troutspinner

You are right Kizza. I am trying both ArchiCAD and VW right now. I think I am liking ArchiCAD a little bit better right now......we shall see.

Thanks again for the replies. One other question. Which version of Vectorworks should I purchase for my needs? Will Fundamentals provide the ability to create wall, curtainwall/storefront and door drawings as well as schedules? I would think I would want "Architect" though will only use a small portion of it but the small portion would be invaluable?? Thanks for any and all input.

Thank you for the replies. I'll continue tinkering during my trial. I do like the software so far but my lack of knowledge on how to use it is definitely frustrating me. The world of AutoCAD was a spin on drafting on paper and was natural, this is a different approach. I would like to see this become my new platform as I like the interface and the overall performance of it is much better than AutoCAD for Mac. Assembly and Christian, thanks for the replies. No worries, I would never let price decide my purchase. Heck, I'd pay 10x if it could bump my production. I do however question the price in comparison if the end result is similar and possibly easier to achieve with Vectorworks. Thanks, troutspinner

I am an AutoCAD user and have a drafting company that supplies Curtainwall, Storefront and All Glass Shop Drawings to Glazing Contractors. I am a Mac user but still have that one program that I have to go into bootcamp, and it is AutoCAD. I would like to switch to complete Mac but find the Mac version of AutoCAD disappointing....including the price. Hence why I am here searching for an alternative. I've downloaded the trial version of VW and have immediately seen that I have to "think different". I am OK with that, it is what I want and am hoping to speed up production due to working in the 3D environment as well as to be able to provide BIM in the future. With that being said, I typically provide heavily dimensioned and annotated frame elevations and detail views of the frames connected to the adjacent walls or steel, etc. and this is where I am failing to understand Vectorworks ability. I do not have a use for drawing a building but I do need to draw the wall condition immediately supporting the frame. I suppose I could use the wall builder for this portion?? Also, I see there are some libraries included with VW but the actual parts are just represented by rectangles, or is it? Is this just what it is or will they actually show the true parts that make up the extrusion via a section cut? As an Acad user I pride myself as I "draw" very little. I use the mindset of "stop drawing and start building" and have custom programmed an elevation / section and detail creator as well as use many dynamic blocks for adjacent construction. But, at the end of the day, there is still much manual finesse and I feel as if I have reached the limits of automation. Sorry for the long-winded story, jumping ship to a new platform is quite a gamble but any and all help you could provide may tell me if I am making the right bet. Thanks, troutspinner