Mad about CAD: a look at the pros and cons of four different pool design software packages - Internet & Technology Report

Pool & Spa News, May 9, 2003 by Thomas Clark

There are two types of people in this world: those who are not comfortable at a computer and those who are. Quite often, those who are firmly entrenched in one world look at those in the other as being somehow ... well, abnormal. Pencil-and-paper folk are seen as relics of a bygone era; computer users as soul-less mouse pushers.

"I spent a lot of years at a drafting table," says Ron Tiller, a pool designer at Huck's Pools in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "But CAD is far superior to anything you do by hand. You don't necessarily have the same satisfaction as something you draw by hand, but CAD is easier and more time-efficient. And you never again draw anything twice."

Bruce Holmes expects his Indiana-based Pools of Fun to sell more than 250 pools this year. All of them will be designed using AutoCAD, one of the most popular CAD programs. Salespeople meet with clients in their homes, and hand-render drawings tailored to the clients' preferences. Those renderings are then turned over to the CAD Department for completion.

"When I put six of those drawings out on the table, our clients are in awe," Holmes says. "You want to give them a vision of what their backyard is going to look like. When they can see it, your closure rate goes up."

Although there are similarities between the CAD systems currently available, there are differences, too. Following is a guide to four of the most popular:

AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a general-purpose drafting program dating back to the early 1980s. It's thought of as the workhorse design program for pool professionals, as well as many other architectural fields. The latest version is AutoCAD 2004, although most designers still work with AutoCAD 2000 or earlier versions.

An interactive drawing system, AutoCAD is similar to a word-processing program; users can construct or edit a document (in this case, a drawing) on screen. Just as a word-processing program builds a document out of text, an AutoCAD drawing is made up of entities, which can be simple lines, arcs, circles and so on--or complex groups of entities called blocks.

Once created, a block may be moved, scaled, rotated, copied or deleted. Blocks from previous drawings can be inserted into new drawings, and sections from a current drawing can be written out to a new file for later use elsewhere.

The major drawback to AutoCAD is the education and training that are necessary to use it. This is not a program for computer rookies.

Tiller uses AutoCAD's Version 14 because "it's so much friendlier than 2000." He's used a variety of CAD programs in his years as a designer, and believes AutoCAD to be "the best CAD system going."

AutoCAD is published by Autodesk Inc. of Sausalito, Calif. The latest version, AutoCAD 2004, retails for $3,395. For more information, go to www.autodesk.com. Or call Autodesk at (800) 440-4198 about online purchases, or (800) 964-6432 to locate a retailer.

PoolDraw

A far simpler program is PoolDraw 2000c, created by Constructive Software Solutions of Clearwater, Fla., specifically for the pool industry.

PoolDraw is easy enough for a salesperson to use right at a client's kitchen table, which makes the program as much a sales tool as a drawing aid. The salesperson can quickly show a potential client how a particular waterfeature might change the character of a pool, or how expanding the shallow end of a pool will change its shape.

A viewer built into PoolDraw also allows the salesperson to incorporate other media, such as photographs and videos of the various design elements being discussed. "This permits the designer to set up a picture slide show of previous work or specific pool design features," says Ed Bogel, PoolDraw's creator. "Industry manufacturers are also developing video and multimedia presentation tools that can be shown directly from the drawing page."

James Mason, president of David and Taylor Custom Pools of Tomball, Texas, has used PoolDraw for more than a year. After finding AutoCAD "too complicated," he appreciates that PoolDraw "is tailored to pools and landscaping ideas."

PoolDraw can be a bit complex, adds s Mason. But, "once you get the hang of it, it performs well." He's particularly fond of two additional PoolDraw features: the ability to transfer a drawing's data into an Excel spreadsheet for estimating and quoting, and also into more detailed engineering drawings.

The basic PoolDraw program is priced at $1,099, and there is an add-on called Pool Quote that can be used in conjunction with the design program. For more information, go to www.spapool.com; or call (800) 750-7007.

Splash

The makers of Splash identify it as a "site-planning program" that includes drafting software. Developed for pool builders, it is designed to be very user-friendly.

Splash includes more than 1,000 pool shapes within its data base, plus the ability to create custom designs. The program calculates linear footage, area and perimeters and, when used with the companion program Quote, calculates project costs. The software also converts designs into blueprint drawings.