Sheet metal and BIM development separated from BricsCAD?

Was surprised today when I went to the BricsCAD home page.  It appears Bricsys is now offering BIM and Sheet Metal as separate applications.    Is BricsCAD (we use platinum) still going to contain these features?
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Comments

  • Apparently not!!??  I am on platinum too and just installed 16.1 only to find out that I have to pay an extra $300 for a feature I had specifically purchased Platinum for!!!  What kind of games are you playing Bricsys!?
  • Did I mention I'm on Platinum Subscription?  Yeah, that's right, SUBSCRIPTION (which BTW is coming up for renewal in a week or two...).  What the hell Bricsys?
  •  Nick, Jim,

    If you're on Platinum and you're still on Subscription, please just get in touch (easiest is to file a support request).  We'll get you up and running on Sheet Metal V16.

    Kind regards,
    mark 
  • Thank you.  I am excited to test out the new bells & whistles.
  • When I upgraded from 13 to 14, I lost the ability to export ACIS models.  That feature had moved to communicator, which was now a separate purchase.  Bricsys' solution for me was to permit me to install both version 13 and 14.  The process can be a bit tedious, but since I only rarely need it, it was an acceptable solution for me.

    If Bricsys would automatically offer any users that are upgrading to a version that has some features split into a separate application, I suspect it would prevent some hard feelings. I certainly felt burned when I could not export ACIS models. The resolution took some correspondence, and in the end, I didn't walk away from the exchange with great feelings.

    I realize the split-off application (like communicator) may have some significant enhancements, which means Bricsys has invested some significant money to create.  But, if you keep the user on board, and avoid the bad feelings, Bricsys will see some money in the form of upgrade money for that split-off application in future releases.

    -Joe


  • I just expect to be "grandfathered in" when these changes are made so long as I keep my subscription active/paid up.  I think that is what Mark Van Den Bergh was hinting at.  I had bought the Platinum version and subscription specifically for sheet metal.  To all of a sudden need Platinum AND an extra $300 for sheet metal would have been a kick in the teeth.  Especially since they didn't create a new module, they just stripped out an existing one.

    I have reached out to support.  Hopefully they will make this right.

  • And they didn't...

    "Nick,
    Thank you for your message.
    Sheet Metal was included in V15 because it was still under development. With V16, it is now a fully functional application with features that are unique among all competitors.
    https://www.bricsys.com/en_INTL/sheetmetal/

    Sheet Metal may be purchased as an Application for $360 including All-In Support. You can purchase and download at the BricsCAD website.
    best regards
    Malcolm"

    What a bunch of Bait and Switch BS.  This was never mentioned as a BETA module in BricsCAD!  I am pretty sure I will NOT be renewing my subscription now.  What's the point!?  I would not have bought Platinum to begin with and If I am not going to buy platinum, why BricsCad at all.

    Next year... "Drawing lines was included in v16 because it was still under development.  Now lines can be purchased for $400 Including All-In Support...

    Completely upset and disgruntled,

    Nick

  •  Nick,

    May we ask for a bit of patience.  The info you apparently received from Malcolm is not correct - assuming you are indeed on Subscription still.  In that case, you will have access to Sheet Metal.

    We'll get back to you, tomorrow during business hours in Europe.

    Thanks for your understanding.
    Kind regards,
    mark, Bricsys
  • By the way, you posted your request with a different account than the one which holds your Subscription.  This for sure has added to the confusion...

    We will get there...
  • I was granting you some patience.  That reply from Malcom was in response to my support request, placed as suggested.  I wouldn't know how else to take that without further clarification from you.

    If Bricsys makes good on what you are saying I will willingly, fully apologize and retract all pertinent comments.

    Thank you,

    Nick

  • By the way, you posted your request with a different account than the one which holds your Subscription.  This for sure has added to the confusion...

    We will get there...

    My apologies on that.  I was not aware of the two accounts.  Thank you for pointing this out.  I did make a new request under the other account.

    Is there a way to merge the two together?

    Thank you for your patience,

    Nick

  • Hi Nick,

    Yes, we could merge your accounts.  Feel free to file a support request to let us know the account you would like to keep.  Then we will merge your other account with this one.

