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Number of Vectorworks users?


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i don't know if i would choose a CAD program based on its 'popularity', but more a comparison of its function, cost and operating system platform. you might want to limit your request to a certian country, or region of a country. i know that VW is used in europe (especially the UK), new zealand and south america, for example. perhaps you can try a web search for VW user groups to start to get a handle on support. They could also give you purchasing tips.

we are a mac based office and find VW is the best value for the cost, and we've been using it since its 'minicad' days.

as for you favorite drawing tools, both offset and fillet are available in VW.

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I am an inexperienced AutoCad 04 user on PC, and I made the 'risk' of going against industry standard and jumping to Mac and Vectorworks.

Probably the best decision I have made. No more unstable PC probs, and VW is a great software pckg.

VW is WAY easier to use, WAY better results, WAY better value. Even if I stayed with PC, I would buy again. Tech support is also good.

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David,

Please do not try to emulate AutoCAD with VectorWorks - while it might work, it is very inefficient. VW has features and functionality not found in AutoCAD and those are what really make the program so useful and productive. Eg. for building plans, use walls instead of lines & offsets.

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David:

1. Assuming you mean using the AC Fillet command with radius = 0 to trim 2 lines to each other:

VW has a "Join" command for that purpose. But it's not needed very often because it's so easy to just draw the lines already trimmed correctly, or to just grab one that's already drawn and drag it or drag-stretch its end to where you want it without any command. It also has a Fillet tool for actually filleting - creating a curved corner between 2 lines or between 2 sides of a polyline or polygon.

2. Assuming you mean using the AC Offset command to lay out geometry because entering coordinates in Autocad is so slow and frustrating, with the @ symbol and the comma:

In VW there are many easy and quick ways to enter coordinates, so we don't use the Offset tool for that. I personally lay out geometry using rectangles, hitting the numeric keypad Enter key once, then the X value, then Enter again, then the Y value, so my hand stays on the numeric keypad all the time, touch-typing without looking down at the keyboard. And I use the Add Surface, Clip Surface, and Intersect Surface commands to combine those rectangles into more complex polylines. And you won't believe how easy it is to revise polylines with the 2D Reshape tool, not only grabbing a corner or bezier or arc control point and dragging it to where you want it, but also adding or removing points or hiding segments. I only use the VW Offset tool for actual offsetting - when I want another line or polyline parallel to an existing one.

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jan15 wrote:

>>2. Assuming you mean using the AC Offset command to lay out geometry because entering coordinates in Autocad is so slow and frustrating, with the @ symbol and the comma:<<

>>In VW there are many easy and quick ways to enter coordinates, so we don't use the Offset tool for that. <<

Exactly. There's no easy way to enter coordinates in AutoCAD, so we just offset. AutoCAD is best at editing; throw in a few lines, and then edit the rest. I'm looking forward to trying VW. Thanks for the tip.

I saw the review in MacWorld of VW 11. I emailed the magazine to ask about speed issues that I've read about on this forum.

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quote:

Originally posted by david bertrand:

I saw the review in MacWorld of VW 11. I emailed the magazine to ask about speed issues that I've read about on this forum.

Most speed issues relate to seriously complex files: complex 3D models with NURBs etc, large terrain models (100K+ data points) or simply huge files; OS platform is also an issue and I don't use VW under Mac OS X if I believe I may need to say 'select all' to 40,000+ polylines with nearly a million vertices. (I am _not_ joking!)

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quote:

Originally posted by Kevin:

My issue with the speed of VW is the speed of the OIP. Tabing through it is slow. Expanding the Door and Window OIP is slow as well. It has become a real annoyance.

Yep - I should have included that, not to mention file dialogs. The current Finder (10.3.5) is still hopelessly slow and, compared with OS 9, lost some important features like remembering what file was opened last in a folder via Open dialog.

Maybe one day we get our fast Macs back: I do whenever I use Classic...

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I joined this new office and I wanted to convert everybody to vectorworks, where they were using AC for last 6-8 years. I had a big headache converting them as they were expecting Vectorworks as AUTOCAD -2020 version, with all older features, as AutoCad. THe trouble I had to go through was to first making them believe that treat it as a new software not as a substitute of Autocad. Now within 6 weeks these guys are so much in love with VW , that they don't even look at Autocad.

Try it and see the result.

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I currently work and study. At Uni I use VW10 on Mac OSX, and at work I use AutoCAD ADT 2005 on WIN XP, with Viz. I find them both to have there positives and minus'. While it is good that VW includes its own rendering function which is easy to use, the results aren't as desirable as what Viz can produce. ACAD is great for really quick editing and layout production, but VW is better for modeling and basic geometirc working out. If you need to make your mind up, you have to decide what functionality you need, and which program delivers it better for you.

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