Quirky - that is what I am talking about

[Chad Cardin]

Its funny, I was just reading a post recently by another architect selling his X4, and he said:

"Its like im fighting the 3d model. I also find it quite skittish"

That is very similar to a post I had. The truth is that Chief has THE BEST possible BIM CAD out there (even for light commercial), but they need to clean this program up for architects to be interested.

I also own VectorWorks, and Chief needs a lot of work on 2D tools for detailing - mostly how they work. Also, printing is very odd. The drawings just don't look "sharp". I don't know what it is, but for you lifelong Chief users, if you see other CAD systems - it is much sharper. That was also the complaint of the other architect.

The "skittish" and quirky issues need to be resolved. The interface needs to be updated in a very bad way. The icons look so old and cheap. They almost need a re-name too, as the idea there is a $3k+ professional version of what some people buy a Costco for $79 is not appealing for architects. When my clients ask me what I use for software, I don't say "Cheif Architect" for fear they say "oh, i have that program too", "can I get the file to make changes to materials?" When I hand them a $15-20k bill it just doesn't go over well.

Ive read this post from first to last and took it all in. At first I was taken back by your brutal honesty of opinion but also appreciated your candor.

First I would like to say irregardless of chiefs abilities your elevations were outstanding, some of the best Ive seen in a while. No matter what elevations throughout this thread, they all look fantastic. Great job on those.

I also liked how you backed up your arguments with concrete examples from other programs. Many of us havent used autocad lately or vectorworks so by showing us how old school chiefs toolbars were, I could see by your comparisons how you came to that conclusion.

Someone mentioned toolbars jumping and yes, Ive noticed just today having to readjust the toolbars five times because they are bouncing around even when locked.

I also liked your example of the elevation lines. This clearly gave us an idea of what the competitors quality is like, when a lot of us havent seen it. For the most part you make a great argument and have backed up with examples how chief could improve. Glad you posted, got a lot of us thinking.

When I first read this, I was getting ready for the cheerleaders of chief to start firing off an argument but was surprised because not a lot was said. I think a lot of this had to do with showing us comparisons and good examples of what you were talking about.