Custom CAD plugins
Full applications with ribbons, palettes and dialogs on the AutoCAD, Civil 3D, BricsCAD and ARES .NET APIs. Installers, licensing and automatic updates included.
HomeServices
CAD customization on the platform you already use.
From a single LISP command to a full design application with installer, licensing and a web portal around it. We pick the lightest technology that does the job well and build it around your drawing standards.
Command:
E 254,512.40 N 2,048,233.10
MODELGRIDOSNAP
M-PART
Technology
The right tool for the size of the job.
Small, frequent tasks suit a LISP routine. Tools with palettes, data and installers suit .NET. Revit work suits Dynamo or the Revit API. Work done outside CAD suits a web portal.
LISP routines
Quick, dependable commands for repetitive drafting. We also convert old VBA macros to LISP so they keep working in new CAD releases.
;; label every hole diameter
(defun c:RT-HOLEDIM (/ ss i)
(setq ss (ssget '((0 . "CIRCLE"))) i 0)
(while (ssname ss i)
(rt:dia-label (ssname ss i))
(setq i (1+ i)))
(princ))
Revit and Dynamo automation
Add-ins and Dynamo graphs that place, number, tag and schedule elements across a whole model.
Cloud batch processing
Jobs that open, edit and export drawings in the cloud (formerly Autodesk Forge), so large batches run without a desktop CAD seat.
Quantities and schedules
BOQs, cable schedules and summary tables pulled straight from the drawing into Excel or back into the DWG.
| Item | Qty |
|---|
Platforms
Nine CAD platforms, one team.
The same standards and the same support, whichever CAD your offices run.
Autodesk
AutoCAD
Plugins and LISP routines for AutoCAD and its toolsets, such as Map 3D, Electrical and Mechanical.
Autodesk
Civil 3D
Alignments, profiles, surfaces, point groups and corridors driven from code, with labels that follow your standards.
Autodesk
Revit
Add-ins and Dynamo graphs for placing, tagging, numbering and scheduling, and for checking models against your rules.
AutoCAD-compatible
BricsCAD
LISP and .NET tools that behave the same on BricsCAD as on AutoCAD, so a mixed office runs one toolset.
AutoCAD-compatible
ARES Commander
Native .NET plugins for ARES Commander, including ports of existing AutoCAD tools.
AutoCAD-compatible
GstarCAD
LISP and API customization, often moving an AutoCAD toolset across without retraining your drafters.
AutoCAD-compatible
ProgeCAD
Routines, menus and toolbars that give ProgeCAD users AutoCAD-style automation.
AutoCAD-compatible
ZWCAD
LISP and .NET customization for teams standardised on ZWCAD.
AutoCAD-compatible
DraftSight
LISP and API tools for DraftSight, from drafting shortcuts to batch processing.
Porting
Already built for AutoCAD? We'll bring it to the next platform.
We've moved complete commercial plugins from AutoCAD to ARES Commander, with their ribbons, palettes, installers and licensing. One shared codebase keeps both versions in step, so a fix or a new feature ships on every platform at once.
- One codebase, several CAD platforms
- The same ribbon and palettes
- One installer per platform
- Tested on your own drawings
Deliverables
Every tool ships ready for your team.
A routine that only works on the developer's machine isn't finished. These come as standard on .NET projects, and the parts that apply come with LISP work too.
Ribbon tab and icons
Commands grouped by workflow step, with icons your team recognises at a glance.
Signed installer
One MSI that supports several CAD releases at once, ready for IT to roll out.
User guide and release notes
Written for drafters, not developers, and updated with every release.
Licensing and updates
Optional licensing and automatic updates for tools you distribute.
Builds to test
Working builds at each milestone, tested on your own drawings.
Support after handover
Fixes, new CAD release updates and new features as your needs change.
Proven on our own product
The same delivery platform that runs PVAstra.
Installers, licensing, updates and documentation are where many CAD tools fall short. We built them for our own product first, and every client tool can use the same pieces.
- Release notes, videos and a user guide for every version
- Automatic updates offered when a command starts
- Email sign-in or licence keys for each user
- Beta builds that expire on a set date
- One installer for AutoCAD 2021 to 2027
- Light and dark palettes that follow the CAD theme
Web-based portals
Your design rules, in a browser.
Not everyone who depends on your drawings has CAD open. We can put calculators, estimates and project data where your whole team can reach them. These are ideas we can build around your standards, and the pictures use sample data.
