Architectural Desktop 2010 Ram

Architectural Desktop 3 review Architectural Desktop TM 3.0 ( Round 2 - back with more specifics and a harder look) Contents: ---- ---- --- --- ---- --- Since the first publication of this review ( 01/01/01 ) there has already been one ADT 3.0 service pack - get yours today. 1 Blue = new comments Black = previous comments In our first review on ADT 3.0 we looked over the surface of the product with some minor investigations into the deeper realm of a few specific areas. This time we'll look at a broader summation and more in-depth specifics.

Aug 17, 2011 Desktop Computers; iMac. RAM upgrade, iMac 2010 All the tutorials on apple.com direct me to upgrade my 4gb ram iMac to 6 or 8gb, that is, to use.

The image to the right was derived from my frustration with the standard run-of-the-mill ADT 3.0 reviews that have been popping up all over the place. Ratings seem so arbitrary unless they come from actual scientific comparisons and who can measure logical systems with calipers anyway. Instead, I propose this graphic image and hope that my architectural minded colleagues can derive more meaning from it than arbitrary numbers. Personally, what I see in ADT 3.0 is what I have attempted to illustrate to the right: a shell around an AutoCAD core with a hap-hazard array of modules that have various degrees of connection to the core and each other.

This probably sounds like a really harsh description but that's what it feels like when working with this product. As a user, I have a sensation of independent development teams working away to solve their respective assignments while leaving cohesion to yet another team. Download Focuswriter Themes. Take the much anticipate and acclaimed Curtain Wall and Window Assembly tools, for example ( illustrated to the right ). If you have the time and patience to really dig in and wade your way through this Excel-like Matrix, you can achieve impressive results but the interface and its logic is so strikingly different from any other ADT module, that it's like using another program.

Listening to architects and designers, even savvy AutoCAD users, discuss the convoluted nature of this tool confirms my belief that it will have to be redesigned. I am honestly impressed by its capabilities and believe that I can, in part, comprehend the difficulty of developing a tool to handle such a dynamic problem as a Curtain Wall, but I can also see how many will not be able to master it. On the other hand, I think the developers who saw their way to allow for 2D sketching techniques as the basis for quickly roughing out a Curtain Wall or Window Assembly are right on target for how to interact with visual minded designers. The new muntin tools within the Window Style Properties are far easier to understand; partly because the large preview pane displays every change you make right there next to your value fields and partly because muntins are far less complicated. However, another thing that makes working with the Window and Door Style Properties easier is that components are broken up and accessed through different tabs. Before you deal with Muntins, for example, you work on the Width, Height, Frame and Glazing. My advice to Autodesk is to use a similar system to break up the Curtain Wall and Window Assembly components.

Maybe call one tab 'Body', another 'Panels' and the next one 'Mullions'. Using graphics on each tab, similar to the one used for Muntins, the user should be able to see what area of a their design they are working on (the model explorer tool is good but having it integrated is better). And for those users who can't stand dialogue boxes, more work should be put into the 'Edit in Place' with Cell Markers concept. Ideally a user should be able to solve the same set of design problems going at numerically or graphically. I think the basic pieces are actually all there but they just need refinement.

As for the larger impression of ADT 3.0's structure, it continues to follow the path set by the first release: it works as a sub-set to AutoCAD's core menu structure rather than an invasive set of new tools. And within ADT a new structure is starting to form - see comments on below. I continue to applaud this type of dual development because it allows AutoCAD users to slowly migrate to this evolving program but I also think that there should be more direct integration; particularly in areas where there seems to be unnecessary redundant tool development. In other words, as a user, I would really like to be able to use the Trim and Extend commands throughout ADT and not have to switch to another Trim and Extend command set in order to work with Slabs, Roof Slabs and Walls. Running multiple Layer Managers is also proving to be rather irritating; the two versions should just be merged and regular AutoCAD users could benefit greatly from some of the neat features found in the ADT Layer Manager; like Layer Grouping. The Drawing Setup features compete with the Units command and should also just be merged.

For more years than I can count now, my students have been aching for a drawing scale option that just sets all units appropriately so they don't have to struggle with default Dim Styles, Text Styles and Linetypes. I don't think anyone could argue that this product isn't superior to any of the previous releases, however, the price we seem to pay is incompatibility with even the last release of ADT; not to mention AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. Autodesk's solution to user's frustration with incompatibility issues lies in free downloadable Object Enablers that emulate ADT's functionality within another version of flavor of AutoCAD - see comments on Object Enablers below under '. From the previous review: To anyone who has been working with ADT 1.0 and 2.0, this release should feel like some one listened to your complaints. The focus of this upgrade seems to be on the Design commands and the Display system with little to no changes in the Massing and Layering commands. There are also many new features that deserve praise such as the structural tools, slab tools and International Extensions. To the right, I show just a few of the new possibilities: a steel library, z-axis Wall profiling, Slab roofs with edge and soffit types, totally wild Spline tracing Curtain Walls, Pline Extending Stairs and more flexible handrails.

