"Przemek Loesch" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message 
news:web.41dc24717fd832bfb0aac12c0@news.povray.org...
> Straight Autocad - the good old 2002. I haven't been working with any
> version of ADT so far. Maybe it is high time to give it a try - the new 
> ADT
> 2005 looks very interesting, except its price of course ;-) BTW - from 
> your
> own experience - is it much easier and/or faster to make a coplete
> documentation of the building with ADT? Can it produce from 3d-model ready
> elevations and sections with dimensions, windows, doors and other symbols
> automatically or you have to do it by hand?
>
> Przemek
>

Yes, with ADT 2005 you can actually create many drawings from a single sheet 
through references. You start by creating a room, for instance, which is as 
simple as placing a rectangle in the drawing area. Doors and windows are 
placed with offsets, and yes the 3D work is generated on-the-fly, so no 
extrusions to be done. Further, with the content library you can apply wall 
types by actual construction material. Since the layer name and color are 
modified by content, you can imagine the power this gives you when modifying 
to POV format. Finally, section views are generated by placing the clipping 
lines, and the software generates the section, or elevation (different tools 
actually). Schedules and annotations are generated easily as well. The 
software comes with viz render and a great amount of 3D content, including 
cars, trees.furniture, and fixtures, but it's not up to the standards of POV 
artists. If you buy ADT 2005 it is built upon a foundation of AutoCAD 2005, 
so you get the core program too.

Crashes have been greatly reduced from 2002 (even in the 2004 version), but 
if you open 2002 drawings you can still have problems. I much prefer 
Inventor, but I haven't found a way to output to Pov-Ray outside of buying 
more software.

Kohler and a few other hardware manufaturers will send you free 3D content 
for your drawings just by asking.

Just visit a bookstore and check out "Mastering Autodesk Architectural 
Desktop 2004" (2005) Paul F. Aubin and autodesk press and you can see even 
more.

I have a hunch the software could second as a great level generator for FPS 
games, but I haven't tried it.

- Grim

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