The latest version of AutoCAD brings 3D to the masses. The question is, do the masses really want that kind of functionality?

A new version of AutoCAD every year is now the norm. With each release, Autodesk has been working around themes and beefing up the functionality in specific areas, such as presentation, 2D and collaboration. To date, the AutoCAD development team has done an impressive job of adding really useful and innovative functionality to what had become a fairly stagnant, yet universally popular product.

AutoCAD 2007, released in March, is the latest and greatest release and, here, the development team has been exceptionally ambitious, fitting in major changes. The main theme for this version is 3D. While not necessarily the main use of AutoCAD, being the 2D stalwart that it is, Autodesk has made a bold attempt to update AutoCAD in an area that, to be honest, was pretty bad. The last time Autodesk did a major 3D update was in Release 13, adding ACIS and breaking the product in the process. But fear not, the development team has done a great job this time!

It’s as if Autodesk has added a completely new 3D CAD package into AutoCAD. AutoCAD now operates in ‘Classic’ mode or a new 3D mode. Both feature different interfaces and rightly so. AutoCAD, in ‘Classic’ mode, by and large looks like the last release, with the odd tweak here and there. 3D mode, on the other hand, looks more like 3D Studio Viz or SketchUp.

With the design industry slowly but steadily moving to 3D solutions, it’s right that AutoCAD is brought up to date, to offer millions of users the chance to at least play and experiment with 3D modelling. The MCAD industry is well on the way to a 3D only market but AEC (Architecture Engineering Construction) is progressing slowly. However, the success of products like SketchUp has demonstrated that an easy to use 3D tool does have its place in the predominantly 2D architectural practices. Ease of use appears to have been one of the key themes behind Autodesk’s 3D implementation.

What’s new in 2D?

So, ‘what’s new in 2D?’ The XREF Tool palette acts as a management tool for total control of attached or referenced documents and images within a file. AutoCAD 2007 now allows DWFs to be added as an underlay, which is actually a very impressive way to attach light-weight drawing information to DWGs. To attach a DWF, pick an insertion point, scale and rotate, although unlike an XREF you can control the contrast of the DWF image, clip it and snap to it, making tracing a great new option.

Much has been said in the war of marketing between Adobe and Autodesk. Despite pushing DWF as the solution for engineering drawings, Autodesk has finally implemented a PDF plot capability.

The Express tools that were included in the last release have been incorporated into the menu structure – which is really just tidying up from AutoCAD 2006.

With all the 3D changes and some behind the scenes architecture work, the ARX specification has changed, which means that the DWG file format has changed with 2007. It also means that third party ARX applications will need to be updated to run with this release.

Prior to the launch of the product, Autodesk was telling journalists that there would be a DGN read/write capability (DGN is Bentley’s MicroStation CAD system format). However, 2007 has shipped without this functionality in the box. Autodesk has said that it will ship the DGN utility some time this summer. It’s unusual for Autodesk to say something will be in AutoCAD and then to pull it or delay it. We understand that Autodesk is reverse engineering the format itself, so perhaps it has taken longer than expected. It’s interesting that Autodesk is recognising that there are other CAD systems out there. What’s more likely here though is that Autodesk’s Civil and Geo division needs DGN compatibility to compete with Bentley in these relatively new markets. Autodesk is also making noises about the Process Plant sector.

The new 3D capabilities

So, AutoCAD is 3D capable now and it’s so easy to use, it’s amazing. It’s actually harder for someone to learn AutoCAD’s myriad of 2D commands than pick up AutoCAD and just start modelling. There’s a 3D grid to help and a bunch of expanding menus on the right hand side. Simply insert a primitive, grab and stretch and pull, or draw an 2D shape to grab and extrude. It even does complex elements like a helix. The real-time shading adds to its interactive nature, and really complex shapes can be created from merging and cutting any number of objects. All the elements are solids and can be exported to Inventor. There are a number a great shading options and a high-end ray trace engine from Mental Ray. One thing to note is that you might want to make sure you have enough fire power on your graphics card and RAM. 2007 comes with a built-in benchtest to measure the capability of your machine. By the way, the 3D stuff has been left out of AutoCAD LT.

Conclusion

If you are a 2D user and have no intention of moving or playing with 3D, 2007 will be a bit of a disappointment. There are no two ways to say that. However, what has been added to the 2D side of things is useful and valid. Looking at the bigger picture, Autodesk had to do something about AutoCAD’s poor 3D and it’s amazing that so much has been done in one release and it’s done well. I am sure the next version will be back on track with the 2D crowd pleasers but for now we have to accept that in this release the ground has been laid for some really exciting developments for model-based applications.