Throughout this upgrade, there are numerous hints at the future of this program with buttons directing you to Autodesk's website and new integration of XML for structural element specification. Though I am very interested in the possibilities of using the Internet as part of CAD design, I find myself questioning the fruition of such integration at this time; especially when most of the links to Point A lead to empty spaces ala the infamous 'under construction' pages of many early websites with grandiose plans. You can now, for example, link to Point A when looking for Door and Window styles, but you won't find much. I checked for many different styles and in a lot of cases found nothing offered. In addition, it appears that Autodesk is only allowing free access for a limited time with intentions to charge or make it part of their VIP program -. I just checked Point A with my Style Manager (04/01/01) and there are still no interesting offerings.

I am sure those of you who have already begun using ADT 3.0 have found the need for more Styles. Personally, I think the Point A concept would be far more valuable if there was an incentive for users to contribute directly to it with their time consuming Style Designs - how about a two-way drag-n-drop?

Okay, who's going to check for design accuracy.just a thought. The Toolbars As for the missing Express Tools and your installation of ADT 3.0, you can manually migrate them from any other AutoCAD or ADT installation that has them installed and running correctly. 1 ) Copy the entire Express folder from your ADT 2.0 or AutoCAD 2000 ( or other ) to your Architectural Desktop 3 folder; i.e., you are creating a new Express folder for ADT 3.0 with all of the same files. 2 ) Now you have to copy the other odd files from their respective folders to the same folders inside ADT 3.0: support acettest.fas help acetmain.hlp These are only the help files so if you don't have them it is not a big deal. There are also two other files: acet.chm and acet.lim that should already be in your ADT 3.0 help folder. You can copy all acet* files to make sure you get all of the help stuff or ignore them. Help acetmain.cnt help acetfaq.hlp 3 ) Load or Reload ADT 3.0 and type ExpressMenu in ADT 3.0 and load the Express Tools.

You should need to 'Perform a full rebuilt.' , but it won't hurt to do it unless you have have customized it. Download Americas Army 2.8.5 here.

If you are an IT or CAD manager running this through an office network, you may need to use Menuload to get the pathing right. But remember that you'll need to set the paths on the Options dialogue box too. 5 Install from scratch or Migrate To be perfectly frank, as soon as I saw two CD's in my ADT 3.0 package ( one for ADT 2.0i, which I already have and the other for ADT 3.0 ), I ran through my ADT 2.0i folders and copied everything that I had customized to temporary folders and Uninstalled ADT 2.0i. It's not that I don't believe Autodesk has written a fine migration routine as much as my experience with botched migrations that made me opt out this time. The ADT 2.0 to ADT 2.0 i migration was one of the smoothest migrations I have experience with AutoCAD but since I had a patch crash on ADT 2.0i, it has run very poorly despite my efforts at fixing it. Combining all of this, I simply decided to do a clean install and it has run without a glitch. I do not recommend my process unless you are certain of what you are doing; i.e, manually capturing and restoring customizations including the Express Tools, which are no longer part of the package.

See above to find out more about the. That is just my lengthy explanation of why I don't have the Migration dialogue boxes captured at this time. The installation dialogue box to the right, and below come from a fresh new install. If you use both Imperial and Metric Format, pick the more prevalent and simply add the other on the Custom dialogue box ( see below right ).

I recommend installing the International Extensions even if you work in Imperial Format because there are some very cool routines there, like Area calculation tools. As usual, I always recommend choosing the Full or Custom so that you don't short-change yourself of extra features. It's amazing how many missed out on the Bonus tools because of using the Typical installation option.

The Custom Installation Type dialogue box Here are some unexpected improvements; just pick on any hard-drive icon with a down arrow and decide how you want the installation on the pop-up menu ( illustrated right ). Notice that you can now add Metric or Imperial if you want everything, like me ( it'll cost you about a half gig though ). And that's it for a fresh installation. When I have the time to practice a Migration, I will post that information if necessary. Speed Depending upon the power of your computer, you may notice a performance degradation when you first load ADT 3.0.

It really isn't a degradation but rather a difference in how ADT loads. If you take a look at the properties of your ADT 3.0 Desktop Icon, you should discover that ADT 3.0 now loads with the Aec Arch (Imperial - Intl).dwt instead of the long lived traditional acad.dwt template file.

What this does, is load all of the ADT components right away preventing a lag when you begin drawing your first ADT object. Since I don't always draw ADT stuff in ADT, I set my startup icon to use my own simple non-ADT template file. This makes loading occur a lot faster but I do pay for it when I want to draw my first ADT object. If you did not upgrade to ADT 2.0 i, you may also find the new html start-up dialogue box, called, a bit slower than what you are accustomed to. It's a cool tool but it does slow my system down so I turn it off - you can read about how to do that on our. 6 It never really seems fair to test something and not specify what it's being tested on or in what environment. I have been negligent in this part mostly because of time, that I roam around constantly and am on various machines but these days I do a lot of my work on a Laptop.

Some of you may be very disappointed in what I have and how it's configured but it's set up to meet my personal needs and I believe that it is a reasonable configuration to test the lower end of what's possible, leaving the high end to those with all the cash to burn. Model Year 2000, Dell Inspiron 7500.

15.4 inch display. 8Mb SGram Rage Mobility Video. 18Gig IDE H.D. 256 Mb, 100Mhz Ram. Floppy/CD/DVD combo - bay #1 and Battery or Zip drive - bay #2.

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