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Punch! Viacad 2D/3D for Mac | 
 enlarge | From: Punch! Software
Category: Software
List Price: $99.00
Buy New: $81.48
You Save: $17.52 (18%)
New (8) from $81.48
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 2877
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Mac Os X Intel, Mac Os X
Media: CD-ROM
Operating System: Mac OS X
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 8.2 x 3
MPN: 92100
Model: 92100
UPC: 664446921000
EAN: 0664446921000
ASIN: B000NKRJ10
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: SAME CURRENT VERSION 5.0 * BRAND NEW AUTHENTIC SEALED RETAIL BOX AS DISPLAYED * CONTAINS ALL AVAILABLE PRODUCT LICENSES USER GUIDES & WARRANTIES * NEED IT NOW? PAY FOR STANDARD AND WE'LL SHIP ANY ORDER THAT ARRIVES BEFORE 5PM THAT DAY AND OUR VETTED 5 STAR STAFF WILL E-MAIL YOU A USPS DELIVERY CONFIRMATION NUMBER SO YOU CAN TRACK YOUR ORDER FROM OUR DOOR TO YOURS FOR WORRY FREE TRANSACTIONS!
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| Features:
| • | Complete set of line, arc, circle, polygon, ellipse and spline tools | | • | The ability to create tangential lines, fillets, chamfers, bosses, shells, variable radius blends | | • | Boolean operations in solids, extrusions, healing and repair, parametric features and associativity at high precision | | • | Parts Libraries with up to 26,000 parts -- create 2D and 3D designs using drag-and-drop functions and dynamic positioning | | • | Ready-to-use models of HVAC networks, kitchen elements, posed figures, office furniture, mechanical parts, home elements and more |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
ViaCAD will change they way you think about 3D design. In ViaCAD, 3D designs automatically create 2D details, plans and elevations with a single mouse click. The new release creates section and detail views, Bill of Materials lists, and includes complete 3D editing tools, annotation, and dimensions, among many other practical features. The software also delivers industry standard interoperability including Google SketchUp, AutoCAD 2007, Adobe Illustrator and other common 3D formats. It's full-powered 2D and 3D design at a price everyone can afford! Easy 3D rendering with options for lighting from ambient, point, distant and spot locations Supprts multiple tools & formats - SketchUp (.skp), AutoCAD 2007, Adobe Illustrator, DXF/DWG, ACIS SAT, IGES, Rhinoceros, STL, 3DS Max, TurboCAD for Mac, Punch Objects and more
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| Customer Reviews:
 You Get What You Pay For. January 2, 2008
Ruffus (Chicago, IL)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Punch! Viacad 2D/3D for Mac
Let me first say that I realize that this is a sub $100 'CAD' program and that I may have had my sights set too high from the start, but that still doesn't account for the drawbacks of this package.
I am a Mechanical Engineer and am very used to fully featured 3D Cad programs such as Solidworks. I have existed in the PC world for most of this software use, but several years ago I ditched my PC and purchased a G4 powerbook for video production use at home and have never looked back. I wanted to get a cheap CAD program for my MAC to work on some basic design projects at home. Solidworks is a $4k+ program and this is $90, so I was a bit skeptical from the start, but $90 wasn't a bad gamble.
Performance wise, this software runs very well on my G5 powermac tower (I have a decent graphics card, but also run with 4GB of system RAM). Even with my massive system memory, there are some performance slowdowns with more complex shapes and shading in the 3D mode.
My biggest complaint about this package is the lack of parametric modelling features. I wanted to use this package for some side projects to design some very simple sheet metal parts and the very first operation I wanted to model was a slot in a part. Making the slot was easy enough in the 2D mode. The problem came when I wanted to define the spatial position of this slot on my part. I tried to add a dimension to show the offset of the slot from the 2 edges of my basic part, but this is not possible, since dimensions are just dumb text with no real driving relation to the geometry.
I've tried many different ways of accomplishing this BASIC function without success. I even tried to pack up my files and send them to ViaCAD technical support to get some assistance to see if I was just missing something. I didn't hear a response from them for over a MONTH! Even then, it wasn't until I re-submitted my question that I finally got a response (6 weeks after my original inquiry) saying that I shouldn't compare Solidworks to ViaCAD. Ha. They also told me that I could use the 'nudge' feature and create my geometry and move it in to the position that I need using the nudge command with edited properties to nudge it the distance that I wanted it offset. Ok, that's fine for a simple linear relation, but what about radii, curve offsets, etc. It might work, but it seems to be a bit more trouble that I was hoping for.
