When considering any purchase the following words by respected poet and philosopher John Ruskin (1819 - 1900) are as relevant today as when he wrote them :

"It's unwise to pay too much, but it's unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money, that's all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing that you bought it to do. The common law of business prohibits paying a little and getting a lot..... it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it's well to add something for the risk that you run - and if you do that you have enough to pay for something better."

Oscar Wilde wrote:

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

When you look at a purchase, do not look at the price, look at the value you will get from the purchase. For example, if you are looking at a Vectorworks upgrade, how much time will it save you? if Vectorworks 2009 is easier to use and saves you 4 minutes a day (or 1/2 a minute per hour), what is the value of that? There are about 2000 chargable hours a year, so that works out to be a saving of 16.7 hours/year. if your change out rate was $100/hour, that’s a return of $1670.00. Combine the upgrade with my online training and gain 10 minutes a day. 1.25 minutes per hour, 2000 chargeable hours, 41.7 hours, @$100/hr = $4170.00 return. Can you afford to NOT upgrade?

Vectorworks 2008 & 2009 - Worksheets

Worksheets allow you count and schedule stuff in VectorWorks. 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 .

  

VectorWorks offers the possibility of  creating spreadsheets within the drawing.  That means you can count things, create databases, extract information from objects and do mathematical operations and functions without having to leave VectorWorks.

These spreadsheets, or worksheets as they are called in VectorWorks, are linked to the source of information so the worksheet can be updated when the source changes or to put it another way, if you edit the things in the drawing the spreadsheet can be updated easily.

The most powerful worksheets in VectorWorks are databases linked to Symbols or Plug-in Objects listing the data entered in the different fields.  As you add these objects into the file you can update the worksheet and check the information.  An example of this would be a bracing spreadsheet that tracks the bracing objects in the drawing.  As you add bracing objects the worksheet tracks the number, type and length of the brace and puts this information into the worksheet, telling you if you have achieved enough bracing in each direction.  

We can classify the worksheets into a few different groups depending on the nature of the worksheets:

Count / select objects ( generally symbols ) through the file.  They do not need to have a record attached and they need not be in the same Class or Layer.  We can choose to count symbols on a specific layer or assigned to a specific class.

Do mathematical operations with the parameters of drawn objects: areas, perimeters, volume etc.  Name the objects ( Object Info Palette) and find properties of them and their combinations

Create reports using symbols with records and list the field values from the symbols in the report.  

A classic use for worksheets is to compare the area of the  building to the area of the site.  Many places in the world only allow you to build on a portion of the site, so you need to compare the areas. You can use two polygons and the worksheet can be set up to find these areas, and do the maths for you as well. When you change the building area, you only need to recalculate the worksheet to see the updated calculation. 

Another cool worksheet is the window schedule. This worksheet looks for all the windows in the building and gives you a customised report on them. You can choose how much information is shown on the report. The report can be sorted by the window numbers, you can change window sizes directly from the worksheet, and you can select windows directly from the worksheet. 

For more information on creating worksheets, you can buy my Vectorworks Essential Tutorial Manual (http://www.archoncad.com), or you can buy a short sharp manual just on worksheets (http://www.archoncad.com/introduction-to-worksheets.html). 

This month there is an online training session on more advanced worksheets, but you need to subscribe to join this. Subscribe to my Short Sharp Training (http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php) You will get a manual with exercises and movies for this topic.

Cost vs Value

When considering any purchase the following words by respected poet and philosopher John Ruskin (1819 - 1900) are as relevant today as when he wrote them :

"It's unwise to pay too much, but it's unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money, that's all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing that you bought it to do. The common law of business prohibits paying a little and getting a lot..... it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it's well to add something for the risk that you run - and if you do that you have enough to pay for something better."

Oscar Wilde wrote:

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

When you look at a purchase, do not look at the price, look at the value you will get from the purchase. For example, if you are looking at a Vectorworks upgrade, how much time will it save you? if Vectorworks 2009 is easier to use and saves you 4 minutes a day (or 1/2 a minute per hour), what is the value of that? There are about 2000 chargable hours a year, so that works out to be a saving of 16.7 hours/year. if your change out rate was $100/hour, that’s a return of $1670.00. Combine the upgrade with my online training and gain 10 minutes a day. 1.25 minutes per hour, 2000 chargeable hours, 41.7 hours, @$100/hr = $4170.00 return. Can you afford to NOT upgrade?

Furniture Symbols

Vectorworks comes with a lot of nice furniture, in the Libraries > Objects-Imperial or Objects-Metric. But, what if you want something special, like a Ray and Charles Eames chair?

I recommend the sketchup warehouse (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/).

Later versions of Vectorworks can import sketchup models, so you can download a chair from the warehouse and import these into a new file. Always import into a new file, that way you can edit the model and make it in to a symbol to add to your library.

The sketchup library is searchable, so you can search for the things you want. It is always being expanded, and the models are usually good.

Watch out for very large models, it will make your Vectorworks files large.

