danielf

Video webcasts covering a range of topics which new users may find useful to help understand the following: MAIN WEBPAGE: http://www.cadcourse.com/vectorworks/v12architect/index.html Constraints/ Attributes/ http://www.cadcourse.com/vectorworks/v12architect/001_1.html CLASSES & LAYERS http://www.cadcourse.com/vectorworks/v12architect/001_2.html WALL STYLES & DRAWING http://www.cadcourse.com/vectorworks/v12architect/001_3.html DRAWING SET UP http://www.cadcourse.com/vectorworks/v12architect/002_0.html and others....

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ac/IT_tutorial_web_site/vectorworks/eamesChair_project/vectorworks_Eames_Chair_Project.htm The above is a very useful video series of VW 'drafting' classes provided by Loughborough University School of Art & Design....the british instructor, quite charming actually, is drawing an Eames chair, but i think the series provides some insight into the VW which i found useful and fun to watch!! You will find several other video series as well on the site. Here is another valuable link....lots of stuff, very user friendly VWs explanations. Look especially at the December archive. I think he's discussing VW 11, but the basics are pretty much the same. http://dmae-lcc.blogspot.com/ This is another really easy to understand explanation of VW..... http://www.qualum.com/generic/house.html cheers, daniel

Taken on whole i wouldn't dare compare SketchUP to the power or fullness and utility of any CAD/BIM purpose built design software; that would be just plain unreasonable. But what a joy it is to use...and what tremendous value it brings to the process of design --- from sketching, exploring, massing, inventing, creating, refining, and even realizing a very complete design model. And the visualization and presentation strengths it provides is priceless. Would i want to use it for the other half of my work...technical drawings....yikes!! Couldn't even imagine such a process....though i'm sure a brave and inspired soul could give it ago using Layout and even do surprising things with it. But that's not an arguement for or a promotion of even wanting to try. daniel

Thanks Islandmon....i'll take another look at it to see what's new!! cheers, daniel

I found a brilliant resource for getting some clear answers to our most basic first time questions which i wanted to share: http://www.vectorlab.info/index.php? title=Category:VectorWorks_Glossary if the link didn't copy/paste correctly, just go to 'www.vectorlab.info' and look for the glossary page. Viewports & layers are defined with great clarity!! whew... :-) The glossery is a little thin but hopefully advance users will take the time, if and when its availble, to fill in more glossery terms...especially classes would be nice!!

David-- I have nothing but appreciation for all that offered their input and my enthusiasm for seeking others input should not be seen as a demand or filled with any expectation for a quick reply or any reply at all. Please accept my apology if in same way I have commincated a demanding or impatient tone, as this would not be a true reflection of my enjoyment and pleasure in discussing all that I have thus far!! Daniel

Who knows with the expert guidance found here, 30 days may kick the can down the road far enough to illuminate the virtues of VW for me....that?s my plan anyhow since there really isn't an alternative. BTW, I did find the OpenGL settings box which allowed me to turn off textures which more approximates HDL as I would like. Looks like the can just took another bounce!! lol For me there is a great advantage to orbiting models with out texture info & in HLR so the focus can be just on volume composition and other core design issues which are useful before getting into the finishes. And I find that clients can be quite put off by seeing rendered textures which are too abstract for their untrained eyes and get very worried over the direction a design is taking if too much 'suggested' information is implied but not accurately illustrated....so HLR is a quick way to focus client meetings on form and not finish. It?s a great functionality to have. daniel

Open GL or CPU or however it works....both AutoCAD and SketchUp produce high quality HLR & shaded rendering visualization in fully orbiting free flowing zooming spinning panning perspective mode....I don't know how to design with out this functionality, frankly. So I?m just surprised that VWs doesn't at least match this capability. Its Open GL option, at least under my newbie control, is adequate but not much more. This is just my opinion, of course, not meant to start any debates, but rather seeking input from experienced user about if whether or not i'm missing something while learning about VW. Thanks for your comments.

Brudger wrote: 4. Poor user control of the interface and the inability to organize drawing data using a tree based structure. I do think the interface is a bit outdated and certainly not very inspiring to work with, but that's not a deal breaker if the tool set and functionality is convincing. But I do think VW can learn a bit from Autodesk 2009 & 2010 releases in terms of interface design & control....very slick and easy to use. The issue of tree structure is even more important, however. This is something that Revit does quite well and effortlessly. With Revit in very short order it became quite clear how to navigate from drawing to drawing, view to view, detail callout to its larger brethren drawing. With VW after many many hours and two tutorials I'm still trying to get my head around its organizational method with all its drawing types and VP combinations & class structure....and the navigation palette is okay, but the complexity of how drawings are parsed and viewed is not readily evident for a first time user. The net byproduct of this in the early days of learning is a sense that the entirety of the drawing file is very fragmented and so challenges me to feel as if I have a sense of the whole model in design....but I?m sure that?s just a phase of learning how to control the design in VW.

