#Auto-Cad ?
20 messages in this thread
Does anybody know if the CAD program "Auto-Cad" can be satisfactorily run
on an Amiga 2000 with a bridgeboard? My son is an architecture student and
favors the Amiga, however, "Auto-Cad" is pretty much a standard CAD program
and seems to be either MS-Dos or Unix. Must he purchase an IBM compatible
in order to run this program?
I have not personally run Auto-Cad on the bridgeboard, but a member of my
club has done it. He recently presented a program showing some work he had
done in Auto-Cad, along with the steps he had to take in order to transfer
the results to the Amiga and then showed his project after he had touched
it up with some of the AMiga art programs. So – I'm sure it runs on the
Bridgeboard.
……Betty
Betty, thank you for your response. I am truly gratified with being able
to obtain assistance. Locally, there just are no knowledgeable people on
Amiga. From you comments, it sounded as though Auto-Cad worked, but only
after a great deal of trouble — this does not sound practical. Maybe
there will be other responses to my question to confirm or deny my
suspicion. Thanks again. John.
John,
I am sorry if I made it sound like Auto-Cad was troublesome! I did not
mean that at all. I probably went to far too much detail to tell you how a
man here has used the output of Auto-Cad with some of his Amiga programs in
order to enhance the output. I cannot believe that Auto-Cad is any more
trouble on the Bridgeboard than it would be on any clone.
……Betty
John,
Yes, AutoCAD runs fine on the BridgeBoard. It requires a
math-coprocessor though, so you will need to add one to the bridge.
-John
X-CAD Professionnal read and writes AUTOCAD DXF files,so he could transfer
the drawings back and forth between Amiga and IBM disks.
*** SLY ***
True Sylvain, and for an educational environment I think that doing just
that would be a fine solution. Good point!
-John
I am currently using AutoCAD on a 2088 BridgeBoard, using release 10…It
is true you need a math coprosser, but only for versions 9 and later, of
which 10 is the mostrent…however, it is EXTREMELY slow, so I only use it
for minor modifications to drawings I have created at work, using a 386
clone… There are several Amiga CAD programs out that do offer DXF
compatibility, but you should know that DXF is not a very good
standard…even importing one back into AutoCAD, you lose some
information(i.e. attributes do not survive) and at 4.77, the 2088 board is
unbearible for serious work…I love my Amigas (I have 2) but for IBM
emulation, they just don't compair to a good clone… for the same price of
the 286 BridgeBoard, you can get a 286 clone, with 1Meg of ram, VGA card
and monitor, and a 12Mhz speed…Hope this helps…
Jim,
Mmmm… I didn't realize that dfx was that bad a interchange standard. I
still think that in an educational environment (at least the ones I'm used
to) they are going to be busy enough figureing out what SNAP, VIEWPORT,
LAYER, etc. are, that the limits of the dfx format will be small.
-John
It's not that it's a "bad" standard, it's just a large one, and it's
oriented to AutoCAD, not every CAD program in the world. Moving DXF files
between machines and CAD programs is always a learning experience. Moving
them between 3D and drawing or illustration or desktop publishing programs
is always an adventure, too. We've had many requests for a DXF module for
InterChange. I've looked into it, made a few prototypes, and decided
against it. I investigated a local CAD company… they've had one guy
working full-time on their DXF converter, for more than a year and a half.
He's still working on it. DXF involves hundreds of entity types,
interpreted a dozen different ways.
John,
About the only experience I've had with DXF files is when I was playing
around with Access Technologies ACAD Translator a few months ago. I was
working with some AutoCAD Release 10 files, some 2-D and some 3-D. At that
time, ACAD could only handle the 2-D files and even on them I had to edit
the DXF file to take out a few of the entity types to get it through ACAD.
Their version 2 is supposed to handle Release 10 files better, both 2-D and
3-D.
(er, maybe it was X-CAD Professional that had problems with the 2-D
file…)
-John
John, I am excited to hear your response. Can you give me any more info?
