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Autocad 2014 for MAC

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Message 1 of 24
betazero
5857 Views, 23 Replies

Autocad 2014 for MAC

Why is Autocad for Mac still so lacking and porly designed? I am just trying to use the trial version and I can get simple things to work...

 

This is my ten minute roundup of problems...I am sure there are more but I cant even think of using the the sofware until it at least has the same funtionality as Autocad 2008 ( really why isnt it to this point yet??????) 

 

1) I cant move the icon versions of the properties box to the monitor where I want it to be....

2) Autolisp keeps warning me if I want to use my .lsp files and I cant find anywhere to turn this warning of... I added the path to the support files so yes I want to use it... lol

3) I dont want the highlighting of objects when I mouse over but the settings menu is so light on available settings that I cant even turn it off.

4) There is a slight lag when starting commands like line. Its maybe only a half a second long but why is it there?

5) Still no dynamic block authoring???? Huh?? How can you charge 4k for this software? Isnt that one of the main differences between Autocad LT and Autocad??

6) Cant drag .lsp files onto the drawing to load them.

7) It doesnt load all the .lsp files that I have in my main acad.lsp file

😎 How do I change SDI mode? The command doesnt seem to exist... 

9) I want to lock my properties box to the side of the screen and have it autohide. It was so much better as a large bar instead of a little icon. Change this back to the old way.

10) Fullscreen support

11) How do you turn off dynamic input at the cursor ? Its so distracting...I used to have a dynamic input button to turn off but there are no buttons and no setting in the very empty settings area.

12) The tool palletes/commandline should have the option to lock to the drawing. The floating toolbars is not a MAC thing that this MAC user likes. Adobe has toolbars that attach now. So does all the new versions of Pages/Numbers etc. Its way to cluttered and annoying to have them floating. They should just autohide off to the side like autocad 2008.

13) I can be hired to help if you guys need a project manager for 2014 MAC. I have 15 years experience! Its literally the only PC software that I am still stuck with 🙂

 

Going to mess around with it a bit longer before I get back to work using 2008 and fusion lol. 

 

How are people using Autocad 2014 Mac? I mean the only people who would spend 4k on software would be Pros but this version is a lite version of the software with a pro pricetag...Sorry for being so harsh but I just dont understand it.

 

Thanks,

Russell

 

 

23 REPLIES 23
Message 2 of 24
dgorsman
in reply to: betazero

15 years of AutoCAD, or 15 years of programming experience, or 15 years software development management experience...?

 

By the by: Mac forum is here -> http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-for-Mac/bd-p/520.  You'll get better answers there.  We're almost all Win users in here.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 3 of 24
betazero
in reply to: dgorsman

15+ years of Autocad (version 12 thru Autocad Architecture 2010) in high end residential architecture as a project manager/CAD operator/Autolisp guru/dynamic block evil genius lol/IT guy. 5+ years of programing and software development in the way of iphone apps and mini lisp programs to steamline CDs.

 

I know I was being a bit sinical but I just dont get how the MAC version has gone thru 3 years of updates ( or has it been 4??)  now missing major features. I think it should have just been ported from PC instead of a total redesign(Still should be). The PC and MAC verisions should have feature parity. I cant imagine having to use the Adobe suite of products if between the PC and Mac they were polar opposites. Or say the Mac version had layers but you couldnt modify them or something (like having dynamic blocks that you cant change...). I still have an old tablet PC from like 7 years ago to hand draw in photoshop. 

 

 

Message 4 of 24
dgorsman
in reply to: betazero

A simple, total "port" isn't possible.  Remember, this isn't a simple "app" or Java-based applet thats being worked with.  The components used to build the software in the Win environment aren't available in the Mac environment, so they had to strip everything down to the basics and start over from there.

 

In effect it is a completely new program with the AutoCAD name on it.  It doesn't have the years of development history in the Mac environment that some other products like Adobe have.  Considering there was NO AutoCAD for Mac a few years ago, they are doing pretty well feature-wise.  The development process seems to be aimed at getting most of the core program features to function properly before they start adding the odds'n'sods, like dynamic block authoring.  While a little frustrating now I think in the long run it will pay off as more resources can be devoted to the additions as opposed to trying to ferret out one of those nasty bugs they ignored.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 5 of 24
betazero
in reply to: dgorsman

In your line of thinking it should be called something different then. Like MacCad or something. Calling it Autocad is where the main problem for me comes in. If your going to name it that it should function as that. Its sold on the same page as Autocad and for the same price. How can one ask the same price for a program which is 50% of the other.

