Vectorworks now as easy as SU for 3D modeling
-
I have worked with Vectorworks for years as well as with Sketchup. Over time we stopped working with Vectorworks in 3D. Sketchup was just quicker and easier and more fun too. Then all the renderplugins came and we never looked back to Vectorworks anymore other than for 2D work.
Now Vectorworks updates are on discount and the salespeople assure me that Vectorworks has changed. Its now as easy to work with in 3D as Sketchup and it has a far superior 3D engine Parasolid.
I downloaded the demo of Vectorworks 2013 but as far as I could see I could not see us going back to modeling in 3D in Vectorworks.Still, the reasoning behind Vectorworks in 3D is that you generate all the engineering drawings (2D) from your 3D model thus saving time and effort. Sketchup has something similar with Layout but not as sophisticated.
Another thing is we are communicating more and more with the use of the 3D model itself. No need as a much anymore to hassle for 2D output. I feel that sharing the actual 3D model is so much faster than to share 2D output, either generated from the 3D model or not.
Well, anyone with experience with the current versions of Vectorworks might shed some light if Vectorworks now with "pushpull" and all provides for about the same ease of use as Sketchup. In that case it might be a good move to consider Vectorworks again and take advantage of the discount offer.
Francois -
I'm wary of VW overselling - I've used VW since 2005, and while I haven't tried the latest (I'm running 2012), I have seen a wide variety of odd program behaviour when attempting complex ops in VW.
Has VW introduced natural 3D navigation which compares with SU or Acad? If not it won't be a nice experience.
A few other oddities with VW to be aware of:
It uses Quicktime to display some functioning, but normally the version required will be well out of date, which can cause serious printing issues.Raster images outside the viewport are included in .pdf output (means your pdfs will be HUGE), so you have to tile your images and put each tile in its own class to turn it off!
Additionally VW always had 'issues' with dimensionally large models (more than a K across)(very slow etc).
While it has some useful tools I tend to build all my stuff in SU and kerky and then do page layout in VW - the only cad I really do in VW is plant counting.
I believe it works better on a mac but have never seen it working there. I tend to put VW into inspiteof-ware, you don't do good work becauseof the program, you do it in spite of it, whereas SU enables you.
-
QuickTime has no place on my computer... Hate it... It's almost like Norton.
-
tx unearthed, This was what i was looking for "natural navigation in 3D"
I was actually looking to find out if vectorworks has indeed caught up on its 3D experience. I have a feeling it did not, even though it now has some form of push pull.
But for pdf its crazy good. I can export 50 sheets into pdf in a matter of seconds and the files are just to small to believe. A project with all engineering drawings, 50 sheets A3 sized with images takes about 8 Mb. And these sheets carry a lot of info. But be carefull with image fills. They slow your pdf down. So I never use those.
So, anyone else thinks VW has now natural navigation. The version I have (2009) has nothing like it.
Francois -
For better pdf export in Layout, I suggest using a printer emulator that prints pdfs... Adobe Creative Suite comes with one, then there are programs like PDF995. Layout's built in PDF printer emulator is not up to par. It prints absolutely massive files. I can easily get a 300 meg pdf from a set. with the pdf emulator it will be like 10-25 megs.
-
frv - it does seem latest VW does have more natural navigation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfTwNsjdf-E but go and have a look on their forum and see what users are saying e.g. VW 2013 has become a crashing monster: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=186680&Searchpage=1&Main=37293&Words=%2B2013&Search=true#Post186680.
Cost is another issue of course as while SU is about NZ$700, VW is around $4500 and SU has better support and a great forum/community!
A core difference is user experience eg on here (SU) the thrust of most questions is How can I...?, whereas on VW's forums it's Why can't I...?
-
The discount update is from 2009 to 2013,2014 &2015 for about 1500 euros for two licenses. That's a rather good deal. You get all the updates up to 2015 in a socalled VSS. Vectorworks Service Select.
I am sure that VW will not really be a crashing monster. It could be some updates are but that should be taken care off rather quick. I know VW very well and I love it.
Its just that in 3D it all looks very old fashioned compared to what we do in SU, Modo and Maxwell. Also compared to Rhino. VW looks to me old school 3D modeling. You know the kind engineers are able to bear with but designers dread.
Tx Unearthed for the links. I gave them a look. I will start a thread at Nemetchek to see what the VW community would like to share.
Anyhow, anyone with real hands on experience here using SU as well as a recent version of VW. Would love to hear from you.
Francois
Advertisement