This maybe has been beat to death, and I apologize, but I'm going to ask one more time. I have done a search, and have not found exactly what I'm looking for. Aside from the money, what are the major differences between Carlson OEM and Carlson Intellicad? Specifically, are there differences in how they handle images? How about stability? I don't mind the extra money if there is a marked difference in performance. I will be cross-grading over from Survey 2012 on AutoCAD Map 2012, so I may get a small discount. (I hope). Many thanks for all help in advance.
Thanks
Dale
?ÿ
Carlson with ICAD is fine for everything except large topos.
Interesting. 9.2 opened my worst plan but I have not tried a large topo yet.
As far as the OP, the real question is: What are your CAD skills? Beginner to moderate, use the standalone. Moderate to advanced, you might be better off with the ICAD.
I have been very happy to leave acad in my rearview mirror and been using Carlson Survey with IntelliCad since at least 2016.
very happy.
Admittedly I haven't done a large topo with 9.2 yet. My experience was with the previous version.
It took way too long for the surface to regen after edit compared to running on top of acad.
?ÿ
?ÿ
Thanks for the responses. I have been a Carlson Survey OEM user since 1995, but don't consider myself an expert. I have used Carlson Survey on top of AutoCAD Map since 2012. Sometimes I feel like I'm driving a Ferrari at 35 miles per hour. I'm sure it will do a whole lot more than I ask it to do. I downloaded a trial version of 2019 Carlson Intellicad, and it seemed to work fine. There were a few minor differences in commands, and user interface, but I can get used to that over time. Before I spend the money on either version, I want to fully understand the differences, if any.
Thanks again for the help.
Dale
I have been asked about this numerous times so in the event the following helps, here is a quick run-down of what I would consider are the current "talking points" between the two product configurations (information is current as of the Carlson 2020 release circa Oct. 1, 2019):
| Item/Feature | IntelliCAD | AutoCAD OEM | Add'l Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlson Survey Routines | ?? | ?? | Virtually identical. |
| Offers modular additions | ?? | ? | (e.g. Carlson Civil, GIS, Point Cloud,?ÿetc). |
| Allows LSP Customization | ?? | ? | The only customization that can be done with the OEM product is that which is allowed through the OEM architecture (e.g. customize SURV.DWT, customize text styles, etc). |
| Graphics Performance | May struggle with out-dated video cards with insufficient memory??ÿ but is otherwise typically sufficient | Tends to handle large aerial images and fonts better | ? IntelliCAD seems to have the most problems with Quadro cards. Recommend any video card but Nvidia Quadro. |
| Crash Reports | Crash reports sent to the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium (ITC) are cataloged, analyzed and sent to the ITC member (e.g. Carlson) for follow-up and resolution. Carlson has access to ITC source to determine the nature of the problem and can thereby work to identify a solution. | Crash reports sent to Autodesk may be captured and analyzed and might be offered to the ADN OEM partner. However, AutoCAD OEM source code access is not made available to the ADN member. | ?ÿ |
| Maintenance | Yearly proactive maintenance subscription plans are offered. | Version to version reactive upgrade paths are offered. | Subscription models for IntelliCAD are more affordable. |
| Data Interoperability | Can Open OEM DWG Files | Can Open IntelliCAD DWG Files | OEM AutoCAD will display an alert indicating "Non Autodesk DWG. This DWG file was saved by a software application that was not developed or licensed by Autodesk. Autodesk cannot guarantee the application compatibility or integrity of this file." This benign message can be typically disregarded. |
| Autodesk Civil3D Compatibility | Provides built-in Civil 3D Import/Export routines via Carlson efforts and support of the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium and Open Design Alliance. | Provides built-in Civil 3D Import/Export routines via Carlson efforts and support of the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium and Open Design Alliance?. | ? Additional proprietary Civil 3D object support may come from time to time in the form of Autodesk Object Enablers that may be made available through the Autodesk web-store and are limited to the version of the AutoCAD OEM engine in use within the Carlson product at the time. LandXML support is available in both products. |
| Bentley DGN Compatibility | Provides the ability to directly open, edit and save to DGN files using IntelliCAD commands. | Import DGN is available but only DWG or DXF can be saved. | ?ÿ |
| Carlson Technical Support | ?? | ?? | Freely available for either configuration. |
I hope this information helps.
