Five reasons to start Shaping

We’re getting compared to Trimble’s SketchUp a lot. If you head straight for that obvious comparison, you’ll miss our key differentiator. The core of Shape comes from the core of BricsCAD itself. The Bricsys products are powered by a modern, 3D direct modeling engine that creates solid models.

1) Shape uses the power of solids

Why are solids important? First, they are mathematically accurate. Second, they can be modified deeply and repeatedly. You can change a solid model radically and it will regenerate properly. We’re bringing the power of solids to AEC schematic design – free of charge.

2) Modify your Shape model deeply, at any time

You’ll get the flexibility to model freely. You can change any aspect of your model at will. Move a window? Remove a door? Change a roof pitch? Completely change the floor plate? Push/pull, drag or extrude – it’s the closest that you’ll find to “digital clay” for design capture.

3) BricsCAD Shape reads and writes DWG

The industry-standard for CAD data is DWG. Since your designs are stored in DWG, your concept model moves directly into BricsCAD BIM. No rework, no starting from scratch required. Reuse your concept design as the starting point for your BIM. It’s that easy.

4) It’s ready for BIM

We’ve always felt that a real building information modeling workflow should be smart. Capture your concept designs in BricsCAD Shape, and deliver your proposal. Move directly into BricsCAD BIM, where machine intelligence auto-classifies your model geometry. Build your BIM, then leverage the world’s best 2D documentation tools.

5) Shape is really free!

It is really, totally free for all users – commercial and educational. It brings a set of professional modeling features to your desktop. These important features aren’t in other free modelers. In the near future, we’ll be releasing OS X and Linux versions of Shape, too. Start Shaping!