Is VectorWorks a BIM tool now?

[Grace Mann]

hi there everyone! I haven't been using VW since 9 and in my current autocad based office we've discussed at length what we might migrate towards to give our office 3D capabilities. When I was using VW9 I did create building models using layer links (workgroup referencing didn't work well at the time), so now I'm wondering if we should consider using VW to get into a 3d-type construction doc process. Is anyone doing that here?

We're a midsized office (30 people) and probably half of our CAD people have used VW before, and we can get VW users pretty easily.

We don't want to use Architectural Desktop because it's very hard to use. None of us know Revit at all and there are very few users in our area who know the program, and even fewer, if any, who know Archicad.

I assume that you would create the building model using workgroup references with one floor in each file, then create a master model? And with VW 12, we have live sections (very exciting!) -can we hope to generate and regenerate (after changes) elevations, sections and schedules from this model?

do tell!! i would like to use vw again, as would many in our office, but this is the second or third time i've brought up vw only to have us continue to use autocad :-(

[Robert Anderson]

Hi, Grace. Really, VectorWorks has had BIM capabilities for quite a while. BIM is kind of a loaded expression, because it's one acronym that people use to mean two things: (1) "Better CAD" -- integrated 2D and 3D architectural CAD that allows you to maintain a single building model; and (2) Interoperability. Well, VectorWorks does 1, but not (yet) 2.

VectorWorks 12 allows "live" sections, elevations and schedules, all based on a model.

Your approach to WGR is pretty sensible. (WGR has been improved since VW9!) Generally, you'll create one or more files for each floor of your project. From this file or files you'll create and output your plan drawings. For building-wide drawings (perpsective rendering, elevations, sections, wall sections, even riser diagrams) you'll WGR the appropriate layers from your plan files into "assembly" files put the entire building (or building shell) model together.

There are variants on the details, of course, but that's the basics. The place where VectorWorks stands out is in its graphic capability, and the control you have in graphically "annotating" your viewports to get drawings that look the way you want them to.

[Robert Anderson]

Well, Chris, of course you can do this now with VW and various forms of data exchange. But "Interoperability" as is it now popularly considered in BIM circles is the direct sharing of model data (either file based or through a server) in such a way as to reconstruct a building using vendor-independent data.

[jan15]

... direct sharing of model data ... in such a way as to reconstruct a building using vendor-independent data.

Does that mean being able to view the 3D virtual model in any CAD program?

[Christiaan]

My assessment of VW currently as a BIM CAD package is that the WIndow/door PIO has some problems that prevents me from convincing those I work with to use VW in a BIM fashion. Once these problems are overcome (hopefully in the next release) I think VW will have approached a level of BIM capability it's never been at before, i.e. the ability to create all documentation from a model swiftly and without the need for any significant workarounds.

I hope the next release will be such a milestone. After that it's just a matter of improving the way it does things rather than a matter of trying to achieve fundamental capabilities.

[Robert Anderson]

Christiaan, I think you'll like the next release.

Chris, I'm not sure I fully get what point you're trying to make, but all I can say is I think we agree. When we talk about BIM, it's with the full understanding that drawing is *still* a very important component of the architect's workflow. BIM is a complex issue, and finding the right balance of modeling / data management / drawing is key to being productive, in both today's and tomorrow's world. VectorWorks' eventual support of BIM standards (and by that I mean IFC, jan) doesn't mean we're going to throw away the flexible workflow that we afford. Far from it.