If you do residential or light commercial, I can't say enough about Softplan. It allows you to design in both 2d and 3d. For residential design, I can't find anything that can touch it and I tried just about everything before selecting Softplan. The rendering in the current version is not great but it is acceptable when trying to communicate with clients. I use Sketchup and VIZ for final renderings. The attached image was created in Softplan including the site. It was rendered in VIZ with VRAY and landscaping added in Piranesi.

If you are using solid modeling in acad, make sure to UNCHECK unify normals when importing. You would think this should be on to unify normals, but the normals are already correct and this will only screw them up. Good luck! mark

The first firm I worked for had a copy of AutoShade that I stumbled across. This was the first rendered image I created. I then jumped on Compuserve (dial-up and very slow) and found some 3d blocks to liven up the rendering (second image). Where has the time gone? Mark

Richard, This is the best solution I've found so far. If you insert a MAX/VIZ file in Sketchup, some of the triangle edges show and some don't. While in MAX/VIZ, I select the objects I will be manipulating in Sketchup and add a edit mesh modifier. Select edges in the modifier and select all edges. Hit the "Visible" button to unhide all edges. I would do this in sketchup but I can't figure out how to unhide edges on a flat surface. Anyway, now bring the model over via dwg/dxf and you should have something like my first image. If you select a face on the wall to extrude, you only get one piece of the wall. Erase all the lines/edges that are no longer needed as in my second image. Now you can select the wall as one face and push or pull. Works for me but if anyone can figure out a better way, let me know. Mark