Likelihood to Recommend TurboCAD is well suited to a smaller budget, it is by no means the best there is but for the money, it fills the gap. Being an
AutoCAD &
DraftSight user I find the user interface a little old and the lack of common drafting industry shortcut keys a bit of a hindrance. However this product, TurboCAD gets the job done, other packages like
DraftSight do not even come with an active 3D option on the cheaper end, standard license whereas TurboCAD does, even though it's a little clumsy to use.
Read full review Vectorworks is just as useful for perfectly measured, hard-line CAD drawing as it is for making beautiful presentation drawings and renderings. Tools in the application allow you to transition between working drawings and presentation drawings without modifying the underlying geometry. DWG exchange with other design team members works very well
Read full review Pros Produces accurate drawings to scale, and with several ways to show the "views" to people in need of them at our factory. Relatively easy to use, once you understand the toolset. You can draw anything with it. Sending files to CNC machine shops to produce parts is easy with this program. Sending to mold making companies works out well. Just ask them what file format they want and TurboCAD can give it to them. James Arjuna Factory Engineer, Design Engineer, Research and Development Engineer
Read full review I tell people that Vectorworks is CAD for people who know how to draw. You can control the appearance of all the objects on a layer, or you can tweak the way a single object looks. Most of the barriers to producing good-looking, legible drawings are removed. Vectorworks Landmark is made for landscape architects.Creating hardscape, planting, and irrigation plans is pretty straightforward. Read full review Cons Hard to get onto your computer Bad UI Rendering Read full review There's a bit of inconsistency in the operation of some tools that would appear to the user to be more similar. Importing complex Revit models takes a long time and, if the model has a lot of symbols in it, the import might not finish. Read full review Alternatives Considered TurboCAD is a well-priced solution for a small business, it comes standard with 3D modeling compared to
DraftSight which does not. The user interface could be updated along with industry-standard shortcut keys but for the number of drawings we do, this package fills the gap. The DXF / DWG feature could be worked on too, as above, trying to get in line with other packages like
AutoCAD &
DraftSight would make the whole package better. All in all, I believe that TurboCAD has a valid foothold in the CAD industry.
Read full review I was an
AutoCAD user before switching to Vectorworks when coming to work with my current firm. Vectorworks Landmark includes tools specifically designed for landscape architects - it's not an
AutoCAD add-on. The initial investment for a new seat is much less than
AutoCAD , and the Service Select program pushes down the annual upgrade cost even more
Read full review Return on Investment Having issues with new employees learning how to build our products. The images are extremely helpful, in terms of training and making sure the products are built to our high standards. Saves untold time, because our factory is in Holland and many employees speak different languages. The photo renderings, speak everyone's language. Improved prototyping. We send parts out t0 be made by CNC and they come back nearly perfect for our needs. We have not used the 3D printing technology yet. Been waiting for that to develop better. The only negative impact is that people are reluctant to learn it because it takes a certain degree of intelligence to understand it. But if you are an engineer, it is easy to understand. James Arjuna Factory Engineer, Design Engineer, Research and Development Engineer
Read full review There is a learning curve for new employees, as regionally Vectorworks is not in wide use and generally not introduced in the academies However, because it is more intuitive as far as WYSIWYG drawing, most people pick up the basics pretty quickly. It's a really powerful suite of tools. Sometimes it's good to spend some time afforded by a larger project to explore ways to use the software more efficiently (e.g., improving worksheets, using different smart object tools, etc.) Read full review ScreenShots