What's new in BricsCAD Pro V21 A full library of Parametric Blocks -lets you easily manage all of your Parametric Blocks, across different files and projects. 3D geometry-driven constraints -Turn ANY parameter of your 3D model into a geometry-driven constraint. Use the PARAMETRIZE command to detect parametric elements. BricsCAD ® Pro V21, adds more than just new modeling features. Portions of our modeling core have been refactored, to better utilize multi-threading, wherever possible. These are the types of improvements that you should expect from your CAD software vendor! This year all the functionality of BricsCAD ® Platinum has been brought to BricsCAD.

BricsCAD is a software application for computer-aided design (CAD), developed by Bricsys nv. The company was founded in 2002 by Erik de Keyser,^[1] a longtime CAD entrepreneur.^[2][3][4][5] In 2011 Bricsys acquired the intellectual property rights from Ledas^[6][7] for constraints-based parametric design tools, permitting the development of applications in the areas of direct modeling and assembly design. Bricsys is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, and has additional development centers in Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk, Russia; Bucharest, Romania and Singapore. Bricsys is a founding member of the Open Design Alliance,^[8] and joined the BuildingSMART International^[9] consortium in December 2016.

In 2018, Bricsys nv was acquired in full by Hexagon AB of Sweden.

The BricsCAD Editions[edit]

Today, BricsCAD is available for the Windows, Linux and macOS operating systems, and comes in five, workflow-centric Editions. Prior to the release of V21, a sixth edition called BricsCAD Platinum was available. With the release of V21, all BricsCAD Platinum functionality was moved to BricsCAD Pro, and the Platinum Edition was deprecated.

• BricsCAD Lite ('BricsCAD Classic' in V20 and below) is designed and optimized for 2D drafting workflows. It reads and writes native DWG, and offers a LISP API for customization and the automation of repetitive tasks.
• BricsCAD Pro contains all the functionality of BricsCAD Lite, plus 3D modeling and parametrics, standard part libraries, a rendering engine, a materials library, and an Autodesk AutoCAD ObjectARX-compatible development system that supports hundreds of third-party application programs. In V21 and above, BricsCAD Pro offers the features of the deprecated Platinum Edition, including 3D constraint system management, surface entity creation and lofting, TIN surface creation, deformable modeling, automatic healing of imported solid geometry, automatic design intent recognition, and basic assembly creation & editing.
• BricsCAD BIM contains the functionality of BricsCAD Pro, and adds a concept-through-documentation Building Information Modeling workflow. BricsCAD BIM uses ACIS as its core modeler, allowing push-pull, free-form development of concept models. Low level-of-development (LOD) massing models can be automatically converted to a Building Information Model using an A.I.-assisted workflow, called BIMIFY. BricsCAD BIM also supports the concept of 'continuous Level of Development' via a machine learning / A.I.-assisted feature named PROPAGATE. This feature supports the concept of 'model once, use many times' with regard to BIM data refinement. In BricsCAD BIM V21, sheet set generation has also been automated, with the first delivery of a drawing sheet standards manager. The core database schema of BricsCAD BIM is based on the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) from BuildingSMART International. BricsCAD BIM is certified by BuildingSMART International as compliant with the IFC openBIM 'IFC4' import and export schemas.^[10]
• BricsCAD Mechanical contains all the functionality of BricsCAD Pro, and is optimized for 3D mechanical part and component design. It contains an assembly modeling workflow, the creation of sheet metal parts using unique lofted solid representations, kinematic animations, bills-of-materials and exploded-view creation tools. Like BricsCAD Pro, BricsCAD Mechanical is based on a push-pull, direct modeling engine. It is a history-free modeler, and is claimed to be free of the 'regeneration failures' of history-based modelers.
• BricsCAD Ultimate is a bundle that combines all the BricsCAD editions - Classic, Pro, BIM and Mechanical - into a single installer package.

The BricsCAD 30 day free trial download is a full commercial version of the BricsCAD Ultimate Edition. During the trial, customers can use the RUNASLEVEL command to try any of the BricsCAD Editions. At the end of the trial period, BricsCAD reverts to a free-of-cost 3D solid modeler, called BricsCAD Shape. At any time, a trial version (or an installation of BricsCAD Shape) can be converted to a full commercial license with the entry of a valid license key. The license key determines the user's Edition.

