vectorworks is pies. ArchiCAD is by no means perfect (and what CAD package is), but it's better than VW. We are beta testing version 10 at the moment, and it's looking good. Integrated plotmaker now...
I wish they (graphisoft/archicad) did a good educational version... I bought version 8 but it leaves a watermark so i can't use it for university work, so i moved on to vectorworks, which is great for 2d, have not tried learning 3d yet.
BTW antipod are you testing the pc or mac version, don't suppose you know if it will be a universal binary when it comes out. It should be but you never know. Isn't archicad more effiecient and isn't it becoming more flexible with the cinema 4d plugin?
i hear great things about archicad, but haven't used it at all.
been using vectorworks for a couple of years, from vers 9.5 through current vers 12. I like it quite a bit.
Definitely not the best 3d/rendering you can get, but i can build a model pretty darn quick in VW, and then export to Artlantis, Rhino, etc for anything more sophisticated when i need to.
anyone out there well versed in both that can give some more specific pros and cons? i'd love to learn more about archicad too...
archicad is great for production drawings but horrible for designing. Modeling in AC is idiosyncratic and restricting in many ways. I used AC for a project from schematic design to CDs, and I wouldn't do it again. For the next project I'm planning to use a proper 3D modeler until schematic design in completed, and then input the model into AC for the DD and CD phases
And frem001... archicad is not platform specific. The same copy will work on both PC and Mac.
vectorworks is decent but pretty simplistic in my experience. i've messed around with archicad and it simply seems so much more comprehensive and powerful to me. bad plotting management is a HUGE minus for vectorworks in our office--it's driving us nuts! otherwise, it's fast, and clean, and super user friendly for your basic 2D work.
personally i would use archicad, from what i've seen.
i caouldn't agree more about the plotting issues in vectorworks.
myriam - do you guys plot in-house to pdf and then send files out for full-scale plotting, or do them completely in house?
i've found that pdf formatting changes every time i switch between the mac and the windows platforms. it can be pretty frustrating for sure.
i wouldn't say that vw is simplistic though - perhaps you weren't pushing the envelope, but in my experience i've found it to be pretty sophisticated. could be my inexperience talking.
i wish there were better lineweight controls, better nurbs handling, and a handful of other issues i would like to see improved, but overall it's completely appropriate for my/our needs.
anything other than a straight line is frustrating to do in vectorworks, in my opinion. line weights are awkward to manipulate... it just feels overall like it was an unfinished release, in some ways. I'm still using 10.5 though, so they might have fixed some of those things for version 11.
we plot everything in-house, straight from the vectorworks file. The fact that you can't save different plotting settings to switch between them is probably the single most aggravating thing about the program, to us. Not being able to batch plot is annoying, and plotting in general is kinda slow.
are your drawing files set up using saved sheets? if so, you can use the print sheets function which works fairly well for me.
i know in version 12 there is also an issue manager that improves some of the trickeries of batch plotting, including also self-updating revision dates, and i believe you can have it add a revision schedule as a separate transmittal, but i might be wrong about that.
the line-weight problem on non-orthoganol lines has been fixed...i think since 11.0 or 11.5. i agree though, in that i wish the lineweight function were better.
i'd like to see it work like the stroke function in ilolustrator, which to me is both intuitive and easy.
at one of the offices where i work, all the lineweights are preset as part of class settings, reducing the need for me to deal with the lineweight dialog, but i'm not as giligent as i should be about drafting in the correct class all of the time...i get caught up in the drawing, and forget to adjust my layer and/or class definition.
Apr 12, 06 7:54 pm ·
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archicad vs. vectorworks
which and why
I'd choose Vectorworks
Took a course in Archicad. It's got great functionality but limited freedom. The program forces you to design a certain way.
Vectorworks seems to offer more freedom and customization.
vectorworks is pies. ArchiCAD is by no means perfect (and what CAD package is), but it's better than VW. We are beta testing version 10 at the moment, and it's looking good. Integrated plotmaker now...
I wish they (graphisoft/archicad) did a good educational version... I bought version 8 but it leaves a watermark so i can't use it for university work, so i moved on to vectorworks, which is great for 2d, have not tried learning 3d yet.
BTW antipod are you testing the pc or mac version, don't suppose you know if it will be a universal binary when it comes out. It should be but you never know. Isn't archicad more effiecient and isn't it becoming more flexible with the cinema 4d plugin?
i hear great things about archicad, but haven't used it at all.
been using vectorworks for a couple of years, from vers 9.5 through current vers 12. I like it quite a bit.
Definitely not the best 3d/rendering you can get, but i can build a model pretty darn quick in VW, and then export to Artlantis, Rhino, etc for anything more sophisticated when i need to.
anyone out there well versed in both that can give some more specific pros and cons? i'd love to learn more about archicad too...
archicad is great for production drawings but horrible for designing. Modeling in AC is idiosyncratic and restricting in many ways. I used AC for a project from schematic design to CDs, and I wouldn't do it again. For the next project I'm planning to use a proper 3D modeler until schematic design in completed, and then input the model into AC for the DD and CD phases
And frem001... archicad is not platform specific. The same copy will work on both PC and Mac.
boot camp + autocad or revit
ride that fence, ride that fence
vectorworks is decent but pretty simplistic in my experience. i've messed around with archicad and it simply seems so much more comprehensive and powerful to me. bad plotting management is a HUGE minus for vectorworks in our office--it's driving us nuts! otherwise, it's fast, and clean, and super user friendly for your basic 2D work.
personally i would use archicad, from what i've seen.
i caouldn't agree more about the plotting issues in vectorworks.
myriam - do you guys plot in-house to pdf and then send files out for full-scale plotting, or do them completely in house?
i've found that pdf formatting changes every time i switch between the mac and the windows platforms. it can be pretty frustrating for sure.
i wouldn't say that vw is simplistic though - perhaps you weren't pushing the envelope, but in my experience i've found it to be pretty sophisticated. could be my inexperience talking.
i wish there were better lineweight controls, better nurbs handling, and a handful of other issues i would like to see improved, but overall it's completely appropriate for my/our needs.
anything other than a straight line is frustrating to do in vectorworks, in my opinion. line weights are awkward to manipulate... it just feels overall like it was an unfinished release, in some ways. I'm still using 10.5 though, so they might have fixed some of those things for version 11.
we plot everything in-house, straight from the vectorworks file. The fact that you can't save different plotting settings to switch between them is probably the single most aggravating thing about the program, to us. Not being able to batch plot is annoying, and plotting in general is kinda slow.
no batch plot?
are your drawing files set up using saved sheets? if so, you can use the print sheets function which works fairly well for me.
i know in version 12 there is also an issue manager that improves some of the trickeries of batch plotting, including also self-updating revision dates, and i believe you can have it add a revision schedule as a separate transmittal, but i might be wrong about that.
the line-weight problem on non-orthoganol lines has been fixed...i think since 11.0 or 11.5. i agree though, in that i wish the lineweight function were better.
i'd like to see it work like the stroke function in ilolustrator, which to me is both intuitive and easy.
at one of the offices where i work, all the lineweights are preset as part of class settings, reducing the need for me to deal with the lineweight dialog, but i'm not as giligent as i should be about drafting in the correct class all of the time...i get caught up in the drawing, and forget to adjust my layer and/or class definition.
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