I I’d like to start off by saying that I am not here to blatantly bash either product, or the users of said products. Since these programs are both utilized in the same industries, and some of our members are multiplatform users, I felt that this could be an educational address. I realize that this is a hot topic which tends to inspire heated debate, since users can be fiercely loyal to the program that they first learned on (or completely frustrated with it). But, as anyone who has actually worked with both programs can tell you, each has their strong points and their weaknesses.
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I’d like to start off by saying that I am not here to
blatantly bash either product, or the users of said
products
Since these programs are both utilized in the same
industries, and some of our members are multi-platform
users, I felt that this could be an educational address
I realize that this is a hot topic which tends to inspire
heated debate, since users can be fiercely loyal to the
program that they first learned on (or completely
frustrated with it) But, as anyone who has actually
worked with both programs can tell you, each has their
strong points and their weaknesses
This article was written with Autocad 2005 and
Microstation V8.5 in mind
Before we begin, I will put in a little terminology
translation of equivalent entities, for those of us not
familiar with both products:
What are the Dif erences?
Cost
AutoCAD Price: $3,470 software $495 for subscription
(while subscription is not mandatory, Autodesk is
strongly ‘encouraging’ it, by charging a higher price for 2
version upgrades, and dropping upgrade capabilities for
older versions.)
Microstation Price: $4,785 street price; $4,450 for
subscribers to SELECT, Bentley's annual maintenance
program, which costs $625 a year
(Subscription is mandatory)
Both companies will allow you to download/order trials of
their products before you purchase.
Formats
Autocad can work with dwg format
(MAP and Revit can open dgn files)
Microstation can work with dgn and dwg.
Autocad can save down to R2000, or R12 via dxf
(of course, some info is lost There is also a batch R14 converter available as a download from Autodesk’s website.)
Microstation can save down to any release
(some info could be lost) Autocad, on average, makes a file format change every
2nd release
Microstation has had 2 file formats total
(As an aside, the maintenance employees I work with had been using Volo View Express from Autodesk for viewing my files, but, with the file format change in R2004, Autodesk dropped support for the free viewer.
So, when I upgraded to 2005 from 2002, I switched them from Autodesk’s viewer to Bentley View Bentley View is
a free download and will open dgn and dwg files There
is a learning curve, but, it was easier than getting administration to pay $99 a pop for a dozen seats of Volo View for guys who rarely even turn on their pc’s.)
Workplanes and Origins
Autocad has a model space, and a paper space, which allows you to draw at a 1:1 scale, and plot at a 1:1 scale Microstation has a model space equivalent, which requires that a drawing border be inserted in model space at a multiplication factor equal to the final scale of the drawing (does this make ms users better at math? I’ve encountered many acad users who have a hard time with scale factors I keep a cheat sheet with conversion factors myself.)
Autocad allows a single model space, and multiple paper spaces
Microstation allows multiple model spaces
The origin of 0,0 is in the lower-left of the drawing in Autocad
The origin of 0,0 could be anywhere in a drawing, perhaps the center
My conversion ‘cheat sheet’ I select the viewport and choose the zoom command, then key in the factor,
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(example: key in z <enter> 1/96xp to get to a scale of
1/8” = 1’0”)
This is assuming that my page setup of set to plot 1:1
References
Autocad and Microstation both use references (x-refs) in
a similar manner The obvious only difference that I am
aware of is that an ms drawing can reference itself
Microstation is touted as being more intuitive with their
referencing, but I don’t have enough experience in that
area to make the statement myself
Selection
Autocad is rumored to be stronger with OSNAPS, but,
no, I have nothing to back that up with at this time
But, Microstation does have keypoint snaps (I am
assuming that this is without the bothersome ‘divide’
command, then snapping to nodes, as it is done in
acad)
GUI
I learned Autocad on R10, so, I am still one of those
dinosaurs who uses the command line for everything I
think that, for me, was the single most intimidating thing
about trying to use Microstation, which is very mouse
intensive
(Although, in these more enlightened days of toolbars
and palettes, I find that even Autocad users make fun of
me for that habit.)
Layers
Both programs have layers which have associated color,
linestyle and lineweight
Autocad can have any number of layers with any name
Microstation has 63 numbered layers, which cannot be
renamed (you can associate a name with to the level
number if you choose.)
Colors
Until recently, Autocad had a fixed 256-color palette,
now, of course, they have true-color capabilities (you
can create your own standard palette of colors by
creating a color book.)
In Microstation, each drawing has it’s own unique color
table (e.g., color #1 could be blue in one file and
magenta in another)
Acad uses color to define a plotted thickness, but, in ms,
color is pretty much for display purposes only
Drawing Entities
Both use basically the same types of objects (one of the few exceptions would be that there is no equivalent to acad shapes in ms)
Text Styles
Both programs can utilize True Type and also have proprietary fonts
Common Features
Electronic Signatures Standards Checking Associative Dimensions Blocks (ms has a 6 character limit for names) Attributes (ms does not allow blocks which are comprised only of attributes)
Experienced Autocad users know that there are probably
a dozen different methods to achieve the same end result, and knowing Microstation would be just like adding a few more
In summary, both of these programs have some strong advantages over the other, depending upon your needs and working knowledge This is an important thing to keep in mind when you have to work with people who utilize a different program other than what you are personally experienced with
Information for this article was taken primarily from the following two articles:
AutoCad to Microstation Translation By: L Michael Siers
Digital CAD
Using Microstation in a DWG World By: Nigel Davies of CADventure BentleyUser.org 01/05/04
(Disclaimer: I would like to note that my personal experience with Microstation is limited to a single semester in college, and the information in this article was gleaned from the Bentley website, and the AUGI discussion forums [comments from forum users BillyMonter and 149648 sparked my interest in this topic] So, if I am at all amiss, please, go easy on me.)
- Melanie Stone works in Facilities Management, and is an AUGI forum moderator She can be reached at editor@gatewayaug.com