Upgrading from Autocad 2000 to autocad 2002?? 1

[danieldoral]

Hey all ....

I know that this might seem like a rather general question but im hoping that maybe it could save me several thousand dollars.

Im seriously thinking of upgrading from ACAD 2000 to ACAD 2002 ....... personally what do you think are the obvious benifits? pros and cons? stability? user friendlyness? and simplicity? .......

Thanks

Daniel

 

[saraycad]

From my point of view, there is some additional issues which brings up AC2002 to the top. One of them is spatial dimensioning which I found great. Other one is so called PointA which brings you the best tips about AC (after this site, of course). There is Associative Dimensioning (you already know that),Attribute Management Tools, Layer Management Tools,DesignXML...
Well, believe upgrading depends on needs. Not quite AC guru, I think that for most engineering drawings (including models), AC 2000 is quite enough...
So, save the money - maybe AC 2003 is around...

Regards
P.S. Heard there is some "misunderstandings" bugs between AC2002 and MS Office2000...So...

 

[borgunit]

Hi,
Just a note if you program in vba. The object model in 2002 is different and the vb version is different. Your 2002 macros may not work in 2000. Like the previous post, you are not gaining leaps and bounds with 2002 but it does have some nice new features. A nice thing with 2000 and up is that the files are compatible between them. AutoCAD 2000 will call any 2002 object that it doesn't recognize as a proxy object and will work with it as such. If you do not really "need" to upgrade, you may just wait til Autodesk makes you upgrade (again).

BU

 

[tim216]

I have to agree with borgunit. I didnt upgrade from r12 until I absolutely had to stay current with clients that we transfer files with. R2002 is a great program but there isnt alot of difference between the two to justify upgrading in my mind. I would concur and upgrade only when the program changes enough to justify.

 

[n3rei]

Hi!
I stayed at 11, missed 12 & 13 luckily, went right to 14, and love 2000. Do what I did. Find someone with it and try it. If it amazes you buy it. 14 did and so did 2000 for me. 12 and 13 just did not have anything but a slow down in production to me.

 

[danieldoral]

Hey,

Yeah, i love 2000 too, it really made working with 3D much easier.

Does 2002 have any other enchacements for 3D modeling?

Also do you think i would face difficulty working with 2002 since im so used to 2000? Is it more or less used friendly? or about the same?

Daniel

 

[tim216]

DANIEL,
THERE IS NO REAL DIFFERENCE, IT WILL DEPEND ON HOW MANY OF THE NEWER FUNCTIONS THAT YOU USE. EVERYTHING IS EITHER ON A TOOLBAR OR PULLDOWN MENU. IF YOU ARE A KEYBOARDER LIKE MYSELF THEN MOST ALL OF THE COMMANDS ARE THE SAME SO EXCEPTT FOR A FEW WHICH YOU KIND OF HAVE TO TRY ON YOUR OWN.
I DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE 3D, JUST WHAT I HAVE READ AND THAT DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ASK. I DO 2D DRAFTING, IF I NEED A 3D MODEL THEN I HAVE SOFTWARE OUTSIDE OF AUTOCAD.

TIM

 

[MRBB]

If you are looking for a good 3D modeling program, Autodesk Inventor is the way to go. I am a student who has had a fair amount of AutoCAD experience over the years and going to 3D is very easy with Inventor.

 

[danieldoral]

Hey,

I've not heard of autodesk inventor....... does it have the same interface as Autocad and is it user friendly/powerful and as featurebased as autocad 2000's 3D features?

Thanks

Daniel

 

[FredGarvin]

No it doesn't have the same interface. Inventor is very powerful, but it's parametric and it's a different way of thinking. There is definitely a learning curve involved. I personally can not fathom going back to regular AutoCAD now and I have heard a lot of people who say the same thing. It completely depends on what you do with your cad system. If your business is built around AC then switching over is going to be a task, plus the added learning about the new ins and outs of Inventor.

Personally, I have and do use all 3 of Autodesk's big names; AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop and Inventor. MD is a really good go-between, between AC and Inventor. It uses the AC database (which is it's biggest drawback) and has an interface exactly like AC. It's a great first step into parametric modeling from AC. It has some really great features and makes life much easier, especially when it comes to making changes to models and thus drawings. The only problem is that MD is going to be discontinued as Autodesk wants to put all of it's development resources into Inventor.

As far as the upgrade between 2000 and 2002, I agree with what has been said previously. There are some nice new functions, but from what I have seen, it probably wouldn't be worth the time and money to upgrade if 2000 does everything you need it to do.

 

[danieldoral]

Hey,

Thanks for the advice. You said that the interface is different? I work very heavily with most of the 3D tools found on the ACAD2000, but i think its a known fact that ACAD just can't give much in terms of 3D rendering. (Im doing architctural works BTW).

Have tried 3D studio Max, but just can't seem to get in sync with its interface and uses.

Would i be able to import my autocad models or plans to be rendered in inventor? And would you say that Inventor is easier to learn than 3D studio Max4.0?

Or Does anyone here who works with Acad 2000/2002 in 3D, give an opinion if it really can be used for architectural quality type rendering? and what commands would i have to explore?

Thanks

Daniel Dorall

 

[MRBB]

Dan,
Inventor will not be of much help for architectural. Inventor works very well for mechanical things. My students use Inventor for drawing parts that they then build. I have used ACAD for 3D several years ago, and I hated it, it didn't work very well at all for my taste. I also took 3D studio Max training and decided that I didn't have enough time to learn and then teach another software this deep. The people that do use 3D studio make great presentations. My advice, don't buy Inventor for architectural drawings.
Good Luck
Dan B