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SoftPlan vs. Revit


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#1 Don Gibbons

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Posted 15 February 2020 - 06:47 AM

I've recently hired a college grad to work for me. He had AutoCAD and Revit all through high school and college. When I told him he had to use SoftPlan, he'd never heard of it. He was hesitant but game to learn(not that his job was on the line or anything like that  ;) ). I've left him alone to be self taught for the most part, with a curriculum I made when I taught SoftPlan at the local college. His comment to me after a while: 'Why don't they teach this at the college, it's so easy, way easier that Revit.'

 

I'm also teaching another Revit/AutoCAD user who wants to work part time for me and he's said something quite close to that as well.


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#2 Dennis Hilborn

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Posted 15 February 2020 - 12:57 PM

That's exactly what I said in the beginning.  But then when I got deeper into SP I realized there are much fewer editing tools and I dearly miss them.



#3 Don Gibbons

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Posted 15 February 2020 - 08:02 PM

Like what?



#4 Dennis Hilborn

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Posted 16 February 2020 - 09:39 AM

I've made many posts discussing them. 

A few just off the top of my head:

* A true Stretch command.  Stretch in Autocad is much more useful especially since you can use a pline.

* A mirror command that works on ALL entities and directions.  SP mirror works on some but not all entities.  I would like to be able to use it to mirror windows ALL the time but it only works about half the time I try it.

* Being able to place a dimension to any line point object etc. without having to go thru menus to setup what is dimensionable.  Dimension Point doesn't do this unless you have the object programmed into dimension.

That's all I can remember right now, they usually come to mind when I'm drawings something.

I spent 20 years board drafting and about 20 using Autocad and I guess the mindset is just too strong. 



#5 Jon Davis

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Posted 16 February 2020 - 03:43 PM

Agreed.... stretch command would be an amazing addition to SP. 

 

Also, the 3D part modeling sucks compared to CAD/Revit.

 

Dennis, try "reverse" in place of mirror command, unfortunately it's mirroring the original so you're not left with the previous

like using the mirror command. But it works if you need to flip something, and don't need to keep the original. 



#6 Keith Almond

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Posted 16 February 2020 - 07:25 PM

Remind me ... What does Stretch do that you can't do in Softplan.


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#7 Jon Davis

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 07:38 AM

Remind me ... What does Stretch do that you can't do in Softplan.

 

I allows you to grab a certain part of your whatever you're drawing, and stretch it by an input length. 

It would be really handy if you wanted to lengthen an entire section of a house by windowing that portion and dragging it. 



#8 Keith Almond

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 08:57 AM

I don't see anything there that Softplan can't do. Block move with attach would seem to do that quite adequately.

 

The other command that you may be missing is EDIT > ADJUST SIZE. which allows you to Shrink or Enlarge blocks by either a factor or make it a specific size.

 

I used AutoCAD (up to V2000i) for 10 years - and to be honest can't remember most of the commands now - but I can't think of a single thing (with the exception of adding a dimension string by clicking points) that I miss, or can't do in Softplan.


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#9 Jon Davis

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 09:49 AM

I have no clue how to use block move with attach.... I know how to  block move, but was not aware there are sub-commands... 



#10 Keith Almond

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 09:59 AM

Just click the attach button on the STATUS BAR

 

2020.02.17_10h58m03s_002_.png

 

Attach works with quite a few commands


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#11 Jon Davis

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 10:25 AM

What does it do when block moving?



#12 Mark Petri

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 10:39 AM

If you block move walls the walls attached to those that have been moved will stretch to stay joined (technically) when attached is selected

 

Just be careful, because openings, cabinets and other symbols that reference walls which you may not want to move will also move sometimes. Then it might be best to uncheck attach and reattach any walls manually.


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#13 Mark Beard

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 01:13 PM

One small thing I do miss from my AutoCAD days was the ability to draw an object/line with a specific length already in mind.  While there is no comparison of being able to draw an entire wall assembly vs. simple lines on a screens, there are times when I wish we had direct input when laying out objects on a plan.

 

For example, If I know I want a 24' long wall, I wish I could input that distance when initially drawing the wall vs. sketching and coming back to edit via dimensions.  Not a huge deal but it comes up every now and again for me and I think it could save some time, maybe not much, but some.     


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#14 Keith Almond

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 01:31 PM

You can ... click wall SELECT TYPE - HOME 24' left or right arrow and HOME. Softplan has always had that ability. Originally there were FROM and TO keys.


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Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#15 Richard Rubinski

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 01:34 PM

One small thing I do miss from my AutoCAD days was the ability to draw an object/line with a specific length already in mind.  While there is no comparison of being able to draw an entire wall assembly vs. simple lines on a screens, there are times when I wish we had direct input when laying out objects on a plan.

 

For example, If I know I want a 24' long wall, I wish I could input that distance when initially drawing the wall vs. sketching and coming back to edit via dimensions.  Not a huge deal but it comes up every now and again for me and I think it could save some time, maybe not much, but some.     

Mark, try selecting your wall click on the screen and type in the distance hit the left, right, up or down key, if I'm understanding what you're trying to do.

 

Rick



#16 Mark Beard

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 01:38 PM

Thanks guys.  I'll take a look!  Didn't know this was possible.


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#17 Jason Bishop

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Posted 17 February 2020 - 07:46 PM

Block move with attach.......or sometimes not attach, is a huge time saver!

#18 Don Gibbons

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Posted 18 February 2020 - 06:38 AM

One small thing I do miss from my AutoCAD days was the ability to draw an object/line with a specific length already in mind.  While there is no comparison of being able to draw an entire wall assembly vs. simple lines on a screens, there are times when I wish we had direct input when laying out objects on a plan.

 

For example, If I know I want a 24' long wall, I wish I could input that distance when initially drawing the wall vs. sketching and coming back to edit via dimensions.  Not a huge deal but it comes up every now and again for me and I think it could save some time, maybe not much, but some.     

Mark, another thing you can do is set the Trace Line Position in the wall definition. If, for example, you ext/dim to the exterior of stud, you can set that to Outermost Bearing(there is also a custom option). This will then be the 'corner points' on the wall when you key in a specific dimension. I use it a lot when I'm doing simple layouts.


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#19 Gary McKeon

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Posted 19 February 2020 - 11:33 PM

Sorry but "block move" is not nearly as easy to use as the autocad "stretch" is. Probably the single biggest reason is that in autocad you have a choice in how to select things. Hold the mouse button down and cross over to the right the things to move you will only move what is totally within your "pick window". OR you can hold your mouse button down and drag to the left and anything/ everything your window crosses will move or whatever your command. Just like the softplan "cross erase" except for any command you want. Extremely convenient and SO much easier. I find block move to be clumsy for anything but the simplest of things.


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#20 Don Gibbons

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Posted 20 February 2020 - 01:57 PM

You can do the same thing in SoftPlan.

Hold the ctrl button down and left click, box in what you want and press M for move. Only those items completely in the block will move.


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