Can anyone compare Chief Architect with REVIT LT

[perryh]

I draw an existing and remodeled plan. Take the existing plan , turn off anything you don't want to see, sent it to view to cad, block it with an 8 size line weight( dotted) and copy to the remodeled plan in the background. Then when you remove a wall the background cad block will show the existing walls underneath. Make sure you put the cad block on a different layer so you can turn it off when needed. I like this method and have been using it for many years now.

[lbuttery]

Perry:

yes, that is the current method

it works but only because we can't have everything in one plan

it works because you are thinking only of as-built and remodel

think beyond that

it is a workaround

take your remodel and do three alternatives to show the client
"we could do this... or we could do this... or we could do that..."

now make a change that has to be done in all the plans

its a real PITA and fraught with error

Lew

[lbuttery]

here is how Softplan has been doing it for many versions now

Chief needs to catch-up
http://www.kxcad.net/cad_SoftPlan/16...al_designs.htm

Lew

[perryh]

Lew, it would be nice to have it all on 1 plan but I just don't see it happening in my lifetime for this program. You can of course create your own layerset for every different model but that would involve a lot of layers. I'm sure Scott wouldn't mind that, he has thousands of layers anyway, what's a few more.

[lbuttery]

Perry:

yes you can create layersets

but unfortunately its still not possible to have two walls occupy the same space
even if the layer for one is off

it is still not possible to make a room completely invisible
maybe this changed in X5 but I haven't tried it

the point being that Softplan has the Building Options feature and chief doesn't

Lew

[IRISH]

Irish--thanks for the specific info. That is very helpful and exactly what I was looking for. I am not sure what they mean by "families"--I assumed it meant objects. It sounds like they have lots of outside sources to import from. Autodesk has a free "homestyler" home design program that lets you design online and then import the "families" into Revit. I guess that RevitLT is so new there is confusion about what it can and can't do. I saw several different features charts online that were a bit different from each other--I think they may have made a few changes from the initial or just made corrections to the chart, maybe?

Families are like a smart block (symbol). A simple illustration would be if you wanted to insert a 2x6 into a detail and you also needed a 2x12. In autodesk products you insert 1 symbol, a box with an "x" in it, click on it and choose the size you want. There is no limit that I know of for that symbol. It could be anything you want from a 2x2 to an 8x14. Make the first use of it the 2x6, copy it to wherever you needed the 2x12, click it and simply change the size. These types of "smart" blocks are incredible time savers and the "families" can be anything you want. This is a very simple example and some of the families can get quite complicated which is why autodesk does not provide too many out of the box.

Yes, more and more companies are providing Revit families but I think there are even more companies providing sketchup symbols for free than Revit families. A "family" is only good for the version of Revit it was created in, or newer. With sketchup, well, all sorts of programs can import their symbols.

With all of this being said, and from what you describe your business and interests to be, in my opinion only, you would be far better served using CA than Revit LT. Its not even close.

[perryh]

Lew, Agree it would screw up the model too much, I guess you would have to use view to cad for that but not for me.

[lbuttery]

Agree it would screw up the model too much, I guess you would have to use view to cad for that but not for me.

Perry:

huh ???

Lew

[perryh]

Lew just that you could do it with view to cad floor plans but too much work for me. I only use cad for the background existing floor plans but its all live

[Canuck]

I am a long time AC user, using the entire Architectural Suite 2010, but for small structures like homes, I really prefer my X5. I could not imagine using Revit on a house design again. The cost of upgrading Revit was getting retarded. I think...I know I made the right decision in moving over. With that said, I still use my AutoCAD for drawing detail blocks. CA needs to kick it up a notch on that process.

[lbuttery]

you could do it with view to cad floor plans

Perry:

I think we are talking about two separate things ???

What does "view to cad" have to do with having the ability for Builiding Options like Softplan has ???

Lew

[Architex]

here is how Softplan has been doing it for many versions now

Chief needs to catch-up
http://www.kxcad.net/cad_SoftPlan/16...al_designs.htm

Lew

This would be HUGE for what I do. I work with some production builders that use a gazillion options on their plans (too many if you ask me). I currently use Autocad for those plans since there is not a really good way to do it using Chief.

[lbuttery]

Jay:

I think Softplan allows for up to 250 building options now

a "gazillion" might be a bit much

Lew

[Justice]

You can get home designer Pro 2014 for $495 get a free download and compare it?

If you want to pay peanuts you will get monkies!

Lots of CAD companies have their introductory versions or LT versions.

[lbuttery]

Justice:

I think a closer comparison would be Chief Lite at $1495

Lew