Rumors...

[Guest clb]

Floors that can have different textures applied to their top surface, bottom surface and side surfaces.

- Beam objects that can be flat or pitched, and can use a custom profile.

- Column and pilaster objects that model both the architectural or structural components or both. The structural component can also be a custom profile.

You had that already back in 2003 - even in TurboCad V 9.0 - Nothing new in the industry, for VW Yes in 2008 but the rest - No.

But at least they do catch up at a snail pace - but it is at least a forward step.

[C W]

After reading through the NNA and message board materials regarding 2009, it seems that NNA will isolate a lot of current and potential users based on system requirements/costs alone? Mind you hardware is an area I'm just BEGINNING to learn about, but between conversation here in our office and with outside associates, we would need to upgrade to Vista (Which will open a whole can of worms), upgrade/purchase all new machines to/with 4 or more GB (Not to mention processors - one engineer told me a "4 quad or you'll me kicking yourselves"), and then obviously the licenses.

Does this sound right? Does the "average/mode" Vw user(or perhaps station is more accurate) have that kind of power/money invested in hardware? Is this really as big of a jump as it seems or am I misinformed?

Thanks in advance.

[Ray Libby]

I'm not disputing the minimum requirements, but VW 2009 w/renderworks runs fine on my fairly average setup with 3GB of ram.

[C W]

Good to hear Ray! You agree though that at the least we'd have to go to Vista?

[Ray Libby]

Not at all. Windows XP w/service pack 3 is listed in the minimum specs. I happen to like Vista though.

[brudgers]

If you are going to switch to a 64bit operating system to use all that ram, all things being equal I'd reccommend Vista x64.

Vectorworks 2008's compatibility with XP Professional x64 has been disappointing despite my pre-purchase conversations with NNA.

Of course "all things being equal" is the kicker. Vista doesn't support my plotter so I can't really switch.

If your other hardware is supported under Vista then I'd bite the bullet and make the switch.

[michael john williams]

Sorry been a way a while, sitting quietly [which is unusual for me] and watching, but this woke me up.

Sounds good, but not sure what it all means, however at the end of the day it depends how much it will all cost. We were planning to stick with 2008 for a long while but whilst this sounds good if it means expensive licences and new pcs it will put VW out of reach

[Bart Rammeloo]

Wow, I to would be curious about that "currently for windows only" statement. I'd like to know Nemetschek's specific time line on bringing the mac platform in line with the PC before I upgrade..... And what exactly differs?

This has nothing to do with NNA, but with the Parasolid kernel. Siemens is working on multicore support for Mac. Once they have that, NNA can implement it. Remember, this multicore functionality only influences some parts of Vectorworks, not all. For most of your daily operations the (lack of) multicore support will make no speed difference. The major improvement here is that Parasolid is used - period. The multicore support is just an interesting extra.

[Christiaan]

This has nothing to do with NNA

At which point they implement it does. If support comes from Siemens within the year will NNA implement as an service pack? Or will they wait until v2010?

[M5d]

The multicore support is just an interesting extra.

Are you sure?

I understand multi-processor support is unimportant for most tasks in VW's. But the "Parasolids Advantages" article notes speed improvements to rendering. I'm sure I'm just being paranoid about the nature of marketing. But I would like to know if those benchmarks still include the mac after the caveat that appears earlier in the article. Even if the mac is at the bottom end of the benchmarks that would be fine. I just don't want to upgrade to 2009 and find rendering is slower because it's quarantined to a single processor again. Rendering already causes excessive tea drinking.

[timpower]

all of the information that i've read regarding V.2009 is actually quite positive.

the parasolid kernel is very likely to give vectorworks improved capabilities, improved speed, and hopefully increase the userbase (which will make hiring qualified employees an easier task).

i've got some concerns however which i have not been able to easily clarify regarding

minimum requirements:

can anyone tell me if from what they have read, I could run V2009 on a G4 with a chip upgrade (dual 1.4) with 2MB of Ram? Would it run smoothly?

[kellhammer]

NNA told me I my P4, 2.2ghz, 512mb, Win XP machine will run VW 2009. I do not have Renderworks.

[Pat Stanford]

I was at the NNA announce meeting yesterday. The machine they chose to use to demo VW2009 (and also at the press conference last Friday), was an 8 core Mac.

It was blazingly fast.

If the Windows version were substantially faster, they would have done the demo on a different machine.

I have run a copy of 2009 on my G4, 1Ghz Powerbook. I have not done much so far, but it seems to run as well as 2008.

In some rendering tests, viewports in 2009 have rendered/updated 4 times faster in 2009 than in 2008. This is using the same file (or as minimally updated as possible) and the same hardware.

Pat

[domer1322]

on another thread, NNA wrote that 2G RAM is good enough to run VW 2009 and they simply recommended 4G instead.

[M5d]

Thanks Pat, that's good :grin: news.

Can't wait to get my grubby mitts on it.

[higgins]

Do we also have complex line styles now that we can apply via attributes palette? *crosses fingers*

[IanH]

I have run a copy of 2009 on my G4, 1Ghz Powerbook. I have not done much so far, but it seems to run as well as 2008.

In some rendering tests, viewports in 2009 have rendered/updated 4 times faster in 2009 than in 2008. This is using the same file (or as minimally updated as possible) and the same hardware.

Pat

What are your experiences with file format compatibility. Unlike 12.x and 2008, is swapping between 2008 and 09 versions likely to be transparent? I am kind of hoping that the file format change in 2008 contained any infrastructure changes needed to support the new features.

[Ray Libby]

You will have to export to VW 2008 from VW 2009. The file format has changed.

[Christiaan]

No surprises there really.

[Yancka]

I have run a copy of 2009 on my G4, 1Ghz Powerbook. I have not done much so far, but it seems to run as well as 2008.

In some rendering tests, viewports in 2009 have rendered/updated 4 times faster in 2009 than in 2008. This is using the same file (or as minimally updated as possible) and the same hardware.

Pat, did you run rendering tests on your G4, 1Ghz Powerbook? How much RAM's got your Powerbook?

[mike m oz]

I'm using VW2009 on an iMac that has only 2 GB of memory and it is fine. I'm not having any issues with either the modelling or the rendering.

[Ariel]

Anyone care to comment more on the extrude along path functionality in VW2009? What types of paths or profiles are now allowed or still not possible? Would it now be easier to model a split rail fence on a contoured surface or stair railings?

I wish NNA would post a video demoing this.

[mike m oz]

The nurbs path can now be quite complex and the profile object or objects will follow them.

Fillets and chamfers can now be applied to the nurbs path. This means its possible to draw complex pipe runs and have them look like pipe runs.

[Bruce Kieffer]

Can someone please post a VW 2009 perspective view, hidden line rendered, EPS exported file, of a cube, sphere, hemisphere, cone, and cylinder. All objects on one page is fine. I just want to see how that file imports into FreeHand since I do a lot of that. Thanks.

Mike M. sent me a test file and it worked fine. No more need for example files. Thanks Mike.

Edited September 18, 2008 by Bruce Kieffer

[Sean Flaherty]

I added Vectorworks to the list of Parasolid applications on Wikipedia. I'm surprised nobody did this already