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Is cheap software any good?
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An on-line companion to the article published in Landscape Design Dec 96/Jan 97(LD 256).
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Context | | |
Just over 11 years ago I was spending seven and a half hours
a day sitting in front of a green computer screen and staring
at a blinking green square. Strangely not much has changed; these
days, in common with many professionals, all of my work involves
the use of computers and so I still spend a great deal of my time
in front of a computer screen.
Some things have changed. The computer I now use is no longer the size of four fridge-freezers which need to be kept in an air conditioned room in a central London basement. In fact it's not much bigger than a food processor and resides in a relatively uncontrolled environment on a kitchen table (which is currently what passes for my office). The software has also changed. It is no longer unstable, dependent upon arcane command line sequences to make it do anything remotely useful and it's a lot more colourful, in fact, any colour you like (including green!). Now I'm not going to get into one of those nostalgic memory trips about how great it used to be to use those fine old pieces of electronic equipment, out on the edge, pushing back the frontiers, because quite frankly the resources we had to use 11 years ago were crap. They were "state-of-the-art" but they were practically unusable. It took a whole day to model a simple building form in 3D, laboriously inputting the co-ordinates one at a time on the keyboard - what a waste of time, now I could do the same thing in under five minutes. But, 11 years ago it was new, it was exciting and most importantly, someone was prepared to pay for it. The thing that changed this "underground" use of computers was the advent of the personal computer and along with it came the first "off-the-shelf" software programs. Pioneer programs like WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 changed the way we thought about computing. For the first time we were using software that was also being used by thousands of other people. Unlike the specialist, bespoke software of the previous era, one was not alone, there were user groups, manuals and most importantly the software was considered to be a product by it's authors and we it's consumers. Market forces had swung into action because as we all know, consumers always want better product and the software companies were happy to supply it because each revision brought in a revenue. To the average landscape professional all of this new technology didn't seem that important in that it didn't directly affect the way we did our jobs. Some people may have noticed that the secretarial staff had replaced their electric typewriters with a PC and a copy of WordPerfect but essentially offices still worked in the way they had always worked. Then, one day a new PC arrived in the office, it was more powerful than the word processors and it could display 256 colours at the same time. Along with this pioneer PC came a copy of AutoCAD and at this point it became clear that things were going to change. It wasn't really the things this PC could do which made an impression, it was still quite slow and the software was difficult to use but the potential was clear. The PC platform had become a world wide standard and one began to get the feeling that if a program had a bug or couldn't do something, then the next version of the software would address these issues and that if your computer was too slow to complete a particular task in a reasonable time, your next one wouldn't be. And so, slowly but surely software became more stable, easier to use and more comprehensive and hardware simply became faster and more colourful. Software had entered the now familiar cycle of constant revisions and improvements. Many software products are now in their 6th and 7th generations, hence CorelDRAW! 6 and WordPerfect 7. Of course these numbers are not always a good indicator of their lineage; Microsoft WORD jumped from version 2 to version 6 because it's main rival, WordPerfect was already there. AutoCAD rather curiously jumped from release 2.4 to release 9. At the same time as the large software houses were churning out the corporate products, many hobbyist programmers and small software houses began to produce simple crude utilities which they either sold very cheaply (on a try-before-you-buy basis) or simply gave away. The concept of Shareware and Freeware was born. Much of the software written on this basis wasn't terribly good but there were some notable exceptions. Just as the corporate software products have improved over the years so shareware programs have improved. The advance in programming tools and the advent of visual programming languages have enabled the hobbyists to produce software which is favourably comparable to those produced by their commercial cousins and often at a fraction of the price. It is also true that commercial software is now much better value for money. For example, your word processor can now do many of the things that only specialist DTP software was able to do and anyone who has recently bought CorelDRAW! will know that for the one price you get more programs, fonts and clip art than you can shake a stick at. For the small office or the landscape architect on a budget it's never been a better time to buy or acquire software. |
What Software Do I Need? | | |
As recently as 5 or 6 years ago Landscape Architects, who had
anything to do with computers considered AutoCAD to be their primary
or only tool for the graphical presentation of their work. This is
not surprising considering the cost. AutoCAD still costs a fortune
at £3,150 and that's before you start thinking about whether
you need Landcadd (now owned by Eagle Point), KeySCAPE or newcomer
Artisan. And depending upon your decision, the cost could double.
Surely something this expensive can do almost anything? Sadly
that was not true 5 or 6 years ago and it's still not true now,
as anyone who has attempted to use AutoCAD for Landscape Planning
work will tell you.
