Vectorworks Development

[PVA - Admin]

Jim, bear in mind that if you use SketchUp or other imported object and use the Sub-D on them that it will break the link between the object and the uv map. VW has this as an imported texture type so although you will be able to manipulate the mesh it may not be practical to do so

The texturing issue has still not been addressed to my knowledge.

[barkest]

The texturing issue has still not been addressed to my knowledge

Thanks Jim,

I did not expect it to be but an .OBJ export will help resolve the issue for me anyway.

I still maintain that exposing the imported UV map as a png in the resource browser is 'do able'. I appreciate that you can't do everything and some of the changes look great (I like shiny things).

[Christiaan]

Yes...I looked at that a while ago but wasn't sure if it was still current or how to contribute to it.

It's still current but needs a little housekeeping to weed out some things that have been implemented.

Feel free to create an account here:

http://needleandmortar.com/wp-login.php?action=register

I need to make that registration link more obvious I think.

[line-weight]

This is why I am working on a forum upgrade that allows user voting to make the most prevalent issues the most obvious.

That sounds like a very useful and positive development.

[line-weight]

Yes...I looked at that a while ago but wasn't sure if it was still current or how to contribute to it.

It's still current but needs a little housekeeping to weed out some things that have been implemented.

Feel free to create an account here:

http://needleandmortar.com/wp-login.php?action=register

I need to make that registration link more obvious I think.

So often the problem with these things - understandably if the person/people who set it up get busy with other things then they don't get maintained.

Ideally VW should have someone paid to maintain something similar. But it sounds like moves in that direction are being made which is good news.

Also, for people to give their time for free to run or contribute to things like this, they need to feel it's being listened to and responded to. So there needs ideally to be some mechanism for visible feedback/acknowledgement from VW.

[Art V]

Structural Member Object:

-Three modes: Columns, Linear (beams) and a poly mode for freeform framing members.

-Concrete, Steel, Timber, with multiple preconfigured settings and configurations.

-Attributes allow you to set the appearance of the member at, above, or below the cut plane.

- These objects are associative, to altering beams will update to keep connected beams attached, similar to how wall networks operate.

Will this be for VW Architect only or for all modules? I can see this functionality being useful for Landmark and Spotlight as well.

[Art V]

VGM Continued Upgrades

- This is what makes Vectorworks GO.

- Same speed enhancements we saw come to OpenGL will be brought to Top/Plan views.

- Large or highly complex files will perform more smoothly, even in extreme cases.

- You will be able to perform additional operations without having to wait for the previous operation to finish.

- MULTITHREADING - screen redraws will be split into separate threads, so that user input can be taken without the user having to wait, or without making Vectorworks stop what it was already doing.

Videos!

Yes, yes, ooohhh yes!!! :grin:

Finally some really needed speed improvement for large complex files.

I assume this will increase the requirements for graphic cards? e.g. the more GPU memory the better?

(One thing I can take off my wish list, assuming it is what I think it is based on the videos)

[Art V]

WebView and Virtual Reality (Two semi related things)

- Export a model into a web view that anyone can see and move around in directly and easily, you won't need to know how to use Vectorworks to use it.

- Physically aware objects, you'll bump into walls and doors and columns etc. and not phase through the model strangely.

- This web view can appear on your computer, mobile device, but also a VR headset in a special view mode that splits the view into a left eye / right eye distorted view for use with Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or even Google Cardboard..

- A much better replacement for the Vectorworks Viewer. Includes textures colors, backgrounds, all of it in 3D.

This sounds really nice. Does the webview file need to be on a Nemetscheck server or is this a file that I can send to someone and they can view it through their browser? The reason I am asking is that clients may not want their (concept) designs/Intellectual Property to be hosted on 3rd party servers.

[Art V]

hi jim,

thanks your your work, you do a great job.

what else i can see on the screenshots:

- input for two percent settings for transparency

(hope this means we can give lines and the duly areas different transparencies, a long awaited feature from me)

so hope we can find some other hints

greetz

Yes! Another thing to take off my wish list

I agree these previews contain quite a few welcome improvements. Great work and compliments to the VW people.

[zoomer]

I rewatched the New Feature Videos from 2010, when I first tested VW,

over 2014 when I bought VW, up to 2016.

Beside 2016, which was an exceptional (5 !) "New Features loaded" release, all

others had at least 80% of "how could I ever live without these" improvements.

Some real pearls.

I am really happy to have seen only 1 Web View VR so far !

(EDIT : Oooops, Irrigation Tools, but that's ok)

Everything else leaked here are finally great improvements of existing Tools.

I'm sure we can't avoid one or another completely new feature at final release

date, but I think that is bearable.

For me it sounds like a solid upgrade so far.

If this release will stop 2016's VW eating and corrupting my data, I will be very

very happy.

I can't wait to see all those "less than 40 seconds Videos" Features, that may come.

Will we see some of the Designers Lectures soon too ?

Edited April 28, 2016 by zoomer

[PVA - Admin]

I did not expect it to be but an .OBJ export will help resolve the issue for me anyway.

I still maintain that exposing the imported UV map as a png in the resource browser is 'do able'. I appreciate that you can't do everything and some of the changes look great (I like shiny things).

