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Vectorworks User Interface Overhaul · February 10

33 minutes ago, Thomas Wagensommerer said:

What AI has to say:

WIthout knowing anything about what "AI" has based its analysis on, its conclusions don't have much value.

It's not explained what "V" and "A" are but we assume they are Vectorworks and Affinity Publisher.

That's comparing apples with oranges because what Vectorworks can do is a lot more complex and wide ranging than what Affinity Publisher can do.

(I say this as someone more than happy to criticise VW's UI design)

February 10

Similarly when I duplicate a layer I'd like the new layer to be assigned to the same storey as the original one.

At the moment objects in a duplicated layer lose all their boundings to storey levels, which is a pain.

(By the way "story" is not the only North American terminology/spelling to exist in the UK localised version; should we have a round-up of what needs to be fixed?)

February 9

Walls are bound to storey levels not storeys as such. If you want a wall to belong to a particular storey then it just needs to be in a design layer that's assigned to that storey.

February 6

Thanks for these further explanations @Nikolay Zhelyazkov

1 hour ago, Nikolay Zhelyazkov said:

- I think that there are 2 ways to match a subpart to a criteria
a) The parent matches the criteria and include subparts automatically adds the subparts in - for example "Object is Wall + include subparts" - gives you all walls and their components

- Are we agreed that something is not working as it should in the file I've attached to this post, though? Because for the datavis I've named "class contains materials" the parent objects *don't* match the criteria and yet their subparts are being found and acted on.

- Note that also, in that "class contains materials" datavis, I have to turn on "search within groups" in order for the components to be found. But none of the objects in the design layer are within groups. So is something not working as it should here?

- And another thing! It says it finds 8 objects (the extrude plus the 7 wall/slab components) but then under "values" it only lists one class. It should be listing 4 classes here, because the relevant objects are in 4 different classes.

1 hour ago, Nikolay Zhelyazkov said:

b) You make the criteria about subparts and then only the subparts that match it get included - for example "Subpart type is Component + include subparts" - gives you all Component subparts of walls, slabs and anything else that has these

- I have tried this (datavis is called "subpart type is component" in attached file) - it correctly finds the 7 components under the criteria, but again, I seem to have to tick "search within groups" even though none of these objects are in groups.

- This time under display criteria, when I choose "objects using function" "class", no values are listed at all. Again I think it should be offering me 4 values here, the 4 classes that the components are in. I had to manually add a dummy value in order for it to let me press OK and create the datavis.

- The result is that this datavis doesn't work.

DV_hatch C.vwx

February 5

I'm interested in this too.

My understanding is that the carbon footprint is pretty hard to pin down because it depends on the energy source for the relevant servers and data centres. And a lot of the ones being built at present are using "dirty" sources like gas power plants.

And then there is the question of whether you only take into account the energy used by your specific query or a portion of the energy used to generate the model it uses.

A reasonable round-up here

https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/

Surprisingly it seems that image generation may be less bad than text generation.

February 3

You'll be more likely to get useful answers if you can post a sample file so people can have a look at what's going on.

February 3

42 minutes ago, jblock said:

@line-weight Yes, a bug was filed for this and it is still being investigated. It looks like our development team is aiming at 2027 for a fix for this. I will check to see if there is anything that can be done in 2026. The bug number is VB-203090

Thanks for the update.

February 3

@CollaborativeHomeDesign there are many problems with how notes and the notes manager works in Vectorworks. I can see you've started a couple of other threads too. I believe that all/most of the problems you are experiencing are ones that have been identified for several releases now.

There is a thread here asking for the whole thing to be given some intention - please add your vote to it:

February 3

Ok, I think following these steps in a blank file allows this issue can be replicated. I have just tested this in VW2026 update 3.

