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‘3rd party’ software companies (like MircoSurvey): What’s their future outlook?
OleManRiver replied 1 year, 10 months ago 18 Members · 51 Replies
I really am having a hard time comprehending someone having performance issues while running vanilla AutoCad. I don’t have performance issues running C3D. If you’re having to twiddle your thumbs waiting for hatches, perhaps your boundaries are not closed. That’s the only time I ever notice a lag, but I’m not really big into hatching.
Let me just stress what my original comment was centered on: The fact that I don’t believe we are getting additional value from the extra $$$ we’ve been spending on software since they switched to subscription fees. I would say most people are in that boat.
In AutoCAD 2023, hatch performance has degraded a bit in a couple areas. An actual case example: I couldn’t hatch a closed polyline in AutoCAD 2023 that I previously could in an older version. Another example, the draw order behavior has gotten worse.
The other reason I mentioned hatching was simply an example of how such a program would use multi-threading. One area where multi-threading does speed up AutoCAD is with PDF and image attachments. Previously, you would have very noticeable lag while trying to zoom in/out with a PDF/Image attached to your drawing (in fact, if you have time, this would be an excellent way to comprehend the lag I was talking about – you just need to attached a really big PDF). Compared to older versions of AutoCAD the difference is night and day.
But this improvement alone isn’t enough to justify why I’m spending over twice as much money (even after accounting for inflation) on the software.
If you don’t like the cost, then don’t use it. Despite what you claim, there are plenty of competitors out there.
I was actually trying other stuff out before I finally broke down and got AutoCAD. I was surprised to see how little development took place. I think the last version I used was one of the last years of perpetual licensing.
I had mixed success with the AutoCAD alternatives and was down right disgruntled with one company in particular. Another one I tried would crash a little too often among other things, but seems to be rapidly improving every time I try it. AutoCAD’s competitors in a nutshell are this: It’s leading competitor turned to complete garbage, and several of the previously smaller competitors are just now catching up.
While this is technically true, in any program there are many processes that depend….
… Try attaching a large PDF file. Compare the performance to an older version of AutoCAD. That’s multi-threading at work. Some features benefit some don’t.
Because even if they really wanted to try and rewrite all of those functions for CAD, that’s a heavy-lift operation whose benefits might be…
Even upgrading the software from 32 bit to 64 bit was a tall task. Using old software architecture is equally as risky as rebuilding something from the ground up. The former however, is usually cheaper for the company (and worse for the end user). It’s worth noting that many of AutoCAD’s competitors have actually re-written their programs from scratch and are starting to reap the benefits of it. This might be AutoCAD’s big downfall in fact, a reluctance to modernize.
Because even if they really wanted to try and rewrite all of those functions for CAD, that’s a heavy-lift operation whose benefits might be a couple of microseconds here and there – along with the possibility of crashing or fouling up the drawing database. And they’re certainly not going to move away from the DWG format.
The drawing database isn’t that complex and it just has to (more or less) adhere to the DWG file format. If you ever do API programming you’ll realize there isn’t actually that much to it. This is actually one of the main reasons why it’s quite easy to emulate AutoCAD. It’s also one of the reasons it’s so popular: It’s compatibility; countless programs can export to DWG. Note that I never mentioned anywhere that there was anything wrong with the DWG format. I would also say that it doesn’t really present an argument for/against multi-threading.
Autodesk isn’t dumb
When companies get to big and successful for their own good… they do in fact get dumb. Maybe a better word to use is greedy; too greedy for their own good. I’m not saying Autodesk is necessarily there yet… but… never say never. Ultimately, many of their competitors (especially the one I’ve mentioned above) are even dumber. Autodesk (and AutoCAD) reached this level for a reason. But I think they’ve reached their peak. Throughout history we’ve seen this repeat itself, single companies balloon to encompass like 20% of the entire worlds economic activity, only to come crashing down.
Keep in mind that my actually argument is simply to say that I don’t see the additional value from the high subscription fees. 5 years worth of AutoCAD = a nice used robotic total station. There’s no doubt that surveying hardware has gotten insanely expensive, but the pace of development is far greater than AutoCAD’s.
I’ve always wondered why Autodesk never developed COGO and data collection software for field surveyors. Is it too late for them?
MH- Posted by: @field-dog
I’ve always wondered why Autodesk never developed COGO and data collection software for field surveyors.
Money. Not enough in it for them. Surveyors are just too small a market to warrant the effort. Engineers barely qualify. Architects- now that is where the money is.
So how many are doing their drafting in their survey package?
TBC and 12D for example do have cad facilities – could you ditch Autocad completely?
@jimcox I have asked that same question. I get mixed messaging. A few say they do it completely with TBC use nothing else. Some say they use TBC for all qa/qc and adjustments then out to C3D. One guy sais he is use to C3D but if you were starting out solo you could make it work. Its all what you get use to I suppose. I was a die hard Wild person for total station and Trimble GPS but the easy thing about sticking with one company through all is data management. Trimble does this very well. One data collector one job file all data . I been looking at Carlson some and they have come a long way with GNSS and Robot. They have always had a nice data collector and field software. I have seen the writing on the walls and so has my company. So that is why I have been researching other options.
Basically, anyone exclusively using Carlson or Microsurvey CAD is doing their survey calcs in a CAD package. Which is quite a large percentage in the US. I’d guess that a good part of the remainder rely on their data collectors, and nothing more, to do the data resolution. Those 2 might account for over 50%, perhaps more.
Personally, I’m using StarNet to do most of my data resolution, and C3d to do the mapping. I also have Carlson/IntelliCAD (I’m quite impressed with the ICAD, by the way) but I do not use it much except to explore my work partners products. I also have Leica’s Infinity.
Currently I am attending a TBC training session in Melbourne.
A couple of the attendees (not presenters) have shown me some really nice deliverable plan sets, all done just in TBC.
It IS possible to use it for all your drafting and to drop cad entirely
If I were solo I’d stick with TBC and no other CAD program. I’ve dabbled enough in its CAD capabilities to know that I could set it up right and be off to the races.
The large firm that I am currently with both requires full-blown C3D deliverables, and a good half of our workforce can’t comprehend TBC for processing, let alone CAD deliverables.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil Postman- Posted by: @jimcox
So how many are doing their drafting in their survey package?
TBC and 12D for example do have cad facilities – could you ditch Autocad completely?
IMHO TBC is trying to do too much. I get it, it would be nice to be all in one but their drafting functionality is painful. Sure, it can be done. It’s just like walking to work, I’ll get there, just 5 hours late.
We use TBC to process survey data and then export to Civil3d.
@jimcox get the goodies and let us know. I would love to have a single platform. I will be compiling all I can find.
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