Comparison of CAD software

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Advanced 3D CAD software allows creation of complex 3D forms

This is a comparison of CAD software for the fields of architecture, engineering and construction (abbreviated to AEC). This is an overview about credible aspects of flexibility of CAD software, not a judgement about their power, ease of work, and other quality-related aspects.

Computer Aided Design (CAD) refers to a type of software application for creating technical drawings. Specifically the software is not only able to present forms on the screen (like animation and modeling software), but has build-in tools for printing and layout on paper.

Not included in this comparison are the many types of related software like CATIA, Pro/Engineer and Unigraphics NX which bring CAD features together with other software groups in the AEC industries of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) and Computer Aided Machining (CAM), for example CAD for designing printed circuit boards. For those types of software please see Comparison of CAD editors for CAM and Comparison of CAD editors for CAE.

Comparison of CAD Editors for Architecture, Engineering and Construction

Application and developer Latest version/release + date 2D/3D or Specialty fields Runs on POSIX style systems? Runs on Windows? Other platforms? Open
source?		 User Interface Language(s) Stable? Support for Industry Foundation Classes? Imports Exports
Advance Concrete by GRAITEC v8.1
2008-02-06		 2D/3D AEC No Yes No Proprietary eng, fra, ger, cze, pol, nld, rus, ron (at release date) Yes v2.x3 import and export DWG, GTC DWG, GTC
Advance Design by GRAITEC v3.1
2008-01-08		 2D/3D No Yes No Proprietary eng, fra, ron (at release date) Yes v2.x3 import and export CIS/2, SDNF, PSS, VRML, DXF, GTC CIS/2, SDNF, PSS, VRML, DXF, GTC
Advance Steel by GRAITEC v8.1
2008-12-13		 2D/3D AEC No Yes No Proprietary eng, fra, ger, spa, cze, pol, nld, rus, ron, jpn (at release date) Yes v2.x3 import and export DWG, CIS/2, SDNF, PSS, KISS, GTC DWG, CIS/2, SDNF, PSS, KISS, GTC
AutoCAD by Autodesk v2009
2008-03-25[1]		 2D/3D AEC Possibly run it via Wine[2] Yes Unknown Proprietary[3] pt-BR, eng, cze, fra, ger, hun, ita, jpn, kor, pol, rus, chs, spa, cht[citation needed] Yes v2.x3 import and export DXF, DWG, DWS, DWT, WMF, SAT, 3DS, DGN[citation needed] 3DS (requires 3dsout), DXF, DWG, DWF, DXX, BMP[citation needed]
Bricscad by Bricsys V9.x
2008-09-17[4]		 Unknown Linux Yes Unknown Proprietary eng Yes Unknown DWG, DXF DWG, DXF
BRL-CAD by United States Army Research Laboratory v7.12.4
2008-06-22[5]		 3D All POSIX (BSD/Linux/Unix like OS), Packages for FreeBSD, IRIX, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris[5][6] Yes Unknown BSD licence, LGPL[5] eng[5] Yes No DXF, Elysium Neutral Facetted, EUCLID, FASTGEN, IGES, Jack, NASTRAN, Pro/E[7], STL, TANKILL, Unigraphics, Viewpoint[8] DXF, EUCLID, IGES, Jack, STL, TANKILL, VRML, Obj, X3D[8]
Caddie by Advanced Computer Solutions V14
2008-09-01		 2D/3D AEC Rendering No Yes Unknown Proprietary eng Yes Unknown DWG, DXF, DRW, JPG, BMP, TIF, PNG, GIF, ECW, JPEG2000, ASCII, XLS DWG, DXF, DRW, DWF, WMF, PDF, JPG, BMP, TIF, PNG, GIF
CATIA by Dassault Systèmes V5 R 19sp1
2008-10-31		 3D IBM AIX, Hewlett Packard HP-UX, and Sun Microsystems Solaris Yes V4 runs on mainframe Proprietary eng, fra, ger,fra (at release date) Yes Unknown some formats require extra license some formats require extra license
Digital Project by Gehry Technologies Unknown Unknown Unknown Yes Unknown Proprietary eng, others? Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
GStarICAD (based on IntelliCAD) by Great Star Software 2007-07-01[9] Unknown Unknown Yes Unknown Proprietary eng Yes No DWG, DWF, WMF, DXF, DWT, ACIS, 3D Studio DWF, PDF, WMF, EPS, BMP, EMP, SLD, PNG, SVG, GIF, JPG, TIF, PCX?ACIS
Autodesk Inventor by Autodesk Inventor 2009 3D No Yes No Proprietary eng Unknown No ACIS SAT, DXF & DWG, IGES, Pro/Engineer,STEP ACIS SAT, DXF & DWG, IGES, STEP
CADKEY KeyCreator by Kubotek 7.5.3
2008-07-08[10]		 2D/3D No Yes No Proprietary eng (incomplete list) Yes No ACIS SAT, Catia v4 & v5, DXF & DWG, IGES, Inventor, Parasolid, Pro/Engineer, Solidworks, STEP, UniGraphics ACIS SAT, Catia v4 & v5, DXF & DWG, IGES, Parasolid, STEP
MicroStation by Bentley Systems V8i 2008-11-06 Unknown Dropped
(last was V 5.7 of 1997/1998)		 Yes Dropped
(last was V 5.7 of 1997/1998)		 Proprietary eng, fra, ita, ger, spa, jpn, zho, fin, cze

