Greetings. I've just joined to this discussion and was wondering if there is any VW-users among you guys? I'm using VW12 and I'm quite happy with it but I'm mostly working with interior design. If you are using VW or have heard anything of it, what do you think?
What other softwares are you using? (For many of you, not AutoCAD obviously, I can feel some vague hatered towards that one, am I right?)
Also, if some of you are interested in joining another discussion forum too, this might intrest you. It's a discussion about design, architecture etc. but we need more users to have a decent conversation. So please visit http://www.armleg.com/design
I recently switched to a mac-based firm after only knowing cad, and once i figured out the class/group/workgroup/symbol organization, I'm starting to like it more then CAD. I just wish it was easier to navigate, ie just dragging the mouse to pan or zoom as opposed to always choosing a command, etc
in all of them, you can always just hold down the space bar while clicking and dragging for the pan function.
in vw 12, if you have a mouse with a click wheel, the scroll wheel zooms in and out while clicking down on the scroll button initiates the pan function, much like acad.
i've been a vectorworks user for years, and agree with the aforementioned comment that it's like using illustrator for architecture.
i find it so much more intuitive than acad, though conversions can sometimes be a bit messy in both directions. vw-acad, and acad-vw.
for any of the vw users who are interested, visit the vw users forum at the following link and you can subscribe to a really informative mailer. allows you to post questions to a very knowledgable froup of users.
I'm currently using 11, it sounds like those changes in 12 are big improvements, it's just the first thing I noticed when I starting using vw was that i couldn't cruise around a drawing as fast as I could in cad. thanks for the link to the boards, I'll be sure to check it out.
once the aforementioned class/layer + group/ symbol functions+uses are worked out it;s fine, the symbol bit comes in particularly useful, helps alot for flat designing. There are some niggles, the pan for one, and the object re-size refusing to work sometimes, mostly all good; can't really say its lightyears away from any other systems...
We use VW at our firm. It's pretty good--less clunky than Illustrator, but pretty similar, yeah. I wish there were more key commands, or I guess more customization of key commands, but otherwise I'm happy.
We don't use classes at all, we pretty much hate them. Layers only and keep it simple, that's the way we roll.
has quite a good vectorworks forum. i use classes + layers and start getting confused, i guess layers is the way to go. I like vectorworks because it's like illustrator and just makes more sense to me since i use adobe's products a lot. I also love the way it handles scale. 3D could be better, if they made it like rhino i'd be really impressed.
Classes are useful when doing 3d renderings and things like that, because you can set the material for a class and then set all items of tha material to that class. Other wise layers are much better
not to overcomplicate the matter, but once i got used to classes, i found them indispensable.
the deal (simply put) is that classes allow you to assign any number of characteristics to any number of items and have them retain those characteristics for the life of the drawing. lineweight, color, 3d render style, visibility, etc...
they cross layers too, meaning that once you've assigned variables to a given class, drawing in that class will always produce the same result no matter what layer you are in.
setting one up as "prop line" for instance might always be lineweight .35, color red, and dash-dash-dot pattern.
at this point, whether you are drawing on your site plan layer, on your exterior elevations layer, or on your floor plan layer, if you set "prop line" as the active class, you will always get the aforementioned red, dash-dash-dot line at lineweight .35.
it's especially handy for maintaining graphic standards throughout an office's cad monkeys. (no offense meant, i love cad monkeys...i am a cad monkey)
beyond that, for each layer you can have the different classes set to different visibilities.
i.e., i draw a floor plan and then need to do some FAR calcs...i can set up a new sheet and have the layers from my original floor plan layer appear on the new sheet, but if they are all set to specific classes, i can turn them gray (interior partitions) or off (furniture) if need be, and keep the classes that i want turned on like exterior walls, etc.
with this level of organization, more time is spent in organizing the original drawing and maintaining standards, and less time spent drawing and/or copying/pasting floor plans from one layer to another for FAR's, RCP's, etc.
