Hot Door at HotDoor.com has a CAD plugin for Illustrator that makes it
possible to use it as a 2-D CAD-like program - I use it for most of the
exhibit drawing that I need to do and can do renderings with a CAD layer
either turned on or off for printing. Saves me a lot of time - but it is not
a full CAD program - just handy and worth having as a tool.

Darrol Shillingburg
Exhibit Designer
Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum
Las Cruces, NM



----- Original Message -----
From: "Lisa Friedlander" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2001 7:21 PM
Subject: Re: cad programs for exhibit design


> I work for a Mac-based company specializing in the design and construction
> of  museum exhibits,  and  have used Architreon for many years. It is
> currently owend by a company in France but available in the US. Our
> designers work back and forth between Architreon, Freehand, Photoshop, and
> rendering by hand to achieve the drawings we present.
>
> We plan to upgrade to FormZ.
>
> Freehand and Illustrator are not CAD-like programs (with 3D rendering and
> convenient scaling capabilities) but various designers use these programs
> for elevations, plans and to visual how an exhibit will look.
>
> Canvas may have 3D capabilities, haven't used it in a long time. Otherwise
> it's similar to Freehand and Illustrator.
>
> In my experience, these programs are more user-friendly that CAD and give
> the designer greater capability to make drawings that do not look/feel
> highly mechanical. But the programs are limited in the degree of
> construction drawing the designer can easily/accurately generate.
>
> As Margot said, no program is going to give you beautiful results. It
takes
> a fair amount of time,  experience and skill to work successfully with any
> of the complex graphic programs.
>
> Lisa Friedlander
> Split Rock Studios
> 2071 Gateway Blvd.
> St. Paul, MN 55112
> 651-631-2211
>
>
> >Are there any good CAD related programs that are helpful in designing
> >exhibit displays?
> >
> >My director would like a system that would allow the staff to view what
an
> >exhibit will look like prior to the first nail being driven.
> >
> >Any advice?
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
> Lisa Friedlander
> [log in to unmask]
>
> =========================================================
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to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
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[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).
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=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).