VWA 2010 and BIM: what are the major improvements?

[Acadia]

Greetings, which will you say, are the main benefits of VWA2010 in facilitating BIM workflow? I am still on 2008 and looking at upgrading.

Yes I have read the list of new tools but none seemed addressing my main concern.

Even though I am a longtime VWA user, and always modeled everything, I just cannot get a smooth way to keep 2d and 3d together.

Especially when I deal with complex roofs, at different levels (i.e. clerestory roofs), intersecting circular walls with roofs or elaborated elevations or when I wish to cut walls and get their components too (which I think now VW does).

And when you render in hidden lines mode for elevations, intersections don't show their lines or too many etc.

Simple things like that, I know are done very easily for small residential projects even in builder-type CAD like Chief architect or Softplans and seems cumbersome to me (could be me, I hope).

Does the new 2010 really allow for BIM interaction, a la say Archicad or Revit are publicized to? And I am only referring to the geometry part, not the data yet.

I've been reading a lot on NNA literature and reviews about how VW allows for a more design oriented, flexible BIM compared to those other CAD, but how exactly?

I know this is a sort of philosophical question too.

Thank you for any insight, I realize this is not a direct tech question.

Edited June 25, 2010 by Acadia

[Acadia]

Just like I thought

[Ray Libby]

I'm just not sure I understand your question. What do you mean by BIM interaction? BIM is really a method of getting data from a model.

[Christiaan]

BIM is really a method of getting data from a model.

That?s just one aspect of BIM. The aspect that Acadia seems to be inquiring about is the ease of modelling the geometry, or lack thereof.

In this regard Vectorworks just isn't competitive with ArchiCAD and Revit (at least with certain architecture). These are dedicated building modellers focused on making the modelling of buildings easy. Vectorworks on the other hand is a general modeller with a focus on flexibility.

The flexibility NNA talks about is the ability to model anything, mostly with its freeform modelling tools, which is great especially if you're designing unconventional buildings. Unfortunately this and other factors have lead to the built-in building modelling tools being neglected and badly designed.

This route?of promoting and focusing on Vectorworks' "flexibility"?is all well and good but what happens when dedicated building modellers like ArchiCAD and Revit start to compete on this front? We'll be left with a "flexible" BIM app that doesn't actually provide an advantage, while still being disadvantaged by inferior building modelling capabilities.

[Bob Holtzmann]

Even though I am a longtime VWA user, and always modeled everything, I just cannot get a smooth way to keep 2d and 3d together.

Does the new 2010 really allow for BIM interaction, a la say Archicad or Revit are publicized to? And I am only referring to the geometry part, not the data yet.

I think VWA2010 does "keep the model together" better now than previous versions. It has the Unified View for viewing the entire model, and 2D lines and text can lay down on each layer in 3D views. Also, you can now snap to objects on different layers in 3D views. I also like the red, blue and green plane indicators for 3D modeling. Wall editing in 3D views has gotten more intuitive, too.

I don't know how these features compare to Archicad. I am learning some Revit, though, and I can safely say that VWA does much less interfering with error messages when doing 3D work.

[Christiaan]

This route?of promoting and focusing on Vectorworks' "flexibility"?is all well and good but what happens when dedicated building modellers like ArchiCAD and Revit start to compete on this front? We'll be left with a "flexible" BIM app that doesn't actually provide an advantage, while still being disadvantaged by inferior building modelling capabilities.

All it took was 2 years:

http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=170987