Still looking for a good drafting companion for Sketchup...
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I've trolled the Layout discussion forum and everywhere else I could think of to find a companion program for Sketchup to produce good construction drawings.
Currently I tolerate the limitations of Layout, but I'd prefer something like Viacad, Doublecad or Turbocad. Of the 3 Turbocad is my fav but they're all PAINFULLY slow to navigate models with a high poly count.
I'm praying someone has found an alternative drafting program that can navigate a model swiftly and preferably read SKP files.
It's a longshot I know, but I still need to put the question to the experts.
HELP!
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Hmm..... Didn't realize that navigating a large skp model in DoubleCad was a problem. How does the navigation speed of DoubleCad match that of SU just after the import?
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It's very sluggish when the same file in Sketchup has no lag whatsoever. Whether I import it as a file or as an Xref it takes a long time to rotate, zoom or pan. My SKP file sizes can be fairly large though, usually between 15 and 30megs by the time i'm ready to go to 2d. I always use ThomThom's cleanup.rb as well as purge anything unnecessary.
Do you not find it to be slow? Any advice?
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No, I have a copy but do not use it. I would ask for help on the DoubleCad forum.
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You're not alone. I found Doublecad rather slow too. Apart from the very ACAD like interface, I didn't really know what all the fuss was about. You may like to have a look at Ribbonsoft's Qcad. It's basic, but everything is in there that you need plus it is very cheap to buy. After playing with Doublecad for a while, I quickly returned to QCad, because I know it can be very fast to work with, once you know where and what all the tools do and where they are located. QCad also has a very easy to learn command line data input field- two characters are all that is needed to call up the different commands. I'd love to also recommend ilkesoft HighDesign, and PowerCADD 8, but they only work on the Mac.
You may like to navigate yourself to the Siemens website. I don't know if the offer still stands, but Siemens/UGS were once giving away copies of Solid Edge 2D too.
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Thanks for the tips. I'll look into those options.
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There is a pretty comprehensive list of resources inlcuding CAD here
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(fixed link
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I forgot to mention that Vectorworks also has translation plugins for SketchUp. Vectorworks is also built on the Parasolid kernel, as used in Solidworks and Unigraphics NX series.
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Dear Tom,
Have you imported SU models into Solid Edge, and if so, how well did it work?
Regards,
Bob -
Regarding slowness of SU model inside DoubleCAD. - Please look up this post it may be the solution to your problems.
Seasdes -
Hi Bob.
Sorry but I've never tried doing so, because I played with Solidedge way before i'd even tried Sketchup. I imagine the wouldnt be a problem, because both apps read and write the dwg format. There's no harm in just downloading the software and trying it though.
Regards,
Tom
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Before LayOut had dimensions in it, I used to do all of my layout documents in good old AutoCAD, is that not an option for you? I used to run huge Sketchup files in AutoCad without an issue...
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Autocad does do the trick. Although still not as fast rotating as Sketchup. Unfortunately I can't afford more than the 30 day demo price...
As a side note, out of frustration I tried Turbocad deluxe again (129.95$) and found that I wasn't using OpenGL acceleration. It sped up quite a bit (actually a little better than Autocad). Still not perfect, but hell... neither am I.Thanks for all your suggestions! Keep em coming. I'm kind of a software slut, i'll try anything once (and then never call it again).
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Could the select Open GL option be the reason for the problems you had with for DoubleCad?
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There was a noticeable improvement on Doublecad as well but I still find Doublecad slower even with OpenGL acceleration. I think it's still Turbocad deluxe for me. Importing materials is a nice bonus as well.
I posed the performance question on the Doublecad forum and William Manning replied saying that they're working on performance improvements though.
Just to be clear: I DID NOT find Doublecad unbearable (glitchy redraws, model hanging for 5 secs on rotate) for navigating high poly models, I just found it slow enough to be frustrating with tight deadlines for drawings. -
@drfabinex said:
As a side note, out of frustration I tried Turbocad deluxe again (129.95$) and found that I wasn't using OpenGL acceleration.
why not just using ViaCAD inkl. SU import, OGL support and bargain pricing
btw, the former TC Mac version were licensed as a OEM made by Punch...
Norbert
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Tried Viacad already as I mentioned in the first post. It's SKP importer doesn't work with SU7 at all, and a DWG export from SU opened in Viacad crawls, complete with hideously choppy redraws while rotating. Not worth the cheap price IMHO.
Too bad because it looked so promising.
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Not sure I mentioned this here before but give this a try (looks promising): http://butterfly.autodesk.com/
Rick
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@drfabinex said:
It's SKP importer doesn't work with SU7 at all...
support for SU v7 format with new VC version 7 (~4-6 weeks), until then just save in SU v6 format...
@drfabinex said:
and a DWG export from SU opened in Viacad crawls...
VC is a NURBS surface/volume modeler not targeted for editing meshes... thought you're looking for a 'drafting companion' for e.g. creating shop drawings based on your section cuts exported from SU.
If you need (another) mesh editor, go for e.g. bonzai3D or MeshLab.
@drfabinex said:
...complete with hideously choppy redraws while rotating.
lame GPU or OGL support of driver, at least for the amount of polys contained.
@drfabinex said:
...IMHO.
sure
anywayz, it's up to you
Norb.
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