[11]

 Yes Template:Yes (2x3) DGN, DXF, DWG, SketchUp, Rhino, PDF, Revit, IFC, gbXML DGN, DXF, DWG, U3D, ADT, PDF, gbXML

[12]
NX by Siemens PLM Software 2008-06-30
6		 2D/3D Yes Yes Unknown Proprietary eng, fra, ita, ger, spa, jpn, zho, fin, cze Yes Unknown JT, Parasolid, STEP, DWG/DXF, ProE, SolidWorks, I-deas, CATIA (V4/V5), STL, IGES JT, Parasolid, STEP, DWG/DXF, ProE, SolidWorks, I-deas, CATIA (V4/V5), STL, IGES
Pro/ENGINEER by Parametric Technology Corporation 2008-01-16
v4.0[13]		 3D Some[14] Yes Unknown Proprietary eng, fra, ger, spa, ita, jpn, kor, cht, chs (at release date)[citation needed] Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
ProgeCAD (based on IntelliCAD) by progeSOFT 2008-MM-DD[citation needed] Unknown Unknown Yes Unknown Proprietary eng, rus Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
QCad Community Edition by RibbonSoft v2.0.5.0
2005-07-20[15]		 2D FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, Unix[16][17] Yes Unknown GNU GPL[16] dan, ger, nld, est, ell, cze, eng, fra, hun, ita, nor, pol, pan, rus, slk, spa, tur

[18]

