DoubleCAD XT, free commercial use 2D detailing app.
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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
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This is good news, thank you.
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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.
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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
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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!
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@wmanning said:
Thanks for the Mac vote...
Hi William.
Personally, I'm not impressed.
You quote in your personal avatar that you use not only Windows, but OSX too, yet you still have yet to support Mac OSX! Why do you advertise that you use a Mac, yet won't support it?!?
Fellow Mac users, vote with your feet. ixelsoft's 'HighDesign' is an excellent and very underrated Mac OSX based 2D AutoCAD alternative. Highdesign also works well with SketchUp (many of its users are SU users!);
ILEXSOFT HighDesign | Architecture, Engineering & Design Software for Mac and Windows
HighDesign software is for architectural design, engineering, MEP, detailing, and construction.
(www.ilexsoft.com)
QCad is also a great 2D ACAD LT alternative (albeit a little underpowered, but it's all there, you just need to work a little harder)- QCad, which runs natively in Linux, runs on Mac and Windows, and can even be used from a USB dongle, from even the most locked-down PC's! (So therefore great for students- not including the great price
).
regards,
Tom
UPDATE; HighDesign is half the price of the full version of DoubleCAD XT! Fancy that!
http://store.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=6CJ_LIVE&&
Now who says Mac is an expensive system?
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@unknownuser said:
You quote in your personal avatar that you use not only Windows, but OSX too, yet you still have yet to support Mac OSX! Why do you advertise that you use a Mac, yet won't support it?!?
Hey Tom,
I do use a Mac as you note (and before that used a Lisa, and Apple IIb through IIe, even played with the Xerox Star before Apple), and we have other products on the Mac, such as IDX Renditioner and a version of TurboCAD on the Mac, among others.
With this product we've been going directly at Autodesk and going after the AutoCAD LT user. Since that product is PC only it has been the focus of most of our attention, for now.
With DoubleCAD we've been looking at supporting the Mac and/or Linux, but the way the existing code is written, and some of the limitations of certain licensed libraries, makes porting it to the Mac a massive undertaking. We've done some serious exploration there as our CEO also did a lot of Mac software in the '80s and '90s. But we can't commit to anything at the moment.
So it's not that we "won't support" the Mac, but we "don't" support it right now. If you want to voice those opinions more directly, our CEO reads the DoubleCAD forums regularly and there is a Mac/Linux thread here: http://forums.doublecad.com/index.php?topic=250.0.
William
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Thanks for the tip William
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wmanning,
I went to the link that you posted to download the doublecad xt,free program it tryed to open the link to download the software but would not open,after several minuts a screen poped up sayig that it could not open this sigt so I tryed the trial downlode the same thing hapend.There was another link I found by googling and I was able to download the file but the coade wase rejected when I tryed to install any help? -
Well, William is no longer with DoubleCAD (too bad, he was a great help here) so I guess you should get some help from their site/contact whatever.
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Scott
With my previous donwloads of DoubleCad( free) they send me an e mail with the SN and activation code. Have you checked your e-mail and spam filter folder?? -
Mac1,
I cant even get to the download when I click on download now it waits for the site for a long time until a page pops up Internet Explorer cannot display this web page. just as if the internet connection was lost. As I wright this post the same thig happened this morning.Maby its no longer avable. The same ting happens to the trial version. -
I was never able to download doublecad v3. I went through the correct procedure and am forever waiting their email with instructions to download the demo. it seems it only works for the previous version.
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@gaieus said:
Well, William is no longer with DoubleCAD (too bad, he was a great help here) so I guess you should get some help from their site/contact whatever.
He's not? Where is he gone...? He was very helpful when i trialled it....
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Well, I have just looked up the email in which he said he'd not be with imsidesign any longer but I could not find where he actually went.
Indeed he was a great help with these convoluted downloads and licensing.
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Persevere with the complicated permissions and authorisations, at the end of the day you are getting the best CAD system available for free!!! (also better than a fair bit of software you can pay for)
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Maybe working now? Didn't attempt the download, but got the registration page.
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