Fortunately the computing world is now jam-packed full of low cost, good quality graphics software which leave AutoCAD standing in the presentation stakes. |
Computer Aided Design | | |
If CAD is your preferred medium, and there are some things that
can only be achieved using CAD software, there are a variety of
options to suite all budgets. £14.99 will get you a software
package called 3D Landscape Design (stocked by larger branches
of WH Smith). Although the software is primarily designed for
non-professional use it can actually be used to some effect if
you are a sole trader designing mainly gardens. The software runs
under windows, requires no more than a standard "word processing"
PC and produces amazingly good but basic 3D images. Of course
you don't get terrain modelling thrown in but if your requirements
are simple you don't need to spend £6,000 on AutoCAD/Landcadd.
Another very low cost option is 3D Landscape 1 (£16.95) by
a company called FastTrak. They also produce a heavyweight version,
3D Landscape 2 (£34.00) "The professional choice!"
apparently, which boasts "WalkAbout Technology TM".
Such programs are so cheap that, quite frankly it's not worth
being without them. They may be just the thing for your next client
presentation.
The one fact that makes many of the lower cost (sub £500) CAD packages more attractive these days is that some of them now use the AutoCAD DWG file format. TurboCAD 2D/3D (£59.95) by IMSI will read and write native DWG and DXF file formats, so it is no longer absolutely necessary to have AutoCAD because everyone else is using it. The latest version of TurboCAD is actually two programs in one box. TurboCAD proper is a fully featured 2D drafting package whilst the 3D element is a standalone with a 3D Studio type interface. The TurboCAD feature set also compares very favourably with AutoCAD LT version 2 (£329.95). For those of you who are familiar with AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT is a good option. At only one tenth the price of a full AutoCAD it delivers about 80-90% of the functionality but excludes most of the 3D options of the full product. Again, you need to assess your requirements before buying. Another couple of mid price CAD program to look out for are VisualCADD and Corel CAD for Windows'95. These products are both owned by Corel, so look out for good value in future versions. You can download a 30 day trial version of Visual CADD from the Corel freebie page . What you can't do with any of these CAD options is add landscape specific functionality in the shape of Landcadd, KeySCAPE or any other third party add-on. However, a new class of product is now being developed which may resolve this problem. Autodesk (the makers of AutoCAD) are now licensing the AutoCAD drafting engine to third party developers, an arrangement known as OEM. The first fruits of this arrangement as they affect Landscape Architecture is a product called Site Designer which is produced by the makers of Landcadd. Site Designer 2 has the same look and feel as AutoCAD for Windows but includes many of the features found in Landcadd. The amazing thing is that it costs less than AutoCAD at £1,795. Obviously this is still not a budget price but it does constitute a considerable saving over a full AutoCAD/Landcadd installation. Key Systems are currently working on a suite of new OEM products, the first of which, KeyPLANTING (£1,695), for the preparation of softworks contract drawings, should be available by the time you read this. For anyone who is currently looking to implement CAD in a design office, these new OEM products must be evaluated alongside the main AutoCAD options. One other product worth a mention, which will be of interest to Garden Designers and Landscape Architects working on smaller schemes is Garden Designer Professional by Aldex Software. Garden Designer Professional is basically a third party add-on for DesignCAD. Aldex sell a combined DesignCAD/Garden Designer bundle for £500 if you purchase over the internet or you can get Garden Designer Professional for £195 if you already have DesignCAD. Either way, you end up with a dedicated garden design product for about £500. Garden Designer Professional is a 2D only package but it does deliver all of the functionality you would expect from a much more expensive product. Features such as DXF import, survey triangulation and a whole host of symbols and line styles are included. |
Illustration | | |
For illustration, mapping and presentation there is not much that
can beat CorelDRAW! for sheer value for money. For under £300
you get possibly the best graphics and illustration software on
the market, a well specified photo editing program (Photo-Paint)
and a whole host of other stuff, including 3D and animation software.
The latest version of
CorelDRAW!
(version 7) runs only under Windows
95, but version 5 for Windows 3.x now costs under £200 and
has 85-90% of the features of version 7. I now consider CorelDRAW! to be as important a tool as AutoCAD in the Landscape drawing
office. If your budget is very limited there are still some products
you should consider in this area, Serif DrawPlus 2.0 (£29.95)
for example is a good basic illustration program. DrawPlus 3.0 has just been released and you can download a 30 day trial version from the Serif site.
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Photo Editing | | |
Photo editing is another area where economies can be made. At
just under £400 Adobe Photoshop 4 is the undisputed champion
of photo editing but if your requirements are relatively modest
there are other alternatives. For very basic photo editing and
image manipulation Paint Shop Pro is ideal. This is a shareware
program so you can try it for free before you decide to buy it.