Do you have a good deal of experience with auto can? Are you in the field
of architecture? Are you using a 2000 with the 286 bridgeboard? How much
RAM would you recommend? Any trouble driving common plotters. I am asking
on behalf of my son who is studying architecture and is ready to purchase a
computer — perhaps the 3000 with a bridgeboard? Thanks again for your
response. John.
John,
No, I don't use AutoCad at all. We used to be a dealer for it 4-5 years
ago, but we lacked the people to train and support customers so we let our
dealership drop.
Another gentleman left a message here saying that version of AutoCad
prior to version 10 did not require the math chip. However I'd still
recommend getting the math chip as you will see a considerable speed
improvement.
I'd say the 1MB of RAM that comes with the 80286 BridgeBoard will be a
good starting point because when/if your son finds that he needs more RAM,
then you can just go by a RAM board, plug it in, and go.
One of the reasons that AutoCad is such a popular package is that they
have device drivers available for a huge number of plotters/printers, etc.
I would, if I were you, get an HPGL compatible plotter as the HPGL format
seems to be the "standard" command format for plotters.
If you do buy an Amiga 3000 and add the BridgeBoard, keep in mind that
Commodore is still shipping the BridgeBoard with a 5.25" drive for the IBM
side. There is not any room in the A3000 for a 5.25" drive, so make some
arangement with your dealer to see if he will swap you a 3.5" High Density
Drive.
-John
ps. John, that other gentleman I spoke of earlier had what I thought was a
good idea. Your son could forego getting the BridgeBoard altogether by
buying one of the excellent Amiga CAD programs that can read/write DXF
format files (X-CAD Professional does this and it's a gorgeous CAD
program). This would allow your son to work with AutoCad in the classroom,
and bring his work back to the dormitory and use it with X-CAD Professional
on his Amiga. This may actually be better as he will learn how to
implement the _concepts_ that he's taught in two _different_ CAD programs.
John, Thanks so much for your lengthy and helpful response. I think your
idea is meritable. I will discuss this with him and continue to explore
the topic.
. . John
John,
my wife has used AutoCad on a BridgeBoard. It does work fine.
Release 10 requires a math coprocessor! But previous releases don't
require the coprocessor. But it is definately recommened.
I hate to say this, but if he is really going to use AutoCad nothing
beats a 386! (ouch that hurts to talk like this 🙂 ) However some people
here have placed 386 accelerators in their Amigas. The SOTA 386i is the
one I remeber.
Kevin Ushko Edmonton, Alberta
Kevin, Thanks so much for your response. I was unaware of the availability
of a 386 processor for the Amiga — any more information on where to
inquire about this would be appreciated. Does it attach to the 286
bridgeboard made by Commodore? Also, would be interested in knowing if the
only disadvantage your wife has experienced is slower than desired
operating speed. Can the normal plotters be driven? Can the monitor
display accurately reflect the designs, etc. Thanks again, Kevin.
People here on CIS have used 386 cards made for PC inn their Amiga PC side
expansion slots.. maybe even with the XT bridgeboard.. SOTA386i
Well, Ernie, I can see you like to leave short messages. I take it the
SOTA386i is an internal board made to fit inside of any PC compatible which
seems also to work in the Amiga slots designed for IBM peripherals. I take
it this board works if there already is a Commodore Bridgeboard installed,
whether it is the XT or the 286. My guess is that if I look in Byte or
other PC mags, I could find the mfg or information on the SOTA board.
However, I also guess you yourself have not had any first hand experience
with this. Am I a good guesser?
Bye.
John,
Ron Troy is a regular here, and he has the SOTA 386 board in his Amiga. I
feel sure he will tell you about it. He's always willing to help people
when he can.
……Betty
John,
you might want to post another message about the accelerators. I don't
have one on my machine. I just remember reading about it here in
AmigaTech. I just recently got a brochure from SOTA Technology about their
products. Their address is 559 Weddell Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
Margaret hasn't used any plotters connected to the bridgeboard, only an
Epson LQ500 printer. The output from that is quite good though. They have
an AT that they use to plot all drawings.
The displays seem ok in CGA, but the resolution isn't that great. But
if you install a VGA card you will get exactly the same displays as any IBM
PC.
Kevin Ushko
Edmonton, Alberta