 Yes Unknown DXF (DXF R12 and DXF 200x)[18][19] DXF (DXF R12 and DXF 200x), SVG, PDF[18][19]
QCad Professional by RibbonSoft v2.2.1.0
2008-05-02[15]		 Unknown FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, Unix[16] Yes[16] Unknown Proprietary dan, ger, nld, est, ell, cze, eng, fra, hun, ita, nor, pol, pan, rus, slk, spa, tur [18] Yes No DXF (DXF R12 and DXF 200x)[18] DXF (DXF R12 and DXF 200x), SVG, PDF[18]
SagCAD by the SagCAD developers 2007-11-09 v0.9.12[20] Unknown Linux[20] Unknown Unknown GNU GPL eng, jpn (incomplete list)[citation needed] No No DXF[citation needed] DXF[citation needed]
Shark LT, Shark, Shark FX by Punch! (See also ViaCAD) [1] 2008-11-01
v5.5		 2D/3D Yes Yes Template:Mac OSX Proprietary eng, fr, ger, jpn (at release date) Yes No Template:3D Studio, Acis SAT, AI, PSD, BMP, Catia, DWG, DXF, EPS, Facet, FACT, GIF, Grid Surf, IGS, JPG, PDF, PICT, PNG, ProE, Punch!, Rhino, Sketchup, Spline, STEP, STL, Text, TIFF, COB, OBJ Template:Acis SAT, AI, BMP, CGM, Catia, DWG 12, 13, 14, 2000, 2004, 2008, EPS, Facet, FACT, IGS, JPG, PICT, RAW, STEP, Text, Viewpoint, VRML, OBJ
Solid Edge by Siemens PLM Software Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology MP1.0
2008-08-12		 3D/2D No Yes No Proprietary eng, spa, rus, fra, kr (at release date) Yes No IGES, STEP, DXF, JT, ACIS (SAT), ProE, SolidWorks, NX, SDRC, Microstation, Inventor, CATIA (V4/V5), Parasolid, Autocad, STL, XML, MDS IGES, STEP, STL, PDF, EMS, JT, XGL, XML, DXF, Parasolid, CATIA (V4/V5), ACIS (SAT), Microstation, Autocad
Solidworks by SolidWorks Corp. Solidworks 2009 sp0.0
2008-09-26		 3D No Yes No Proprietary eng, spa, ger (at release date) Yes Unknown
SpaceClaim by SpaceClaim Corporation SpaceClaim Professional 2008
2008-08-04		 3D No Yes No Proprietary eng, fra, ger, ita, kr, zho Yes Unknown Rhino (.3DM), IGES, STEP, ProE, SolidEdge, SolidWorks, Inventor, NX, CATIA (V4/V5), Parasolid, Autocad Rhino (.3DM), IGES, STEP, DWG, DXF, XAML, STL, VRML, XPS
TopSolid by Missler Software TopSolid 2008
2008-03-01		 2D 3D No Yes No Proprietary eng, fra, ger, ita, spa, zho Yes Unknown IGES, STEP, IGES, STEP, STL, VRML
VariCAD by VariCAD 2008-11-10
2008 3.03		 2D 3D Linux Yes Unknown Proprietary eng, cze[21] Yes Unknown STEP (3D), DWG (2D), DXF (2D) and IGES (2D) [22] STEP (3D), STL (3D), IGES (3D/2D), DWG (2D), DXF (2D) [22]
VectorWorks by Nemetschek 2009
2008-09-15[23]		 2D/3D Mac OS X Yes Dropped
was previously MiniCAD for Mac OS (1985–2001)		 Proprietary eng, pt-BR,fra, spa, nld,ger, ita,jpn Yes Unknown DWG, DXF, PDF, EPSF, 3DS, SAT, Sketchup, IFC and IGES STL, IGES, DWG, DXF, PDF, 3DS, IGES, SAT, IFC, KML, STL
eMachineShop by eMachineShop 11/19/08 2D/3D No Yes No Proprietary eng Yes No DXF,IGES DXF

See also

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:CAD

References

  1. ^ Autodesk Delivers AutoCAD 2009 Software for Innovative Design
  2. ^ AutoCAD on WINE's Application Database
  3. ^ AutoDesk - Licensing, Registration & Activation
  4. ^ BricsCAD v9.x Release Notes
  5. ^ a b c d BRL-CAD 'Summary' page on SourceForge
  6. ^ BRL-CAD 'Download' page
  7. ^ Import is only possible by using proprietary Pro/E program
  8. ^ a b Anderson, John R.; Edwards, Eric W. (May 2004), "Converting Geometry Between BRL-CAD and Other Formats" (PDF), BRL-CAD Tutorial Series, Aberdeen Proving Ground: United States Army Research Laboratory 
  9. ^ Release GStarICAD 2007i Version 2007-7-1
  10. ^ KubotekUSA Technical Bulletin
  11. ^ Bentley Systems. "MicroStation, a CAD platform for integration - Available Languages". Retrieved on 2008-08-06.
  12. ^ Bentley Systems. "MicroStation from Bentley". Retrieved on 2008-08-06.
  13. ^ January 2008 Worldwide Media and Analysts Launch of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0
  14. ^ See Platform Support - Parametric Technology Corporation and PTC customer support
  15. ^ a b Ribbonsoft. "QCad Changelog". Retrieved on 2008-07-14.
  16. ^ a b c d Download list on QCad Downloads page
  17. ^ QCad FAQ page
  18. ^ a b c d e f "QCad Features". Ribbonsoft. Retrieved on 2008-07-11.
  19. ^ a b Features will be different for the Community Edition
  20. ^ a b SagCAD Summary page on SourceForge.JP
  21. ^ VariCAD. "VariCAD Czech website". Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
  22. ^ a b VariCAD - CAD system description
  23. ^ Internally known as v14
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CAD_editors_for_AEC"

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