We have over a decade of experience in VectorWorks manual writing, production, and sales. Our business concept dates back to 1992, when we first started using MiniCad. We found that there were only a few training resources available at that time. Our mission has been to take away the mystery from computer-aided design.
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archoncad is the premier provider of manuals and training resources for VectorWorks. We believe our manuals and resources will enhance your VectorWorks knowledge and productivity. We make learning VectorWorks easy, so our clients can be more creative and profitable.
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For Vectorworks 2009 and 2010 manuals in USA, click here.
For Vectorworks 2009 and 2010 manuals in Europe, click here.
Short Manuals
These manuals are designed to sharpen your Vectorworks skills using a single task manual that explores and explains a single area of Vectorworks. Each SHORT SHARP MANUAL clearly demonstrates key learning tasks and techniques, with 15-30 pages of step-by-step instructions and screenshots. By focusing on single topics, we give you access to new Vectorworks skills and techniques in small meaningful chunks!
These manuals come as an electronic version only, without embedded movies. These manuals are suitable for Vectorworks 12 to 2010. You will be send a link to download these compressed manuals.
Stacked Layers/Unified View and Setting up Layers
Stacked layers and unified view allow you see al your layers together, so when you change views, all the layers change. But there are some things to watch for. Setting up your layers correctly is essential is you want to use Vectorworks for BIM, and if you want to use Stacked Layer or Unified View.
Creating Drawings for a Building Project
The feed back I am getting is that this is still an area that people are confused about. When should you use a class, when should you use a layer? How do you create drawings from the stuff you create on the design layer. I have created a drawing with enough information to create a set of contract documents for a simple building project. We will learn how to create the drawings from this information. We will use viewports and sheet layers to create our drawings. We will not cover drawing details. There is another short manual that deals with drawing details, importing details and creating a library of details.
Creating Construction Details
I’ve seen a lot of tutorials about drawings, using viewports and so on, but very few tutorials about drawing your construction details. Someone even said it was brave of me to attempt this. This tutorial is not going to teach you the construction aspects of detailing for your part of the world, so I will not be worrying too much about vapor barriers, cold bridges, building standards and so on. This tutorial is about how to use Vectorworks to assemble your details.
Detailing in Vectorworks is quicker if you have some symbols already made - like flashings, timber objects (lumber), bolts, steel components and so on. I do not want to spend a lot of time on making these symbols, because that would take the whole manual. And there are other manuals that have covered creating symbols and making your library. We will look at some of the Vectorworks settings to see how to make Vectorworks easier to detail. We will look at a few different techniques for detailing: Using BIM for detailing, by using section viewports. Using 2D sections for creating details. Drawing 2D details separately. Importing details from a manufacturer. Saving details to a library. Using details from a library.
Introduction to Worksheets
I think worksheets are extremely important. They allow you to do so much with Vectorworks, such as counting and scheduling information, reporting areas, sizes and information attached to an object. For example you can count all the trees in a site, schedule all the doors on a particular floor of a project, even find the weight of a bracket in a 3D model, you can count plants, car parking and so on. I often use worksheets to calculate things like fire egress, areas of the site, number of carparks required and so on. Once you have your worksheet set up, you can try different scenarios and the worksheet can report the results.
When you think of BIM (Building Information Models), one of the important aspects is the ability to get reports and information attached to objects. This is the function of worksheets, to get this information off the objects and onto a report that can be analyzed and printed. So, worksheets are an important part of Vectorworks and they are often not used when they should be. Tutorial will start you using worksheets and will explain the basic steps to creating and editing a worksheet.
Intermediate Worksheets
Worksheets are very powerful, but to most people they are a mystery. This workshop will open your eyes and unlock the power of worksheets. If you are interested in BIM, then worksheets are the way to access the information attached to objects. If you want to count, quantify or schedule information in Vectorworks, worksheets will do it for you. This manual takes you on from the Introduction to the more complex and powerful worksheets.
Best Practice for Importing and Exporting DXF/DWG
We often have to work with consultants and clients that do not use Vectorworks. DXF or DWG (AutoCAD) is usually the best way to do this. It will allow the you to use their information in Vectorworks, or it will allow them to import your work.
There are several things you need to consider, so read on and learn the best practice.
Complex Roof Tutorial
I often find that the standard Vectorworks roof will not make the roof I want. So, in this manual we will look at a couple of roofs, and see if we can make the standard Vectorworks roof do want we want. Then we will look at using the roof face command an how we can use this to make the roof we want. I will show you a technique for making it faster.
We will look at roof faming and creating a truss roof.
Drawing a Landscape Plan
Many of my clients want to see how to draw a simple landscape plan from start to finish. This manual is the result. We will start by importing a simple survey plan. Many projects start this way, so you need to have effective ways of importing a DXG/DWG file. When the Drawing has been imported, it may not suit your drawing aims or style. So, we will edit the imported drawing to suit.
Then we will use native Vectorworks tools and techniques to draw paths, grass areas and an area for a fountain. Placing plants will complete the plan. We will also count the plants and schedule the grass and path areas. Finally, we will create an overall plan and a detail plan of the fountain area.
Site Model Tutorial
This tutorial will lead you through importing a DXF/DWG file and making a site model from it. The two main ways to create a site model are covered. You are then shown how to edit the site model using roads, site modifiers, landscape walls and spot levels.
You should buy this tutorial if you wanted to know more about site modeling, or if you wanted to know how to modify site models.
Creating A Solar Study
When you are designing a building or landscape feature, you may be concerned about the affect of your structure on the surrounding buildings and landscape, or the effect of adjoining structures on your project. Some of my clients have been asked to provide evidence that the building design does not adversely affect the neighboring properties.
Zone of Visual Influence
This topic will teach you how to analyse the visual effects of project on a site. If you are building on a sensitive site you might need to know which parts of the site are visually effected by your project. You might need to prove that your project can’t be seen from some areas. We’ll start by importing a DXF/DWG file that has some problems. I’ll show you how to fix the problems and make the Site Model.
Creating And Managing Libraries
Your office library is more than just a few symbols saved in a file. Your office library is really part of a drawing system that includes : Symbol library, Symbol Libraries for tools, Layer and class standards, graphic libraries, a default template, and so on.
If you manage these libraries, you will find it easier to use Vectorworks, you will not have to sort through resources you do not need, and you will find it easier to locate the resources you want. You could easily save yourself fifteen minutes a day. That might not sound like much until you realize that is over an hour a week, five hours a month, or sixty hours a year.
Drawing a Deck Tutorial
In this workshop we will learn how to draw a deck in Vectorworks using a few different methods so you can create drawings for a deck, and which method makes it most productive to draw and quantify the timber in the deck. If you have Vectorworks Architect or Designer, you have a tool that makes it very fast to draw a deck, and to quantify all the timer in the deck.
Simple Guide to Stairs
There are several ways to create stairs in Vectorworks. There a a few tools you can use, some for simple stairs and some for more complex stairs. Then, you can ignore all the tools and use other methods. If you want. Vectorworks 2010 introduced a completely new stair tool because the previous stair tool had received so many complaints. The old stair tool is still available, but it has been renamed the Custom Stair. I Have heard some complaints about the new stair tool in Vectorworks 2010. I think a lot of these complaints arise because the tools are complex and need to be understood. That’s what this manual is all about.
Manuals for Vectorworks 2008
Manuals for Vectorworks version 12.5
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