 

Still the program should have at the VERY least all of the features that an 8 year old version of Autocad has. 

 

If I were running the development here is what it would look like.

Year 1): Get a product which has 100% of the core tools of at least Autocad 2007. I dont think thats some crazy task.

Year 2): Work towards product parity from both directions. If both Autocad for PC and MAC are developed in a way that they can just be built out to the various platforms you can develop once and not twice. Like using UDK or any kind of game engine... You design once and then just pakage it out to the various platforms you want. I realize Autocad is dificult since it wasnt started like that but it seems like there should be plenty of experienced people there who could pull this off.

Year 3 and beyond) Work towards making ONE product which is the same on each platform. 

 

My main point is that I will never be sold on Autocad for Mac until its equal to at least version 2007 of the pc version. The current version should be sold at the very most as Autocad LT for Mac but leave in the LSP support. Once all the litlle checks on the comparison sheet cross the 85% or so point then maybe. 

 

 

 

 

Message 6 of 24
betazero
in reply to: betazero

Are there any solutions for:

#1,#2,#3,#7,#8, or #11? Maybe thru commandline?

Message 7 of 24
dgorsman
in reply to: betazero

The one-platform, multiple OS idea isn't as easy as you might think.  It gets touted here and there but those in the trenches understand the massive difficulties involved (its one of the driving factors for software as a service/SaaS).  They *did* start with what you suggested - one of the fall-outs is the presence of the command-console in the Win version, separating out the UI from the core processes.  But for what you are suggesting will take MUCH longer than a year with my napkin sketches of available budget (yeah, like your business and everyone else they don't have unlimited resources).  Don't forget about the operating systems as well - the longer it takes to develop a product, the more likely a newer OS will be released, creating a moving target for production.  At some point you have to get a product out into the market for the purposes of real-life user feedback, revenue, and marketing.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 8 of 24
maxim_k
in reply to: betazero

Hi,

 

1. If you mean "Collapse to icons" mode, than it is impossible to move Palettes icons to another place, than it was designed.
2. Set SECURELOAD=0 and forget about it. Or read here:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-for-Mac/Trusted-location-for-custom-lisp-file-acad-mac/td-p/45...
3. Play with SELECTIONPREVIEW variable - set it to 0 in order to disable selection preview.
7. What do you mean "doesn't load"? You get an alert from AutoCAD or errors at the command prompt?
8. SDI not available in AC for Mac
11. The button is on Status Bar:
Screen Shot 2013-10-24 at 0.53.11.png
or you can use Shift+Command+D shortcut.

 

Maxim


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Maxim Kanaev
Architect
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Etiquette and Ground Rules of Autodesk Community
Message 9 of 24
betazero
in reply to: dgorsman

I understand but how much revenue can you make from a product which isnt complete? If it at least has 90% of the features 2008 autocad has then your revenue will jump up. Also if Autodesk went the way of Adobe and just did a monthly fee for products they would make a ton of revenue. As long as the fee is around 50-75 bucks.

 

I would see Autocad for Mac much differently if it had dynamic block editing. 

 

 

Message 10 of 24
betazero
in reply to: maxim_k

#3 sweet! thats nice. 

I fixed #7 by just combining my lsp routines. No big deal

# 8 is a bummer but not the end of the world

#11 yeaa there are the little buttons 🙂

Message 11 of 24
pendean
in reply to: betazero

They probably should have found an acronym between LT and AutoCAD to call the MAC version, then no one would have been as upset.

Something like AutoCAD RT for Mac: no, wait, that's already jinxed by Microsoft. oh well, you get the idea. Then knock a little off the top of the price. And when fully implemented, they drop the RT and charge the same as AutoCAD for Windows.