What this boils down to is this, if you are buying this package because you want a cheap CAD package, but are used to much more powerful programs, you will most likely be disappointed. I honestly cannot understand how they could possibly model some of the example items on the package without the functionality that is lacking in this program. Maybe you could really spend a lot of time to dig in and find work-arounds to accomplish everything that I want to do, but I don't have the time for that and would rather come in on the weekend and use Solidworks at my office for 10 minutes to create the geometry I need.
If you are just looking for play around with making some very simple 3D geometry and have never used more advanced CAD software, then this package will entertain you for a little while, but might begin to frustrate you if you try to get too advanced. Then again, maybe if you've never had the features of the more expensive packages, you won't miss them...
 Great CAD program, Simple yet powerful September 15, 2007
M. Mockenhaupt (Chicago)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Years ago, I've used Claris Cad and Vellum for the MAC.
-ViaCAD contains the same Mac frendly menu and is simple to learn.
-Not complex and yet very powerfull.
The Logicursor is a familiar item if you have used Claris and Vellum. The cursor will guide the final points of what you are drawing. It take about 3 minutes to understand how to use it...and saves tons of time and simplifies design.
Solid modeling is a nice feature, I cannot rate this as I have not used it much, but the tutorial is easy and I made simple models in minutes. Modeling is very simple to make and high quality
The minumum requirement is a G4 mac. I installed on my 5 year old G3 800 iBook with OS 10.4.1. Runs a little slow, but works fine. Kudos to both Punch and Apple(for making 10.4 run fast)...not many people get powerful new software on old 'slow' computers.
ViaCAD: a "new" CAD package with a lot of history and functionality June 4, 2007
Mark B. Hancock (Livermore,)
23 out of 26 found this review helpful
ViaCAD 5 is the first release of Concepts 3D since their acquisition by Punch! software. While priced like a 2D illustration or CAD tool (TurboCAD 2D for Mac, for example), it is a 5th generation of the Concepts 3D CAD engine which has been used in their own products as well as OEM'd to firms like Ashlar Vellum and IMSI TurboCAD for Mac.
I'm a use of the Concepts Unlimited 3D version 4, a package normally selling for over $2K. The PDF available on the Punch! site highlights the differences in features, the main one no present in ViaCAD being more advanced 3D rendering capabilities with surface textures.
Folks, this package, either for Windows or the Mac, is a genuine bargain- I bought it to have a license install of the full 3D editing capabilities on a new MB Pro, while the "high end" Concepts Unlimited sits on my G5 PowerMac. This is NOT the kind of limited functionality 2D illustration program you usually wind up with for under $100- this is a full featured 3D CAD program that is quite easy to use (in part due to the user interface, including what ViaCAD now calls "Logicursor", which was/is called "Drafting Assitant" in Ashlar Vellum products. Advanced construction and snap features combined with parametric editing after the intial entry make object creation and basic drawing quite easy and fast with just a little practice.
Additionally, there are a number of UI modifications and refinements in this ViaCAD version 5 compared with Concepts 3D version 4, including how switching between 2D and 3D views is handled, rotation of view point in 3D, and some other tweaks which streamline and simplify the user interface.
Standard features include extensive Import and Export format support, including IGES, SAT, STEP, ACIS, AutoCAD, Rhino3DM, and 3D Studio.
3D support includes surface modeling and solids modeling. The solids modeling using the most current ACIS kernel is quite powerful, and supports fast editing of complex 3D objects, with an emphasis on mechanical design support needed for castable or machinable parts. Extrusions, swept solids with curves, bosses, shelling, etc, this is a real production capable tool- too many useful features to list.
Currently I'm only using this as a hobbyist, for 3D design for HT and high end loudspeakers.
Though the package has some tools making it interesting for architectural design, that's not really it's intent- furniture design, now that it would do well.
Documentation is a manual that's a standard paperback size about 7/8" thick, ~340 pages, and two double sided reference cards the same size as the page size of the manual.
Very recommended.
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