Vectorworks 2008 + 2009 Creating a Library

First of all, you do not create one library for Vectorworks with everything in it, nor do you create a template file with every class, layer, sheet layer, hatch, texture and symbol that you might ever need. 

in Vectorworks 2008 and 2009, Vectorworks introduced the concept of the User Folder, which you can read about on this blog, in April 2009. 

So if Vectorworks doesn’t use one library, what does it use? Vectorworks uses a series of library folders in a place you can choose (see the blog on User Folder). Each folder relates to a Vectorworks tool, command or concept. 

When you place a hatch, you can make Vectorworks display the hatches you like to use. You can’t do this if you put everything in one file, but if you put your hatch file in the Attributes-Hatches folder, you will see all your hatches when you choose a hatch in the Attributes Palette. This will save you heaps of time looking for hatches. 

When you create new layers and classes, you can get Vectorworks to give you a list of your typical classes. This saves time in typing and editing the classes to suit your drawings system. It also saves time checking line weights and line styles, because the imported class has all the settings you choose. 

Design layers and sheet layers can also be imported.

You can import more than one class at a time, so you could create 30 or 40 classes in the time it takes you to import one class. The same principle applies to the design layers and sheet layers. 

Several tools, like the repetitive unit, stairs, plants, hardscapes and so on, have their own libraries. Until you edit these libraries the tools can be next to useless. When you edit the libraries to suit you, the tools become fantastic time savers.

Learn how to set up these libraries and make Vectorworks more effective for you. You might save yourself 40 minutes every day. This month my Short Sharp Training (http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php) will be covering this in detail. There is a free meeting, but that is filled up now. Subscribers will get notes and movies for this topic.

Vectorworks - Setting the Number of Undos I’ve been reading a Vectorworks discussion list about a user that is having trouble with his Vectorworks going slow and crashing, especially with rendered viewports. The problems went away when the undos were reduced to 3. Go to the Menu Bar. Choose Tools > Options > Vectorworks Preferences... Change the Maximium Number of Undos to a low number a see if many of your problems go away.

I’ve been reading a Vectorworks discussion list about a user that is having trouble with his Vectorworks going slow and crashing, especially with rendered viewports. 

The problems went away when the undos were reduced to 3.

Go to the Menu Bar.

Choose Tools > Options > Vectorworks Preferences...

Change the Maximium Number of Undos to a low number a see if many of your problems go away. 

Excited About the Future of Vectorworks?

When wall styles first came out, people asked to the ability to put the wall components on different classes. We got that in Vectorworks 2008.

When landscapers complained that placing large areas of planting was unworkable, we got the Landscape Area tool in 2009.

When architects complained that the roof framer could not place purlins on top of rafters, we got that ability in Vectorworks 2009. 

I don’t know what the future of Vectorworks is, but I do know the people that make Vectorworks listen to the users, so you should tell them what the future of Vectorworks should be. The community board is a great place to tell NNA what you think is missing, so they can think about adding it:

http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

It takes a while for suggestions to make it into Vectorworks, but don’t despair. Sometimes new ideas are quick to arrive, sometimes they take time. 

So, am I excited about the future of Vectorworks? 

Yes! When NNA listens to users I realize we have a long term program that we can invest into. It makes sense for my clients to invest in manuals, courses and al sorts of training. 

Get to the Community Board, get involved in it and help make Vectorworks better. 

Exits Group

I thought it was me making a mistake, but others have pointed this out as well. 

If you hit the key twice, you exit groups, viewports, symbol editing and all the other container type objects. So, if you want a quick way to exit groups and so on, this is it.

Press Release - Short Sharp Manuals

(Napier, New Zealand) 29 May 2009 Archoncad announces Short Sharp Manuals 

NEW - SHORT SHARP MANUALS - unlock the power of Vectorworks!!!

Archoncad is pleased to announce SHORT SHARP MANUALS - a resource 'library' of concise manuals each exploring a single Vectorworks topic - to show you how to unlock the power of Vectorworks.

This new training resource is 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 15-25 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!

Respected Vectorworks training author, Jonathan Pickup said...

"I have a great example of these manuals helping a client. The client found an area of Vectorworks that he was really struggling with - how create an automated room finish schedule. So, he downloaded my SHORT SHARP manual 'Creating a Room Finishes Schedule' and followed the very good description of how to do this. He has found the investment in the manuals to be truly worthwhile and great value to his business.

He also discovered my manual was the only place he could learn how to use this technique, as there does not seem to be any explanation of how to set up an automated Room Finish Schedule in NNA published User Guides, or Professional Learning Series DVD’s, on the VectorWorks web site, in any of the NNA VectorWorks forums or data bases or in any history of the VectorWorks User Discussion List.

This is just one story - there are many other examples of these short sharp manuals unlocking the power of Vectorworks and providing my clients with new services to offer their clients. " 

The Short Sharp manual is published exclusively on-line at Archoncad.com. There are currently 14 SHORT SHARP Manuals available, and they are quick and easy to download. And they are very economical (exceptional value for money)!

