Author: <span>Steve Johnson</span>
Announcement, Bricsys, Bricsys Conference

Hexagon acquires Bricsys

 , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"9

The acquisition of Bricsys by Intergraph-acquirer Hexagon AB was just announced at the Bricsys 2018 conference in London. That means that BricsCAD is part of an organisation with 2017 sales of €3,470 million – significantly larger than Autodesk. This follows on from Hexagon’s previous close relationship with Bricsys that led to its CADWorx series of AutoCAD-based products also being available on the BricsCAD platform. Hexagon Executive VP Rick Allen took the stage to explain his enthusiasm for the BricsCAD product, noting many of the strong points that will be no news to regular readers of this blog. Interestingly, he was …

3D, A & B Tips, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Tip

A & B Tip 9 – drilling holes 3 – counterbores

 , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"9

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. Counterbored holes This post continues to explain more about how to put holes in your 3D models. …

Announcement, BLADE, BricsCAD, Bricsys, Bricsys blog, Guest Post, Interview, Navel Gazing, Other Blogs, Real World BricsCAD, Writing

My Real World BricsCAD series is coming soon on the Bricsys blog

 , , , itemprop="discussionURL"4

In February, my first Bricsys blog post appeared: Inside Bricsys: Interviewing the creator of BLADE – the new Visual LISP IDE in BricsCAD V18.2 This was an amalgamation of my two similarly named posts on this blog where I interviewed BricsCAD’s Torsten Moses about BLADE, the LISP IDE that arrived with BricsCAD V18.2. Today marked my first original-material post on the Bricsys blog: Real World BricsCAD Series Coming Soon I encourage you to hop over to the Bricsys blog to check it out. I’ve been interviewing real people about their use of BricsCAD and will be reporting what they have to …

A & B Tips, BLADE, Blowing my own horn, BricsCAD, Bricsys, Bricsys Conference, Bug, CAD Management, Cadalyst, Customisation, Development, DWG, Fun, Interoperability, Interview, LISP, Maintenance, Navel Gazing, Nostalgia, Video

Video – Steve on BricsCAD Unplugged

 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"0

Following on from Lynn Allen and Robert Green’s guest appearances on the BricsCAD Unplugged webcast a couple of weeks ago, this time it was my turn. Last night (my time) I was the special guest on the episode BricsCAD Unplugged – Steve Johnson 5 surprises moving to BricsCAD. I’m introduced at 2:12 and appear at 3:30. Here’s the full video: In this week’s episode, you’ll witness: Me discussing the five biggest things that pleasantly surprised me about BricsCAD. (I have more than five, but time was limited). Don Strimbu bribing me with drinks containers. An actual printed copy of Cadalyst …

3D, Autodesk, Cloud, CloudyCAD, Customer Service, Other Autodesk Products, Rental

Autodesk Fusion 360 massive subscription price rise/drop

 , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"7

Autodesk’s cloud-based 3D design tool, Fusion 360, is changing price and structure from 7 October 2018. Whether it’s a huge price rise or a huge price drop depends on your perspective. Price rise The current annual subscription cost for Fusion 360 is US$310 and that’s going to change to US$495, which represents a 60% price increase. Existing subscribers are being kept at the same annual rate of US$310 or US$300 (depending on when you first subscribed) “for as long as you renew”. Existing subscribers, that looks like a promise to never increase your prices as long as you keep up …

Apple, BLADE, BricsCAD, BricsCAD V18, Bricsys, Customisation, DCL, Development, Interview, LISP, Win

Mac users rejoice – at long last, a LISP IDE comes to OS X

 , , , , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"0

CAD’s best LISP development environment has come to the best “AutoCAD for Mac”. It should come as no surprise to anyone that this has occurred without Autodesk’s involvement. What’s happened? With the release of BricsCAD (Mac) V18.2 (currently V18.2.23-1 to be precise), BLADE (BricsCAD’s much-superior equivalent to VLIDE) has been added to BricsCAD See here for the release notes and here to download. Make sure you select the Mac version: Significance This is pretty significant for anybody serious about using DWG-based CAD on the Mac. AutoCAD without LISP is hardly worthy of the name, which is why I’ve never been …

AutoCAD 2019, Autodesk, CAD Management, Customer Service, Maintenance, Nostalgia, Rental, Subscription

Explaining the four tiers of AutoCAD license

 , , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"5

Yesterday’s tiers Once upon a time, long long ago, you could buy AutoCAD with or without sets of features  called Advanced Drafting Extensions (ADE) containing optional extras such as dimensioning. At one stage you could buy four tiers of AutoCAD license at different prices: AutoCAD AutoCAD + ADE1 AutoCAD + ADE2 (incorporating ADE1) AutoCAD + ADE3 (incorporating ADE1 and ADE2) (Interestingly, the above situation is similar to the current arrangement with BricsCAD, where BricsCAD Classic, Pro and Platinum are available with incrementing prices and feature sets, with BricsCAD BIM and Sheet Metal available on top of Platinum). As almost everybody bought …

BricsCAD, Bricsys, Bricsys Conference, DWG, Fun, Video

Where on Earth is Lynn Allen going?

 , , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"5

Well, this is a fun video for CAD geeks. The third in the BricsCAD Unplugged series of weekly webcasts, this one promotes the Bricsys 2018 conference which will be held on 23 and 24 October in London. These live broadcasts run on the Bricsys Facebook page and are then quickly transferred to YouTube. This one is interesting because of the people in it and some interesting news. It features Bricsys regulars Don Strimbu, Heidi Hewett, Vince Aman and Matt Olding, but also a couple of special guests. First on the scene is Robert Green (see 4:57) but the real surprise …

3D, A & B Tips, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Tip

A & B Tip 8 – drilling holes 2

 , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"2

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. Drilling holes This post continues to explain more about how to put holes in your 3D models. …

3D, A & B Tips, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Tip

A & B Tip 7 – drilling holes 1

 , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"2

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. Drilling holes This post explains how to put holes in your 3D models. This post will cover …

AutoCAD 2018, Bug, Fail, Subscription

Fix released for Autodesk subscription licensing error (yes, another one)

 , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"1

Providing yet another entry in the it’ll never happen again file, Autodesk has issued a fix for an AutoCAD 2018 subscription licensing crash. Thankfully, it’s not compulsory to use the execrable Autodesk desktop app or malware-like Akamai download manager to obtain this fix. There are direct links for the 32-bit and 64-bit fixes. Lessons we learned from this: AutoCAD doesn’t just phone home once every 30 days to maintain even a long-term a subscription license, it phones home 24 hours later too. And probably every 24 hours after that. Desktop software that relies on the internet to continue working is …

Autodesk, Customer Service, Maintenance, Rental, Subscription

Autodesk subscription price rise certainty

 , , , itemprop="discussionURL"0

In my previous posts exploring the costs associated with various CAD software licensing scenarios, there was always a need for assumptions because Autodesk had failed to provide any pricing information beyond a point a year or so from now. As a result, expecting the worst appeared to be the safest strategy. To Autodesk’s credit, this situation is now partially addressed. From this Autodesk web page: We’re extending our price commitment through 2028 for customers who continue to renew after they switch. The special Move to Subscription renewal suggested retail price will increase by no more than 5% in 2021, 2023, …

A & B Tips, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Tip, Video

A & B Tip 6 – making polylines when you don’t have any

 , , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"5

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. Why might you need a polyline? In my last post (A & B Tip 5 – polyline …

3D, A & B Tips, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Bug, Customisation, Tip

A & B Tip 5 – polyline areas

 , , , , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"2

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. What area is that polyline? There are several ways of determining the area enclosed by a polyline. …

3D, A & B Tips, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Customisation, Tip

A & B Tip 4 – turning on toolbars

 , , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"6

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. Your First Toolbar If you are using a ribbon-based workspace, you may want to have some toolbars …

AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2019, Customer Service, Interoperability, Maintenance, Subscription

What’s new in AutoCAD 2019 for maintenance customers?

 , , itemprop="discussionURL"11

So you’re a long-term customer who has used AutoCAD since it ran on an abacus. You paid for upgrades when you could and switched to maintenance (then called Subscription) when that became the only cost-effective option for keeping current. You’re not about to fall for the subscription (rental) trick; they can prise your perpetual license from your cold, dead fingers. It’s no secret that the value for your maintenance dollar has been poor for years. Autodesk is jacking up maintenance prices in leaps and bounds; is the maintenance being performed at a rate that matches the amount being charged? In …

3D, A & B Tips, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Tip

A & B Tip 2 – realistic threads

 , , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"3

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. Realistic Threads This post explains how to create realistic-looking threads for screws, nuts and the like in …

A & B Tips, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Tip

A & B Tip 1 – clean slate

 , , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"7

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. Clean Slate This first post explains how to convince your CAD application how to start in a …

BricsCAD, BricsCAD V18, CAD Management, Customisation, LISP, Tip

Adding Express Tools to BricsCAD

 , , , , , itemprop="discussionURL"5

If you’re evaluating BricsCAD to replace AutoCAD, you might be put off by the apparent absence of the Express Tools. Don’t be. First, some express tool commands have been added to BricsCAD as native commands, such as OVERKILL and TXTEXP. Next, the Express Tools menu can be added, thanks to a free add-on by Martin Drese (CADwiesel). Here’s the step-by-step process: Go to the Bricsys Applications page. Start typing “EXPRESS” into the search box. You should be pleasantly surprised to discover that by the time you’ve typed four characters, what you are chasing will already be displayed for you:   …