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MicroStation

MicroStation

Overview

What is MicroStation?

Bentley Systems offers the MicroStation application and product family as a 3D and 2D modeling and computer-aided design (CAD) solution for engineers and designers.

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Learn from top reviewers

Microstation-good for roadway and corridor model, bad for new users

Rating: 7 out of 10
November 10, 2021
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
Microstation is the product we use most often for transportation design-specifically roadway design-at my organization. I use the inroads add-in very often in my position to m...
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Verified user
Engineer
MicroStation7 years of experience

Digital Revolution of Computer-Aided Design!

Rating: 8 out of 10
July 7, 2021
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
MicroStation is used as an alternative platform apart from AutoCAD to teach students interior design. MicroStation's infrastructure designing with the real-world context helps...
Continue reading
Huma Ali
Account Manager - Other
Center Head
iNIFD
MicroStation1 year of experience

Perfect solution for 2D document drafting and easy to compare various design views.

Rating: 9 out of 10
July 7, 2021
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
MicroStation effectively provides amazing 2D capability for quick Engineering project drawings production, as well as easy on 3D object modeling. The features are easy to mani...
Continue reading
Jackline Julias
Engineer - Engineering
Proyecto Coordindor
JOYCO
MicroStation1 year of experience

A solid competitor to other CAD software on the market

Rating: 7 out of 10
February 21, 2020
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
I have used MicroStation for many years at various levels. In my current office, it isn't the key CAD application. Still, we do have a copy of MicroStation for enabling us to ...
Continue reading
Verified user
Manager
MicroStation10 years of experience

Quick overview of MicroStation

Rating: 9 out of 10
February 6, 2019
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
MicroStation is our main CAD package. We, like the majority of US DOT's, use MicroStation and its add-in products for all of our design work.
Continue reading
Randall (Rande) Robinson
Professional - Information Technology
Information Technology Specialist
North Carolina Dept. Information Technology - Transportation
MicroStation29 years of experience
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Pricing

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Microstation

$250.00

On Premise
Per User Per Month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.virtuosity.com/product/micr…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Details

What is MicroStation?

MicroStation is a 3D computer-aided design and visualization software for the architecture, engineering, construction, and operation of all infrastructure types. It is used by architects, engineers, design professionals, and draftsmen. The vendor states that from individual professionals to multinational design firms, project teams rely on MicroStation to confidently deliver projects, no matter the scale and complexity.

MicroStation provides a range of capabilities: CAD drawing and design, 3D modeling, visualization, component management and mark up, and collaboration across disciplines. It is designed so users can do everything that they need without flipping back and forth through many different applications. While users don’t need to use the cloud services available within MicroStation, they can use them to advance productivity and competitiveness.

MicroStation Features

  • Supported: Create project deliverables (drawings, models, reports)
  • Supported: Design with true 3D parametric modeling
  • Supported: Enforce project and design standards
  • Supported: Lay out and annotate drawings
  • Supported: Design within the context of 2D and 3D imagery
  • Supported: Produce animations and renderings
  • Supported: Visualize and analyze designs
  • Supported: Work collaboratively on designs with geographically distributed teams

MicroStation Screenshots

Screenshot of Take advantage of built-in support for 100+ common formats and data types for 2D and 3D raster and vector geometry and associated BIM information, including trusted RealDWGScreenshot of Supporting hundreds of coordinate systems and dozens of geospatial data types, users can reliably integrate existing data quickly and confidently.Screenshot of Produce better documentation, faster, with fully integrated 2D and 3D workflows, creating a single integrated model that allows you to view drawings and other model information directly immersed within the 3D modelScreenshot of You can ensure your design intent while speeding modeling with extremely powerful and flexible constraints and a range of solid, mesh, surface, and topological modeling toolsScreenshot of MicroStation's native support for an unmatched range of file formats and data types means you can leverage any data you have to speed drafting and modeling and decision-makingScreenshot of Turn your models into polished professional presentations to win stakeholder buy-in and speed approvals on your design projects.

MicroStation Integrations

MicroStation Competitors

MicroStation Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationNo
Supported LanguagesCzech, German, English, Finnish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified)

MicroStation Downloadables

Frequently Asked Questions

Bentley Systems offers the MicroStation application and product family as a 3D and 2D modeling and computer-aided design (CAD) solution for engineers and designers.

AutoCAD, Onshape, and BricsCAD are common alternatives for MicroStation.

The most common users of MicroStation are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).

MicroStation Customer Size Distribution

Consumers5%
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)25%
Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees)35%
Enterprises (more than 500 employees)35%
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Comparisons

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Reviews From Top Reviewers

View all reviews
(1-5 of 8)

Digital Revolution of Computer-Aided Design!

