What's New in HighDesign R8
The new release is now available and brings 2X faster performance and advanced information management with tables and schedules.
After some months of intense development and testing, the new release 8 of HighDesign is now available for all users. We are excited about this update! HighDesign R8 dramatically improves critical areas and introduces new features that reduce the gap between CAD and BIM.
Download & Editions
The first thing you will notice is that HighDesign is now one package for all three editions. The LT edition is no longer a separate download and we think that is a great improvement because it makes your life easier with the updates, it lets you try the more advanced features during the trial period, and it makes it easier to upgrade to a higher-level edition at any time.
As we keep improving HighDesign, we also constantly re-evaluate each edition so that the feature sets are consistent. HighDesign LT now allows to reorganize the sidebar panels and offers overall more flexibility when it comes to customization. We also added to the SE edition two important features that were previously only available in the Pro edition: you can now customize the keyboard shortcuts to the menu items and the drawing tools, and you can export your project as PDF using the Publish to PDF feature available on the File menu.
Speed, speed, speed.
We know very well that when it comes to getting things done, under the pressure of a deadline, few things are more important than a fast tool. As the hardware keeps improving, we also worked very hard to improve the overall speed of HighDesign, in particular the on-screen redraw speed. We are happy to report that our hard work paid off and HighDesign R8 boasts up to 2X speed improvements. Yes, that's right, in tests on many functions and screen refreshes, HighDesign R8 performed twice as fast as R7.
Working with larger files is now much smoother and all operations are more fluid and natural, with loading and saving times also reduced. We paid special attention to symbols and splines, which are often used together, so that they perform better in most situations.
Schedules. CAD and BIM get closer.
HighDesign Pro now includes interactive schedules, a new functionality that makes the gap between traditional CAD and BIM much narrower. You can now create lists and get quantities of the elements in your project, neatly organized in tables that are always up to date and interactive. That means not only that you can see and review at any time the elements in your project, filtered with your criteria and grouped together, but you can also edit values directly on the schedule and see the project element update in real-time.
For example, you can create a Wall schedule for a floor plan, filter out the walls on the "demolition" layer, group the walls by type, sort by length, and add the total sum of their volume. You can then change the height of a wall and see the volume total update.
Schedules are a distinctive feature of BIM design applications because give designers a through overview of the project and allow to keep every element under control. This translate to more efficiency, faster conflict resolutions, and cost savings.
Tables, a better way to show data.
Another great new feature of HighDesign R8 is the Table tool that lets you create spreadsheet-like tables, complete with formatting and functions. Available to SE and Pro editions, the new Table tool extends the project documentation features. Tables are a useful feature that can help you organize and present data in a structured and visually appealing way.
Tables help you save time with their functions that automatically provide sums and totals, thus ensuring better accuracy of the data. Moreover, tables can display data in a more intuitive and visually appealing way.
Redesigned Symbols
Symbols are an important feature of a project. As complex components that can be reused and placed with a click, symbols help save time and standardize the various project elements. In HighDesign R8 we devoted a lot of work to improve symbols and make them faster, more efficient, and easier to use.
The new visual Symbol Browser lets you navigate and select symbols faster and more efficiently. You can now browse the libraries looking at live previews. Also, the HighDesign Symbol library has been reorganized with clearer categories for a more intuitive experience.
Symbols also have a new internal structure that makes them faster, more efficient and powerful with the added support for internal layers. You can turn layers on and off and have the symbol update its contents accordingly.
User Interface. Software should be beautiful.
A good software should not be in the way while you work. That means that a good user interface is one that is pleasant to use and feels intuitive. At Ilexsoft we have always devoted great attention to the user interface and the overall user experience, and for HighDesign R8 we have redesigned many interface elements so that they are more consistent, use less screen space, and convey the data in a clearer way.
...and there's much more.
HighDesign R8 includes dozens of improvements and new features that, though smaller, do contribute in a significative way to the overall experience.
The architectural tools have improved in many ways, from better handling of columns to the new buttons to flip side and direction of doors and windows. Dimensions, texts and labels received several enhancements. Commands like Offset, Fillet and Chamfer, and Boolean Operations were improved and are now more accurate and faster.
Last but not least, we completely revised and expanded the Help & Documentation site with better descriptions and screenshots.
We hope you like HighDesign R8 as much as we do!
HighDesign R8 is the architectural design software that bridges CAD and BIM. For Mac and Windows.