LT 2004 versus LT 2011

[sbosk]

Hey,

maybe somebody can help us to tell our boss that one saves enough time by working with 2011 compared to 2004 that it is worth buying.

Does any report exist about the time you would approximately save by changing from 2004 to 2011?

Thanks in advance

[Modman_4]

I don't know about any reports, and the ribbon environment would take some getting used to, but I do believe they let you set up the new install to also have the menu items. Customization in 2011 is more versatile than 2004, and with some hard work one can import their customization -- BUT 2011's ribbons are not toolbars (although you can add toolbars). Confused yet?

There are huge leaps forward that started in 2008. You can now have one XREF in modelspace and multiple paperspace viewports each with different linetype/color overrides -- no longer would you have to insert an XREF, rename it, do the overrides, then insert a fresh one for different overrides etc.

The other huge leap from 2008 was annotation objects. Linetypes were already annotative, with the option to let paperspace handle linetype scaling in viewports. But in 2008 this was expanded to just about all types of objects, such as text, dimensions, hatches, and blocks. With this, you set up all of these in paperspace first, and test them out at 1:1 scale to make sure you have what you want. Then you add additional scales (there is a setting to do it automatically). This means for example, that one dimension style works automatically in all scales of viewports -- the same thing with one block (such as a light switch). No more need for multiple copies at different scales on different layers.

There were also improvements in dimensions, where you can add a break symbol to a dimension, or literally break a dimension (and it still is associative), or take a bunch of dimensions and space them equally with a few clicks. 2011 does some neat tricks with hatches so you can edit them on the fly without opening the editor. And these newer programs have Dynamic blocks, where you can have one door symbol act for a number of sizes for example, and even be able to adjust its direction and the angle of the swing -- or you can combine a number of WC symbols into one, using visibility states, and have them smart enough to "read" the angle of a wall and turn the symbol as it is being inserted (to the proper orientation).

There's a lot more to say, and there is probably a side-by-side comparison of all the improvements, but this all comes with a caveat. 2011 chews up lots more RAM than 2004 -- a lot of it gee-whiz graphical stuff that can be turned off -- and all of the features have a learning curve. So if you wish to convince your boss to make the leap, you have to investigate whether your PCs are up to snuff. If so, or if they can be brought current (will they handle the 3.25 Gb max for XP?) inexpensively, the next suggestion is that one person take the lead in learning, and then pass off that learning to the others. Some time needs to be invested in understanding the changes and implementing them, but after that I believe your entire office will benefit from the improvements. I also recommend putting at least one seat on subscription (because of the access to online benefits such as training on all of autodesk's products) and get on a program of a 3 year upgrade cycle for the rest (or put them on subscription too). Good luck!

[sbosk]

Hey modman,

thank you very much!

But there are already 5 stations in our office that run 2011.

With another 15 running 2004 it is not possible to use all the good stuff 2011 can in a drawingstructure for the whole office.

So we know about the goods of 2011 but we need to show our boss that the efford equalizes the expenses in a short period of time...

[Charles_Shade]

It would seem that you have everything you need for this query right in front of you.

Or are all the newbies on the 2011 seats and the veterans are using 2004?

Reads like you need to assign a project that focuses solely on the 2011 machines.

(Trust me, it's faster than 2004)

[pendean]

You'll have to convince the boss internally, through performance: there is likely no 3rd party document that will suddenly change his/her mind, that's just fantasy.

Bosses understand cost and return on investments: show improvements in 2011 far out-weigh cost of upgrading and training, internally, with your own projects.

Good luck.

[Modman_4]

One big issue I see is that your 2011 stuff must be strangled because of having to save downward to 2004 -- you lose all of the potential improvements. If you can, isolate some projects to be done on the 2011 seats only, and use those projects to incorporate some (or all) of the advances I listed earlier. Then you can show your boss the productivity improvements yourself. I would suggest that the 2004 seats could be used for churning out details and other support sheets, but save the annotation (such as dimensioning) and the bulk of the main drawing for the 2011 seats. Gawd we haven't even touched on fields and tables yet -- another leap forward!