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized
July 07, 2021
HA
Huma Ali
Center Head
iNIFD (Education Management, 51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
MicroStation
1 year of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
MicroStation is used as an alternative platform apart from AutoCAD to teach students interior design. MicroStation's infrastructure designing with the real-world context helps students to better understand the subject thereby creating a solution which has a practical approach.
Pros
  • Plethora of design alternatives to choose from right from design to completed models
  • Detailed approach towards parametric, mesh and surface modelling
  • Well integrated modelling workflows
  • Intelligent parametric components with 2D and 3D designs
Cons
  • Expensive software
  • Workset configuration and design file settings should be more intuitive and easy to understand
  • Lacks intuitive and modern design
Likelihood to Recommend
MicroStation is well suited for environments where animation and 3D modelling is required for designs. It perfectly fits into scenarios where Building Information Modelling (BIM) is used. One should avoid this platform if the budget is low and the overall length of the project is not huge.

Perfect solution for 2D document drafting and easy to compare various design views.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
July 07, 2021
JJ
Jackline Julias
Proyecto Coordindor
JOYCO (Civil Engineering, 51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
MicroStation
1 year of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
MicroStation effectively provides amazing 2D capability for quick Engineering project drawings production, as well as easy on 3D object modeling. The features are easy to manipulate and provide the best quality Engineering drawings.
Pros
  • Easy view comparison.
  • 2D drafting.
  • Design modeling.
Cons
  • 3d rendering functionality.
  • Designing of large projects design slows the entire process.
  • Deployment on Cloud.
Likelihood to Recommend
Civil Engineering project object design and documentation, annotation ability is amazing and also for design analysis as well as easy annotation capability.

Quick overview of MicroStation

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
February 06, 2019
R(
Randall (Rande) Robinson
Information Technology Specialist
North Carolina Dept. Information Technology - Transportation (Civil Engineering, 10,001+ employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
MicroStation
29 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
MicroStation is our main CAD package. We, like the majority of US DOT's, use MicroStation and its add-in products for all of our design work.
Pros
  • MicroStation, as a stand-alone CAD package, is a great plan production tool.
  • MicroStation makes a very good base to build other applications on top of.
  • It has at least, in my opinion, a very easy to use interface.
Cons
  • While it has a very usable interface it contains a lot of commands and can be intimidating to a beginner.
  • MicroStation uses several interfaces (depending on versions) which can complicate its use in large spread out organizations.
  • Multiple versions of the product can be an issue for large organizations to keep up with.
Likelihood to Recommend
MicroStation and its roadway design packages are the "standard" for Highway and Bridge design. MicroStation is also a great tool for organizations that deal with both Bentley and Autodesk products since it handles both DGN and DWG files interchangeably.

Microstation-good for roadway and corridor model, bad for new users

Rating: 7 out of 10
Incentivized
November 10, 2021
Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Civil Engineering Company, 10,001+ employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
MicroStation
7 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Microstation is the product we use most often for transportation design-specifically roadway design-at my organization. I use the inroads add-in very often in my position to model storm sewer networks and draw out basin maps, though I also use Microstation's plain jane features for cutting sheets, annotation, and running corridors too. Microstation is the preferred program for most DOTs and municipalities in my region, so this is why I use it over AutoCAD Civil 3D.
Pros
  • roadway and corridor modeling
  • storm sewer and utility layout
  • cutting sheets and production
  • plan and profile annotation
Cons
  • adding smart tables to the plans is difficult-I always end up using Axiom
  • tying utilities to a surface-rims, grates, and other features typically need to be assigned elevations manually
  • profiles for pipes are difficult to draw and do not update automatically like they would in ssa
Likelihood to Recommend
MicroStation is THE program to use for roadway and corridor modeling. Most departments of transportation and municipalities in my region require that the models be delivered in the dgn format, so it is MicroStation or bust. It is an absolute pain to use some of the add-in features though. Things that are easy in other programs like making smart tables that update with the latest information usually necessitate the use of Axiom or similar outside programs/add-ins. I design storm sewer systems, and it takes us 6 months to train up new hires on this software, because it is NOT intuitive. You need to know which buttons to press, since it is not designed to be easily command-based like AutoCAD Civil 3D.

A solid competitor to other CAD software on the market

Rating: 7 out of 10
Incentivized
February 21, 2020
Verified User
Manager in Other
Architecture & Planning Company, 51-200 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
MicroStation
10 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I have used MicroStation for many years at various levels. In my current office, it isn't the key CAD application. Still, we do have a copy of MicroStation for enabling us to open any transmitted drawings to us truly. Convert them to our current main CAD product easily, as well as check over drawings we're sending out, to ensure that they are fully readable and usable for our other team members.
Pros
  • Simple user interface
  • Easy to pick up from using any other CAD tool
Cons
  • Some of the more complex models have had a few issues exporting.
  • We've struggled with external consultants using the custom AutoCAD engineering tools, and it plays nicely with MicroStation.
Likelihood to Recommend
MicroStation has been a great tool to use when it was the core application in a previous practice - we found it easy to train users on, and exchange drawings without much fuss. In recent years, and the explosion of BIM, it's keeping up with competitors, and cost-wise / feature set wise seems on-par.
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