Creating all the floor plans, sections, and elevations required for any kind of building project takes a considerable amount of time. Ensuring that all patterns and standards are correctly assigned to the created drawings can make this task substantially longer. So to shorten this process and prevent the mistakes introduced by manual operations, the ARES Commander BIM features have been enhanced to generate the drawings based on IFC or Revit model information.
Top New Features in
the ARES Trinity of CAD Software
ARES COMMANDER 2024 NEW FEATURES
Tool Palettes
Import/Export collections of customized tools and data previously created with AutoCAD to ensure a smooth migration of your users to ARES.
Example Palette
Preconfigured Entities
ARC + MECH
MEP + MAPS
Annotations
Hatch
Openings + Lisp
Use-Case / Challenge
CAD users that work on sets of drawings which are similar from one project to the next, may require the same specific types of tools and data over and over again. It’s very handy if the user can find all these frequently used essentials in a single place, across the drawing files and across application sessions.
These tools and data could be categorized as follows:
- Blocks
- Geometrical Entities (e.g., Line, Arc)
- Hatches and Gradients
- Annotation Entities (e.g., Texts, Dimensions, Tables)
- System Variables
- LISP Routines
- Xrefs — Drawings and Image
Solution
To address this need, we are providing support for tool palettes. These palettes are designed like others in ARES Commander, and have the same generic properties (e.g., docking, auto-hide, etc.) like all other palettes.
Users of ARES Commander 2024 are invited to discover the benefits of tool palettes with the example preconfigured in the software. This tool palette can be used as a start to configure your own palettes, or it can be replaced by another one that you create from scratch.
In addition to the default (predefined) palettes delivered with ARES, users can create their own tool palette to store and organize the tools and data they require. These custom tool palettes can also be shared with other ARES Commander or AutoCAD users in the same *.xtp file format as AutoCAD, making tool reuse faster and more consistent throughout a department or company.
In other words, tool palettes created in AutoCAD can be used in ARES Commander, and vice-versa.
Users who wish to reuse tool palettes from AutoCAD in ARES Commander — or create their own — can now do so, keeping their customized tools and data readily accessible for convenient reuse.
3D meets 2D: Flatten & Flatshot
FLATTEN
The new FLATTEN command is introduced to convert 3D entities into a 2D projection.
It is also useful to solve issues with entities whose elevation is not properly set.
FLATSHOT
The command MAKEFLATSNAPSHOT already existed in ARES Commander before this version, but now the command features some enhanced options to better represent hidden lines.
“Foreground Lines” — to specify the color and the line style for the foreground lines.
“Hidden lines” — the hidden lines, which can be displayed by selecting “Show”, can now have their color and line style modified.
“Show tangent edges” — this option displays tangent edges in the flat representation.
Ribbon UI for Mac & Linux
The well-known ribbon user interface (UI) in the Windows version of ARES Commander can now be used in the MacOS and Linux versions as well.
Brand New Functionalities
Import and Export topographic points
Surveyors use total stations to collect exact coordinates of specific elements on the field. New ARES Commander functionalities help these users plot topological points on their drawings.
With the new TopoPoints features, users can insert the points manually, with control over the point tag/number, layer, elevation, and X and Y coordinates. The same operation can be automated, importing text files that contain the point data. In addition, the data from points in the drawing can be exported.
FLISP — LISP editor and debugger
Debugging LISP programs can sometimes be challenging. This new LISP Editor is a Visual Studio Code extension that enables you to easily edit and debug your code.
Many users and companies have customizations in LISP. The language doesn’t require many resources or tools to run, and a lot of useful code snippets can be found on the Internet, so LISP is a very common way to automate or customize DWG editor applications.
Debugging LISP programs, however, can sometimes be challenging. With this in mind, the new release of ARES Commander provides a Visual Studio Code extension that allows any LISP developer to edit and debug routines properly — and save time doing so.
Trinity Collaboration Features for ARES Commander, ARES Kudo and ARES Touch
One of the key competitive advantages of the ARES CAD software is its Trinity concept, which builds synergies between ARES Commander (the desktop version for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers), ARES Kudo (the Cloud version), and ARES Touch (the Mobile version for Android and iOS).
The Trinity features enable modern collaboration workflows that significantly improve collaboration between the users working at the office and their remotely located colleagues or customers. They also bring the agility of cloud-based collaboration workflows inside ARES Commander, without requiring users to change their work environment or compromise on features.
Because the Trinity features rely on our cloud service, ARES Kudo, users must stay on subscription to use these features.
This is the case whether you have an Annual Plan, a 3-Year Plan, or a Perpetual or Flex / Network license.
New Trinity Block Library
Trinity Block Library
Create block libraries that will follow you on all your computers or mobile devices in ARES Commander, ARES Kudo, and ARES Touch.
The Trinity Block Library also makes it easy to use one consistent block library for all the users of your organization. The blocks are stored in the cloud, so any update to the library is instantly available to all your users!
Blocks are one of the most useful features in CAD, saving users time and increasing drawing accuracy. Many users work on a similar set of drawings over time, so they need to use the same set of blocks over and over again. And some users can take advantage of using different environments — desktop, web, or mobile — but keeping their set of drawings in sync and updated for different environments can be a real challenge.
In some companies, certain sets of blocks are shared by many users. And these blocks need to be customized from time to time to meet customer requirements, or for other reasons. The same updated blocks should be available to all users — so maintaining block uniformity at the users’ end is another challenge.
To answer these challenges, we are introducing a cloud-based Block Library palette. The Block Library is integrated into the Trinity concept, which means it’s directly linked with Graebert accounts and cloud storage, allowing users to access the same set of blocks from two different installations of ARES Commander or in different environments, like web and mobile.