    Best regards,
    mark
  • At first, I was thinking that an option for Bricsys, when they split off a function like sheet metal and improve, is to keep the existing level of functionality on the main program that existed before the split.  With the newly expanded features available for purchase if the customer wants it.  

    But, for those on subscription, that is certainly not an acceptable approach.   I would certainly feel cheated if it happened to me.  And, hearing about such activities from other companies is part of why I am very hesitant to pay for subscription. I think subscription is normally a bad deal for consumers.  If a customer pays for each upgrade, the upgrade has justify its fees, and a loss of functionality in the "upgrade" is certainly a deterrent to upgrading.

    -Joe
  • It's just me but would have preferred to have Platinum include both communicator and sheet metal (or else why would it be Platinum???) and just pay one price - eliminates the confusion. Of course in the end it's still cheaper than paying 5000.00 plus for SolidWorks, SolidEdge or Inventor. For me the sheet metal is a real "shot in the arm" as we'll use it just about everyday - very impressed with the work done on it. 
  • If Bricsys makes good on what you are saying I will willingly, fully apologize and retract all pertinent comments.

    Bricsys has made good on "grandfathering" my subscription in. I am sorry for being too quick to denounce Bricsys and am embarrassed by my dual account snafu causing some of the problem.

     In my defense I have been burned in a similar scenario from a different company. Thankfully Bricsys has not gone the way of subscription only service where a customer owns nothing and is purely at the mercy of the software company.

    You have maintained a customer.

    Thank you,

    Nick

  • It's just me but would have preferred to have Platinum include both communicator and sheet metal (or else why would it be Platinum???) and just pay one price -

    In general, I like the idea of the separate modules.  The idea is that users don't pay for features they don't use.  E.g. I very rarely make use of the sheet metal feature in v14 Platinum.  So, if excluding it permitted the base price to be lower, it would have been a benefit to me to have it as a separate module.

    -Joe

  • In general, I like the idea of the separate modules.  The idea is that users don't pay for features they don't use.  E.g. I very rarely make use of the sheet metal feature in v14 Platinum.  So, if excluding it permitted the base price to be lower, it would have been a benefit to me to have it as a separate module.

    -Joe

    I like the idea too, but they didn't reduce the price when they removed the sheet metal module did they?  Did the price get reduced when the removed the communicator?

    Tim Neumann

    It's just me but would have preferred to have Platinum include both communicator and sheet metal (or else why would it be Platinum???) and just pay one price - eliminates the confusion. Of course in the end it's still cheaper than paying 5000.00 plus for SolidWorks, SolidEdge or Inventor. For me the sheet metal is a real "shot in the arm" as we'll use it just about everyday - very impressed with the work done on it. 

    I'm not looking at the "Platinum" designation, but the "All-In" subscription.  I would consider the meaning of "All-In" to include everything.  So, do I consider the name a little misleading? Yes.  It would be a nice bonus for subscription customers to get a little more bang/buck. 

    (Am I missing out? Does "All-In"  include sheet metal and communicator?)

  • As a Mac user I'm still on v15 with subscription but I'm not able to upgrade to v15 Platinum to use those features on Mac now. Whats the solution here ?
    I don't see any option to upgrade to v15 Platinum, only to v16 at additional costs and not usable on Mac.

  •  Hi Steffen,

    Since you're on Subscription, you have access to V16 right away.  So if you want to move to Platinum, you can simply order the V16 Pro to Platinum upgrade.  Note that with a V16 key, you can also run V15.  The moment BricsCAD V16 for Mac is released (to be expected in the coming weeks), you can then automatically start using V16 Platinum on Mac.

    Hope this helps.
    mark
  •  Hi Steffen,

    Since you're on Subscription, you have access to V16 right away.  So if you want to move to Platinum, you can simply order the V16 Pro to Platinum upgrade.  Note that with a V16 key, you can also run V15.  The moment BricsCAD V16 for Mac is released (to be expected in the coming weeks), you can then automatically start using V16 Platinum on Mac.


