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Wes Macaulay

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Everything posted by Wes Macaulay

  1. There's a few things to consider. Revit is about twice the price of Vectorworks. If you're doing a lot of building modeling, as Christiaan notes, apps geared towards building modeling like ArchiCAD or Revit will generate construction docs faster than CAD-based apps like Vectorworks. These apps are debatably harder to learn than Vectorworks - as you've realized, making families in Revit is one more thing you've got to learn to handle all the different conditions and designs that you're pushing out. And to be honest - you're really needing more of a CAD solution. Revit and ArchiCAD both do 2D CAD very well, but it's an adjunct feature to what they're designed to do - design and document buildings. From that perspective Vectorworks or AutoCAD LT may be a better fit for you. Then, if you need the 3D, you can jump into it if you really need it. On the shop drawings front, you might find it easier to interoperate with AutoCAD and Revit-based consultants if you have AutoCAD, but Vectorworks generally puts out a better looking set of drawings. If you're graphically inclined, Vectorworks does shine in this regard. (AutoCAD LT is the 'light' version of AutoCAD at about $1500 vs $4000) Hope this helps!
  2. Those are great tips, and dare I say folks -- it gives you some tools that Revit users would kill for ;-)
  3. There are three things that VW beats Revit on: a) it's not an Autodesk product, and the people at VW are good folk. I've met them: they're not the freaky cult types like you get at Microsoft or Adesk. It's not VW culture. You would gladly have VW people over for a BBQ: they'd make good neighbours :-) b) price. It's about half the cost of Revit c) better modeling, if you need NURBS and all that. Many practices won't need these tools, but they're there and ready to go if and when you need them What's crazy (and cool) about database-driven BIM is that two people can work in the same detail at same time ("You work on the stuff on the left, and I'll work on the stuff on the right"). The ability to collaborate is huge. I'd love to see that in VW someday: the whole shebang in one file. Autodesk isn't evil per se. They're just run by people who get waaaayyyy more cash based on sales. Now, it has been written that 'The love of money is the root of many kinds of evil.' So perhaps they are evil after all ;-) They are certainly interested in world domination!
  4. You should log in to AUGI so you won't miss any of the mudslinging as big sticky gobs land on Autodesk's front lawn :grin: There's nothing like your users to keep you honest The generic modeling tools for Revit are buried in Modeling > Create (in 2009), or Home > Component > Model In-Place. Revit's UI has typically hidden a lot of the complexity of its capabilities from users, so any given feature is easy to use. What makes Revit more difficult is that there are a lot of features. Plus, building your own door or window is something that takes some practice. Revit users would love a floating Properties palette.
  5. Autodesk didn't delete the forum -- it's still there. However, only registered users can see these forums: so all those comments are still there. I AM open-minded about BIM, and I like to see what's happening in the world of VWA. I've enjoyed talking to VW's development team about where BIM is going, and I hope VW finds great success in the BIM arena...
  6. Some of you may be aware of the noise coming from the Revit user community regarding the new release and how many users are frustrated that long-standing wishes were not met, and instead we got a half-baked UI that might work out in the end, but was not asked for. A widely respected Revit user and implementor (see http://architechure.blogspot.com) who worked for Revit pre and post Autodesk buyout has blogged clearly and humourously about the shortcomings of the new release. And now he's being pushed out by Autodesk -- he's being told that he can't speak at Autodesk University, the annual educational conference held in Las Vegas. His sessions are a gold mine to Revit users, and he's become a mentor to many of us in our quest to master the software. But he didn't toe the company line, so he's gone. Do you folks want to use software from a company that behaves more like a cult than a software vendor? Regardless of Revit's great features, Autodesk corporate culture is a good reason to stay far, far away from anything with their logo on it. Just yesterday I spearheaded a session with a Vectorworks user, an ArchiCAD implementor and myself to the Architectural Institute of British Columbia. The message: do BIM on whatever program you want. They may not be equal in capability, but it's what you know about YOUR software that makes you productive. Cheers from the dark side!
  7. This is why SU really isn't BIM (at least in my opinion): it's a surface modeler, so I wouldn't think you'd get volumetric quantities from it.
  8. Revit is indeed about twice the price of VW. While the outside world (myself included) was confused about why NNA was making so much noise about Parasolid in VW2009 and why that mattered to BIM, it really means that VW will get all sorts of tools to compete with Revit. I have used VW in the past, and my first building model was built in MiniCAD 7! I'm obviously a believer in BIM and the model-centric approach to building documentation, so the roadmap for VW's development looks very promising indeed.
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