scho047

in my opinion they are pretty much similar but I would say VW has easier or more various options when it comes to 2D artistic expressions/presentations and ease of doing line drawings if thats show one would woks... but when it comes to BIM integration, you can't really beat Archicad... and personally, I have used Archicad and VW equally over the past 15 years or so (but with VW of recent times) and would have wanted to go down the path of Archicad but was down to cost of owning and running your own studio with teams! they do add up at the end!

I have been on VW2019 (with the latest updates) and it is working fine on Catalina. Not a single issue - which is a blessing none the less. Had that not worked for us, I would have had to bite the bullet and go with Archicad as I know it works fine and has no issues. Only couple of major things have stopped us from doing that - already invested time and money for the system and for our projects and the actual cost of Archicad compared to VW.... However, don't get me wrong - VW has fair few advantages also and hence we are trying to work this out! Heres to hope that they will issue a fix shortly for all so that we can enjoy 2020!

I am at a point where we could not rely on VW2020 anymore and have downgraded all files back to VW2019 and using that instead as that is at the least, is stable on macOS Catalina. It really is a joke to some degree when you pay a lot of money for annual subscriptions and you can't actually make the use of the facility as it will hang or have this memory leak problem. So disappointed.

Any solutions for this? I am getting this perhaps once or twice a day...... on various files and they are just 2d drawings and file sizes are all less then 40mb.... must be some bug. Can anyone advise on its fix? thanks!

Hi there, I too am experiencing crashes every time I modify hatch. I am on Vectorworks 2017 SP2 on macOS Sierra 10.12.2 Any help out there? Thanks!

Don't worry folks, I have actually now discovered a simple tool called - Remove Wall Breaks; and learned what it can do and how to use it!

i am following what Jonathan has suggested and been working ok... it is not the most intuitive way but given the status of Vectorworks it is good enough and I can live with that. However, what I am having difficulties with are - on a wall where a demolition wall was butting into has now been removed for the Proposed Plan, it leaves a gap where the demo wall would have been placed. Any idea as to how to get rid of that? Attached are screen-shot of what I mean..... many thanks in advance! The grey walls are - Existing Red walls/elements are - Proposed Turquoise walls / elements are - Demolished

Release of 2017 must not be too far away..... as I just noticed that VW YouTube channel has uploaded few new videos on rendering tips using 2017...! looks exciting... hoping to see the much discussed 2.0 version tools to aid us to design (or rather help us and clients to visualise our designs)...!

Alan, one last question..... would you put doors and windows as Wall-Existing class rather than having them on a separate WD-Existing class? that way it would be easier to turn it on or off. Any tips on that?

Right, that makes some sense to me now. So simply put, have a copy of existing plan all the time and perhaps class it as Existing Original or something like that. Make a copy of that existing plan and split walls/objects that needs to be classed as Demolition - which will affectively become the Demolition Plan (showing partial existing and demo parts) And then just have Existing Class walls/object and use that to draw Proposed. I guess this way, I am only duplicating the existing plans once and keeping that as more of a back up copy. Will give that a go now and see where that leads me to.... Thank you Alan!

Further to my comments just prior; I was trying things out on VW and am thinking the best way to illustrate Existing Plan | Demolition Plan | Proposed Plan separately would be to actually make exact copies of the Existing Plans for each classes. And then within the respective classes; do you simply cut where necessary to illustrate and distinguish Demolition Plan and Proposed Plans as separate copies of the existing walls? So in affect, the file would consist of three duplicates of some walls classed under separate headings - Existing, Demolition and Proposed? Does this make sense and is this the most sensible way to work on VW? I am coming from Archicad where you can set renovation filters to allow you to draw/model one walls to achieve this.... can anyone help or comment please? thanks

Hi Alan, Thanks for your file and image to explain how you deal with Demo / Existing / Proposed wall (and objects on VW). Can you please confirm/advise if you need to have an existing plans (in 3D model) in the Existing Class. Then for the walls/object you would like it to be classed as Demolished, you simply duplicate those within the Existing Class and change the class to Demolished? And the same goes for the Proposed? So affectively, you are making a duplicate of existing and demolished to a small portion to show both separately on drawings? (ie as shown in the small image attached). Bad quality screen grabs but you get the picture I am sure..... Thank you!

Hi, seems to have answered my own question here..... When you do Export or Publish as PDF, there is a small option - Rasterize Text. With this option ticked, it prints fine now and is legible. Within the option, it states that when zoomed on a screen, it may lose a bit of smoothness but I can't really tell any difference and most importantly it works on paper! Hope this helps! (kinda chuffed that I found this as a rookie!)