I do know that OBJ is absolutely in the pipe, it is needed for quite a few different reasons. If nothing else I push for it for my own selfish 3D printing purposes

Something to resolve the issues with texturing objects is absolutely needed. I have spoken with the rendering team at length and it is something they are giving a lot of thought into how to best resolve. If I get any more information on it (UV mapping/detailed texture mapping) I will pass it along as soon as I am able. It is of great personal interest to me as well, rendering is my favorite part.

[rDesign]

Changing the title of this thread from 'Vectorworks 2017' to 'Vectorworks Development' begs the obvious question: How many of these improvements / new features can we expect in Vw2017?

[PVA - Admin]

Structural Member Object:

-Three modes: Columns, Linear (beams) and a poly mode for freeform framing members.

-Concrete, Steel, Timber, with multiple preconfigured settings and configurations.

-Attributes allow you to set the appearance of the member at, above, or below the cut plane.

- These objects are associative, to altering beams will update to keep connected beams attached, similar to how wall networks operate.

Will this be for VW Architect only or for all modules? I can see this functionality being useful for Landmark and Spotlight as well.

Currently I see it listed as included in Architect and Designer, I will inquire and see what they think about making it available for all design series modules.

[zoomer]

http://www.world-architects.com/architecture-news/headlines/A_Technology_Roadmap_5954

[PVA - Admin]

Haha an Applause Meter!

Poor Analytics getting a 6. Easily one of the most unsung features and likely will stay that way, it doesn't affect you folks directly but it is insanely useful to me specifically to help me prove the usefulness of upgrades to certain tools and commands.

[zoomer]

What's the difference to the current option, just that you will look at it from now on

Don't understand why Ressource Manger didn't get 11 from 1-10 applause though.

[PVA - Admin]

This sounds really nice. Does the webview file need to be on a Nemetscheck server or is this a file that I can send to someone and they can view it through their browser? The reason I am asking is that clients may not want their (concept) designs/Intellectual Property to be hosted on 3rd party servers.

At the moment it looks like it exports a link that goes to servers owned by Vectorworks Inc. I will ask about security considerations and/or if the file it exports goes right to the server or if it exports a full html page that can be hosted by you directly. The beta build I have at the moment has an older revision than was shown in the keynote.

[PVA - Admin]

Added all of the features to the original post for easy viewing and added more supporting images now that I have access to internet that isn't powered by an overworked hotel hamster.

[barkest]

Web VR = Applause meter 10 - I can live with that.

I think there are some great monetising opportunities with it. Prior to this it was VW --> C4D --> Unity which btw is a pretty good pipeline and although the VW offering won't be in the same technological class it is a short hop and something that I reckon will develop over the coming years.

[line-weight]

Letting clients loose on a 3D model that they can walkaround themselves unsupervised... sounds great in some ways, a bit frightening in others. Can you lock the doors to the parts you haven't had the time to model fully yet, or will they be wondering why you've designed a building with a giant hole in the wall they've just fallen out of?

[PVA - Admin]

The VR part of it is more for presentation and flashy-wow-shiny-cool marketing purposes at the moment. Which of course, are important for sealing a deal.

But the web view component is what I think will help resolve the situation with the Vectorworks Viewer, being able to have non-users of Vectorworks see and move around your model without knowing how to operate Vectorworks is extremely important and something we badly need a better solution for.

[PVA - Admin]

Letting clients loose on a 3D model that they can walkaround themselves unsupervised... sounds great in some ways, a bit frightening in others. Can you lock the doors to the parts you haven't had the time to model fully yet, or will they be wondering why you've designed a building with a giant hole in the wall they've just fallen out of?

It seems like there is relatively intelligent collision control, but at the moment it seems to be always on for solid objects. If that is the case, setting your doors 3D angle to closed would stop viewers from entering a room and having the 3D angle opened up would permit them access.

I suppose you could also just drop walls or blocks in their way... this is actually a really good question, I'm going to harass the engineers about it.

[line-weight]

Certainly it will be really great if there is going to be an easy way of showing someone an interactive 3D model on, say, a tablet or any other hardware that didn't have VW installed. This would make a big difference to how I show stuff to clients.

It's actually slightly frustrating at the moment showing 3D stuff to clients because you do all that work on the model but then end up showing it to them on printouts on paper.

That fact has an influence on how 3D presentation models are currently built - they will generally have a varying level of detail throughout according to which bits will be visible in the views you intend to present at the end.

Modelling something with the intention of showing it as a live walkaround will mean a slightly different approach - a more even level of detail. However I think you'll still find designers will want to retain control over which bits they show and in which order ... so you might find a level of resistance to giving viewers too much control over what they look at.

[Kizza]

So what else is there (other than the new Resource Manager) that will improve productivity for everyday tasks in an architectural workflow?

And I don't see the Resource Manager as a new feature, I see it as a fix. The existing resource browser is woeful.

[PVA - Admin]

So what else is there (other than the new Resource Manager) that will improve productivity for everyday tasks in an architectural workflow?

And I don't see the Resource Manager as a new feature, I see it as a fix. The existing resource browser is woeful.

It's both in this case, it corrects the annoying, cramped view and broken old behavior and adds new functionality that did not exist at all before.

These are the only features I am currently allowed to discuss publicly however, I can not go into details of features outside the ones presented at the Summit so far unfortunately.