of course, once you get into dealing with work group referencing, viewports and sheet layers, it becomes still more complicated and nuanced...
in short (ha!) classes offer yet another way of organizing your drawings an an ever increasingly sophisticated way.
question: do Mac cad users / firms typically use the PC type 3 button mouse with the "wheel button" in the middle? I can't imagine doing cad or 3D modelling without the wheel button... Whenever I see a mac that has just the one button I feel like driving with a track ball...
i use VW12 and have found it a curious blend of photoshop and CAD. i am a student, and have learned the program on my own, so this forum is excellent for resolving some questions i have developed along the way.
one thing that i have found very useful for transitioning from CAD to VW is to costomize my most used key CAD commands into the VW configuration settings. it relieves a lot of mouse dragging and saves, as we all know, a load of time.
as far as the mouse, i am on a laptop, and have never got around to buying a mouse.... so i just use the finger pad thing--- which is Great for zooming (use two fingers- up=zoom in, down=zoom out)-- but in general, i would recommend using a mouse with a wheely thing to be more efficient in the actual drawing of lines...
for those of you who work in firms that use VW12, how do you enjoy using RenderWorks? i've heard it is comparable to 3dsMAX but haven't immersed myself into the realm yet...
thanks for all the great posts....
Sep 11, 06 1:37 pm ·
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VectorWorks users?
Greetings. I've just joined to this discussion and was wondering if there is any VW-users among you guys? I'm using VW12 and I'm quite happy with it but I'm mostly working with interior design. If you are using VW or have heard anything of it, what do you think?
What other softwares are you using? (For many of you, not AutoCAD obviously, I can feel some vague hatered towards that one, am I right?)
Also, if some of you are interested in joining another discussion forum too, this might intrest you. It's a discussion about design, architecture etc. but we need more users to have a decent conversation. So please visit http://www.armleg.com/design
Elisa
Finland
I am on Mac, so I use Vectorworks. I have had no issues with it as it works well with Autocad files when needed. I too am on VW 12.
VW=pfarfegnugen!!!!
ok- I got a project published in the vectorworks book few years ago.
Im also a vectorworker. just because I own a mac.
its like working on adobe illustrator for architecture.
I recently switched to a mac-based firm after only knowing cad, and once i figured out the class/group/workgroup/symbol organization, I'm starting to like it more then CAD. I just wish it was easier to navigate, ie just dragging the mouse to pan or zoom as opposed to always choosing a command, etc
i have worked with Vectorworks for the 3 years I have been in college and worked at a small redisential firm that ran Vectorworks on Dells.
The biggest difference is understanding the difference between classes and layers.
Having spent the past few months working with ADT 2004, I can't see myself going back to Vectorworks.
jkap - what version of vw are you using?
in all of them, you can always just hold down the space bar while clicking and dragging for the pan function.
in vw 12, if you have a mouse with a click wheel, the scroll wheel zooms in and out while clicking down on the scroll button initiates the pan function, much like acad.
i've been a vectorworks user for years, and agree with the aforementioned comment that it's like using illustrator for architecture.
i find it so much more intuitive than acad, though conversions can sometimes be a bit messy in both directions. vw-acad, and acad-vw.
for any of the vw users who are interested, visit the vw users forum at the following link and you can subscribe to a really informative mailer. allows you to post questions to a very knowledgable froup of users.
I'm currently using 11, it sounds like those changes in 12 are big improvements, it's just the first thing I noticed when I starting using vw was that i couldn't cruise around a drawing as fast as I could in cad. thanks for the link to the boards, I'll be sure to check it out.
once the aforementioned class/layer + group/ symbol functions+uses are worked out it;s fine, the symbol bit comes in particularly useful, helps alot for flat designing. There are some niggles, the pan for one, and the object re-size refusing to work sometimes, mostly all good; can't really say its lightyears away from any other systems...
We use VW at our firm. It's pretty good--less clunky than Illustrator, but pretty similar, yeah. I wish there were more key commands, or I guess more customization of key commands, but otherwise I'm happy.
