DoubleCAD XT, free commercial use 2D detailing app.

wmanning · 2 Apr 2009, 07:09

Bob,

Sorry about the lengthy price stuff. Probably just a little overworked lately, sorry Cadwald if I came across too touchy.

Obviously dropped the ball on the videos. Should have something in a few days.

wm

cadward · 2 Apr 2009, 10:58

no problem....looking forward to the tutorials

utiler · 16 Apr 2009, 04:16

William, any advance on those video tutorials...?

wmanning · 16 Apr 2009, 17:34

I've got to admit that progress is slow... I've had a lot of recent hardware problems, resolved only after a format

Also we are a late entry in the AIA Expo2009 coming up in two weeks in San Francisco (booth 739 if you're coming -- just down the aisle from Google and Autodesk), and I've been tagged with creating the booth, etc. So I apologize for the delays. We've been swamped with work recently. I'll try to get on it though as soon as I can.

utiler · 16 Apr 2009, 23:02

@wmanning said:

I've got to admit that progress is slow... I've had a lot of recent hardware problems, resolved only after a format
OUCH!!!!!!

No problem, look forward to them soon.....

HPW · 17 Apr 2009, 08:11

Is DoubleCAD STD or PRO in any way scriptabel like Autocad with AutoLisp/DCL ?

Regards

Hans-Peter

wmanning · 17 Apr 2009, 13:53

There is no scripting language implemented yet. We will be creating a published SDK and then implement scripting. We have been having lots of discussions about that: whether to do LISP, Ruby, Python... If we implement LISP it might be nearly impossible to make it very highly compatible with existing AutoLISP scripts, so that makes us hesitant to implement LISP. We're still taking input if you have suggestions and opinions!

HPW · 17 Apr 2009, 15:19

@unknownuser said:

If we implement LISP it might be nearly impossible to make it very highly compatible with existing AutoLISP scripts, so that makes us hesitant to implement LISP. We're still taking input if you have suggestions and opinions!

It might not be highly compatible (for example compatibel to the latest VisualLisp improvments) but it should be compatibel to the early AutoLisp's.
But also important is any kind of scriptable GUI. So a DCL-compatible solution would be a wellknown Standard. (Intellicad and their clones support this mostly)

Also SketchUp with its Ruby-API has a web-based GUI included.
But there are also alternatives like FxRuby etc.

So keep us informed what (and when) language will get into your products.

My personal vote:

1.Lisp
2.Ruby

jpalm32 · 21 Apr 2009, 19:03

Best Free 2D Cad download EVER! Tried them all! This is the best. Brings in SKP also.
Tried some trial and they had more problems with my Autocad files.
I was willing to buy after using Autocad Lite but no upgrade price for my version 1000 bucks NO way.

wmanning · 5 Jun 2009, 21:42

Rather short notice, but we have started running Webinars on DoubleCAD XT and XT PRO. Wednesday, June 10 we'll be doing one on SketchUp to DoubleCAD XT PRO workflow. It will be at 8:30 am PDT (GMT - 7). We'll add more sessions to our calendar including some afternoon sessions to cross over with Asia/Pacific region morning hours.

View upcoming events, and sign-up here:

http://www.doublecad.com/Support/LearningCenter/Webinars/EventsCalendar/tabid/1403/Default.aspx

Hope to see you there!

William

jwlyon1 · 4 Aug 2009, 19:14

Just another jealous mac user...

Vote for mac version!!

wmanning · 7 Aug 2009, 20:27

Thanks for the Mac vote...

By the way, I forgot to pointout that the Webinar we did was recorded and can be viewed here for those interested: http://www.doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCADXTPro/ProFeatures/FileInteropampXrefs/SketchUpWorkflow/tabid/1455/Default.aspx

Just click on the videos tab. The first half shows how DoubleCAD XT handles .SKP models, and the second half shows a bit of additional PRO functionality.

William

Edson · 16 Aug 2009, 10:59

i have watched the video and was very impressed by it. however, it has no mac version which kinda spoils the fun for me.

are there any plans for a mac version? if i am not mistaken IDX Renditioner has one and this is a good precedent.

wmanning · 16 Aug 2009, 16:33

I know that we'd like to do a Mac and even Linux versions, but right now there are no concrete plans for that. The DoubleCAD video was shot on a Mac running DoubleCAD under VM Fusion because several of us working on DoubleCAD use Macs too, but clearly a native version would be better.

-- William

linea · 17 Aug 2009, 05:13

@unknownuser said:

...and even Linux versions

wmanning · 19 Dec 2009, 18:03

Yesterday DoubleCAD XT PRO version 2 was released. The free DoubleCAD XT version should follow withing a few weeks at most (I'm told). Since there is a free trial of the PRO, anyone that wants to try v2 can get the PRO free trial and use that until the free XT version arrives.

Lots of changes. For details, see http://www.doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCADXTProv2/NewinVersion2/tabid/1532/Default.aspx.

Main items of interest (?) to SU users: although it is still a 2D application we've made all the architectural tools 3D so that elevations, etc, can be generated easily. We've also updated our COLLADA export (PRO only feature) to include Instances from blocks which will import into SketchUp as components. If you use the architectural tools (AutoCAD Architecture compatible), just select all, make the whole model a block, then export to COLLADA with the export option to Save Blocks and all the windows, doors, stairs, roofs, etc, come in as components. A quick way to kick off a project.

I hope you enjoy it.

William

d12dozr · 19 Dec 2009, 20:16

This is good news, thank you.

Gaieus · 20 Dec 2009, 08:01

Hi William,

Thanks for the heads-up! Looking forward to seeing the new features (although I myself am not a big CAD user)

I hope you don't mind that I "borrowed" an image from the DoubleCAD XT Gallery for The Daily CatchUp article/announcement. Let me know if you'd like me to change it to something else.

wmanning · 27 Jan 2010, 01:36

The free DoubleCAD XT v2 has been released. The XT version doesn't have too much change vis-a-vis SketchUp workflow, but the product has a new installer that provides 30 days free use of the Pro Features, then reverts to the free XT product. New features can be found here:
http://www.doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCADXTPRO/NewinVersion2/tabid/1532/Default.aspx.

During that first 30 days you can make use of the robust architectural tools (AutoCAD Architecture compatible -- but still not DWG 2010 compatible, that's coming soon). When exporting to COLLADA our .DAE filter now has an option to convert all blocks to instances, which SketchUp imports as components. We also convert architectural objects to blocks during the export. This makes it a pretty good way to get AutoCAD Architecture content into SketchUp.

Support forums are at http://forums.doublecad.com

It's still free. Hope you like it.

William

Gaieus · 27 Jan 2010, 07:55

Hi William, thanks for the heads-up.

I also received the newsletter this morning. This "reversed" workflow - via the collada format - sound exciting especially now that dwg/dxf import was stripped from the free version of SU 7.1 (although for the time being, there is the additional plugin, I know).

Maybe with future versions of SU, DoubleCAD will be part of the everyday workflow for free SU users!