I would prefer to have to call or email?ÿ up 1 than 2 customer service hotlines.
Wow!
Ladd Nelson, You are the man! These are some of the exact questions I wanted to ask. I truly appreciate your help.?ÿ
Mark Silver, I really appreciate your help via the PM!
Thanks to all.
Dale
A subtle correction...
Item/Feature IntelliCAD AutoCAD OEM Add'l Notes Bentley DGN Compatibility Provides the ability to directly open, edit and save to DGN files using IntelliCAD commands. Import DGN is available but only DWG or DXF can be saved. Actually, AutoCAD OEM can create a DGN via the EXPORT key-in command.
I hope this information helps.
FALSE. I have used iCAD for 10 years. I have done topos that were 200+ acres with it with 4K points.
Done them? Okay. Were there any crashes? Did the program run slower as the data set grew?
That's great but what does 200 acres have to do with it? 200 acres of forest with a nominal amount of breaklines? Wow.
I did not say it would not accomplish the task. I stated that it was much slower than with acad.
Please provide some real information when responding.
I had a crash once back in 2012 or so. What version of intellicad/Carlson did you have these issues?
Settle down Francis. What info do you want addresses? I have been using it for a long time.
what experience do you have with Carlson/intellicad?
One thing I have seen that causes a crash in Carlson and Autocad are what some of the PC Cleaning applications will see codes and applications as a threat and will completely wipe out all the embedded proprietary codes in the root files and other parts of the Carlson programs from the computer.
Installing certain programs on the same computer that has Carlson on it will alter those codes and other settings that Carlson relies upon to operate properly.
Whether your Carlson is on an XP or Win7 or Win10, it becomes necessary to have one dedicated CADD computer and choose carefully what other programs are installed on it and once it is the way you want it and stop making changes to the operating system and take it off the internet completely until you have become more knowledgeable. You can always transfer other information to the drawing from a USB drive.
Windows is always changing settings on my computers to automatically install things without my consent and that alone can turn your programs into lockdown or bluescreen and crash.
2 of my working computers are XPs and they work fine because they are no longer able to access the internet. I do my work on them and export my data to a separate hot connect USB data hard drive that shares with computers connected to the internet.
Point of fact - I didn't claim to have ever used Carlson. I just asked for more clarification about your experience. I'm a C3d, LDD, Softdesk jock for most of the last 20 years plus. Before that, C&G for nearly a decade.
But now that you have mentioned it I did use Carlson/IntelliCAD for about a year from late 2011 to late 2012. And it crashed every day, sometimes several times a day. Big files, small files, didn't seem to matter. We switched to the OEM version and the crash issues went away. So your claim of having one crash in 7 years is ...... well, you must be very lucky.
I understand that Intellicad is much more stable today than it was then. That understanding is based on reports from users here on the forum. But everything crashes now and then.
I've used CArlson with OEM since 2006. It has been very reliable, but not perfect. I've used C3D for some things, Carlson with ICAD for others for the past two years. It still isn't perfect, but I prefer Carlson ICAD hands down. C3D isn't perfect, either, for that matter.
I tried ICAD-based Carlson for the first time in 2012, wasn't a pleasant experience...night and day difference from then, though. I haven't had a single "crash" with 2019, there are some funny things where text doesn't look right, but if I close and reopen all is good.
That is funny. I thought they could just quit in 2012... it was my favorite build.
I started using icad because I simply couldn’t afford C3D. Now I wouldn’t use C3D if you gave it to me and paid me $10,000 to use it. To each his own.
