Hi there. I'm new here. I was looking for some general info on Vectorworks. so I did a search, but could not find what I was looking for, so here goes. . .
My architectural firm has been using Autocad for the past 6.5 years. I personally have been on it for 8 years. Unfortunately, we only have one copy of Autocad at the office, and all the rest of the computers are running Intellicad. Needless to say, we need to get rid of the Intellicad software. However, Autocad costs a furtune. My boss heard about Vectorworks, and so I'm trying to do some research about it, and see if it's the right solution for our firm.
So my questions are:
1. We deal 99% with 2d plans, elev's, etc. How well does VW deal with that? (I did a quick look through the VW website, and they tend to only show the 3d stuff. Looks cooler I guess. lol)
2. How different is the interface from Autocad? Am I going to have to completely learn a new software? Or will some of the commands/functions I use in Autocad roll over into VW? I use none of the icons that came with the newer versions of AC. I learned on the older versions of AC and have become accustomed to the key commands. I guess a second part to this question could be: For new employees we may get who are new to CAD altogether, how well would a generally computer literate person do in learning this program?
We had an ArchiCad rep come to our office a year or 2 ago to give us a presentation. Many times during his sales pitch he referred to AutoCad as "big pencil" software. Although I'll say there is some truth to what he said. . .that's also one of the things I like about Autocad. I can create just about anything I want. I use Autocad more as a canvas that I paint on. It's more like an art form to me. From what he showed us in his presentation, it looked almost as if you can only draw what Archicad wanted you to draw. . if that made any sense? lol. So I guess my third question is:
3. Is VW a "big pencil" like Autocad? Or are there limitations to what I can "freehand" in?
Thanks for any help you can give. Also if you have any other info that may help me and our firm decide on a software to buy, please let me know. Thanks again. . .
[ 12-08-2003, 06:05 AM: Message edited by: nihkon ]