I know this has been talked about before, I was hoping for some updated input. I am curious what recommendations everyone has for:

-Wiring layout software: I want to be able to import a PDF floor plan, drag and drop audio/video symbols, and draw lines showing the wiring (just like an electrical plan shows the wiring of light switches and lighting cans)

-Camera layout software: similar desire. I want to be able to import a PDF floor plan, and drag and drop camera locations. I would hope to be able to set the degree of the field of view show I can show what the camera would be able to see.

Any recommendations?

I have been using Microsoft Visio for this lately with good results overall. Importing the PDF takes some trial and error, and getting it to scale can be a chore, but if you're just looking to drop symbols it works.

I recently spent some time importing manufacturer line drawings and making some great to scale symbols with connection points which has sped up my overall turn around time tremendously.

A browser PDF editor I use in a bind to put something out really fast is PDF Escape (https://www.pdfescape.com/). It's really fast and can mark-up a PDF with symbols in minutes for really simple stuff.

Does anyone use Chief Architect? If so, is it the professional version? Just curious if it is a better application for renderings and 3D views when doing things like theaters, etc. It's half of AutoCAD and does everything we would need for now.

Currently we Visio and have no problems with it.

I found that importing PDFs into Visio gave me too many problems. Now I open the PDF and go to edit and take a snapshot of the file. I usually zoom into 300 -400 before I take the snapshot. Then go to Visio and Paste onto the page

To place symbols etc in a PDF I use Nitro and paste symbols/pics then optomize the PDF.

For wiring diagrams I use visio 2007, I just put together a template for Visio that has my COLOR KEY and a few of the symbols I use over and over.

I do excel tables in visio for things like network switch layouts and paste in full color pictures of DM frames and cards.

I've used CA for many years now - for new home design, remodeling, exploring concepts, etc.

If you take the time to learn how to do the "ray trace" renderings you can get some amazing results.

Even the basic rendering helps customers understand your proposals.

Highly recommended if you are looking for this type of program.

For those of you using Visio and importing PDF's...

just download Gimp
open the PDF in Gimp
Export as .png or .jpg
Import into Visio as an image
Put the image onto a Background page
Draw on "top" of the image on a Foreground page (with the plans as the background page)

http://www.gimp.org/

Bluebeam Revu

http://www.bluebeam.com
you can save your symbols in the tool chest and set up auto sequence.

it will also let you take "scale" measurements even if the PDF has been resized although you do need to know at least one measurement to calibrate against.

This works best for me as well.

SmartDraw is easy to use, and they have good support. Like any software, it will take a little while to figure out the best approach. (It's not great for complex wiring diagrams. For this need, look at AVSnap)