ThreeDot

I draw in color, then override pens in the sheet layer viewport. This gives me total control to turn color lines black, gray lines remain gray, fills are untouched, and special red classes remain red. Viewport class overrides can be copied to other viewports with the eye dropper. It’s very simple and flexible.

I'm having a this-can't-be-true moment. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction. I've been using Vectorworks since the beginning, but I've never set up a workgroup library with shared resources. With recent changes to staffing and workflow, now is the time. It seems that I am allowed to create a workgroup library on a shared drive (e.g. Dropbox), but the folder structure has to match the default library structure. Is this true? The default library is a non-sensical, convoluted mess! The point of creating a custom library is to organize resources in a way that makes sense to our office. If true, what is best practice for workgroup libraries? Where can I vote for a more flexible, customizable, and user-friendly library?

I have tried all display settings on my computer (again, a high-end iMac with a dedicated graphics cards and plenty of RAM), but it has no effect on 2D or 3D display performance. I mean, I'm sure that I would see the impact of this setting on a complex drawing or model, but our problem is with basic functions. For example, here is a video of a new file with one text object. I double click into the text box to edit (you'll notice a delay), then hit the delete key 15 times as fast as I can. One would expect this simple operation to be smooth and instantaneous. Not so! VW2019 stutters when deleting characters and, at some point, it just stops. I hit delete 15 times, there are 13 characters, but it just stops deleting at some point. This behavior is common with nearly all elements in VW2019. Nothing is fluid. It lurches and jerks through basic tasks, and it makes day-to-day operations really frustrating. @bc Are you having similar problems? Unfortunately, I have not found a workaround for this. VW2019 Slow Text Edit.mov

My iMac is about two years old, but it should be more than sufficient to run Vectorworks. I can run Rhino, ArchiCAD, SketchUp, Illustrator, and other high-end graphics software without any hesitation at all. There is no reason for VW to be so doggy. Do you use project sharing? I've started to notice speed differences between shared and non-shared files.

Unfortunately, you can't upgrade the integrated graphics chip. You'll have to upgrade your computer or purchase an external GPU and monitor. I just noticed that you are running macOS Mojave. Tech support disagrees, but Mojave seems to be related to the problems we're seeing on our MacBooks. We were able to run VW2017 and VW2018 on macOS High Sierra without any problems. As soon as we upgraded to macOS Mojave, VW2018 is unable to display 2D and 3D graphics correctly. We see the same problem with VW2019. We had a consultant in the office yesterday who was running VW2019 just fine on an older MacBook Air with a previous version of macOS (although I'm not sure which one). Tech support says that it's related to hardware, but Mojave may have something to do with it.

My comment was about software, not hardware. VW2019 has caused endless problems for us on a range of Apple hardware. VW2019 can't handle basic 2D drawings correctly on MacBooks with integrated graphics cards, but all prior versions of Vectorworks ran just fine. Even on our high-end iMacs with dedicated Radeon Pro 560 8GB graphics cards, VW2019 is really slow with basic 2D and 3D operations. Double click a text box to edit and wait for 1–2 seconds for the cursor to become active. Or, extrude three curves and VW will grind to a halt. Or, tabbing through the data bar is no longer a reliable way to enter dimensions. This was not an issue with VW2018 on the same hardware. There may be specific bugs in VW2019 that may or may not affect your workflow, but we've found that general malaise is our biggest problem. I wish that we had stuck with VW2018 for a while longer.

VW2019 is unbearably slow and buggy on my new top-of-the-line iMac. 2D is laggy and 3D is nearly impossible. Avoid upgrading, if possible.

Are you using a MacBook with an integrated graphics card? I have a similar problem with my 2016 13” MacBook Pro. It ran Vectorworks 2018 just fine, but will not run 2019.

Wow, I had no idea that you pointed this out two years ago!

This happens often: I'm working on a shared project file. I finish my edits, hit command+s to save, then command+q to quit Vectorworks. Then I get this alert: Vectorworks reminds me that I have layers or objects checked out, and they have not been committed. Thanks, but I can't do anything about it! If I hit OK, the file closes and Vectorworks quits. If I hit ESC, the file closes and Vectorworks quits. At this point, there is no way to avoid closing and quitting. If I want to commit changes, I have to re-launch Vectorworks, open the file, save and commit changes, then close and quit. It would be so simple and helpful if this alert allowed a user to save and commit changes on the spot or, at minimum, cancel the operation. Little considerations like this would be incredibly helpful. Little things like this are incredibly frustrating.

