IS THIS PROGRAM FOR ME

[IMBUBBLES1979]

I have been using CAD for some time, and am thinking about switching to a new modeling program. Is this easy to convert to after using CAD for a long time, also does it have the ability to render and accurately estimate? any advice is appreciated. thanks

[jan15]

VectorWorks is very easy to learn. I became comfortable with it in 2 weeks, after using AutoCad for many years. It's also much more pleasant to use than the latter, with many more features, and would still be a better choice if its price were much higher than AutoCad's (though in fact it costs less than a third as much). The manufacturer lets you try out the full program and return it if you don't like it. That's not much of a risk for them, as anyone who has used it can tell you.

The program includes rendering commands, and you can pay extra to get more advanced rendering commands added to it. The add-on is called "RenderWorks".

I don't know whether it does estimating.

[APE Design Ctr]

Hi. I am a fresh user, and I chose VW over AC for a variety of reasons. I was initially cautious to switch to a platform that wasn't 'industry standard', however I am totally convinced this was the right move. The rendering package is pretty decent, however falls short of 3ds Max, or Viz.

What type of estimating are you doing?

[IMBUBBLES1979]

APE, it would be detailed estimating, trying to achieve an accurate count of lumber, roofing, drywall, flooring, basically all the systems in a house, within a small margin of error! Can VW do detailed take offs or is it just lineal feet of wall???

[alanmac]

From the sound of it you'll be more interested in the Architect version of Vectorworks rather than the plain version. Maybe ask questions in that section, although I'd have thought you'd find your answers to these questions in NNA site under that version listing features capabilities etc.

There are many Architects who subscribe and are active on these lists and I'm sure will be only to willing to help.

Good luck

[mike m oz]

Short answer is yes.

Chris Manus here in Australia has the program tweaked so that he is able to estimate the costs and materials very accurately using the reporting and scheduling functions.

You need to be conscious however that having accurate quantities is only part of the solution. To estimate costs accurately you also need to have:

- accurate up to date prices; and

- the ability to make informed decisions on risk items such as

site constraints and the like.