We don't use classes at all, we pretty much hate them. Layers only and keep it simple, that's the way we roll.
has quite a good vectorworks forum. i use classes + layers and start getting confused, i guess layers is the way to go. I like vectorworks because it's like illustrator and just makes more sense to me since i use adobe's products a lot. I also love the way it handles scale. 3D could be better, if they made it like rhino i'd be really impressed.
Classes are useful when doing 3d renderings and things like that, because you can set the material for a class and then set all items of tha material to that class. Other wise layers are much better
Oh that makes sense. I still use formZ to render so I just use VW for 2D.
not to overcomplicate the matter, but once i got used to classes, i found them indispensable.
the deal (simply put) is that classes allow you to assign any number of characteristics to any number of items and have them retain those characteristics for the life of the drawing. lineweight, color, 3d render style, visibility, etc...
they cross layers too, meaning that once you've assigned variables to a given class, drawing in that class will always produce the same result no matter what layer you are in.
setting one up as "prop line" for instance might always be lineweight .35, color red, and dash-dash-dot pattern.
at this point, whether you are drawing on your site plan layer, on your exterior elevations layer, or on your floor plan layer, if you set "prop line" as the active class, you will always get the aforementioned red, dash-dash-dot line at lineweight .35.
it's especially handy for maintaining graphic standards throughout an office's cad monkeys. (no offense meant, i love cad monkeys...i am a cad monkey)
beyond that, for each layer you can have the different classes set to different visibilities.
i.e., i draw a floor plan and then need to do some FAR calcs...i can set up a new sheet and have the layers from my original floor plan layer appear on the new sheet, but if they are all set to specific classes, i can turn them gray (interior partitions) or off (furniture) if need be, and keep the classes that i want turned on like exterior walls, etc.
with this level of organization, more time is spent in organizing the original drawing and maintaining standards, and less time spent drawing and/or copying/pasting floor plans from one layer to another for FAR's, RCP's, etc.
of course, once you get into dealing with work group referencing, viewports and sheet layers, it becomes still more complicated and nuanced...
in short (ha!) classes offer yet another way of organizing your drawings an an ever increasingly sophisticated way.
i say, GO CLASSES!
hope this illuminates.
-ml
Revit
question: do Mac cad users / firms typically use the PC type 3 button mouse with the "wheel button" in the middle? I can't imagine doing cad or 3D modelling without the wheel button... Whenever I see a mac that has just the one button I feel like driving with a track ball...
i use both, depending on which machine i'm working on.
the three button mouse with scroll wheel (either on windows or osx) is pretty handy for navigating a drawing...more so in vw 12 than prior versions.
scroll in and out to zoom, click in the scroll wheel and drag to pan, much like acad.
shortcuts are pretty easy to customize though, so working with a two, or even a one button mouse is no real hindrance. just a different workflow.
On both Mac and PC, I'm a big fan of this:
for ACad and VectorWorks. And this:
for Photoshop and Illustrator. Haven't had a chance to get into the tablet with VW yet, but seems like it could be good.
i use VW12 and have found it a curious blend of photoshop and CAD. i am a student, and have learned the program on my own, so this forum is excellent for resolving some questions i have developed along the way.
one thing that i have found very useful for transitioning from CAD to VW is to costomize my most used key CAD commands into the VW configuration settings. it relieves a lot of mouse dragging and saves, as we all know, a load of time.
as far as the mouse, i am on a laptop, and have never got around to buying a mouse.... so i just use the finger pad thing--- which is Great for zooming (use two fingers- up=zoom in, down=zoom out)-- but in general, i would recommend using a mouse with a wheely thing to be more efficient in the actual drawing of lines...
for those of you who work in firms that use VW12, how do you enjoy using RenderWorks? i've heard it is comparable to 3dsMAX but haven't immersed myself into the realm yet...
thanks for all the great posts....
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