Art Portfolio: Software research

 Today, I'm looking for a different software and want to decide which one to use. At the start, I wanted to draw everything by hand and this idea still did not sound bad however, I still wanted to try to use software because this skill can be useful in the future and will save me time. 

I already a little bit know how to use ArchiCad, SketchUp and Blender. ArchiCad and SketchUp do not fit for bridge structure but Blender does. However, I'm not sure if my laptop processor can manage this app's render pressure, and create an environment very challenging for me. 

First I started researching the most popular bridge structure software. One of the most popular was Autodesk AutoCAD I used AtchiCad before and they have a lot of similar however this software wasn't free and unfortunately, I couldn't get a free trial. So I found an Auto Cad Web but the function of this program was minimalistic also, it was uncomfortable in use.

The next one was SAP2000 this app was recommended by a friend but it also wasn't free. So I kept looking and found Planer 5D It's more a house and interior app but it's possible to create a bridge in it and it is easy to use and most importantly it was free. However, I continued to research and found that for bridge structure the software also must do:

Simplified Construction Stage Analysis;

Automatic Consideration of Moving Loads According to Design Standards; 

Ground-Structure Interaction Analysis;

Various Specialized Analysis Functions for Civil Structures;

Seismic Analysis and Design;

Reflecting the Latest Domestic and International Design Standards.

All these aspects will show sustainability, if one of them shows an error all construction will fall down. But now everything has become even harder because I can try to use easy software to create a model of construction and in different do an analysis but need to find two apps that can work together and it was very difficult. 

I found a common software The Bridge Designer but the latest version is 2016 and the most popular analysis system is SkyCiv Free Beam Calculator, Frame3DD does not want to work with files from it. 

So with further research, I found FreeCad this software is professional however free version is easier and I download it. I'm not sure that my laptop can manage the render but everything else should work properly. I opened it and it seemed very difficult to use it at the start I created a basic sheet. Furthermore, tried to use different functions and understood that I needed to watch some tutorials on YouTube before starting to work there.

Also, I found another software Midas Civil it's a professional program I am not sure that I will manage to use it however I want to try but I have some trouble with my account so I am messaging for their support so they can check it.

I did more research because Free Cad does not seem to me very comfortable and I went through every software that I listed again and started to see if any of them had any student support I found out that  AutoCAD Civil gives a year free licence free licence after the authorising process, I download it. 

I will try to use it however it seems very difficult but I will try to learn this software because for now, I do not even understand how to create anything.

After I started to watch a learning video I understood that the Civil program is just for analysis and first I need to create my bridge project in AutoCad which is not available for me and I can use just a Web version that has a small function.

References:

Masters, Bridge. “Top Bridge Design Software for 2021.” Bridge Masters, 21 Jan. 2021, bridgemastersinc.com/top-bridge-design-software-for-2021/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2025.

Youtu.be, 2025, youtu.be/_9ZDcB2tR1E?si=OMPo8q52N1-ZiUv4. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.