Altium Circuit Studio??

[Zeta]

Hi all,

Element14 responded to a query I made about where EaglePCB sits in all this, per below.
Ian.

The way management see this is that EAGLE PCB is going to take care of
the low end while Circuit Studio will take care of the high end. Circuit
Studio is still almost 2x the price of an EAGLE Pro and it's going to
have yearly maintenance.
 
Farnell is still comitted to EAGLE and will continue to invest in it, to
provide for the needs of the lower end market. Circuit Studio is cheap
but only from Altium's perspective.

The goal is that they complement each other.

understood, loud and clear. CS will probably sit above $1.5k

[Bloch]

Updated link http://www.altium.com/en/altium/press-center/press-releases/altium-and-element14-partner-distribute-new-pcb-design-tool-0
 

[Pack34]

This could be the end of Eagle for me.

[Batang]

Seems to be a neat and tidy way of killing off Eagle.

Must be some deal they struck with EL14.

[borisz]

I have started PCB design with Eagle and was nothing against it. Designs became more complicated and I liked option to move tracks and buses in Altium. So I move to Altium. It was good software with acceptable number of bugs. I have paid subscriptions for many years.
In these years Altium started to release beta or even alpha versions and professional users became beta testers and we even paid for that. We paid for production software, but receive bugs - a lot of them.
One generated us a los. Via stiching make shorts all over the board. And DRC doesn't recognize it. Altium making full of us and as a concequence I won't pay subscription anymore. Forced to look for production software what Altium isn't.
Altium want's to be production software, but they have no professional attitude. They are deliver new functions, but multiplying bugs. On their site there is a voting page for bugs whith tons of a bugs. The most voted is there from Mar 12, 2011 and still not resolved.

[Bud]

understood, loud and clear. CS will probably sit above $1.5k

.... And a $500 increment  with each new release

[free_electron]

the altium website was just updated.

circuitmaker is free - cloud storage    http://www.altium.com/circuitmaker/overview
circuitstudio is paying - local storage  http://www.altium.com/circuitstudio/overview

[Zbig]

Now, one has to wonder what will the differences between the maxed-out (via paid upgrades) CircuitMaker and the CircuitStudio be. I'm holding my breath for BetterThanCircuitMakerButNotQuiteCircuitStudio and KindaSortaAltiumDesignerButReallyMoreLikeCircuitStudioPro.

EDIT:
Has anyone ever encountered two different software packages by the same company targeted at "professional" and "corporate" use? 

[EEVblog]

Now, one has to wonder what will the differences between the maxed-out (via paid upgrades) CircuitMaker and the CircuitStudio be.

That's the million dollar question.
And of course they are compatible from a file and library standpoint, right Altium?
Does this mean that CircuitMaker is now only free, and has no low priced ($<50) upgrades?

I wish they'd have figured all this out before they told anyone 

[IconicPCB]

Sooo... when?

[Zbig]

Does this mean that CircuitMaker is now only free, and has no low priced ($<50) upgrades?

It doesn't seem so. Their CircuitMaker website still says:

CircuitMaker will be free to start, giving you all the tools to think big and make cool stuff. An extendable platform means that as you create more diverse and challenging designs, you’ll be able to purchase enhancements to expand your software as you need

[EEVblog]

It doesn't seem so. Their CircuitMaker website still says:

CircuitMaker will be free to start, giving you all the tools to think big and make cool stuff. An extendable platform means that as you create more diverse and challenging designs, you’ll be able to purchase enhancements to expand your software as you need

So CircuitStudio is going to offer, what? Just local file storage, or some extra capability not covered by the CircuitMaker options?
It all seems so pointless to me, just have one version that is free with paid options and local file support.
Forgot this cloud only bullshit.

[Zbig]

So CircuitStudio is going to offer, what? Just local file storage, or some extra capability not covered by the CircuitMaker options?
It all seems so pointless to me, just have one version that is free with paid options and local file support.
Forgot this cloud only bullshit.

Yeah, that's silly. And just imagine all the confusion if it turns out that both products are indeed different in terms of workflow, menu layout, etc. Forum threads like: "How to do x in CircuitMaker"; then five pages of confused people; then "Sorry, I thought you meant CircuitStudio", etc. If anything, why not just CircuitMaker Pro = CircuitMaker with everything enabled?

