Chief
Architect
By David Anderson
Chief
Architect by Advanced Relational Technology, Inc. (ART) is now in
release 7.0. Intended primarily for the design-build residential market,
the program is maturing to the point where architects specializing
in light commercial buildings may want to investigate its usefulness
to their practices. This latest version features a significant number
of enhancements that have narrowed the gap between Chief and other
mainstream, full featured, CAD programs.
The
program ships on a single CD and installation on both Windows 98SE
and NT.4 SP6 was faultless. The company provides a number of licensing
and registration
options. Hardware locks are available, at an additional cost, in both
parallel and USB versions.
For customers who don't wish to purchase a hardware lock, an Activation
Password is available from ART via the Internet 24 hours a day. A
Deactivation Password is also required if you want to use the program
on another computer.
This Activation/Deactivation method works perfectly and provides an
effective method of using the program at the office and at home. For
customers who don't have an Internet connection, passwords are available
through a toll-free number. In this case, those customers who need
to work on two computers may want to consider the hardware lock option.
Also included
with the software is a four-CD set of training videos. These videos
contain, in addition to a sample project that illustrates the typical
workflow, over 16 hours of video instruction. The videos demonstrate
all the important features of the program. They enable new users to
become quickly productive and provide experienced users with a complete
demonstration of the new features included in this release. Even at
the advertised price of $199.95 these training CDs provide excellent
value.
Used in conjunction with the well-illustrated 800+ page reference
guide and given the program's inherent ease of use, there is no reason
that new users could not become proficient by themselves in a relatively
short time. Additional resources are available on the Chief
Architect web site and numerous Internet user groups where members
are usually very helpful to provide answers on all types of Chief
questions.
Chief Architect's
strength has always been its ability to create floor plans, elevations,
sections and 3D views quickly and easily. Its weakness was that this
ease of use and speed were counterbalanced by the limited choices
available to the designer. Trim profiles, library objects, door and
window styles, muntin patterns and railings were fixed or offered
in limited choices for customization. With version 7.0, ART has addressed
some of these limitations, added some impressive new features and,
as conversations with company representatives have indicated, are
planning even more in the next version, tentatively scheduled for
approximately 12 months.
Some of release 7.0's most important features are as follows:
