I'll go toe-to-toe with Layout against anyone using AutoCAD for 1-line drawings.
Layout only comes with Sketchup Pro. 1-line drawings (2D) also translate pretty seamlessly with AutoCAD, but I agree that if you need heavy interfacing with other trades and engineers, you may want to go the AutoCAD LT route. Jason Szumlanski On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 10:37 PM, August Goers <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi William, > > We use AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT in our office. Although Sketchup is pretty > awesome for the reasons others have already mentioned, it really doesn't > compare to AutoCAD for heavy duty design drawings - especially single line > electrical drawings. We're about 50%+ commercial at this point so we need > to interface with architects and other trades so need AutoCAD. That said, > AutoCAD LT is probably sufficient for you unless you want to do 3D and it > costs about $1,200. You can download it right from the Autodesk website. I > like Bill Brooks' idea of leasing it too! I haven't tried TurboCAD but I've > heard that there can be compatibility issues between it and AutoCAD if > you're sharing files back and forth. It is quite a bit cheaper. We used to > use MS Visio and it took about a year to get up to speed with AutoCAD. But > once you get used to all the shortcuts in AutoCAD is is quite fast. > > Best, > > August > Luminalt > > *August Goers* > > Principal > > Luminalt Energy Corporation > > o: 415.641.4000 > > m: 415.559.1525 > > www.luminalt.com > > > > > On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 6:46 PM, Exeltech <[email protected]> wrote: > >> For line drawings and other 2D illustrations, Libre CAD reads and writes >> DXF files. There are versions for Windows, Apple OSX, and Linux. >> >> It's also F-R-E-E. Simply download and install. >> >> http://librecad.org/cms/home.html >> >> >> Dan >> >> >> >> -------------------------------------------- >> On Wed, 3/12/14, Bill Hoffer <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Autocad >> To: "RE-wrenches" <[email protected]> >> Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 7:43 PM >> >> William >> >> I second using Sketchup and Layout for $500 . I have seen the add on >> Roof Pro Plug in and Skelion ( $199) demo that lays out the array and >> links to PVwatts for power analysis. Plus Combined with google earth , >> does great shading analysis I. I think you can do a quick design in an >> hour and Autocad would be days! Stay away from Autocad unless you really >> need it for large commercial jobs and like Jason said it is required to >> interact with other trades! Plus Solar Energy Engineering is starting a web >> based training for using it for solar projects. It really is pretty cool >> and a lot more flexible than overpriced and overly complicated Autocad. >> Autocad light woudl be my first choice, no way you need the full blown >> version. >> >> Bill >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Home Power magazine >> >> List Address: [email protected] >> >> Change email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List-Archive: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Home Power magazine > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > >
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