But then again, MAC users are expected to pay more for everything, so perhaps that is why they did it.
Message 12 of 24
betazero
in reply to: betazero

any solution to #4? When I start panning there is a pause then it starts panning. There a lag when drawing lines..Its almost like it has to draw each segment by hand or something. You draw a circle and there is a pause before it appears... This pause is very short but its annoying. I can run acad 2008 in fusion thru windows 7 and not have this lag. A native app should blow that out of the water!! Same with erase...

 

I am just going to run each command and list its behavior ( I have a 2013 iMac 27"/8 gig ram /fusion drive/2.9ghz i5)

A) Pan stutters or pauses when you start moving and its not very smooth with the panning. Jumps sometimes. Sometimes its just unresponsive completely

B) Erase stutters after enter 

C) Pline stutters when the command starts

 

D) Offset takes a long time to do a simple offset

E) The grab window stutters on first use ( is there a way to get rid of the colors in the grab window? I prefer the dashed line window)

F) zoom in/out pauses every once and a while

G) esc key takes a while to cancel sometimes

 

Ok bigger problem...I have to stop using the demo because its locking up my fusion showing a pan command from ACAD 2014 in my acad 2008 thru fusion then I cant do anything in that autocad. I have to command tab to be able to move my mouse out of fusion. Also I need to ctrl alt delete to clear the lock. 

 

 

 

 

 

Message 13 of 24
betazero
in reply to: pendean

I think the proper suffix for this Autocad would have been Autocad 2014 "Beta".... 

Message 14 of 24
maxim_k
in reply to: betazero

How big is drawing file you are working on?

Maxim

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Etiquette and Ground Rules of Autodesk Community
Message 15 of 24
betazero
in reply to: maxim_k

11 megs. I deleted the house and purged it to 5 megs (just details) and it is faster but I constantly have between 8-15 meg files. I dont experience that kind of "lag" in acad 2008.It may take a little longer to load but thats it. 

Message 16 of 24
maxim_k
in reply to: betazero

Would be interesting to look at your file.

I just checked with one of my largest file (17 Gb, a lot of objects - 229035) an I can confirm that there are lags in zooming and panning when I look at the entire drawing (I see everything in it), but when I zoom in the lags go away. I don't have problems (delays) when start commands (LINE, POLYLINE, etc.), offset, move and copy works just fine in this file...

 

Could you send your file (if it is not a big secret) to my e-mail: mkanaev at yandex.ru ?

I can test it.

 

Maxim


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Message 17 of 24
maxim_k
in reply to: betazero


@betazero wrote:
...I have a 2013 iMac 27"/8 gig ram /fusion drive/2.9ghz i5...

 


BTW - AFAIK there is no such model of iMac, 2.9ghz i5 is only in 21.5 in. iMac model, 27 in. models starts with 3.2 GHz i5 processors. I'm saying this because Graphics card model depends on iMac model.

Which Graphics card do you have in your iMac?

 

Maxim


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Maxim Kanaev
Architect
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Etiquette and Ground Rules of Autodesk Community
Message 18 of 24
betazero
in reply to: maxim_k

I assure you that there is a 2.9 ghz 27" imac. It was released in OCT 2012. Bought it the beginning of this year...not sure what month but who cares...

 

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M with 512MB

Message 19 of 24
maxim_k
in reply to: betazero

I see, so it is not 2013 model.
What about your heavy file? Could you pass it to me?
I can explain - I'm always thinking about your complaints about slow graphics response and delays/glitches in AutoCAD on your Mac.
There could be many reasons for this - something "wrong" in DWG file, for example a lot of Layer Groups (Layer filters as we call them on PC side), or a lot of Parametric Constraints. On the other hand there could be hardware issues (just my guess, I hope not justified)

Maxim

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Etiquette and Ground Rules of Autodesk Community
Message 20 of 24
betazero
in reply to: pendean

Yes it was purchased in 2013 but I guess it was a 2012 model. If it were an Autocad product then yes it is a 2013 model since it was made in 2012 🙂

 

I am not able to share the file with you since I have no idea who you are but all you need to know is that the EXACT same file runs perfect in 2008 autocad under fusion in windows 7. It is not a 3d model, just 2d lines/blocks/text etc. If there is some performance death at over some magic megabyte number that sucks! Thats like back in the days when you couldnt use fusion to run autocad because the mouse would lag. Thats no good for constant use all day long.

 

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