The awesome power of a Gumball

[Hugh Chapman]

Any chance future releases of Vectorworks could include a gumball?

 

In my view the gumball might be the most revolutionary feature in drawing and modelling software.

 

 

 

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I am a Landscape Architect and experienced user of Rhino and Revit.

 

My posts in this forum reflect my desire for fast and accurate drawing.

 

So far my experience with learning Vectorworks is that it has some very good advanced features for Landscape Architecture, but that the basic drawing functionality is not good.

[Pat Stanford]

If you are are 2025 this already exists in a couple of forms. 

 

Check out the Transform mode of the selection tool.

 

[Dave Donley]

https://app-help.vectorworks.net/2025/eng/VW2025_Guide/Objects_edit2/Transforming_objects_with_the_3D_dragger.htm

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

3 hours ago, Hugh Chapman said:

but that the basic drawing functionality is not good.

I noticed you included Rhino and Revit.   You are probably having a more difficult time transitioning to Vectorworks 3D than someone less experienced as you already have 3D knowledge.  If you are looking to Revit and Rhino for workflows, that will only hinder you.   There are not a lot of tutorials on Vectorworks 3D, as their focus is on Hybrid tools and that is likely the future combined with AI.

 

Vectorworks tends to compartmentalize tool sets which throws users off.   Think of all the tools (even 2D) as 3D tools and the different tool sets as one tool set.  They all interact together.

 

 

 

 

[rDesign]

@Hugh Chapman In the link that Dave Donley posted and as Pat Stanford suggested, the 3D dragger is already in the following tools in Vw2025:
 

Quote

The Edit Subdivision tool, Reshape tool, and Selection tool provide access to a 3D dragger that allows you to perform a variety of free-form modeling operations on certain 3D objects, including subdivisions, 3D polygons, NURBS curves and surfaces, and solid objects.

 

Note that it is not available in all tools, so if you are looking for it to be application-wide on all tools, you will be disappointed. 
 

As far as your statement that the “basic drawing functionality is not very good”, I think you’ll find that once you learn to properly use Vw it can perform as well as any of the other applications you mentioned.

 

In case you haven’t already found it, the largest repository of training material for Vw is the Vectorworks University portal. You’ll find a bunch of tutorials which can help you get up to speed on basic drawing functionality, both 2D and 3D.

Edited May 9 by rDesign

[Jeff Prince]

10 hours ago, Hugh Chapman said:

I am a Landscape Architect and experienced user of Rhino and Revit.

 

My posts in this forum reflect my desire for fast and accurate drawing.

 

So far my experience with learning Vectorworks is that it has some very good advanced features for Landscape Architecture, but that the basic drawing functionality is not good.

 

I’m a landscape architect too.  I transitioned to VWX after 20+ years of AutoCAD/Civil 3D/Sketchup/Rhino.  You just need to get used to the program.  
 

For me, it replaced virtually all of my production software except a photo editor, book publisher, and video editor.   I work primarily in 3d and find the LA tools and 2d plan making to be unmatched in accuracy and graphic quality for a CAD/BIZm program.  When comparing it to Civil3D, surfaces are faster to generate and more easily edited.

 

It’s not all rainbows and unicorns though.  I am critical of the software sometimes because they make tools and then  abandon development of them (irrigation, external database for plants, etc), but overall, there is no other BIM software that looks so nice and does it all, nearly.  Maybe a Blender or Rhino add on will come along/mature to change my opinion.  I doubt Revit will ever do it for me in the graphics department and certainly not with the current crop of add-ons + cost.  Even with the dreaded switch to subscription and their color wheel debacle, VWX is still a good value (I can’t believe I am willing to say that after the bait and switch, but it’s true).

 

That being said, if you don’t learn how to use it, you will be disappointed with the experience and results.

 

I just left a job where they used Civil3D and tried to show them the light, but old dogs…. They are manually keying details, making keynote legends instead of databasing, manually sheet numbering, and doing basic color plans in photoshop.  And they wonder why they are taking too much time on projects, it was insanity.