I am having the same problem with Ben. Can anyone help with work-around please? What I have noticed is that if I do - Print / Save as PDF, then the printed PDF has text come out correctly as it should. However, if I use - Export PDF, then the texts gets all broken up. Can someone help out with a solution please? I have used Helvetica Text which is one of the common font type. I am also on MAC. Thanks

Problem solved..... found a handy tool called 'fit wall to' object! the whole modelling experience is not too bad...!!

Ok, since my initial message above, i have been trying out few things and with Roof Face tool, I have managed to get the shape/model (of an existing house) looking right as it is. Now, I have a question about how to make the walls to meet and become a gable end wall?

Hi all, I am now transferring drawings (that were done on archicad) onto VW to start it out and so far, it has been very smooth. However, that all came to a slight halt when trying to get my head around with the AEC create roof tool. What I need to do is to create an opening in the middle (as shown in the attached drawings) but all I can get VW to do is as per the second image. Can anyone suggest how I could possibly model this correctly? Thanks!

So far I am impressed with the amount of knowledge that has been shared amongst experienced users on this forum. And slowly getting the hang of drawing/modelling in 3D like I did with Archicad. I had used VW as 2D tool for 4 years in London and the impression with 2D presentation was and still is probably the best out of Archicad, Revit and VW. Yes I do agree that method of modelling is not as clinical as others but maybe it will improve and is not that far behind?... I am on VW2016 Architect + Renderworks and am on VSS so should be getting all the new updates when it does come out.

I see where you are coming from and believe me it has crossed my mind many time before making this decision. I hope it is the right one for you and pursue down that path and wish you all the best But difference of in excess of 6-7K (depending on getting it during EOFY deals) per license and annual up-keep costs, I don't see (well hoping anyways - and from previous experiences whilst working in London) not having renovation filter nor live section to be of false economy. It is dependant on each and everyone's needs and that is my view anyways and hence opting for this route. Sure, I know how to use Archicad like the back of my hand and model things pretty quick but I am sure I will get up to speed of things and make the most of it. So far, it appears to be ok but time will tell. Do appreciate your feedback and can only hope it was the right choice as I believe it to be.....

Hi there, you would not have this file for download as a reference? Thanks,

Hi all, Thank you for all your tips and advise, it is greatly appreciated. Obviously there are lots to take in and get stuck into it. The main reason for the switch from Archicad to VW is from a financial perspective of running your own practice. Previously, worked for companies where it was all provided for me to use as a tool. But now having gone on my own, the cost of software becomes one of the key factors in selecting what platform to base it on. I mean, the cost difference is huge to a point it is no brainer! And I have used both Archicad and VW previously and believe at the end of the day, both software does everything one really can ask for (give or take couple of features here and there that are not available in one to another). ie 2D presentation methods and rendering is far superior on VW whilst Archicad may have one thing or two that are easier to implement. But that does not justify that huge cost difference. And that stacks up as you start taking into account of number of employees you will need to hire etc. The modelling on Archicad is easy (perhaps that is because I am more used to it) and will not be an issue after couple of projects up and running on VW. Perhaps renovation filter/options may come into VW if people/users request for it (after all, Archicad and VW are own by same parent company!). Lastly, I got JP training books and its very good!

Hi, I have recently moved my CAD system from Archicad 19 (and have used it for many years at different practices) to VW to start out on my own. Now, I have used VW as 2D tool previously so am familiar with it somewhat. Slowly getting the hang of 3D modelling and integrating the documentation with the model information (like you would in Archicad). What I am wanting to find out - I know there are few posts of similar requests but was not 100% certain or helped; I deal with residential projects and about 75% of them would involve refurbishment/renovation and thus needs to illustrate existing model of the house, demolition plans/elevations and model of proposed house. From my experience with Archicad, there is a renovation filter which allows you to draw one wall and part of it can be demolished and draw new proposed walls etc. How could one do this on VW? Having gone through the forum in length, I have got the feel for creating different stories in the layer (ie - GF slab, GF floor, GF ceiling, FF slab, FF floor and FF ceiling as an example). Then create several classes (ie walls Existing / walls Demolished / walls Proposed) and literally draw 3 sets of walls where necessary on each floors. Is this is the most efficient way of doing it? Any tips and some example files for those in similar situation, it would be superb! Thanks in advance