ACA resurrection?

Well that might be overstating it but I do wonder whether Autodesk's latest move of giving away Architecture along with Mechanical and Electrical packages plus more will mean a revival of sorts of interest in using Autocad Architecture.

A project designed, modelled and rendered within ACA.

For years Adesk has played down ACA's abilities (sometimes almost in a comical manner) in favour of the adopted child Revit which came from a modelling beginning rather than ACA's 2d Autocad lineage but of course users know that ACA is a powerful modelling, BIM and rendering package.

So here is my theory.  Many have moved to Revit and many of those retain Autocad to create 2d details because of it's mature and powerful drafting set.  Very experienced users say that Revit now has very robust drafting tools but I would assume there is a typical learning curve hill to climb and one often stops at the 'I can do most of what I want so I am over learning any more' fatigue mark.

Many stayed with Autocad, perhaps the company bean counters said no to extending the budget, or the wife did.  Many have dropped off the wagon (or is that train) and no longer subscribe and they stayed with their current release.  Many may have switched to the subscription model seduced by the goodies on offer.  Some have even switched over to a package deal that has probably now gone by the wayside, getting Autocad and ACA and Revit and the Rendering package and......
But for those who have moved to the subscription (new version) model (pun?) for their latest version of Autocad, they would now have access to Autocad Architecture by default.   And Electrical and Mechanical.

So.... my theory is, that curiosity will eat at the more.. er.... curious and they will install that extra free bit and start exploring - ACA.   And more power to them I say.  This may indeed increase the ACA users world wide, and create just a little ripple in the time/space continuum and ... ok I am stepping out here in great faith and hope I know.  But.   It just may happen.

And that may create a little smaller proportional ripple of activity and attention to ACA from Autodesk.  For a little more tweaking it needs.  It's not quite perfect yet.

What prompted this post?  Well Autodesk have apparently created a white paper and I quote

"In this report, we look at the benefits of using the architecture toolset in AutoCad. The Architecture toolset is built specifically to create and modify software-based design and documentation productivity for architectures. 

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The recent study completed by Autodesk explores the nine common design challenges and shows direct comparisons of the time and effort required to accomplish each specific task in basic AutoCAD versus with the Architecture toolset. "
https://www.autodesk.com.au/products/autocad/included-toolsets

Hunting for it now.

And so, 20th of December we are at that time of year again where many are crazily shopping and preparing wrapping and menu reciting.   So I want to wish you all the blessings of the Christmas season.  Yes you, the 3 people who read this over the next 2 years :-)    And a safe, prosperous and productive new year.

Autocad Master of the Universe.

The latest update to the Autocad family is a homogenisation of the lot with the exception of the Autocad Civil 3D package.  Previously you would buy Autocad for a fantastic general purpose tool but for industry specific tools you would 'upgrade' to a specific Autocad + Industry specific add on which in this bloggers case is the Autocad Architecture (once Autocad Architectural Desktop).  There was also Autocad Electrical, Autocad Mechanical which are all the Autocad software plus specific tools.

BUT there's a catch !

You need to move to Subscription.  But Wait There's More!  Well that is to say, what was once subscription is now referred to as Maintenance.  To move from Maintenance to Subscription (new version) you need to surrender your perpetual license which means that once you stop paying you lose access to Autocad xxx.   Previously, if you stopped paying, you kept whatever release you were on.  Which is why I'm very mad with the sellor who signed me up one week before the new release comes out.  It means if I ever quit, it will be one week before the new release!

Further, you can no longer 'buy' the software.  You can only buy a subscription which gives you access for a year to the software. 

So.... if you subscribe, you will get access to all the Autocad Family except Civil. 
Just another cherry.

But for me I will stay with subsc.... er my maintenance plan.  It's still upgraded to the latest version of Autocad Architecture each year, actually now known as just Architecture.

But for you? You might like the additional offerings.  I know there are those who work across several fields of Architecture, Mechanical, pipe design etc .

You can read more of the details here.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Only-One-AutoCAD-Frequently-Asked-Questions.html

https://www.autodesk.com.au/products/autocad/included-toolsets

Cheers
Nathan