Brudger wrote: Where vectorworks is particularly strong is: 1. graphic presentation. It's easier to produce better looking drawings. 2. 2d design processes. Filled objects just have more integrety in representing what they are supposed to represent. These are two important points of interest for me. I'm a ways away from understanding how VW is easier in comparison to AutoCAD for producing better looking drawings given that AutoCAD provides no limits on the kinds of docs I need to create....there is total flexibility in creating sheets filled with all the needed content with great clarity and variety; maybe not the pretty fills, but honestly that is a very low priority in regards to technical CDs for permit & construction. Still for technical drawings I just haven't seen evidence that 'filled objects' have more integrity in representing what they are suppose to represent as you say, and certainly not in comparison to AutoCAD?s hatching and line work w/ proper line weights...frankly I haven't seen any evidence that VW is superior in that regard nor have I found this to be true for Revit either. Of course since I am not proficient in either BIM program I can only rely on the work of others to demonstrate these claims of ease of use & integrity of representation?.which why I am doing the research that I am as a matter of due diligence before changing software. For this I appreciate all the input from all the forum members here at VW?great group of folks willing to share?and this speaks well about the VW community and spirit.

Peter -- yep, we do pretty much the same thing in regards of getting copies made at a print shop & reimbursements for plots from the client....but there are plenty of times I run a set of test plots in-house both during the process of drawing creation and certainly for final review. I find it much easier to do corrections and red-lines on paper then on the screen as god knows we spend enough time staring into our monitors --seeing plots in full size & in print also helps to validate line weights and other concerns regarding clarity prior to sending them out to the print shop....so there is still a need for in-house plotting. Plus I find PDFs still blur the lines a bit, much better then before, but still not as sharp as DesignJet plots so I mostly print a full set and send that to the print shop for copies. PDFs work just fine during construction or for RFIs and client reviews stuff whenever needed....mostly because of the ease of emailing the drawings. And nothing beats a laser printer for quick in house drawing productions for a variety of tasks!! Thanks for your comments. cheers, daniel

Brudgers -- I wonder if VW feels a little threatened by that up start SketchUp new kid on the block and so decides its seen enough and shuts you down; after all being the King of Visualization is a mighty throne to look down from but perhaps a shaky leg shows up when the new kid on the block with it meager faces & edges is seen spinning circles more gracefully then a hummingbird!!

islandmon -- Gee gosh darn!! When I fly my AutoCAD Snoopy plane trying to escape the evil Red Barron in full HLR & perspective & transparency material mapping for glass & ground shadows all in full operation and then enter into an evasive death spiral at blazing speeds heading straight towards 00?-00? ?Z? I can at that last instance rudder up the nose with enough of a surprise leaving the Red Barron to face the Z mortal plane on his own. In other words, there?s enough operational CPU power for total freedom of movement. And SketchUp goes even further and does this with excellent material mapping to boot?.though full shadows does create some turbulence. Seems to me this isn?t just a neat trick for both those lesser equipped software?s modelers, but in fact a life saving maneuverability for design visualization. Well, I guess the programming gods giveth & taketh away depeneding on their underlying architecture. Thanks for the tip on, ?Groups, Classes, ParametricObjects, Hybrids, Symbols, and NURBS take on a whole new meaning and efficacy.? Seems there are many pieces to this puzzle. Cheers, daniel

Hey All, Unless I?m just a knucklehead it looks to me like VW doesn?t do Hidden line rendering while orbiting, zooming, or panning or Hidden line rendering in both perspective & orthographic projection with out a Camera VP [or crop might be the more correct terminolgy?]? And boy oh boy waiting for re-rendering after moving a hidden line rendered Design Layer view feels like being tripped from behind while free style dancing?a silly metaphor for a design flow interruption. The Open GL option does appear to offer some visual feedback with more fluidity, but not sure that?s really an adequate replacement. Placing the pivot point of the flyover tool in camera VP/crop perspective does give some control over the rotation, but it seems easy to lose the model on the edges of the VP ? stretching the VP/crop as wide as it can on the screen helps somewhat, but it still feels sort of like steering a donkey rather then a thoroughbred!! Does VW really lack this functionality? Or does it have its own way of providing smoothing flowing non-wire frame design feedback in a similar but unique way which is still beyond my learning curve?? Enquiring and demanding minds want to know?.. ;-) daniel

Oh, yes brudgers, i agree, and i will sip the 'kool aid' with proper expectations....no doubt the big gulping is most certainly a way a ways. BTW in your opinion where does VW excel and where does is faint relative to the other programs you noted? And likewise where are the others stong and weak...and expert well informed opinion is always welcomed.