CAD Software

[Stephen Coates]

For some of my college work, we have to look into CAD packages that *could* be used. We have AutoCAD in college so I will probably write about that, but we have to research 4 others as well, and I was wondering if anyone knew about CAD on the Amiga?

I have heard of a CAD package for the Amiga, but I can't remember it's name or whether it was 68k or PPC.

[Buleste]

The last Cad package developed for the Amiga as far as i know was Cycas which has gone the way of most Amiga software and is now being developed for Windoze and Whynux. I'm trying to find a copy of it. If i can i'll put a link up.

In fact the last version was released on Aminet here.

[Buleste]

I have absolutly no experiance with CAD software but i've DL'd and installed and it seems fast and is a typical Amiga programme in that it does what it says on the tin but doesn't have any flashy bits like other systems have.

[Harrison]

The best known Amiga CAD package was X-CAD Professional.

I used it a bit years ago and it seemed pretty good. I think I remember it was only a 2D CAD package though, and didn't support any 3D.

It was included on a coverdisk so if you wanted a copy I can probably find it and send you an ADF.

Another which I haven't used is called CYCAS. I think this one is only developed for PC and Linux these days though so you would need to track down a copy of the older Amiga version.

But if I were given the task to research and compare packages I would compare the industry standard, AutoCAD, against the current Open Source free CAD packages available to see if it is possible to work in CAD without the expense of commercial software. There are quite a few very good GPL packages you could look at such as Wings 3D, QCad, Open CASCADE, MeshLab, FreeCAD, Blender, AutoQ3D, and Art of Illusion.

Most of these free packages are cross platform too, so run in Windows and Linux, with some ported for the Mac too. Therefore if you found one of these free packages was good enough for commercial use and ran on Linux, you could argue that you could run the whole package for free (other than the computer hardware cost).

Here is a site with a good list of packages on the PC, Mac and Amiga. http://www.venueweb.co.nz/abouts/acadprg.htm

[Buleste]

Another which I haven't used is called CYCAS. I think this one is only developed for PC and Linux these days though so you would need to track down a copy of the older Amiga version.

Just can't get the staff anymore. If Harrison had bothered to read what i'd posted he'd be able to find out about Cycas. Too busy creating test posts i suppose.

[Harrison]

OK, I admit I didn't even read your post. I read Steve's and just hit reply. Oops!

Isn't it better to have too much information, than not enough?

[Buleste]

Always remember kids READ before you REPLY. And always practice safe posting.

[Stephen Coates]

Thanks for the information.

It would be good if you could supply a copy of that disk Harrison. Did it come with any documentation?

BTW, When did RetroSteve get added beneath my name?

[Harrison]

So you noticed!

[Stephen Coates]

Yep. Did you think I would miss it?