    Hope this helps.
    mark


    ...correct - plus additional costs for sheet metal work that was in no word mentioned to be separated when I bought Pro a few months back. I'm really curiuos if I made the right decision with Bricscad seeing functions to be separated in future versions.



  • ...correct - plus additional costs for sheet metal work that was in no word mentioned to be separated when I bought Pro a few months back. I'm really curiuos if I made the right decision with Bricscad seeing functions to be separated in future versions.



    ..btw - still no comment on Nick Van Laar's last post.
  • Bricsys is getting greedy.  They have become a successful company and think that they can now exploit the customers who made them successful.  It's a shame.
  • Bricsys is getting greedy.  They have become a successful company and think that they can now exploit the customers who made them successful.  It's a shame.


    At least a very stale aftertaste.

    I'm not going to support that kind of behaviour any longer. No further "All-In-One" stuff any more - v16 will be my last version - I feel cheated!
    Thank you Bricsys!
  • V15 will likely be my last version.  I had not yet upgraded to V16 when I discovered that they were not including sheet metal or BIM.  I cannot think of a good reason to upgrade or to support Bricsys.

  • "Bricsys is getting greedy"

    I'm sorry but that's just not true or fair.  I'm a reseller so I have a vested interest, but these guys are the nicest people in the industry and about the nicest people I know.  They put 43% of revenue into R&D.  They are not greedy, but of course this is a company not a charity.  It's allowed to make a profit for its investors.

    We didn't know about the unbundling before V16 came out, and I would agree it could have been handled better.  But put it into perspective - every Platinum user on subscription is getting V16 Sheetmetal.  And what alternative product is better of cheaper for sheetmetal?  None I think.  This is not a scandal, so please have another think about it.

    Autodesk had the universal CAD system AutoCAD, but DWG became kind of generic, so they are about moving their user base into the secret file formats of Revit and Inventor etc.  Meanwhile Bricsys proved that DWG can be used for parametric solid modelling, architecture, sheetmetal, rendering etc.  Hundreds of professional applications ported across to BricsCAD.  And with Direct Modelling, 3D models can be imported from any other system and edited in BricsCAD.  NO OTHER system can be used across all disciplines like BricsCAD.  This is no small thing, it is a grand vision.  Can you do road design in Revit?  Can you do sheetmetal in AutoCAD?  If you have a whole suite of Autodesk products, can you bring all disciplines into one editable model?  No.

    Bricsys isn't getting greedy.  Bricsys is just getting started.   
  • Bricsys is just getting started.   

    Getting started at what?  Using long-time customers as cash machines?

  •  Sure - BricsCad is a company and want money.

    Still I don't thing the way they are going is correct. Its not about "which company is better or cheaper" or "what company gives you so many functions for that price".
    When I bought my Bricsys version v15 for Mac I thought I'm set when going for a "All-In-One" subscription with Bricscad Pro. It was a long thought about which product to take. And I thought - If I ever go for the ultimate Platinum version I'm set.

    Now they are parting stuff out. Now I don't just pay for the upgrade for Platinum but also need to pay for additional modules that were included before. That made my decision the wrong decision now.

  •  Business is, by its nature, involves getting money from a customer, otherwise it would be a charity. Though, perhaps the word greed is used because of the accusation that Bricsys used some inappropriate actions to remove some of upgraded features.  I.e. they sold subscriptions for future upgrades, and then took out some functionality from BricsCAD, and then added  it to a product you needed to purchase separately.  I don't think it would have been a problem if Bricsys had automatically given all the subscription customers a license for the add-on module.

    Bricsys' current approach seems to be to provide that add-on module to subscribers if the customer asks for it. But it is not an automatic process, as it should be.

    -Joe
  • An architect may not want the sheetmetal tools and a manufacturer of brackets may not want the bim tools.  That's reasonable.
  • An architect may not want the sheetmetal tools and a manufacturer of brackets may not want the bim tools.  That's reasonable.

    It is - but that should have been clear before customers decide to go for specific versions BEFORE BricsCAD went for the "parting out" route.

    A new customer knows what he needs to pay for what. Previous customers feel cheated - like me!
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