CAD software help

[Ian Flatters]

Hi everyone,

 

I’m looking at updating our cad software for tree surveys and bs5837 reports. Currently I’m using a cheaper version of auto cad, which has many failings but gets the job done.

 

I’m also looking at ways to update the recording of this data from an iPad or other recommended systems.

 

Apologies if this has been asked before but my search didn’t bring anything up.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Ian

 

 

[Andymacp]

Maybe a different thought but after struggling with Auto cad for a few years we now send the mapping’s off to a cad engineer who sends them back in a couple of days and charges £50 for the bother.

[benedmonds]

I use Rob at actioncad. He is on here and has produced some how to videos.

 

 It would be nice to do it myself but I have never made the time to learn.. when you take into the account the training time and software costs it is cheaper /easier at least in the short term just to contract it to someone who knows what they are doing .

 

But if you find a simple affordable tablet based system  then let us know..

[Ian Flatters]

I use Rob at actioncad. He is on here and has produced some how to videos.
 
 It would be nice to do it myself but I have never made the time to learn.. when you take into the account the training time and software costs it is cheaper /easier at least in the short term just to contract it to someone who knows what they are doing .
 
But if you find a simple affordable tablet based system  then let us know..

I hope to find a new system. I started with turbocad years back and learnt a lot of an architect we work with. But feel I’ve now not moved with the times.

[Dan Maynard]

I have done an amount of electrical cad work for years, using various AutoCAD based systems. Last few years I've moved over to a system based on Microsoft Visio, it is much less clunky, easier to learn, easier to print. There's an opportunity here, maybe we can get Steve Bullman working on it?

[Toad]

What is it you want to produce? 2d plans of trees for removal/planting? 3d drawings? Do you want them based on OS mapping?

 

I used turbocad back in the old days at uni, now after a 16 year break I'm using autocad for highway designs. We have dedicated cad technicians for the complicated/large scale stuff as it's just not worth the investment of our time when there are people who can produce drawings far quicker and cost the business less.

[Ian Flatters]

What is it you want to produce? 2d plans of trees for removal/planting? 3d drawings? Do you want them based on OS mapping?
 
I used turbocad back in the old days at uni, now after a 16 year break I'm using autocad for highway designs. We have dedicated cad technicians for the complicated/large scale stuff as it's just not worth the investment of our time when there are people who can produce drawings far quicker and cost the business less.

The stuff we do doesn’t warrant out sourcing as it’s predominantly small sites with extensions or pocket sites for a new build.

All 2d stuff off cad systems so nothing too serious.

[Toad]

Fair enough, it's a really tricky little area. I'm very lucky to have access to a recent copy of autocad with all the bells and whistles, a gis system with mapping and a lot of useful data on it. Would be hideously expensive to purchase though.

 

Ideally I guess you want some mapping software on the iPad which you can use to record location data and then send that across to the cad system, either somehow automatically or just by taking the coordinates - use eastings and northings as it will translate directly into the grid references in the cad software. Maybe even look at a gis system rather than cad, you only really need to locate points on a map and give them symbols in basic terms. Cad software will let you do nice things like automatically set out points in an array or a pattern but I guess it's unlikely that you need that functionality often, if ever?