The latest version is version 4.1 which is Windows'95/NT4 only but
you can still get version 3.12 for Windows 3.x. You will find
it on the cover CD of PC PRO magazine every month or if you are
on the Internet you can download it from the JASC site. You can
use the program for 30 days while you're making your mind up and
if you like it, you can buy it for £50. Another better specified
alternative is Corel
Photo-Paint which comes free with CorelDRAW!,
although you can buy it separately for £145, version 6 (or
cheaper for version 5). Version 5 of this program, now known as Photo-Paint 5 Plus, provides about
80% of the functionality of Photoshop 4 and is Windows 3.x compatible but it is a little clumsy
in operation. However, the latest version, Photo-Paint 7 (Windows 95 and NT only) is a great improvement and there
is little to choose between it and Photoshop 4 (although the purists
won't agree) and at a fraction of the cost (or free if you already
have CorelDRAW!) it's a bargain.
An example of photomontage work using Corel Photo-Paint 6. |
Desk Top Publishing | | |
If your output is in document format, you don't necessarily need fancy DTP software. Although Adobe Pagemaker (£400) and Quark Express (£550) are the industry standards there are good value alternatives. Corel have resurected Ventura, the once great DTP program. Now in version 7, Corel have applied the usual value for money package which they are renowned for. Most documents could easily be produced using Microsoft Publisher (£55) or Serif Page Plus (£45). At one tenth the price of the industry standards these represent real value for money. An even cheaper alternative is to use your word processor. Most modern word processors like Microsoft WORD now include many basic DTP functions. Again, if your requirements are modest and you are prepared to spend a bit of time getting to know your word processor better, you may find you can achieve a good looking document with embedded graphics, tables, charts and graphs without the need for DTP software. |
Other Software | | |
There is a whole host of software available and it's likely that there is something out there which will suit your needs and your budget. The Internet is a very useful source of shareware and free software. For example you can download Microsoft Internet Explorer free of charge from the Microsoft site. Corel also have a freebie page where a number of software utilities can be had for the cost of a phone call. Many of the programs I have already mentioned can be tried out by downloading demo versions from the Internet. |
Base Data | | |
If you are using a computer to undertake drawing work it may be
appropriate to buy digital data. Although the cost of digital
data is still quite high, it may prove cost effective in certain
circumstances. This is especially true for studies like ZVI where
contour data can take days to accurately digitise. Ordnance Survey
electronic data is now as valuable a resource to the Landscape
Architect as printed maps and plans have always been. However,
the range of data available is wide and it is important to choose
the most appropriate for the job in hand. Traditionally a CAD
based office will use vector data in DXF format as background
mapping but it may be more cost effective to use raster data and
this may also result in a better looking end product.
There are 3 OS digital data formats which are particularly useful to the Landscape Architect/Planner. Raster map bases, 10,000 black and white (£65 per tile*)
and 50,000 colour (£70 per tile*)
These bases are ideal for local and regional studies. The bases can easily be manipulated using photo editing software and they can be imported into CorelDRAW! as a backdrop to any plans or diagrams.
Vector map bases, known as Land-Line (from £18 per tile*), come in 1:1250, 1:25,00 and 1:10,000 scales and cover Urban, Rural and Moorland areas respectively. These bases can be supplied in DXF file format for import into AutoCAD or any other DXF compatible CAD program. This data can be very useful for site specific or local studies but the file sizes of these tiles mean that using more than half a dozen in combination will slow your machine down to a snails pace which makes them difficult to use for regional studies. A much better option for regional studies is the new Meridian vector data.
3D contour data known as Land-Form PROFILE (£175 per tile*)and based upon contours from the 1:10,000 maps. Contours from the 1:50,000 map series are also available and are known as Land-Form PANORAMA. This data is ideal for all terrain modelling and site analysis including Zone of Visual Influence studies (although in flat areas it may be cheaper simply to digitise from printed maps).
Although the data sources for landscape studies are many and varied it is well worth checking out the World Wide Web on the Internet to see what is available. A number of County Councils now have Web sites. One of the most useful is Devon, if you point your Web browser at http://www.devon-cc.gov.uk/ you will be able to see "Devon County Structure Plan First Review Consultation Draft" as well as a whole host of interesting statistical information about the County. If all County Councils published their structure plans on the Web it would save an awful lot of time and effort. Two other notable sources of information available on the Web are the Department of the Environment site at http://www.open.gov.uk/doe/doehome.htm and the CCTA Government Information Service at http://www.open.gov.uk/index.htm. |
Conclusion | | |
I think the key to the successful use of computer software is
to use the cheapest appropriate option at each stage of the process.
Think of the end product you want and then consider how best to
achieve this and remember, the "traditional" or most
obvious solutions are not always the best, you need to become
creative in your use of computer software.
All software prices quoted are exclusive of VAT. While the latest prices have been given, these are subject to change by the manufacturers.
David can be contacted by Email: dw@watson.u-net.com. |
CorelDRAW! can be used to draw plans with Ordnance Survey raster map bases. The layering
system allows objects to be drawn behind and in front of the map base.
