Switching Maybe

[Roy]

Our ofice is thinking of switching to VW Landmark 10 from autoCAD/Eaglepoint Landscape design software. However the Interface is very Foriegn and the tutorials on the Demo CD are non existent. Can anyone point us in the direction of some good tutorials, and maybe way in with some pros & cons of the switch?

[Hugo]

I learned VectorWorks totally by myself clicking buttons and drawing. Every time I was in doubt I went to the help of the program (available as a .pdf file, installed by default) and I've always solved my doubts there. It's one of the easiest helps I've ever used. Eventually I have met other VW users and they had gave me some clues.

VW is very easy, and in my opinion much easy to use than Autocad. But I haven't used Autocad too much so I can't make a detailed comparison.

[whitecap]

roy,

the traing cds offered at th vw website are very helpful. video screenshots with naration. very polished, almost too polished. probably all the foundations you'll need to set you and your coworkers in motion.

jeff

[Greg]

I've used AutoCAD for 10 years now but not because it's been my choice. It is a powerful program but one that is not designed for creative thinkers like myself. I believe Autodesk is finally changing things because they have seen VW steadily gaining supporters by it's solid program which is more intuitive and designer oriented. I personally always recommend to anyone waivering about which CAD program to use that VW is the way to go.

P.S. can I get a free upgrade to 10 now??

[Bryan_dup1]

One of two books I highly recommend are from the series of books available on

www.improbability.com

and secondly the book

Visual Quickstart Guide - Vectorworks

ISBN 0-201-70365-3

Which will have a VW 10 version available in the next month or so. Best bought from a place like Amazon.com since they are not normally in bookstores.

There are also misc. tutorials on line if you search for "vectorworks tutorial"

Good Luck

Good luck,

[MikeN]

Vectorworks: Visual Quicktart Guide by Tom Baer published by Peachpit Press. This is one of the books we encourage new users in our office to read.

In Medias Res is a company in Vancouver that specializes in tutorial books and training CD's specifically for Vectorworks. Talk to Geoff or Pete at 604-878-0289 or check their web site at www.inmediasres.net

Any switch from AutoCad to another software is a good switch....

[Roy]

thanks for the replys everyone our switch is still in deabte but ever since 2000 autocad plotting and ps/ms is making ppl here crazy

[Guest]

You can also get those training CD's be In Media Res from our Sales Dept.

They have two CD's for Foundation which goes over all the basics of the core program.

One CD for Architect, one for Landmark and one for RenderWorks. When VW Spotlight 10 is out, I'm sure there will be a Spotlight 10 training CD available soon after.

They are really good CDs.

There are also a number of training seminar's across the country. These go over the core program and the thrid day is 3d stuff.

Janis Kent has a book out for VW .. it's geared more towards Architectural design though.

Tom Baer's book is geared towards the Foundation part of the program. It explains what tools and commands do and the limitations you may except from them.

They are all useful tools in learning VW.

Breaking away from the AutoCad fundamental thinking is the most challenging part of converting from AC to VW or any other program for that matter. You pretty much need to throw out what you know about drafting and accept the new program being used is going to be quite different.