BillyGrey

Hey Daniel, As long as we're pushing the Autodesk products, lets not forget Revit You model just like any other true 3d modelling app while you are design/drafting. Export to dwg is very good, and it is a really cool tool. It's the future for adesk arch. Kind of expensive though, esp. for a newb...

Yup, go get Firefox

All I can say is that I went solo two years ago, and am happier in my work life then in the prior twenty plus years I was in the "job market". You have to be competitive though. If your skillset meets or exceeds your competitors, there really is nothing that can stop you, if you are persistent, and take all the little steps you need to to insure you reap contracts. You must be visible and known, and stay that way, and make your clientele happy. 90-95% of my business is referal. The only thing that can derail you then is simple regional market economics, imo. If you want it bad enough, and are willing to make sacrafices, you will succeed. As for your questions, I'll let others more knowing than myself answer those .

Well, I'm not sure why SPhand is no longer available on the web...SP is not soft plan, it is a term that is used on many font titles. I have yet to see a converter that goes from shx to ttf. In fact, the creator of SPhand was developing one, but it has appearently faded into obscurity. More suggestions, yes, Will Harris has a really nice commercial package available: http://www.will-harris.com/store-fontforest.htm single fonts: Stylus BT Tekkron City Blueprint Country Blueprint As far as a BIM, I would strongly sway you away from ADT and point you at Revit. Most of the "cons" you hear, or used to hear about Revit were from individuals who did not actually use the prog full time. I've used both full time, and there is no compairison. Revit kicks ADT's butt, and is only improving as time goes by. Try the tutorials, the trial is for SIXTY days. It is just a great program.

Island J: SPHand is very close to archstyl, and easy on the eyes. I think it can be googled up on the web, or... Are you jumping into Revit, Archicad, Triforma, or an Allplan/Vectorworks product?

Hi everybody, I have been cadding on a laptop for two years now. I just retired a Sony Vaio, it worked flawlessly under very demanding conditions. I gave it up for an Acer Aspire 1710 series notebook. I got into a true square 17" LCD (it is as big as many 19" CRT's), 3.0 ghz., 1 gig ram, 128 mg nVidia GO5700, 120 gig 7200 rpm hd, all for only $1899.00US in August (!!!!). It's the 1712SMI. They recently came out with the 1714SMI that sports all those spec's but with a 3.4 gig processor. Stay away from the modest 1710-1711 for cad/graphics, it has a diffrent GPU. I use Revit as my primary design prog, and it handles it nicely. The thing uses desktop components, and is a giant. If you plan on a cool afternoon session under the oaks by the river, forget it. But as I only take it on the road once a week or so, I can live with that. It has completely replaced my desktop, and I love it. Targus makes a couple of bags that it fits into nicely. I have read about some folks having monitor issues with it, so do your homework. All the usual disclaimers apply, but mine works like a champ. HTH Bill

Hi all, I'm just a little guy, who runs a one man architectural studio... The reason I signed onto this forum is to learn and learn. I just read pretty much this whole thread. I have a headache now I own one seat of Revit, and a new color plotter. I model in 3d from sd to construction, everything. I can, do and will continue to take those models into whatever rendering package I see fit to use. I have been playing with many, and will get serious with one tool set soon. I will never, ever, ever go back to 2d, unless forced by economics. Perhaps I do not matter so much in the greater grander scheme of things, but I do to my clientel, even though I am just a boutique. As a counterpoint to some of the musings regarding CD's and TP, utilizing accurate 3d modelling, I am making my contractors/subcontractors very pleased by providing CD design details in 3d. Intent is communicated visually, and interpretation is negligable. Perhaps this too is an area a forward looking design visualization specialist could branch into in order to bring that particualar economic justification into the realty of today's construction industry. Likewise, everything I need in terms of data extraction is there. If I wish to generate an interior view, I simply do it. This goes for any portion of the building model. Conversely, if at some point I do begin to utilize outsourcing, I will already have a model ready to hand off. In that context, I see BIM as a tool to be used much like PDF, EPS is used in the printing industry today. Near press ready material sent over the wire to your workstaion, ready for tweeeking . As visualization specialist, your job may even become more focused on your area of speciality as CAD techinicians and Architects begin to adopt BIM. But what I am striving to become, is what I have seen discussed in detail here. I am forced, by economics (the flip side) to learn to do it all. I am, in one small aspect, a part and example of the future of architectural visualization as well.