Free Autocad alternative-If you create 3d models from 2d

[afecelis]

DoubleCAD XT is the one of the finest, quickest, and most complete alternatives to Autocad that I've ever tried, but the biggest difference with other options available in the market is that their free version is uncrippled, unexpiring, fully-featured, and best of all, free for commercial use. It's really a unique program.
Info and download here:
http://doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCAD ... fault.aspx
You'll need to register in order to get your serial and activation code.

regards,

Alvaro

[arras]

I newer liked AUTOCAD, preffered Microstation instead but this looks interesting. Have you been working with this already?

[afecelis]

Hey Arras! Long time!

Yup, I've been playing with it some 3 days and I have to say it's great!
I also stopped using Autocad long time ago (specifically, after quitting the office I used to work for, and not being able to purchase the expensive license, hehehe ), and started using inexpensive/free alternatives like Intellicad or A9cad, but this product is indeed a complete 2d drawing solution, with a familiar command set, great dwg-dxf support, and some bonuses (the best one is being allowed for commercial use!).

I posted in their forums a bit of what I tried:
http://forums.doublecad.com/index.php?topic=423.0

Another plus is that it natively reads sketchup .skp files, so you can open models from the 3d warehouse directly in Doublecad XT, save them as DXF and easily import them into blender:
Model I used for the test:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ ... revstart=0

The model opened in Doublecad:


After saving as DXF, imported in blender:


And the last plus is their community, in which the devs answer any question/doubt you may have, and listen to suggestions and improvements you propose. It seems there'll be a maintenance release soon.
I uninstalled my other CAD products and made this my only 2d drawing environment.

regards, and thanks for commenting

Alvaro

[afecelis]

PS. There's also a nice discussion going on at the blenderartists forums:
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthr ... ost1330318

[arras]

Thanks afecelis, looks great ...just one more question: You and their web mention that this is 2D application, but screenshots shows some 3D models ...so is it 3D capable?

Btw ...only now I noticed, that we are colleagues

[afecelis]

nice! more architects on this planet!

Well it's a 2d application with the ability to load sketchup 3d models, but I think you can't modify them. People use it to create 2d presentations on top of the sketchup model in orthogonal views. Yet, when resaving as dxf it preserves all the 3d info just fine.

I'm not sure about the pro version, and how enhanced it is on the 3d side. Here's a comparative chart:
http://downloads.imsidesign.com/DoubleC ... atrix1.pdf
maybe it'll clear things up a bit.

regards,
Alvaro

[arras]

Thanks mate I'll deffinetly try it out

[netpipe]

wow great find, if your looking for a native linux alternative (not free) VariCAD works too

[afecelis]

Thanks Tecan. I think I tried a demo once. Took me a while to draw stuff in it as it's more oriented to mechanical/industrial stuff. And besides not being free, it's not cheap either.

For Linux I'm using Hycad, which installs and runs great via wine. The only thing is that it doesn't open dwg files but it does export them. It has great drawing tools, a similar environment to autocad and its commands are almost identical. It also exports to dxf fine, which allows you to easily import your 2d stuff into blender.

You can download hycad form here:
http://www.esoft.web.id/graphics-design ... -5-35.html
http://www.brothersoft.com/hycad-48391.html
http://www.bestfreewaredownload.com/fre ... xlbvv.html