Carlson Survey 2012 Embedded AutoCAD

I came from PacSoft, so I can't speak as to what autocad commands are missing, but I just upgraded to 12 from 08 and it's badass. This thing will do everything I need except cut line for me.

I will say this, from old AutoCad hands, there is a module that will do whatever command you're looking for on there. I use a lot of toolbars and keyboard commands, but I have no idea if they are true autocad or carlson, and I really don't mind either way. Once you get the feel for it, it's very slick.

I can't talk about the curent verison with embedded AutoCAD but I do run an older version of stand alone with embedded AutoCAD and I also run Carlson 2012 inside AutoCAD Civil 3d 2012.

The Carlson stand alone is a very good program and if I had not used AutoCAD in the past I would probably have been very happy with just the stand alone version. Having said that once you get "trained" to use some of the better features of AutoCAD (by the way I am not an AutoCAD fan but it can get the job done)when they are not available as in the stand along you sort of miss them. I use the stand alone as a back up and for field work on my laptop and it works great.

If you have a fairly new 2007? + AutoCAD program you can use it with Carlson and it will work great, it need no be the civil version.

T.W.

Do a search on this site for Larry P on this site. He can answer all your questions.

It's kind of a waste of money to run Carlson on top of Civil 3D, since both programs can do pretty much all the same things. If you have one, you don't need the other.

But I agree, the Intellicad version makes me think I'm running v13 AutoCAD (or v14, at best). And I haven't done that in about a decade now... I've gotten too used to all the additional features added to AutoCAD over the last decade, and wouldn't want to do without them. So were I to go with Carlson, I'd want the AutoCAD version, not the Intellicad version. But I'm happy with Civil 3D, and it allows me to perform the majority of my tasks more-easily than Carlson, with greater control over the output, so that's what I've been using.

> Do a search on this site for Larry P on this site. He can answer all your questions.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Terry.

If the poster wants to give my office a call (336-846-1101) I will set him (or her) up with a demo version of the Stand alone. That way they can decide if the program justifies the additional cost.

Larry P

I started out on Carlson 2004 w/ACAD and then we upgraded to Carlson 2007 w/ACAD at my old job. I now have Carlson 2010 w/icad 6.X. and wish I had one of the older ACAD versions to work on. I understand that Carlson 2011 has icad 7.X and is now stronger and has more features, but I'm not sure.

I can't really relay to you the exact differences between the two, but the strength of the programs, without the bugs and quirks is enough to be noticeable for even a "utilitarian user" such as myself. If you have the money available with it stinging to much, I would say to go for the Cadillac over the Ford. Just my $0.02 / 0.04'

Carl

Thanks Larry. I'm in the process of installing a demo of the stand alone version now, so I'll see how it goes. I've been told that I will qualify for the free upgrade to 2013 which includes Intellicad 7.2 and further bridges the gap between Intellicad and OEM AutoCAD.

Thanks
Kelly

Yeah, I had a demo with a 6.x version. I experimented opening a zooming around some existing .dwg's I had and it crashed quite frequently. Carlson 2012 came with 6. something and 7.1. I installed the 7.1 version and it seems much more stable and hasn't crashed yet. It really seems like a nice alternative to AutoCAD and I think all the commands are there. Carlson 2013 is supposed to come out anytime now, which includes Intellicad version 7.2 and is supposed have numerous improvements and have more of an AutoCAD "feel". I guess the geek in me was just wanting a little cooler interface since the software is 12 years newer than the LDD I was using, but Carlson covers that by giving different install options.

I think I'll just be patient on the purchase of the embedded AutoCAD version and play with the Intellicad 7.1 and see how 7.2 turns out.

Thanks
Kelly

When we transitioned from LDD we went with the Carlson Survey with Embedded Autocad and have not looked back. Intellicad has come a LONG way in the last 2 years, but it is not where the Embedded version is for stability, saving to current AutoCad levels or speed.
The embedded version is well worth the extra cost. (If you decide to go that way, be SURE to ask for the EMBEDDED version. Today's VAR's see the "stand alone version" to mean that it is not the version that you load on a server, but rather it "stands alone" on each individual computer seat. Evidently "stand alone" no longer means simply the AutoCad version.)
When you get the software, find another Carlson user near you and see if you can pick his/her brain on how to fully configure the software so you get ALL of the power available. Getting the Field To Finish all going is not as simple as some think, but not as hard as to be impossible. That one feature alone will pay for the software in short order.

I started with Carlson SurveyXML with built-in AutoCad OEM engine back around 2002 coming from Traverse PC for cogo and AutoCad LT for drafting. I've upgraded to 2004, 2006 and 2008 always staying with the embedded version. I just recently up-graded to Carlson 2012 with Intellicad 7.1. I personally find the Intellicad 7.1 portion of the program to be very similar to the AutoCad portion of Carlson 2008.

I can't say what new AutoCad features are included with Carlson 2012 embedded version, since I haven't tried it. I do know you will lose any lisp or programing ability.

I can say that my upgrade path from Carlson 2008 with AutoCad embedded to Carlson 2012 with Intellicad 7.1 was substantially less then it would have been going to Carlson 2012 with the built-in AutoCad OEM engine.

I've messed with both the Intellicad 7.1 and now embedded versions and think I may actually like the overall feel of the Intellicad version better. Its growing on me and I think I'll stay with for a while, I'll be anxious to see what 7.2 offers when released.

Thanks
Kelly