BricsCAD BIM, BricsCAD Mechanical and BricsCAD Ultimate were added to the BricsCAD product family in late 2018. Prior to V19, the BricsCAD BIM product was delivered as a module called 'BIM for BricsCAD', and required a separate license of BricsCAD Platinum. BricsCAD Mechanical was added with the release of BricsCAD V19. It was based on the 3D direct modeling functionality sourced from the pre-V19 'Sheet Metal for BricsCAD' module, and additional MCAD toolsets, developed in-house.

All BricsCAD editions use the Open Design Alliance Drawing API software development platform, giving BricsCAD read and write capability of the DWG file format, made popular by Autodesk'sAutoCAD. BricsCAD reads and writes DWG files directly via its NEW, OPEN, SAVE and SAVEAS commands. The software is capable of most contemporary AutoCAD release functions. BricsCAD is currently localized into 15 language versions.

Communicator for BricsCAD[edit]

Communicator for BricsCAD is an add-on that imports and exports 3D CAD data (geometry & Product Manufacturing Information [PMI]) for data exchange with major Mechanical CAD programs (e.g. CATIA, PTC Creo, Solid Edge, NX/UG, SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor) and several industry-standard neutral file formats. The BricsCAD Communicator works with BricsCAD Pro for single part import/export, and BricsCAD Mechanical for assembly import/export.

BricsCAD Shape[edit]

In January 2018 Bricsys released a free-of-charge conceptual modelling tool called BricsCAD Shape.^[11] It was derived from the BricsCAD solid modelling core.

The geometry domain of BricsCAD Shape is equivalent to that of BricsCAD and the native file format of both products is DWG. BricsCAD Shape has a simplified user interface that reduces command options to a minimum for support of effective solids modelling.^[12] BricsCAD Shape also includes a library of parametric windows and doors, materials libraries and a set of 3D furniture and objects.

Bricsys 24/7[edit]

Bricsys also provides a cloud collaboration SaaS (software as a service) Common Data Environment (CDE) called Bricsys 24/7. Prior to 9 November 2017, Bricsys 24/7 was known as Chapoo.^[13]

It comes in two versions:

• Bricsys 24/7 is the Common Data Environment (CDE) for document management and workflow automation including role-based security.
• BricsCAD Cloud is an in-product panel that gives BricsCAD users access to cloud storage, file viewing, collaboration and simple file locking / versioning, on the Bricsys 24/7 cloud. A basic access and storage allocation is a part of the BricsCAD Maintenance offering. Additional BricsCAD Cloud storage is available for a fee.

APIs and customization[edit]

BricsCAD implements many of the AutoCAD Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). In general, BricsCAD provides a nearly identical subset of AutoCAD-equivalent function names. In the case of non-compiled AutoCAD applications (e.g. LISP, Diesel and DCL), these programs can be loaded and executed directly in BricsCAD. Specifically regarding LISP routines, BricsCAD supports AutoCAD Vl, Vlr, Vla and Vlax functions. Bricsys also supports developers who wish to use LISP encryption, BricsCAD cannot read AutoCAD FAS (compiled LISP) files.

Most compiled application programs developed for AutoCAD's Advanced Runtime eXtension (ObjectARX) facility require recompilation with the BricsCAD Runtime eXtension (BRX) libraries. BRX is source code-compatible with AutoCAD's ARX 2018, with a few exceptions. Bricsys also supports the deprecated Autodesk Development System (ADS) through BricsCAD's (also deprecated) SDS interface.

Partners[edit]

Bricsys works with application development partners to bring AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction), Civil, GIS and Mechanical CAD tools.

Bricsys offers LGS 2D and 3D, two component technologies that enable 2D and 3D constraint management.^[7] Bricsys offers licensing of these modules to software developers that build products on Windows (32/64-bit), MacOS, and Linux, for integration into their own software products. Licensees for these modules include ASCON (CAD), Cimatron (CAD/CAM) and others.

Comparison of speed[edit]

