DE-Tech

Hi JM, I am a recent convert from AutoCAD to VW Architect on a PC. Although I am currently working for a company that uses AutoCAD throughout I was looking at what would offer me the greatest flexibility if I ever decided to "go it alone" in the future. From a cost point of view I believe that VW wins hands down. The closest AutoCAD version would be LT which I find too restrictive as it cannot run lisp routines etc. which I uses quite frequently. As with all CAD programs there are various pros and cons between each one however for me VW certainly seems to have far more pros (although I would like a xline equivalent!). I'm not sure if it is the same program but I did use a program called PowerCADD back in the mid to late nineties. That was basically a 2D "drawing board", which being new to CAD, I found quite easy to learn and was quite powerful. I went on to use it fairly successfully on a number of large multi-million pound commercial projects. The only problem we had was that it didn't utilise drawing reference files or viewports so you were restricted to what you could actually draw on the page. That was a long time ago so I assume that if it is the same program things have moved on. That being said I am more than happy with what I have been able to produce in the short time that I have had VW. I find now that I am often sitting at work doing a drawing on AutoCAD and I am thinking I could do it far easier and quicker on VW. Regards DJE

Hi All, Does anybody know if there is a windows equivalent to this plug-in below or whether there is something native within Vectorworks 2013 to clean up and optimize drawings? It seems to be a Vectorworks equivalent of the AutoCAD "overkill" command. http://www.vectorbits.org/VectorBits_2013/vectorbits/Entradas/2012/11/1_Optimize_Drawing.html

Peter, Thanks for your comments. I have tried putting in a negative figure on the sill but as you suspected the rest of the window geometry does not adjust to suit and the bottom window frame section disappears into the sill. In addition to this, rather that attaching itself to the back of the window frame the "timber sill" locks itself to the back edge of the inner face of the wall. I'm surprised that for an element which is such an integral part of any window geometry this arrangement does not appear to be catered for in the window tool settings. It should be possible to use a projecting timber sill in conjunction with a masonry or brick sill rather than just an ether/or arrangement.

I have a query re the window tool, specifically to do with sills. I want to put a projecting sill on a timber window but I want it to be part of the window and therefore included in the window structural opening size and not a "separate" sub-sill which VW seems to treat it as. Any ideas?

Hi All, I have finally taken the plunge and purchased Vectorworks Architect 2013. After 13 years of working on AutoCAD I thought I was adjusting to it quite well but I appear to have run up against a basic problem in creating symbols. If I draw a circle which has a "by class" line colour and "by class" fill pattern and move it to another class it takes on the properties of that class. All OK there. However, if I turn that circle into a symbol and move it to another class the line colour and fill properties stay with the settings from the class on which it was created on (None)! Is there a way of getting symbols to take on class properties? Also, is there a way of breaking the symbol back into its component parts? Cheers

As a follow up to my "To BIM or not to BIM" post last week I thought I would let you know of my experience of a BIM Focus seminar organised by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) in Cambridge this week. The basic gist of the presentation was that if anybody wants to survive in this industry in the future they are going to have to embrace BIM, and in all likelihood the Revit file format as this has basically been accepted as the "recognised industry standard" for collaboration. I had first hand experience of this earlier in the week when talking to a local regional contractor about getting involved in some D&B projects. They were all up for BIM but said they only use consultants that use Revit. What about IFC I hear everybody cry. Isn't this going to be the recognised format for the Level 3 cloud based single BIM collaborative model of the future? Possibly not. I was a bit thrown by this as I had been led to believe that this was a universal all platform/software file format. Apparently not so. We were told that each manufacturer had "their own take" on this format hence why there is some loss of data when transferring between systems. Unless all of the software manufacturers sit down actively thrash out a truly universal format then in all likelihood the "market leader" format will be adopted, namely Revit. It was interesting the hear the experts refer to Revit as being the VHS of BIM. A nod to the fact that although it is not the best system/format available it is the most popular and therefore will see off all other formats. Where does this leave me and my decision on what system to go for? Well, if I am going to be a sole practitioner who is going to only work on small private commissions then I would not hesitate I going for Vectorworks as it gives you the biggest bang for your buck. If I am looking to work on larger public projects then I don't see any other alternative than going for Revit

Wow! I've certainly seemed to have got a heated debate going. Many thanks to everybody for their comments and feedback. As I see it, the biggest problem at the moment is that BIM is the latest buzzword with clients and they see it as a means all and ends all to solve all of their building project problems without any real understanding about what they actually want from BIM. The only clients that I have had pushing for the use of BIM are mechanical engineers within our local authority, and this is purely to do with clash detection. It is my opinion that in this situation a simple 3D "block" geometry model would be accurate enough for the purposes of checking for this. The misconception that I believe the client makes, and this even goes back to the transition from manual drawing boards to 2D CAD, was that "if the work is done on a computer it must be right". The BIM 3D model is the next stage on and they are falling into the same mistake with this, but forgetting the old adage "if you put crap in you get crap out".

I can understand the logic of creating a simple 3D model to generate the general geometry of the structure and then using this as an underlay to develop 2D detail drawings (looking on youtube it appears that both Revit and Archicad recommend this approach) but how do you then generate accurate quantity takeoffs with this approach? Lots of the sales blurb I've seen for different systems make a big deal about creating accurate materials and takeoffs from the model but if most of the production information is 2D how can these be generated?

Hi Mark, I'm based in Essex.

My first post on the forum. I am an Architectural Technologist looking into getting some experience of working with BIM. The company that I currently work for appear to show no interest in this whatsoever, and therefore rather than being left behind, I am taking it upon myself to invest in some software and learn myself. From a cost point of view Vectorworks Architect appears to be the best value package available although it appears that it can only collaborate with other BIM systems through the IFC format. I have been advised that I should learn Revit "as it is going to be the industry standard" but this is cost prohibited. There is a Revit LT version available which is of comparable price to VWA but it cannot import/export IFC or gbXML which means you are limited to working with other consultants that use the same Revit format. Also you cannot do in place 3D modelling. The NBS National BIM Library have some component objects in native Vectorworks format but most are in Revit/IFC format. Has anybody had any experience of downloading and importing any of these IFC objects? My heart (and pocket) is saying Vectorworks for its all around design capabilities, 2D drafting and intuitive interface but I am still wavering a bit. I would be grateful for any comments.