Subject:
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Re: Which CAD program recommended for Mac??
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad, lugnet.cad.dev.mac
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Date:
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Sun, 3 Feb 2008 20:00:24 GMT
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Viewed:
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9465 times
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In lugnet.cad, Jim DeVona wrote:
> In lugnet.cad, John Neal wrote:
> > In lugnet.cad, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> > > On another list--one about that best of all 20th Century novellist, Patrick
> > > O'Brian--I am kind of known as the LEGO guy. Had a question about which
> > > would be best CAD program for an Apple. Told her I would post to the
> > > experts. Any recocommendations would be apprecitate. As I have never used
> > > any of them--being an engraver on bricks instead of being a builder with
> > > bricks--I defer to the AKL on all subjects LEGO.
> >
> > That would depend-- if he has a new Mac with the Intel chip, I'd say to go
> > with MLCAD running Bootcamp. Otherwise, the choice would have to be
> > Bricksmith.
>
> I would recommend <http://bricksmith.sourceforge.net/ Bricksmith> in either
> case.
I'm going to have to disagree. As a long time MLCad user and a recent Mac
convert (Nov 2007), I feel that while Bricksmith is a very good program, it has
some very definite drawbacks that makes it difficult to use.
Here's a list from off the top of my head (keep in mind that it's not all
inclusive):
- No click and drag support in the view windows. Clicking and dragging simply
changes the view settings to "3D" and rotate the model.
- No keyboard shortcuts for changing colors, adding parts, changing grid
granularity, rotating parts, etc... It's almost as if the program wants to
force you to use the mouse.
- No way to select and move/rotate more than one part at a time.
- While this a personal preference, I not a big fan of the 3 views on the left
and one large view in the right. With smaller screens it tends to squish the
usable space to a level that is just too small
The first 3 are deal breakers for me to the point where I've switched back to
using MLCad with VMWare Fusion. I gave it a good faith effort and only switched
when my frustration exceeded my productivity.
The good is that Bricksmith is open source and I can have a look at the code and
tinker if I feel like it. Maybe, if I have time, I can add some of my requests
and send the code to Allen.
-Orion
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Which CAD program recommended for Mac??
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| (...) Bricksmith is certainly unlike MLCad, which is indeed a fine program. However, I'd like to humbly correct a few inaccuracies I perceive in your list of drawbacks. (...) True. That is a definite difference. (...) False. Keyboard controls for (...) (17 years ago, 4-Feb-08, to lugnet.cad, lugnet.cad.dev.mac)
| | | Re: Which CAD program recommended for Mac??
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| (...) Congratulations, Orion. That's nice to hear. (...) Thanks for at least trying it out. It is unfortunate you were unsatisfied, and you raise several valid points below. But you also lament about the "absence" of several features which are (...) (17 years ago, 5-Feb-08, to lugnet.cad, lugnet.cad.dev.mac, FTX)
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