According to BricsCAD advocates, BricsCAD's OpenLisp-based run-time environment is faster than AutoLISP (in Autodesk, Inc's AutoCAD).^[14]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Erik de Keyser, CEO, Founder of Bricsys
2. ^Can You Make Money Selling $500 CAD Software? The Bricsys Story, CAD Insider, October 3, 2012.
3. ^Randall Newton, Bricsys aims to expand its low-cost CAD empire, GraphicSpeak - A Jon Peddie Research Publication, October 11, 2012.
4. ^Randall Newton, Bricsys delivers viable alternative universe for DWG-based CAD development, GraphicSpeak - A Jon Peddie Research Publication, October 26, 2011.
5. ^Get brisk with Bricscad, Geospatial Today
6. ^Menhirs NV Acquires Intellectual Property Rights from LEDAS
7. ^ ^abRalph Grabowski, Exclusive Q&A: What it means, now that Bricsys bought IP from Ledas, WorldCAD Access, October 5, 2011.
8. ^Open Design Alliance - ODA Members
9. ^'Bricsys join buildingSMART as international members'. buildingSMART. 2016-12-19. Archived from the original on 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
10. ^'News - Bricsys joins buildingSMART to give the .dwg community access to the huge potential of the BIM approach'. bricsys.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
11. ^'You're going to love BricsCAD Shape! - Bricsys CAD Blog'. Bricsys CAD Blog. 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
12. ^'New 3D-Modeling Software Increases Efficiency by Focusing on Fast, Intuitive 'Shaping' Inputs'. ArchDaily. 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
13. ^'Bricsys 24/7: next generation AEC collaboration - Bricsys CAD Blog'. Bricsys CAD Blog. 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
14. ^https://www.cadnauseam.com/2017/01/21/bricscads-lisp-kicks-sand-in-the-face-of-autocads/

External links[edit]

Bricsys launched BricsCAD V21, available at different 5 license levels:

BricsCAD Lite , BricsCAD Pro , BricsCAD Mechanical , BricsCAD BIM and BricsCAD Ultimate.

Changes of BricsCAD V21 compared to BricsCAD V20:

Now it is possible to 3D constraint 3D Polyline between their vertices and edges, making it easier to manage the dimensions of 3D Polyline shapes before creating 3D symbol from 3D Polyline.

Bricscad Pro V20

GEOMETRY-DRIVENCONSTRAINTS

Now it is possible to switch parameters created by constraint commands to geometry-driven mode. When changing dimensions of symbol these geometry-driven parameters will be changed according to these dimensions.

DMCHAMFER

Chamfer command can now create asymmetrical or symmetrical edges with 2 different distances depending on the requirements of symbol, creating chamfer edges like this will help us reduce time to create chamfered edge in 2D according to the requirements of symbol.

Types of chamfer:

Constant asymmetrical chamfer

Constant angular chamfer

Variable symmetrical chamfer

Variable asymmetrical chamfer

Variable angular chamfer

DMFILLET

Now that the fillet command can create a fillet with 2 different radiuses, creating fillet like that will help us save more time when creating fillet depending on 2D requirement of symbol.

DMTHREAD

For round or conical 3D symbol, we can now create a separate thread for symbol and it can be shown on the 2D drawing, making it possible to create thread without having to create thread on the 2D drawings of symbol.

MESHES

This year Bricsys has made huge improvements to the way BricsCAD handles meshes.

Mesh Properties

There are now more mesh options in the properties panel. Including properties of mesh sub-entities such as faces, edges and vertices.

Improved displaying of mesh geometry

The improve display of mesh, not only looks good, it also makes dimensioning and editing way easier.

Convert Mesh to Solid

You can now convert Meshes dirrectly to solids using the new ConvToSolid command.

In addition, SketchUp files imports have been greatly improved. Importing Sketchup files is faster and more accurate. For BricsCAD V21, Sketchup entities are imported as named blocks and render materials and textures now, also imported.

MANIPULATOR ENHANCEMENTS

Do even more with the Manipulator, in BricsCAD V21. Check out the HotKeyAssistant for hints and use the Ctrl key to cycle through options.

Preserve connections during rotations

You now have the option to preserve connections during a rotation. This means that all adjacent entities will be extended automatically, drastically improving your 3D modeling speed and saving you oodles of time.

Move or rotate vertices with full control

For BricsCAD V21 you can also move or rotate vertices with full control. You now have the choice to move vertices, with or without triangulation

CIVIL

CORRIDORS

Beside the possibility of creating topographic, now Civil also allow the creating of infrastructure like road, railway, bridge… by using corridor commands. This group of commands is a useful tool to create roads, bridges that lie along topographic depending on your creativity.

BALANCE GRADING VOLUMES

Use the new GradingBalance command to calculate and execute the optimal position of a new building project balancing the cut and fill volumes of your TIN grading; ensure that the fill area matches the cutaway and save yourself the time and energy transporting large quantities of dirt.

CIVIL 3D IMPORT

Bricscad V21 Pro

Further improving the open CAD possibilities of BricsCAD Pro, The new Civil3DImport command enables you to create multiple civil entities, from an external Autodesk® Civil 3D drawing, in one operation.