1. Create a general notes object. This brings up the "general notes" dialogue

2. Press "Add". This brings up the "add note" dialogue.

3. Choose database and press "add note to database". This brings up "add note to database" dialogue

4. Untick the "use the first 42 characters..." box and create a new note with "First note description" in the "description" field and "first note text" in the "note text" field. Press Ok

5. Now in the "add note" dialogue choose the note you've just created and click OK (this is one of the points in the process where not doing the bit in bold can trip you up)

6. This returns you to the "general Notes" dialogue. Press OK and so far thing seem as expected.

7. Press "Edit notes" in the general notes object's OIP, and then repeat steps 2 to 5 but create a note with "Second note description" in the "description" field and "second note text" in the "note text" field.

8. So far things still seem as expected

9. Repeat steps 2 to 5 again but create a note with "Second note description" in the "description" field and "this is a duplicate" in the "note text" field.

10. This creates a general notes object where the problem can be seen in the following screen recording:

Note that the issue arises once there are two notes with the same "description". The "edit note" dialogue is unable to select the duplicate one correctly.

@jblock did this ever actually get looked at, or was a bug ever created? If not then I will file one.

February 2

37 minutes ago, CollaborativeHomeDesign said:

Did you ever figure this out? I'm having a similar issue (well, lots of issues actually) with the general notes object functionality.

I think I sort of did (and had some kind of workaround) - but haven't used the object recently and now forget exactly. I think it might have been something to do with notes having the same title, as I mention in one of my posts above?

Perhaps if I have time tomorrow I'll have a quick look and see if I can remember.

Posted February 2 · February 2

18 minutes ago, Tom W. said:

Is there a separate place to go to to see the Coffee Breaks? I've only ever done it by searching 'coffee breaks' on the University

There's this

https://www3.vectorworks.net/service-select-coffee-break

(Which is the first google result for me if I search for vectorworks coffee breaks)

Posted February 2 · February 2

I wish the information could just be easily accessible in one place. At the moment if I want to understand something about some aspect of VW I have to go searching in at least four different places.

- Within the help pages

- Within "Vectorworks University"

- Within "Coffee breaks"

- On the Vectorworks youtube channel

Some of these overlap but it's never clear how by how much. The youtube channel may or may not include everything that's in "University" (I think it doesn't?) and may or may not include things that appear nowhere else. The "University" seems to have some things available to anyone, and some things where you need to be signed in to Vectorworks customer account (and does it a,mke a difference whether I'm service select or subscription?).

It's always a bit unclear whether I am watching something that is correct for the current release of VW. For some tools/features, nothing may have changed in the last 5 years so a 2021 video is still fine. For others, a 2025 video may already be out of date.

Useful videos are not always linked from the help pages. Taking the recent changes to wall behaviour as an example - on what would seem to me to be the most relevant page here there is no link to the quite helpful video(s) that exist and are the quickest way of understanding what's changed.

The front page of VW university does not have a search function. Once I choose a category - say buildings - there is. Let's say I want to find out about recent changes to the wall tool, I can type "wall" into the search bar. The video "Wall Tool for non architects" appears and this is actually the one I need to watch to understand the 2026 changes but that's not indicated in the video title (which in fact implies it's not relevant to me). There are several other "wall" related videos in the results. Some of them are indicated as "legacy". Some are not marked as "legacy" but date from several years ago. Some (such as the coffeebreak one) bring up a page saying I'm not allowed to watch it as a guest. So I have to go and log in to my VW customer account to find out if I'm allowed to watch it.

I don't understand why anything that helps people to use VW should be hidden behind a login screen.

Anyway, the ideal for me would be one place where I can see as much VW help material as possible. Organised by tool/object/feature and with clear indication of what VW version each piece of advice is valid for.

February 2

On 1/31/2026 at 5:28 PM, Nikolay Zhelyazkov said:

- Here is the help on the criteria dialog with all of the options explained - https://app-help.vectorworks.net/2026/eng/VW2026_Guide/Worksheets/The_Criteria_dialog_box.htm?rhsearch=subparts&rhhlterm=subparts subpart

Thanks @Nikolay Zhelyazkov.

I see that section does explain a bit. I think that I clicked through to that earlier, but was then confused because I am looking at a help page about Worksheets, and the dialogue box is slightly different (for example it has an "include parent objects" box whereas the Data Vis one doesn't).

