VECTORWORKS 2008

[BLINK Design]

I have been using Vectorworks since it was Minicad many years ago. I am therefore clearly a supporter and consider VW to be unparalleled BIM software. I am an architect an designer and instructor as well I use this software and hire only VW users for my company. Nuff said! Now for the bad news, besides the incredible Two-way worksheets which is long overdue and usurps the attempts made by the author of the 3rd party add-on called INFO EDITOR and Julian Carr's Aussie version of the same thing, as well the Return to Viewport button, I am disappointed with the new featuers in the latest release. Who needs to draw walls in 3D when you can rotate in 3 seconds?

I have not purchased 2008 but I have reviewed the featured videos and frankly I would not readily pay $665.00 (upgrade price) for these features although the Two way worksheets are so desperately needed I might not have a choice! :eek: What about a graphical update and a resource browser with better resource labels, you know, the many little things?

[Guest]

Did you check out the images as well as the movies? Many of the new features do not have movies, but have static images that illustrate the feature.

I just got back from unveiling VW 2008 at a User Group and there was nothing but praise and smiling faces.

I suggest giving it a try before discrediting the software.

[Speedy Gonzales]

Hi Katie,

I think your suggestion is reasonable. If I understand you correctly, you can purchase an upgrade and try for 30 days. If you don't like it or feel it's not worth the price, we can return the disk and get a full refund. Is that correct?

Secondly, if I use the software to work on a current file, will VW 2008 update/upgrade to a new version of the file as 12 has done for older versions? And if it does, can I do a save-as or export back to 12 from 2008 without loss of data from any changes made in the new version?

Thanks in advance for your reply. I am considering an upgrade of one of my licenses to put it through its paces before I deploy throughout the office. I will say this, many of the noted new features are what many of us have wished/requested/begged/demanded for a long time. And I emphasize, a long time. Thanks for listening.

[BLINK Design]

Katie, considering my first three sentences I did not discredit the software but as I use the software for hours each day I am commenting on the daily use features that have not been addressed and feel disappointed that the focus was on features that at least to me are less significant. FInding data means drag and drop, graphic clarity and database searches (I do understand MAC OSX spotlight is now compatible...yeah!) Sorry PC Users. Shoulda bought a Mac!

I use VW for 2D / 3D / Rendering etc and discovered that I am one of the few that use worksheets having spent innumerable hours getting beyond the limts of the previous iteration and opting for Excel to save myself and clients money. I purchased INFO EDITOR and got to know Charles, I chat with users and Julian Carr and others to get the best answers and feel that my concerns are learned and appropriate. I also still find it easier to create a separate 3D file rather than to try and make component walls EASILY do what I tell them to do. Can't drag and drop or 2X click a compnent wall!

Other examples: Why not create a universal level that is evidenced in the OBJECT INFO so that every object can be easily referenced to this rather than lnked to the layer it's on. I make complex custom houses with non orthogonal shapes on steep hillsides at times and have to create multiple layers when for example ALL the roofs are not on the same vertical level! I uncheck the link to layer button and then spend hours tweaking groups or even unlocked layer links to get the vertical alignments I need fpr the myriad of elements than cannot all be placed onto separate layers but rather are located relative to each other (requirng elevation views that are very hard to see what is what in wire frame). Maybe if I had STACKED LAYERS.....I have never been able to use it!

Futher, browsing a document for symbols verses exporting a symbol is cool but not high on my priority list for example. Why can't viewports be renamed? Why can't the palettes have user defined fonts? Why not make Workgroup Referencing actually work so the Autocad Users can finally shut up for having ONE feature that works better than VW! Easily renaming Style classes or place the Standard naming alias column right in the Resource Browser for Direct easy access such as Style-12 on the left and Wood Birch on the right unique for each project. Many people have asked for this. And the most important ohmygod....please allow annotations to be classable or somehow visible in a saved view (to avoid overlapping data everywhere) and giving them a unique look so you can tell if they are indeed an annotation versus text on a design layer for example!!!!!! I do not use Annotations for these reasons! I still use Saved Views at times. Imagine that! You did address the flipping back and forth and back and forth between viewports and design layers thank you very very much!

$665.00 is an expensive experiment and for the record, I ought to be given complimentary stock in Nemetscheck for the marketing I do for the world's best BIM software. I taught VW for three years at a local Los Angeles University, I happily badmouth most anything autocad and I hire only VW users espousing why VW is the best choice blah blah blah blah blah. You gotta broaden your shoulders there a bit katie and take the constructive criticism. To each their own. These are some of my views.

[elliot]

hello

A suggestion for VW (I can't find this in the new description of VW2008)

Why isn't it still possible to justify the texts? I want to say to align the texts. It is perhaps possible to align on the left or on the right, but not on the left and on the right in the same time.

It's a miss for presentation of competition, for exemple...

Sorry for my english...

Thank you.

[mike m oz]

Justify the text is the correct terminology (that is how Word describes it).

Having more word processor like capabilities has been a longstanding wish for many (personally I would like the ability to more easily do lists). You should post your wish over in the Wish List section

[Petri]

These are some of my views.

Duly nominated in the Most Heartfelt Views category for the annual awards of VectorWorks Arts & Sciences (a.k.a. the Petri award.)

