3rd planit or Cadrail? Which is a better buy?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking for thoughts as to which computer program I should buy. Presently I have 3D Railroad Concept & Design, unfortunately this company (Abracadata) has gone out of business. The last support was from 1999. While this program has been very stable and never crashed on me, it does have some irritating quirks. One of the features I really liked was the ready made library of objects of track and buildings made by various manufacturers. However a few of the quirks have lead me to explore the possibility of buying a new program. Have you heard anything favorable about 3rd planit by El Dorado or Cadrail by Sandia software? Since both are about $100 I would like to invest this wisely. What are the features you like most about this software and what do you find unpleasant?

[Anonymous]

Sorry I'm going to be no help, because I'm in the same boat as you, I don't know which is better, but I'm sure that they both have pro's and con's. I'll be watching with you to see if anyone can enlighten us !!!

[ClinchValleySD40]

These kind of questions (which is better brand A or brand B) are pretty bad. You'll get positive opinions from both sides and it really solves nothing.
For you question - both offer free demo programs. Try them, see which one you're most comfortable with. Nobody can make the decision of what's best for you except you.

[brothaslide]

I own 3rd planit. It has some quirks and is rough around the edges. Overall, I do like the program and have used it extensively to design my last layout. The 3D rendering and animation are "sub-par" and I rarely use those features.

One aspect I do like about the program is the ability to print 1:1 templates for track laying. I basically print out sections of the layout on 8 1/2 X 11" sheets, splice the sheets together and lay the track over the sheets - No guessing on easements into turns, etc.

Good luck,

Sean

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by clinchvalley

These kind of questions (which is better brand A or brand B) are pretty bad. You'll get positive opinions from both sides and it really solves nothing.
For you question - both offer free demo programs. Try them, see which one you're most comfortable with. Nobody can make the decision of what's best for you except you.

I agree.

I've had both programs, but never learned either well enough to use even a fraction of what they are capable of. (Both are now oudated versions. I had problems connecting the track with Cadrail, but suspect this has been improved in latter versions. With 3rd Planit I've found I sometimes get overlaping track when I modify a plan.

[trollw]

I have used CADRAIL for about 10 years -obviously I like it since I have bought each upgrade since I started using it. Like Sean with his 3rd Plan-It, Cadrail has some things that I wish it did better (mostly in the realm of 3-D rendering). However, It also has the advantage that you can print everything at 1:1 and use it to lay the track and place the buildings. There is a fairly substantial group of floorplans of Walthers kits as well as different track pieces that come with Cadrail. In addition, there is a CADRAIL users forum where I have placed floorplans for all the kits that I have in my inventory. The users group is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cr-users/ . If you have any questions in specific about CADRAIL, e-mail me at [e-mail]. One of the main things that I like about CADRAIL is that is not just for model railroad layout planning. The DPM piece parts are in the library so you can design a custom building using DPM components and actually print out the walls to make a mock-up to see how it will look. In addition, you can do many other things: I have done a lot of home remodelling and used it to prepare a 'before' room layout and then modified it to give me plans for the remodelling project (remodelled the master bedroom, master bath, and a kitchen).

Unfortunately, I have never used 3rd Plan-It so I can't give you a comparison. Whichever way you go, do the tutorials, don't be afraid to play with it, don't expect to become a master overnight. But if you can lay it out using CADRAIL without violating your desired minimum radius or minimum clearance and you use the align feature, your plan WILL work and your WON'T have kinks in the trackwork (unless you don't put the track where the plan says to).

Good luck.

John

[ClinchValleySD40]

I tried all the free demos I could find. I settled on 3PI. Learned enough of it to design my railroad. Got that done and printed, haven't touched it in over a year.

[Anonymous]

Hi John,

I want to thank you in advance for your advice about Cadrail. I've tried responding to you directly but my computer will not let me as it says this address is not valid. Sorry. But on to more important things such as Cadrail. One of my complaints is that I can not send to anyone a copy of the layout unless they too have what I have. Looking at the program on the website for cadrail under tools, am I to understand that I can import from my existing program the layout I've planed so far? Also (more importantly), can I save this file as a bitmap, or Jpeg, and send it to others that do not have Cadrail so that they may open the file, view it and make comments about my plan?

Hawk

[trollw]

You can export a CADRAIL drawing (at least in 8.02 - don't remember on earlier versions) in either DXF or BMP formats. So anyone that can view a bitmap image will be able to view it. You can also import a CXF format drawing (if 3rd Planit will export a DXF file then you are in business).

[cuyama]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trollw

You can export a CADRAIL drawing (at least in 8.02 - don't remember on earlier versions) in either DXF or BMP formats. So anyone that can view a bitmap image will be able to view it. You can also import a CXF format drawing (if 3rd Planit will export a DXF file then you are in business).

Folks,

3rd PlanIt does support .dxf and .dwg file exports for those who wi***o share files with others who have CAD programs.

It also offers exports to the standard .bmp (bitmap), jpeg, and .tif file formats, so virtually anyone with a web browser or other software would have a means of viewing files created in 3rd PlanIt. One of the things I like about this feature in 3rd PlanIt is the ability to export just the view I want and to determine the image size/quality. Very handy when you need to show someone just the detail of a specific area or a particular layer.

After using both CADRail and 3rd PlanIt, I find the 3rd PlanIt user interface a little more consistent with Windows conventions and more intuitive. But the best way to find out which program will be most confortable for you is to do as others have suggested and download the demo of each.

Regards,

Byron