Deneba Software has developed somewhat of a reputation for applications that at their best combine in a single package the most useful components of several other apps and at their worst attempt to be everything to everybody and end up pleasing nobody. DenebaCAD, their recent entry into the Mac architectural modeling and drafting market, while intentionally limiting itself to architecturally specific features, is no exception. Providing 2D drafting, 3D modeling (Sculpt, in the app’s terminology), and raytraced rendering, it positions itself as a single app from which presentations, study models, and construction documents can all be generated. It falls short of this (until now unrealizable) goal and functions best within an architectural production environment when combined with other more specialized programs. Architects trained on programs primarily used for 2D drafting will find DenebaCAD’s 2D environment more limiting and slower than their current program and will end up using DCAD for its modeling and rendering features.

With a modeling method that is extremely easy to learn for anyone trained as an architect, ie., trained to see objects in plan, section and elevation views, and with extensive and well-implemented file exchange filters, DenebaCAD is easily integrated into existing workflows. Tech support is excellent, and Deneba releases frequent updates to fix problems as they are encountered.

For linear elements or planar surfaces, DenebaCAD is an extremely precise and fast tool. However, true curves are possible only in 2 dimensions; extruded curves are broken down into facets, with obvious implications for photorealistic rendering. While most of the snapping options are intuitive and logical, the lack of a snap to end option makes editing of curved surfaces ridiculously tedious. Visual feedback of selected objects is another weak point. Since the only way to tell if an object is selected is to find its handles, one must typically zoom out repeatedly to see most of the object simply to verify that it is in fact selected. Most tools permit zooming and panning whilst drawing, making workarounds straightfoward. Custom toolbars and custom key commands are not permitted, although most commands have keyboard equivalents.

The user interface is clean and fairly uncluttered, although customizable/draggable toolbars would be welcome. Those with dual monitors will really appreciate the extra screen space for palettes and the possibility of maintaining several views open simultaneously.

Layer management is comprehensive, with the ability to group layers together and to select all objects on a given layer without turning all others off. However, the layer palette, like all DenebaCAD palettes, is not resizeable, meaning that you should plan on losing time scrolling. The Properties palette is a mixed bag. While on the one hand it makes sense to have all of an object’s definitions and attributes visible from within a single palette, it simultaneously offers too much and too little information. For example, an entire tab is dedicated to pen, fill and material assignments, information readily available elsewhere. Overall object dimensions, however, are missing, which means that one has to scroll through the object’s vectors, keeping track of what dimension is what simply to review, say, a cube.

Since multiple editable orthagonal views of the same project are permitted, the inability to edit in 3D is an acceptable limitation.

With only one level of undo, (which works arbitrarily and can fail if, for example you simply deselect an object), the inability to set custom keyboard shortcuts (most CAD operators use the zoom tool more than any other, so at least a shortcut for that tool would be nice), and the lack of a WYSIWYG screen display option to review line weights, DenebaCAD’s 2D environment is best left for as an auxiliary to its modeler. Other software packages, such as Engineered Software’s PowerCADD, offer much more comprehensive and easy to use drafting modules, and, via .dxf or .dwg files, flawlessly integrates with DenebaCAD.

DenebaCAD excels in the modeling of typical orthogonal and planar architectural forms. With .dxf or .dwg plans, sections, and elevations imported into the appropriate DenebaCAD views to serve as templates, it is possible to produce a ready-to render model of a complex building in a day. Without a mesh-level modeler, however, organic shapes are next to impossible, and the rapid file bloat with .dxf imports from other programs is enough to discourage most experiments in complex curves or warped surfaces. For other extrusions, DenebaCAD’s ability to "remember" the steps taken to produce the final form, including Boolean operations, make editing easy.

Texture editing is adequate, if limited in the number of editable parameters (see material editor screenshot). Bitmapped textures can be imported via the clipboard into a window, from which the DenebaCAD size is set along with some parameters. Tiling options are also available, permitting great flexibility in the application of most textures. The Brightness setting is arbitrary and produces little or no effect in final output for most textures. Transparency works well. Some sort of export option should be available for the bitmapped images, however, to permit further editing of included DenebaCAD materials in image editing software.

Offering very good raytraced renderings at good speed as long as the number of light sources is kept to a minimum, in addition to QTVR and QT movie options, DenebaCAD comes tantalizingly close to the architect’s nirvana: a tool which comes as close as possible to realistically predicting a proposed built environment. However, several factors limit its usefulness as a realistic modeling device. First is the somewhat arbitrary way in which rendering parameters are set. For example, lighting power is defined as a simple scale from 1 to 100, with no reference to the real world. Similarly, while it is possible to set a sun source by time and place, the sun’s intensity does not change with location or time of day. It shines in DenebaCAD with at the same brightness whether we are at 12 noon or at dusk. Furthermore, the renderer allows modification of the Brightness and Contrast controls, which are equally meaningless in the context of the real world. Acting more as a bit of Photoshop within a CAD program, they simply adjust the final rendered output.

For interior views with multiple light sources, renderings can take significantly longer, with required time increasing geometrically the higher the resolution and quality selected. For these renderings, one can set them to render overnight, but the export command limits the output resolution to 72 DPI. For higher resolutions, DenebaCAD makes you jump through hoops, first copying the rendered image to the clipboard, pasting into a Draft view window, and saving as a PICT, TIFF, etc. Needless to say, the more steps in what should be a straightfoward operation, the more chance for user error and the slower the operation overall. As with all limitations in DenebaCAD, workarounds are available. To its credit, Deneba software rapidly issued a fix for a bug which would sometimes produce out of memory errors when copying (or pasting) large images, essentially trashing hours of rendering.

Without either selective rendering options or support for QuickDraw 3D, DenebaCAD is best as a final renderer as opposed to an interactive one. However, without either a batch or a background renderer, it also requires more supervision than one may wish to dedicate to renderings that can take hours to complete.

In sum, DenebaCAD will not and cannot become the do-all CAD program in an architectural office. Those attempting to complete an entire set of Construction Drawings using the software will spend far longer than necessary and will be frustrated. However, if an inexpensive presentation renderer is needed, DenebaCAD will fit the bill arguably better than its main competitor, MiniCAD, for its ease of use and rapid learning curve. Once the program’s eccentricities are understood and workarounds developed, it can quickly raise the bar for the quality of architectural presentation boards and graphic work generally.