[Robert Anderson]

Blink, I think that VectorWorks 2008 addresses many of your concerns (unless I'm missing something in your comments):

I purchased INFO EDITOR..

This capability is now provided by the new Custom Modification... command.

Maybe if I had STACKED LAYERS.....I have never been able to use it!

The "Stack Layers" mode has received a bit of attention in VW2008. Not only does it have a pushbutton in the new View Bar, but double-clicking that button brings up some options to tune your use of Stack Layers (including access to all the 2D tools.)

Why can't viewports be renamed?

Viewports can be renamed in the Data palette of the Object Info palette. They use the standard object name for their name. This has always been the case, I think.

Why not make Workgroup Referencing actually work so the Autocad Users can finally shut up for having ONE feature that works better than VW!

Ah, now you're talking about an area that has received a lot of work in VW2008. The new "Design Layer Viewport" feature in the Design Series allows for what look to the world like a "croppable XREF" (although please don't call it that!) You can also live-reference external PDF or image documents as well as VW files.

a universal level that is evidenced in the OBJECT INFO so that every object can be easily referenced to this rather than linked to the layer it's on... (I) have to create multiple layers when for example ALL the roofs are not on the same vertical level!

It seems like this might be a training/workflow issue. You could create a single layer with z=0 and put all your roofs on it. Now move to a 3D view, turn on all your wall layers and the Stack Layers mode, set Layer options to "Show/Snap Others", and use the 3D cursor to move your various roofs to the appropriate levels. (In looking at this issue, I realized that the Roofer object didn't have a z value in the OI Palette. I'm going to enter that as a bug.)

[BLINK Design]

Robert thanks,

Re LEVELS, when a building is not rendered and an object needs tweaked, rotating to elevational view is the best way to see where it is but at the same time it's incredibly muddled due to the density of the lines. Turning off classes does not work because I need the WALL class ON to complete the task. I am thinkng that if each object was ALWAYS relative to a UNIVERSAL ZERO POINT (not unlike the elevational flags capability to do the same), then the bottom of the wall for example could be displayed in the OIP as Z (bottom) or Z (top) and no relative tweaking would be required. Universal 2D coordinates already exist but are not too useful to architects in the day to day. STACK LAYERS still evades me!

Re WORKGROUP REFERENCES, the updating of a file that several people are working on at the same time is the most challenging issue. For now, I separate out the 2D sheets from the 3D sheets as a separate file to accomplish this goal.

[BLINK Design]

Petri, each time I have an exchange with you I am most convinced that you are an inane idiot and should be stripped of your intelligence for the betterment of mankind...

You must practice being a 'duly enshrined' annoyance!

Good lord man get a life!

These are some more of my views...

[Christiaan]

You gotta broaden your shoulders there a bit Blink.

[Petri]

Petri, each time I have an exchange with you I am most convinced that you are an inane idiot

Could well be. On the other hand, you could be the idiot:

http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newreply&Board=9&Number=73447&page=0&what=showflat&fpart=1&q=1

Now, which of us understands eg. databases? Is the one who does the idiot?

You have in the past stated that

I have been using Vectorworks since it was Minicad many years ago.

and that

I originally upgraded from the academic version so I have all the modules

And didn't you also tell that you have been an instructor? Dear me...

[jan15]

Petri, each time I have an exchange with you I am most convinced that you are an inane idiot...

Blink, this is the key to understanding Petri. The reason he spends so much time gassing off inanely is so you won't take offense at his insults when they appear. You can laugh at the insults and skip over the long-winded pointless rants. Check out Sir Ralph, in that thread that he screwed up the link to.

Could well be. On the other hand, you could be the idiot:

http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newreply&Board=9&Number=73447&page=0&what=showflat&fpart=1&q=1

Petri, I buy you books and buy you books, and you still can't figure out how to post a link.

[BLINK Design]

jan15, being right isn't all that's it's cracked up to be. I come here for answers and not personal comments from people who have too much time on their hands like Petri appears to have. His response is to show me that he knows more than me about a topic. Isn't that why we come here? That's like a pedophile driving an ice-cream truck for gosh sake; a vampire of the uninitated!

I am an architect and USER of Vectorworks and have little interest in the programming, the creation of macros or the more challenging formats that databases require. Despite this, I figure them out by asking as well trial and error. If a person such a Petri understands this, it is my view that we all could benefit from this knowledge though we get to hear blithering rants that do not translate into practical application mostly and the comments are personal as well. I for one have little interest to understand a person of this nature and would rather steer clear, but he hunts you down to further demon-strate himself! I think I will start calling him Petrified on those occasions that he meanders by. Back to VW...

[BLINK Design]

Christian indeed, but it's the repeat blows to the back of the head that really get me down.... My version of your quote was as much to say that I could not find the discontent or lapse of judement in my assessment. As a matter of fact, I still hold to it including my total committment to the software.

I moved to LA 6 years ago which has about 1200 arch firms yet only about 50 use VW and started teaching it to see wht impact I could make. I worked it out professionally and feel disappointed that many little issues were overlooked as I stated. All is well, and hopefully soon, $695.00 will not feel like a big hunk a cheese!