Managing Numerous Versions of AutoCAD

[Anonymous]

Our new Architect, Design/Build company subcontracts drafting to various AutoCAD Technicians via Dropbox.

The issue is that amongst the AutoCAD technicians and our office and other consultants, every version of AutoCAD is being used. 

The issue at hand is that older versions cannot open a newer version, and conversely using a newer version requires using the save-as command to save as an older version so that someone with the older version can use the newer version's drawings.

What is the best way to manage the various versions in a streamlined fashion ...?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

There isn't one.

Pick one version for a project and stick with that version for the WHOLE project (even if it spans several years).  If you use sub's, require they use whatever version is speced (require that version in any contract documents).  If they don't have that version, they either don't get the job, or upgrade to the one spec'd.

Also, remember that different verticles don't play well with others in their same "base" release.

It's the nature of Autodesk's sales plan.

Good Luck!!

Reid

[TravisNave]

I agree completely.  Stick with one version.  If you cannot afford to bring the other seats up on Subscription, you might consider network activating a few seats of your latest version so as to share the licenses among different designers/engineers.  Worst case, consider modifying your later versions to always save their drawings as the older version to prevent any incompatibility across platforms.  To be productive, you really need to get everyone under the same umbrella.  This is even more true if your drawings go to clients who expect you to have the latest versions.  Ultimately network seats under Subscription will save you hundreds, if not thousands, over the years... as well as a bunch of headaches. 

[Anonymous]

And....

Don't be in a hurry to upgrade to the latest version of any of the verticles.  Wait till the 1st revision/hotfix, the have ONE person load it & look for problems.  Then bring everyone in the office up AT THE SAME TIME!  Only start new projects with that version and do not try to upgrade old projects to the new software.

Even if you are on subscription, I'd reccomend a every other year cycle for upgrading.

Reid

[cnewton]

I'll second that commotion! Yearly rollouts are a PIA and nearly impossible to do. It is hard enough getting everyone up to speed on a tri-annual complete GUI revamp and our platforms can't take it either.

[pendean]

The OP's problem is not yearly roll-outs, it's the fact that with verticals a change in DG format locks out older versions of the same verticals from accessing the custom objects. So a 3-year roll-out is adding to their problems.

Plain AutoCAD, when touching a vertical file, will also 'upgrade' the AEC content so that's as big a problem as any for most verticals users.

The solution with verticals is to NEVER EVER mix DWG formats on a single project, and eventually transition all of your teams over to ONE SINGLE VERSION (new or old, no one really cares except for the Autodesk reseller). The OP has a lot of inhouse version cleanup and team building to do, there is no magic bullet or a simpler 'upgrade only ever so many years" fix.