Unless I am missing something it still doesn't clearly define what "subparts" are.

For example if I have a group within a symbol, is the group a "subpart" or are the objects within the group "subparts" or both?

In my file example I don't understand why I have to tick the "include subparts" box in order for it to recognise the objects. The file contains a roof face, a wall and an extrude.

The criteria are to find any object with a class name that inlcudes "material". That includes 7 components inside the wall and roof objects. To find those components I would expect to have to tick "search within plug-in objects" but just ticking that box has no effect.

When I tick "include subparts" then the components are found. But this does not match the behaviour described on the help page. The parent objects of those components do not meet the criteria - they are not in classes whose names include "material".

February 1

I'm a little fearful of the day that my 3dc device suddenly stops working with an OS or VW update.

Is it still the case that there's really no alternative device that does the same thing?

January 30

9 minutes ago, Sebastiaan said:

yeah because those views are Perpendicular anyway ☺️

Could be the same command. It’s just moving on x or y. Don’t understand why it needs a different command and why move x 100 woul have to have a a different result. Very counter intuitive

I suppose you could inadvertently move something in the Z direction, in plan view, without realising it if you had left a value in the Z box from a previous operation.

January 30

35 minutes ago, Tom W. said:

I thought the Camera did exist as an object, just within the edit space of the VP rather than on the Design Layer?

I guess if the "edit space" of a VP is a thing, then that's where they exist.

Like you say they are quite furtive and don't show up in the Visualisations palette. So I don't feel totally confident that they are a secure repository of location info, when it's critical. But there doesn't seem to be another option anyway.

The VP OIP does actually let you know if a camera is present:

Screenshot2026-01-30at14_31_48.jpg.4e175115c39784ef4fce04a71e291e91.jpg

Really the camera settings should be accessible from a button right there. But I am sure this has been discussed/requested many times before.

January 30

15 minutes ago, Tom W. said:

Can you not copy the camera from the first VP then paste it in place in the second VP...?

Ah... yes this does seem to work. Thanks.

Feels a bit anti-intuitive as the "camera" doesn't really seem to exist as a physical object as such.

It appears to be necessary to do "paste in place" rather than just "paste".

Would really be a lot more useful if we could define one camera and then have it apply to multiple viewports, so that any change to the camera viewpoint would only need to be made once.

January 30

In certain situations, once I have set up a perspective viewport view manually (I move around in the design layer until I find the position I want, and then create viewport) I want to know exactly what that viewpoint is.

In other words, I want to know the exact X, Y and Z it is looking from (and ideally direction of view as well).

It seems like the only way to do this is to go through the unintuitive and laborious process of creating a VW camera linked to the viewport. That then gives me a camera that doesn't actually "exist" in the model anywhere but at least clicking on "camera" on edit viewport gives me an OIP like this:

Screenshot2026-01-30at12_30_27.jpg.c0b349c276d23a22db9ac5d0334025c6.jpg

That's ok - but what if I want to tell another viewport (with, say, different layer/class/datavis visibility settings) to look at exactly the same view?

I think the answer is, I can't, is that right?

The only way I can create another viewport with exactly the same viewpoint is by duplicating the first one, and then re-applying all the settings, I think. That was the case when I last looked at this some years ago but am checking that nothing has changed in the meantime.

January 30

On 1/28/2026 at 7:24 PM, Christiaan said:

I'm working with an architect who's mastered rendering in Nano Banana. His renderings are phenomenal. His main advice is clear wording, working through a number of prompts and then starting again with a combined prompt using the most effective ones. These are both generated from a Vectorworks model via Hidden Line Viewports.

Are the lighting/shadows here produced/guessed by Nano Banana rather than calculated in VW? I'm guessing the answer must be yes if all that it's being given is a hidden line view?

January 30

22 minutes ago, shorter said:

The 'benefit' of columns is the ability to style them, and choose the 'architectural' which is generally the 'finishes', versus structural, which we tend to never use.

We never use the base or capital.

