Chief Vs Autocad

[portrait]

Orbit,
For me, one of the strongest points of Chief is kitchens,baths and cabinetry.
Revit has some useful tools for renovation/remodeling that Chief doesn't, but you can't design a kitchen in Revit as easy as you could do in Chief. You may require some plug-ins.
Chief is what you need. There will be important new features and improvements for kitchen and bath designers in Chief X5, so you may want to wait until at least X5 Public Beta version is released to see if it really meets your requirements.
However as Scott said, it's not easy to draw all the manufacturing details of your cabinets with Chief. There must be more specialized programs on cabinet manufacturing such as this one: http://www.cabinetpro.com/
Alternatively you may use Chief and Autocad collaboratively for manufacturing details.
Also you asked if Chief's 2D capabilities are as good as Autocad's. Frankly my answer is no. If you want to switch to half-BIM or BIM programs such as Chief,Revit,Archicad,etc. then you shouldn't expect Autocad level CAD capabilities.

[dshall]

..........................
Also you asked if Chief's 2D capabilities are as good as Autocad's. Frankly my answer is no. If you want to switch to half-BIM or BIM programs such as Chief,Revit,Archicad,etc. then you shouldn't expect Autocad level CAD capabilities.

I agree with Ozgar on this statement, I do not know for sure since I have never used ACAD, but from what I have heard he is correct. However.......... I have found that if CA is used correctly, CAD is not a top priority, or should I say it is nowhere near as important as the 3D capabilities . When I use CA, I try to have as little CAD work as possible. I am assuming as CA matures, the CAD tools will improve, but until then, they are more than adequate for my needs.

[lbuttery]

CA has stated that one of their goals is to be able to create the model in 2D/3D and then generate the CD's from there.

Lew

[dshall]

CA has stated that one of their goals is to be able to create the model in 2D/3D and then generate the CD's from there.

Lew

Come on Lew, we are now talking about the Ethiopian runners, CA is old news. Ethiopians rule!

[yusuf]

Orbit,
For me, one of the strongest points of Chief is kitchens,baths and cabinetry.
Revit has some useful tools for renovation/remodeling that Chief doesn't, but you can't design a kitchen in Revit as easy as you could do in Chief. You may require some plug-ins.
Chief is what you need. There will be important new features and improvements for kitchen and bath designers in Chief X5, so you may want to wait until at least X5 Public Beta version is released to see if it really meets your requirements.
However as Scott said, it's not easy to draw all the manufacturing details of your cabinets with Chief. There must be more specialized programs on cabinet manufacturing such as this one: http://www.cabinetpro.com/
Alternatively you may use Chief and Autocad collaboratively for manufacturing details.
Also you asked if Chief's 2D capabilities are as good as Autocad's. Frankly my answer is no. If you want to switch to half-BIM or BIM programs such as Chief,Revit,Archicad,etc. then you shouldn't expect Autocad level CAD capabilities.

i used autocad and ca collaboratively i feel the same way about the strength of autocad on cad capabilities over chief but if some one asks me to support this arguement it may be hard for me to fegure out one major tool regarding the draw and modify tool bars cus ca has every tool of those mentioned tool bars in a very excellent way. nowa days i am avoiding using autocad for cad detailing since i never had any constraint in using the compact but broad cad mode of ca for even structural drawings easily and quickly.like auto cad i use one layout sheet to display all. Slab,beam,collumn stair detail, and foundations and even more. I get every thing in ca to make a detailed architectural and structural drawings. Finally i just like to export it to autocad just because i like to c it there. May be just a habit i developed before but add nothing on it. simply plotting from autocad is what i prefer. since other engineers i share the jobs usually dont use ca. But the one thing i know for sure is ca is optimized for building, so mechanical engineers that work on machine parts and other different works shall use autocad. Finally mr orguz i feel the same like u some how but i believe ca is fit enough. but to support the arguement i would have been happy if u just post any particular strength or weekness regarding the major areas of concern on this topic
Thanks for all.

[ORBIT]

i used autocad and ca collaboratively i feel the same way about the strength of autocad on cad capabilities over chief but if some one asks me to support this arguement it may be hard for me to fegure out one major tool regarding the draw and modify tool bars cus ca has every tool of those mentioned tool bars in a very excellent way. nowa days i am avoiding using autocad for cad detailing since i never had any constraint in using the compact but broad cad mode of ca for even structural drawings easily and quickly.like auto cad i use one layout sheet to display all. Slab,beam,collumn stair detail, and foundations and even more. I get every thing in ca to make a detailed architectural and structural drawings. Finally i just like to export it to autocad just because i like to c it there. May be just a habit i developed before but add nothing on it. simply plotting from autocad is what i prefer. since other engineers i share the jobs usually dont use ca. But the one thing i know for sure is ca is optimized for building, so mechanical engineers that work on machine parts and other different works shall use autocad. Finally mr orguz i feel the same like u some how but i believe ca is fit enough. but to support the arguement i would have been happy if u just post any particular strength or weekness regarding the major areas of concern on this topic
Thanks for all.

Thanks for the reply.
My only areas of concern are, I can see I will need a program for BIM I use AutoCad which really isn't a BIM program. Like I said I have had a look at Revit and Archicad and I don't really want to spend the next few years becoming an expert in one of those programs, when I can see that CA can do just about all
Revit and Archicad can do. I want to get as much feed back as possible from people that use CA, and better still people who have also used Revit and Archicad. I think I would also still like to use AutoCad and maybe even import CA perspectives into Autocad for printing. Anyway guys and Gals thanks for your feed back so far. If there are anymore CA users out there that do a lot of kitchens and bathrooms, I would love your feed back on CA also.
Cheers Orbit..

[lbuttery]

I can see I will need a program for BIM

Note: while Chief has some BIM concepts you won't be able to share with other BIM apps like Revit etc can

Lew

[ORBIT]

I can see I will need a program for BIM

Note: while Chief has some BIM concepts you won't be able to share with other BIM apps like Revit etc can

Lew

Hi Lew
No what I mean is, I would only be using CA, and maybe AutoCad for detail stuff. I would not want to share with other products such as Revit or Archicad. Thats why I want to make sure that CA will do everything I need.
Can you, or anybody tell me, can CA do most of what Revit or Archicad does?
I want to start learning a BIM program over the next month or so and I don't want to put all my effort into a program only to find out 6 months or a year down the track, it was the wrong one. So I guess thats why I am asking for a comparison between the two major BIM packages, Revit and Archicad, with CA. I do like the look and layout of CA, and it does look easier to learn.
Thanks for the help.

[lbuttery]

Orbit:

no, what I meant was that Revit, etc can send their plans to other BIM programs that do specialty tasks and then they can send the plans back to Revit for additional work

Revit - App A - App B - Revit - App C - Revit - App D etc


each App adding to the overall plan or producing reports or views for structure or energy or ....

do a search on BIM on this forum and follow some of the prior links I have posted or do a google search on BIM and see what is out there in the world of 3D and 4D and 5D and 6D BIM apps

however, if you don't know what it is then you probably don't need it

at least for now

Lew