[poorchava]

One question for me is: will Altium be able to pull their shit together and make up their mind before Novarm releases a DipTrace version that's better than both CircuitMaker and CircuitStudio.

[Rigby]

One question for me is: will Altium be able to pull their shit together and make up their mind before Novarm releases a DipTrace version that's better than both CircuitMaker and CircuitStudio.

I think so.  I just wish they weren't so closed about it.  Don't gather up a community, take email addresses, promise communications, and build excitement only to fall silent for months.  Super dick move.

[DerekG]

Hi all,

Element14 responded to a query I made about where EaglePCB sits in all this, per below.
Ian.

The way management see this is that EAGLE PCB is going to take care of
the low end while Circuit Studio will take care of the high end. Circuit
Studio is still almost 2x the price of an EAGLE Pro and it's going to
have yearly maintenance.

CS will probably sit above $1.5k

EAGLE PRO is currently US$1640. Element 14's reply above, states that Altium's Circuit Studio will cost "almost 2x the price of an EAGLE PRO".

This indicates that the price for Circuit Studio will be around US$2999.

[Vasi]

One question for me is: will Altium be able to pull their shit together and make up their mind before Novarm releases a DipTrace version that's better than both CircuitMaker and CircuitStudio.

Is the other way around.

[EEVblog]

EAGLE PRO is currently US$1640. Element 14's reply above, states that Altium's Circuit Studio will cost "almost 2x the price of an EAGLE PRO".
This indicates that the price for Circuit Studio will be around US$2999.

Then it's a dead duck. A dead duck that requires you to pay maintenance 

[Vasi]

CircuitStudio seems an answare to Digikey/Mentor Schematics&Layout Designer. A simplyfied interface for user not using the tools day-by-day but with enough features to be useful for low/medium complexity boards.

Indeed, anyone is preparing as best as possible for the real financial crisis that is yet to come. No one gives a s**t about Maker community if that is a skiny cow - because that means a long term project and they need every penny they can get today. And to be frankly, the community doesn't need special attention from anyone. Eagle is there to stay even if won't be developed anymore - the crossplatform binaries, the scripting engine and the xml files features makes it "immortal". So, I guess they already know that CircuitMaker is a waste of money.

In the end, CircuitStudio is the right conclusion and is expected to "bring the money" in the near future...

[zapta]

Eagle is there to stay even if won't be developed anymore - the crossplatform binaries, the scripting engine and the xml files features makes it "immortal".

It can still be challenged in the future by Kicad. It's open source and cross platform and possibly better UI  (I am still waiting for an official Mac OSX binary release).

Eagle's XML files are indeed very useful when diffing with a version control. Would be also useful to have a semantic aware diff tool for schematics and layouts.

[ehughes]

Until someone working on KiCad decides to

1.)   Handle components in a sane manner...  I.E.  associating footprints to a part at library design time, not when you push to a PCB
2.)   Provide stable binaries with some level of version control
3.)  Version control the file formats

It is simply not going anywhere outside of the very small user base it has.   The idea of a tool is to save you time.   Given the activity you see on this and other KiCad forums just getting basic things working, like an up to date binary and a manageable library system,   it is simply unusable by anyone who wants to get things done.

[zapta]

@ehughes, that's why I said 'in the future', kicad isn't ready for prime time IMO.

[n3wbie]

I don't know how accurate this is, but there's lots of information in this blog post:

https://crabtr.com/altium-circuit-maker-circuit-studio-features/

[zapta]

I don't know how accurate this is, but there's lots of information in this blog post:

https://crabtr.com/altium-circuit-maker-circuit-studio-features/

Very informative.

The file save-ability is not in the comparison table. It's an important differentiator between the three.

I didn't know that Altium is using topological routing. It has inherit push and shove ability.

[nixfu]

I don't know how accurate this is, but there's lots of information in this blog post:

https://crabtr.com/altium-circuit-maker-circuit-studio-features/

NO new info not already here on the forum.

based on what I’ve culled from press releases, websites, and hearsay and conjecture on various message boards: