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Vectorworks and Esri


LDraminski

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use arcGIS mostly to produce all sorts of maps, but not in the normal workflow of my company. We usually receive our source data directly from the municipality for a variety of reasons. I have begun looking into how we might source shapefiles in addition to the general exports we recieve in various formats (see below) and if that becomes possible, then we would definitely start incorporating the simple GIS functionality in our workflow -- most likely in the planning/regulation and sketch phases.

 

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  • 1 month later...

@unearthed I’ve been using QGIS for a couple years and have been very happy with it for the same reasons you explain above. I’ve just started integrating it into my VW workflow primarily as a way to quickly generate base data from which to create a model and begin designing. 
 

I’m wondering if you have any tips for inter operability between QGIS and VW? Currently I export GIS data as a Dxf file and then tweak it to fit my drawing but always looking for better efficiencies for working between the two. 
 

Cheers

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@Peter W Flint To be honest I'm (hopefully) working towards doing almost all my work in QGIS (and some other tools) and more or less moving away from VW - although it is a god page layout and plant counting tool. What is your work type? I'm using QGIS for several reasons, 1 it's sheer speed with huge raster files and drone collections; 2 some of my jobs are spanning large areas and its easier to navigate, 3 I like the potential of open source (and can imagine a court case where this becomes useful vs blackbox software), 4 the odd things that are possible with GIS. Also what one can do with LasTools and GDAL to name just a couple of integrations.

 

In the meantime I'm exporting .dxfs/.shp files for use in VW. I have not found (my admittedly old VW version 2012) to make very useful .shp files, IDK if this has improved.

 

With sketchup I had some nice back and forth workflows via Ref. I should know more in a bout a month when I have had some free time.

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@unearthed I have a degree in landscape architecture but recently quit my job and have begun taking the self-employed route with small residential site design. I have some ambitions with working at a larger scale but I'm not set up just yet to take on those types of projects. In general I use QGIS to populate base maps with infrastructure, cadastral and environmental data, and from there I run an environmental analysis at the neighborhood scale and export too and parcel data as .dxf for use in VW. I've fussed around with LASTools but I work on Mac and updated to OS 14 recently and have run into some trouble with interoperability between WinE and OS 14, so that's on hold. I'm curious to see if I can translate LiDar into point clouds that VW can read for illustrative purposes. 

 

Anyway, I'm always interested in tips and discoveries other users are making in the course of their work. Thanks for your input!

 

PWF

 

 

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@Peter W Flint @unearthed 

my experience is limited, but i use .shp format between QGIS and vwx. The data and geometry seem to translate perfectly. I depend on the myriad QGIS tutorials because i usually have to learn new QGIS processes, or relearn processes after the long pauses between my uses.  
Remember to send a donation to QGIS. The international workgroup does amazing things for all of us!

 

-B

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On 2/26/2021 at 11:07 PM, unearthed said:

The main platform outside of ESRI/ArcGIS would be QGIS

True, plus that it is free which means it can be used for sharing GIS info with those who cannot afford ArcGIS. It is probably also the most ArcGIS comparable program of the GIS applications in the sense that a lot of basic things work in a similar way.

 

I use QGIS, Global Mapper and BricsCAD with Spatial Manager (the latter has a standalone desktop version as well, besides Acad and other CAD plugins) as well as Vectorworks Landscape for GIS projects and at clients office ArcGIS if I am on their systems. Both QGIS and Global Mapper can open the ArcGIS geodatabase files etc. without much trouble and then use them for extracting/exporting data usable for Vectorworks.

 

Data exchange from Vectorworks with ArcGIS and v.v. through shapefiles has never been a major issue in all these years. So I am a bit curious what it is regarding the use of Esri products in relation to Vectorworks that is the area of interest.

Is it connectivity to e.g. ArcGIS online, direct import of geodatabase files, something else?

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