Another advantage of the Block Library is providing a customizable way to store, organize, and fetch the blocks. As a flexible tool, it has the power to share the blocks with other users inside an organization, making it a powerful way to improve drawing consistency and accuracy.
Flex Cloud: Share licenses within a company
Now, customers can share Trinity licenses — which include ARES Commander, ARES Touch, and ARES Kudo — among a group of users to reduce the number of licenses needed and lower costs. A Flex Cloud license, which is shared among multiple concurrent users, makes this possible.
Flex Cloud: Flexible floating licensing (Online)
1. Companies that are interested in network licenses but have users in multiple locations (for example, some employees are not in a full-time office because they sometimes work from home or have to travel). This also applies to organizations that are not necessarily interested in Trinity features, but want to share ARES Commander licenses between groups of users.
2. Companies with more than 5 users and interest in Trinity. They could, for example, share 3 Flex Cloud licenses between 6 users and it would cost less than 6 annual plans.
3. Businesses that have a very large number of users and are managed by administrators who don’t know exactly who needs a license and/or administrators who don’t want to manage licenses and assign them one by one. With Flex Cloud, administrators can invite many users and allow the system to automatically assign licenses. Graebert will share the statistics.
Flex Network license
Flex Cloud License
Share licenses
Only ARES Commander without the Trinity features
ARES Commander + ARES Kudo + ARES Touch
Collaboration features
x NO
The users are anonymous. They can use all the CAD features but cannot use any of the Trinity features
v YES
Each user is authenticated by a login and password and has access to all the Trinity features in ARES Commander, ARES Kudo and ARES Touch
Installation
Install a license server and configure each computer to connect with the server
Nothing to install; just invite the users by entering a list of emails in the Admin Space of the Graebert Customer Portal
Possibility to work with local files saved on the computer
v YES
With ARES Commander
v YES
With ARES Commander
Possibility to work with files synchronized with cloud storages
x NO
v YES
Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint, Onshape, Trimble Connect, AWS, WebDav, ARES Kudo Drive …
Possibility to invite free users to view and comment online
x NO
v YES
With View-Only Links
Possibility to work in home office or out of the office
x NO
All the users need to be connected to the same local network. Possibility to “take away” a license but it will no longer be shared until the user returns to the network.
v YES
The user can work anywhere as the license will be taken from the Internet. It implies having Internet access to start working with ARES
Available as Perpetual license
v YES
x NO
Because the product includes cloud-based services that cannot be sold as perpetual by nature
Available as 1-year license
v YES
v YES
Available as 3-year license
x NO
v YES
Plus: 3 years for the price of 2
More New Trinity Features
Compare two drawings online
Just like in ARES Commander, you can now use ARES Kudo to compare two DWG files and see the differences highlighted in customizable colors
The Drawing Compare command enables users to compare any two drawings to easily identify the differences between them. Now ARES Kudo provides this capability, just like ARES Commander does.
ARES Kudo: Take Over the Editing Session from Another User
Users who need to make changes to a drawing can now easily request to switch to editing mode
At any time, users who have editing permissions for a drawing shared with them may want to make changes to it. If an active editing session is already open for a drawing, all other users with edit permissions are limited to opening the drawing in view-only mode. However, they can make a request to edit the drawing. The user currently editing the drawing receives a notification, and approves or denies this request. As soon as the active editing session closes, users receive a notification, and can switch to editing mode.
ARES Touch: View and convert PDF to DWG on mobile
Open and navigate PDFs, modify them as DWGs, and save as PDF or DWG
ARES Touch users were previously able to open and work with DWG files, but had to leave the app to view PDFs. The new PDF Import feature makes the workflow far more convenient: users can simply tap on any PDF inside the file browser to open it inside ARES Touch. All pages of the PDF are navigable, and the familiar zoom and pan functions allow for close inspection of details.
And users can do much more than viewing! They also have the option to convert a PDF (or just a page) into a DWG file, after which it can be modified, then saved as a DWG or exported as a PDF once more.
BIM to CAD Features in ARES Commander 2024
Smarter DWG Drawings for BIM Projects
The new tools for BIM drawings automation will generate consistent documentation for the project, but are editable in the same way if needed, with all the drawing tools from ARES Commander.
BIM Drawings Automation
#1 — BIM Auto Drawings
Automatically generate a set of drawings from a BIM model
In version 2024, we keep of course the option to create any new drawing manually, but the BIMAUTODRAWINGS feature enables the user to automatically generate a set of drawings following a preconfigured script (which can be customized by the user).
By default, the BIMAUTODRAWINGS command will for example create a floorplan for each level, some sections, and an elevation for each cardinal point of the building. But the user will also have the ability to customize this script.
#2 — Labels automation
Automatically insert labels that extract information from the BIM objects
After generating these drawings (#1), the user may employ the BIMAUTOLABELS feature to automatically insert labels that extract information from the BIM objects (such as labels for the doors). These labels are smart enough to not only extract the information, but also auto-update if the original BIM project is modified and reloaded in ARES Commander.
#3 — Dimensions automation
Automatically create smart dimensions
The BIMAUTODIMENSIONS feature will further enable users to create smart dimensions like aligned dimensions for the walls, and the information will also be updated if the BIM model is modified and reloaded in ARES Commander.
#4 — Sheets automation
Automatically generated drawing overviews
The BIMAUTOSHEETS feature will automatically create one sheet and insert each drawing on it at a chosen scale.
ARES COMMANDER 2024
DISCOVER MORE FEATURES
In the 100 pages of the catalog you will find a more detailed overview of the new functions