PTC Mathcad Prime is a digital engineering notebook enabling engineers, mathematicians, and scientists to solve, analyze, document, and share their calculations. It helps users to solve problems accurately the first time numerically and/or symbolically, and then reuse important intellectual property with templates to save time on the next project.
$735
per year
Rhino
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Robert McNeel and Associates headquartered in Seattle offers Rhinoceros 3D (or Rhino 3D), a 3D modeling and design application. Rhino can create, edit, analyze, document, render, animate, and translate NURBS curves, surfaces and solids, subdivision geometry (SubD), point clouds, and polygon meshes.
$995
one-time fee
Pricing
PTC Mathcad
Rhino 3D
Editions & Modules
Mathcad Prime 10 License
$735
per year
Rhino 3D for Windows & Mac
$995
one-time fee
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PTC Mathcad
Rhino
Free Trial
Yes
No
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
—
Discount available for students and faculty.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PTC Mathcad
Rhino 3D
Features
PTC Mathcad
Rhino 3D
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
It is definitely a must have for every design engineer. The formulas can be written in the expanded format which facilitates the process. The measurement unit feature is very useful and helps prevent errors in formulas. Mathcad is now equipped with a decent spell checker which is also very helpful.
Rhinoceros 3D is very well-suited for buildings with repetitive bay layouts as a design can be quickly be updated (span, number of bay, height etc) simply by updating a couple numerical sliders. It is also well suited to quickly update one model (for example Revit) based on the changes in another model (either another Revit model or an analysis model). Rhinoceros 3D is not well-suited for teams that are not interested in learning GrassHopper as most of Rhino's value is in GrassHopper.
Higher-order math, despite symbolics, become tedious and variable nomenclature isn't as forgiving as other programs. Due to it's sheet-like nature, the greater the complexity the more bothersome the screen usage becomes. But it's a trade-off between a sketchpad-like interface or lines and lines of code. Pick your poison but MathCad was our choice.
A majority of the support for Rhinoceros 3D does not come from the company itself, but from online forums and boards where other Rhinoceros 3D users outline their issues and solutions. The Rhinoceros 3D website does not offer much in-depth support and just outlines general how to's. At the same time, online forums allow for more specific issues to be addressed and solved by the Rhinoceros 3D community.
Rhino is a generic platform. For BIM, you can combine it with Revit or ARCHICAD or look for extensions, such as VisualArq or the GeometyGym extensions for Grasshopper. Due to its good interoperability, I often use it for reviewing AutoCAD drawings or converting 3D models. That said, the most efficient and fast mesh modeling for non-organic geometry is still SketchUp, due to its many smart approaches to automatic mesh cleanup.
Mathcad has allowed us to take legacy hand written calculations and document them in an electronic format. Now we can quickly run different design scenarios using the legacy calculations. It allows us to quickly vet new design options.
Sharing new design concepts is quicker and easier within our various design groups.
Personally a lot of really cool designs have made it into the real world thanks to my good friend Rhino. Being in the architecture, the ROI is elevated design through giving talented designers the right tool to pull it off.