Some find the ability to control heights via storeys, etc, useful.

That said, more often than not, we replace them with symbols.

Have you investigated the pros & cons of "Column" vs "Structural Member" in column mode?

I don't see the point of having both things - it's two separate things for users to try and understand, and two separate tools for VW to keep updated or develop.

Sadly the Structural Member tool, which is potentially really useful but does have some frustrating limitations, currently seems to be parked with little active development.

January 30

On 1/29/2026 at 9:51 AM, Nikolay Zhelyazkov said:

Hello all,

I am not that familiar with data viz but it looks like it has troubles with subparts/components. Having this logged as a bug is the way to go so that the responsible team can look into it.

Best Regards,

Nikolay Zhelyazkov

I am unclear what "subparts" actually means. I often just tick the box in the hope that it means nothing gets missed but don't really understand what effect it has.

As far as I can see it's not explained in the data vis help page.

Screenshot2026-01-30at11_02_26.jpg.b83cf5f589161d9e921e6634501dadae.jpg

Do I need to tick "include subparts" for any of the "search within" categories below to take effect?

The only way I can get the dialogue to show "Objects that meet the criteria: 7" is by ticking "include subparts" and "groups".

I find this very confusing.

January 30

I never use the column tool. I think this is mainly because there are so many tools that seem designed for legacy workflows and/or haven't been updated in ages, that there is a high level of friction for me in starting to use any unfamiliar tool because I know from experience that there's a high probability that I'll just lose several hours discovering that it doesn't work properly, or doesn't work with my workflows.

Because I generally use HSVPs rather than top/plan, I don't need to use something like the mullion tool; if I want a simple vertical element I just make a basic extrude. I know exactly how it's going to behave in shaded view, in plan, in section, in elevation etc.

I was curious though, so have just had a look at it.

Straight away there are various things that I can't understand without going to look at documentation etc:

- there are "architectural" and "structural" components. This isn't a distinction made in other tools that I use, so I don't know what it actually means - are there some rules unknown to me that are going to determine where/when either is visible.

- there are also component "finishes" and "classes". Again, I don't think any other tool I already use works like this, so I am going to have to spend time understanding what this actually means. What does the "finishes" class actually control?

- there's no preview in the dialogue showing me what the various settings are going to produce in 3d views or sections or whatever. So it will have to be trial and error making changes and going back and forth to design and sheet layers.

- in a horizontal section I find that it gets drawn with a dotted line around it which I am guessing is showing the capital above. How do I control that? I can't find anything in the OIP or settings. If I want to find out I'm going to have to go and read the help documentation

Additionally, can't I use the Structural Member tool to make columns? If so, why does this tool also exist? Which came first? Which is most likely to be actively developed or abandoned? Who knows, but I've already invested some time in the structural member tool so at least I basically know how it works and already know its limitations.

Add all the above together and what incentive is there for me to spend time learning this tool? Very little. Maybe it's actually a great tool but the risk of just wasting time is too high.

Some of this is kind of relevant to the thread subject. We always have this scattering of tools with overlapping functions and inconsistent behaviour. I know it's one of the good things about VW, that there are many different ways of doing the same thing. But the inconsistency is a massive problem, it means there's a big disincentive to try using stuff you're not already familiar with. I expect this is why most people actually just use a relatively narrow subset of tools & functions.

But I've been going on about bringing consistency to the UI for ages.

January 29

18 hours ago, Christiaan said:

With regard to plug-in objects, I would open source them and put somebody in charge of managing code input from users, especially for little tools like the Clothes Rod.

An excellent idea.

There are lots of users who want to improve tools and the software in general. VW already gets loads of unpaid labour from users who spend time testing stuff and suggesting improvements. It would be great to divert some of that enthusiasm into actually producing improvements instead of it being spent writing frustrated forum posts about tools that never get updated.

January 28

I've submitted this as a bug.

January 27

Pretty much this problem has been covered in a couple of other threads previously - the question is what the search terms are, that will bring them up...

eg. this raises some similar questions

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