Standalone ACAD 2012 or higher

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I'm looking for some assistance from some of you design / arch types out there.

Does anyone have a stand-alone ACAD '12 or higher key that they won't need for the next 3-4 weeks?

I have a contract that I hate to turn down, but I can't justify spending the $850-$1k to upgrade from '10 to '12 for something that might only pay half that with no promise of future work.  I know a lot of people have licenses for more seats than they use, but in my current group of contacts, I've had no luck - they all dropped the extra licensing when they upgraded to '12 and '14.

If anyone here can give a guy a hand, send me a PM.  Thanks. 

[thelakelander]

How complex do you need to get?  You may be able to get away with an alternative CAD program like DraftSight.  That's what I've switched to for much of my CAD related contract work. It's been 13 months since the switch and so far, so good.  Drawings are dwgs, so they still open in AutoCAD.

http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight/overview/

A short term option you could take advantage of is downloading a 30-day free trial version of AutoCAD 2014.  I typically save this option for when I good paying job comes along that I know I can finish within the trial period.

http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-autocad/free-trial

[Cheshire Cat]

Whoosh!   That is the sound of all of the above posting going right over my head.  lol

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

It's not about the complexity of the design as much as it is the compatibility with Microvellum. 

I'll probably end up upgrading, but I don't want to, yet - especially for such a short term, low-paying contract. 

I can still do all the modeling and rendering that I need to do with '10 - and will be able to for the foreseeable future. 

[JgRender]

Why do you need to upgrade? Why not just have someone save the files back to 2010, do your project, then download the trial and save it to whatever version is required?

[thelakelander]

Yeah, if you already have 10' then JgRender's advice is a pretty good short term solution.

[thelakelander]

Whoosh!   That is the sound of all of the above posting going right over my head.  lol

15 years ago, much of this would have went over my head too.  However, after working 40 hours/week a few years with several of these programs, they become second nature.

[Jason]

NRW,

Sorry so late but I sent you a PM.  Hope it helps!

(also posted below)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

NRW,

Hey man, not sure if you've gotten help on this yet but thought I would pass along some advice.

If you only need the program for a couple of weeks you can download a trial version of the latest software from the Autodesk website.  It is fully operational for 30 days and then deactivates until you buy a license.

Also, on the technical side, if you have a copy of 2010 the you should still be able to open  2012 file because they are saved in the same format.  AutoCAD resets their save formats every three years so you don't technically need to upgrade until 2013 when the format changes.

If your issues are tied more to add-on software then your best bet should be to just download the trial.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I should be able to get most of it done within 30 days, so based on that, it seems the consensus is to just download the trial.

Yes it is a compatibility issue with some add-on software - MicroVellum, so just saving the DWGs as a different version won't work.

Thanks for the help guys.