That's great! Please don't forget about keyboard shortcuts as part of the UI design process. The existing Vectorworks shortcuts are totally nonsensical. They were based on mapping the default, two-column, vertical, MiniCAD tool palette onto two horizontal rows of a US-based keyboard. Users can customize shortcuts, but it's a significant undertaking and it is difficult to move from computer to computer or help other people in the office. Vectorworks is complex and it should have a more sophisticated method of keyboard shortcuts. Two suggestions: 1. For all of AutoCAD's failings, the command line is very fast and intuitive. Want a circle? Start typing C-I and AutoCAD will autosuggest circle. Additional options are right there and can be entered without taking a hand off the keyboard. Rhino does this as well. The command line looks offputting, but it could be implemented in a more modern way. A popup akin macOS's Spotlight, for example. 2. Don't understate the power of muscle memory. Current tools are based on modes, which means that a user must either (a) remember which mode was used last—which may be a few minutes ago, or a few days ago—to know what the next click will do or (b) look at the mode bar to confirm which mode is selected. Both methods are slow and increase cognitive load. It would be far faster, for example, to hit C for circle by radius, CC for circle by diameter, CCC for circle by three points, etc. While there are a few more key presses, it becomes very fast and intuitive and the user never has to remember or look away.

Yes, this! And because tools have modes, users have to remember what the last mode was (or look at the mode bar to check). Then comes a long mouse movement to a small button or shortcut cycling though modes. Such bad design.

Is anyone running Vectorworks 2019 on a new 2018 13” MacBook Pro? I have a 2016 13” MBP that ran Vectorworks just fine until I upgraded to Mojave. Now it’s unusable. I’m thinking about upgrading before the end of the year. I like the 13” MBP for portability and it works great for light drawing and modeling. The 15” MBP has a better GPU, but I’d rather not lug that around if possible.

Yup, 2018 SP5.1 and 2019 SP2. In both cases, Vectorworks will launch and display the menus and tool palettes, but the pale yellow design layer will be transparent to the desktop behind. If I scroll my mouse to zoom, or take a similar action that forces a refresh, then it will display the design layer. I can draw and edit blindly, but the display does not update unless I force a refresh.

I have a 2016 13” MacBook Pro with integrated graphics. I was able to run Vectorworks 2017 and 2018 on it with no problem, but Mojave broke that for 2018 and 2019. The machine meets entry-level requirements—which note that Vectorworks will be suitable for simple drawing and models only—but Vectorworks cannot even display a blank drawing. I edited fairly complex drawings with VW 2018 and High Sierra a month ago, but now with Mojave my hardware is obsolete. For the record, I can run ArchiCAD, SketchUp, Cinema4D, the Adobe suite, and other high-end graphics software without any problems, but suddenly not Vectorworks. Tech support refused to admit that there is a problem with Vectorworks. There is.

It would be extremely helpful if it were easier for users to submit bugs and contact support on the fly within the app. I would love a menu item to quickly submit bugs. The user name, version, operating system, license, and other system info would all be known so that I would not have to manually enter them. I would also like to easily add screenshots and links to files to bug reports. I've been using Intercom with a web app and I love the direct, persistent, asynchronous communication to the support team.

This is such a great feature. I'm looking forward to using it on day one!

Contribute to library, get discount on license.

Thank you! I'll put the clip cube away and carry on with groups and symbols.

I'm working on a complex model where internal rooms are only accessible with a clip cube. I cannot snap to objects that are cut by the clip cube, which makes modeling really difficult. The clip cube is a great tool, but I feel like I'm missing something. Can someone point me to a video or tutorial about how to model under these conditions?

The screen refresh problem that I posted earlier in this thread has improved, perhaps because I switched graphics settings or perhaps because of updates to Vectorworks and macOS. I've also found quick workarounds to make geometry reappear and, quite frankly, I've become used to the lag. The lag that I am currently experiencing—that I am currently annoyed by—has to do with project sharing. If I move an object in a shared drawing without checking out the object first, Vectorworks seems to say "Okay, let's see. User want to move a line. Does anyone have it checked out? Bueller, Bueller? No? Okay. User, you may move the line." This takes two, maybe three seconds per operation. It's really slow, but to a certain extent I understand why. Vectorworks does need to check if any other users are working with the same geometry. However, if I check out the entire layer before I begin editing, then I expect that the question "Is anyone else working with this geometry?" has already been answered and I should be able to work at native speed. Nope! Moving that line is not as slow as I described above, but it is very slow compared to a non-shared file. Is anyone else experiencing this problem, or did I set up my shared file incorrectly?

I agree!

This is brilliant! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, but that isn't working for me. When I select "Pitched Roof" I get a standard hip roof. I click "Use Custom Roof from Profile" to edit, but the roof goes flat and there are no options to edit the pitched roof. I've watched the Vectorworks tutorial on this subject and don't know what I'm doing wrong. Honestly, even if it were working correctly, it is way to many tedious steps to create dozens of simple massing models. It's easier to create generic solids in Vectorworks, but it's even easier to create generic solids in SketchUp then bring them back into Vectorworks. Vectorworks_Pitched_Roof.mov

I need to create a neighborhood of houses, but I can't find a quick way to create pitched roof massing models in Vectorworks. Is it possible to do something like this in Vectorworks? SketchUp_Pitched_Roof.mov