Calculators
Engineering calculators
The calculations your engineers repeat on every project, in one place and using your own data and limits. Everyone gets the same answer, and it can be saved or sent to Excel.
- Cable sizing from current, length and voltage
- Cable losses, circuit by circuit
- Voltage drop against your limits
- Trench width from the number of cables
- Earth pits and quantities from capacity
- Hydrant counts from ring main length and spacing
- Your own cable tables and design rules
- Results saved to PDF or Excel
Estimates
Early estimates
A first answer for a bid, before anyone opens CAD. Enter a few inputs or draw a boundary on a map, and see what the site could hold.
- Solar capacity from a site's area
- Modules and frames from your design rules
- Site reports rated Good, Workable or Weak
- Battery yard size from the energy needed
- Road earthwork from length and sections
- A short report to share with your client
Project data
Project portals
One place for the drawings, quantities and decisions around a project, so nobody hunts through email for the latest revision.
- A drawing register with revision and status
- Comments and approvals on each sheet
- Shared libraries of modules, inverters and materials
- Progress and quantities by plot
- Pile and point lookups for site teams, on a phone
- A view for each role: design, site and management
Upload and run
Drawing automation in the browser
Upload a drawing and get the result back, with no CAD seat on the desk. The same kind of automation as a plugin, running in the cloud.
- Drawings checked against your standards
- Layer, block and title block rules
- Quantities pulled into Excel
- PDF sets and KML files created for you
- Coordinates converted between grid and latitude and longitude
- Large batches run without tying up a computer
More ideas
A portal idea for every industry we work in.
Anything your team looks up, retypes or emails around is a good place to start. Tell us what it is and we'll suggest the simplest thing that would help.
Discuss a portal- SolarString and cable sizing, row pitch and shading, and capacity estimates for bids
- Energy storageYard size and container counts from the energy needed
- RoadsEarthwork volumes, and cross sections to look up by chainage
- Land and water surveyCoordinate conversion, and KP and offset lookups along a route
- ArchitectureArea statements, and door and window schedules to share
- ManufacturingPart data search, and drawing revisions ready for your ERP
- Fire protectionHydrant counts and ring main lengths from the plant layout
- Any CAD teamStandards checks on every drawing before it's issued
New to AutoLISP?
A small program that adds commands to CAD.
AutoLISP is the scripting language built into AutoCAD and most AutoCAD-compatible programs.
One routine, one new command.
A routine defines a new command. Type it, pick some objects, and the routine does the drafting a person would otherwise do by hand.
The example labels the diameter of every circle you select. It's twelve lines, and it replaces a few hundred clicks on a plate full of holes.
Run a routine in three steps
- Type APPLOAD in the command line and pick the
.lspfile. - Click Load. Add it to the Startup Suite if you want it every session.
- Type the command name, here RT-HOLEDIM, and follow the prompts.
rt-holedim.lspAutoLISP
;; RT-HOLEDIM: label the diameter of every selected circle
(defun c:RT-HOLEDIM (/ ss i ent ctr rad)
(if (setq ss (ssget '((0 . "CIRCLE"))))
(repeat (setq i (sslength ss))
(setq ent (entget (ssname ss (setq i (1- i))))
ctr (cdr (assoc 10 ent))
rad (cdr (assoc 40 ent)))
(entmake
(list '(0 . "TEXT")
(cons 10 (polar ctr 0.0 (* 1.4 rad)))
(cons 40 (* 0.5 rad))
(cons 1 (strcat "%%c" (rtos (* 2.0 rad) 2 2)))))))
(princ))
Estimate
See how much time automation gives back.
A rough guide from your own numbers. Move the sliders to match one repetitive drawing task in your team.
PVAstra takes up to 70% off utility-scale solar layouts; simpler repetitive tasks often save more.
Hours back each month46
Working days back each year68
About 3 months of one drafter's year, back for engineering.
Talk about your task
Working together
Ways to work with us.
Most common
Fixed-scope project
A defined tool, a written scope and a fixed price split into milestones. You pay as each milestone is delivered and accepted.
After the first release
Next phases
Most clients keep extending their tool. Phase 2 and beyond are scoped the same way, building on the tool your team already uses.
Launching soon
PVAstra
Our own solar plant design software for AutoCAD.
pvastra.com →Not sure which approach fits?
Describe the task and the CAD platform you use. We'll suggest the simplest way to automate it and quote for it.