Which is better for piping design, PDSOFT or PLANT 3D – in terms of usability and aesthetics?

PLANT 3D offers more professional piping drawing with higher aesthetics. PDSOFT can handle relatively simple piping design, but it lacks professionalism. Therefore, PLANT 3D is more suitable for high-precision piping design and aesthetic requirements.

Which function is more powerful, in terms of generating drawings and materials, etc.?

I’ve never used PDsoft. PLANT3D is okay for drawing pipes; it allows for the creation of floor plans, axonometric views, and material lists, but it takes some time to learn how to use it and to make customizations. At that time, our 3D design team of 5 people spent three years working on this, enabling the entire design company to shift from 2D drawings to P3D 3D drawings, thus bringing about a change in the design process. The first half of the year is used for modeling and editing the company’s component library and specification database, while in the second half, a set of existing project drawings is converted into 3D models, and new drawings are created using these 3D models for comparison with the original plan views. In the second year, select a project that is under design and use P3D to carry out synchronous design in a specialized work section; compare this with the graphic design processes in other sections to assess the efficiency of output generation. In the third year, a new project was launched in which all work phases utilized a 3D design process: modeling first, followed by the creation of drawings.

None of them work; the professional ones are still Jian Wei and Ying Tu

I have never used Jianwei; I attended the presentation on Yingtu, but I haven’t used it in practice. Personally, I think Yingtu is essentially a heavily customized version of AUTOCAD, and I’m not sure what its actual performance is like in use.

It seems like you don’t know much about it; check out Eagle Chart’s SP3D

Regardless of which one it is, as long as one masters it and becomes proficient in it, it’s very good. They are all good, each with its own advantages; there’s no need to worry about choosing which one yet. It’s sufficient to focus on mastering one of them thoroughly. Also, pipeline design is not intended for aesthetics; it is meant for construction and to meet technical requirements. I have been using CADWorx for 13 years and have worked on numerous projects. By combining SolidWorks (for modeling special equipment) and Revit (for architectural modeling), along with Navisworks (for creating walkthroughs), a project can be completed. It is particularly good for fine chemical projects. Therefore, no matter which 3D piping software is used, one must master it thoroughly, use it every day, and apply what has been learned – not just for aesthetic reasons. Saying your project is beautiful is something an outsider would say; saying it’s professional is enough.