Jonathan Pickup also said... "We will be adding one or two new manuals each month, and welcome feedback and suggestions for future short sharp manual topics. In this way, we will build a fantastic resource for the Vectorworks users community and enable our clients to optimize Vectorworks capability"

For more information, please visit http://www.archoncad.com/electronic-manuals.html

Jonathan Pickup is an architect trained in New Zealand and in the UK with many years of experience. He has over 15 years of experience in writing and producing Vectorworks manuals and providing customer support. His company, ArchonCAD, is the premier provider of third-party manuals and training resources for Vectorworks.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Jonathan Pickup

http://www.archoncad.com

skype me: archoncad@skype.com

follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/archoncad

Resource Browser Thumbnail view

I’m just writing a section in my new productivity manual, and I remembered this trick. Right now I'm writing about how to make your own stair library. 

The stairs so up on the Resource Browser in plan view if that was the view when you created the symbols. 

They look OK, but what if you wanted to know more the stair?

You can select all the symbols in the Resource Browser.

Right mouse click on one of the symbols. Choose the view you want. All your symbols have the same view. Now I find it easier to see what each stair looks like. 

Short Sharp Training Monthly

This month, the Short Sharp Training monthly manual looked at detailing. I have seen several tutorials and tips and tricks for creating drawings, but hardly any for drawing details. Strange really, when we spend so much time on our detailing as architects and landscapers. This month the manual was a big effort, 41 pages! Sometimes I wonder if i am writing too much or covering the wrong information, so it’s nice when I get an email from a subscriber that really likes the monthly manuals and online training. 

Hi Jonathan,

I was in Texas on business during your last presentation, thinking I could join your meeting from there, but alas, it was not to be.  (Way disappointing.) I just finished going through your PDF and its embedded videos, and again, I have to tell you you're great.  I'm amazed how much material you covered in a relatively short time and then managed to write down as well.  Fabulous work which I appreciate immensely.  Hoping that [you are] increasing the number of your subscribers.  Should be! 

Later,

Mavis

The ability to pick up a few productive tricks each month should not be over rated. Most of my experienced users learn a trick or two every month, less experienced users learn a technique that saves them a few minutes a day. A few minutes a day. it doesn’t sound much, until you figure that is 15 mins each week, an hour a month. the next month you learn a new technique and you are saving 2 hours a month, 24 hours a year. 

Go to http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php or email jon@archoncad.co.nz to find out more!

Vectorworks Library

What is the Vectorworks library? That’s a terrible question really. it should be ”What ARE the Vectorworks libraries? 

• Symbol library (which you can store anywhere)

• Symbol libraries for tools (stored in the Defaults folder)

• Layer and class standards (stored in the Standards folder)

• Hatch library (stored in the Defaults folder)

• Gradient Library (stored in the Defaults folder)

• Wall Style library (stored in the Defaults folder)

• The Notes database (which you can store anywhere)

• A default template with all the default tool preferences set (stored in the Templates folder). 

Guides - What Are They Good For?

I like guides. They are really useful for helping to draw, for setting out, for setback lines and so on.

Guides are easy to create. Draw a line or any other object, then go to the Menu bar and choose Modify > Guides > Make Guides. Vectorworks turns your objects into guides, moves them onto a class for you and locks the objects so you do not accidently move or delete them.

You can leave the guides turned on in the design layer for working. 

When it comes to a viewport, you can choose to have the guides visible if you want. 

Because the guides are on a class, you can choose to have a viewport with the guides turned off. This allows you to work with the guides turned on in the design layer, but the guides will be invisible for printing. 

Hi, I’m John

I’ve been using Vectorworks since version 10, so I thought I pretty much knew everything. I upgraded to Vectorworks 2009 and thought I would get a few pointers on the upgrade. I was reluctant to employ Jonathan over the Internet to teach me. After all, why not get him here with me for a day or so, I mean how intensive could it be. Really  though, I don’t trust all this new technology, but because I’ve know Jonathan for a long time, I decided to trust him.

“Boy, am I glad I tried this out! I thought I knew a lot about Vectorworks, it turns out i was just playing with it. Jonathan and I had 2 one hour sessions each day. At every session Jonathan was amazing at unlocking the power of Vectorworks and making it easy for me to understand. The online training system with Jonathan works so well, I'm now a true believer of this technology!"  John 

Be like John, get upskilled.

  

Go to http://www.archoncad.com or email jon@archoncad.co.nz to find out more!

Konstrukshon CPD Weblog

I want to recommend this blog for people in the construction industry. It is focused on the UK, but I still find it interesting reading. The guy that writes the blog, Steve Scaysbrook, is a good sort and I often chat with Steve via skype (www.skype.com). 

I don’t know where he gets all his information, but he really has a large spread of information on his blog site. 

Steve recently moved his site and he needs to build support. Please visit and subscribe to his blog. 

http://blog.konstrukshon.com/

SHORT SHARP TRAINING - June 2009

I will be running a free online training session called SHORT SHARP TRAINING, covering creating construction details. I ran this session in May and I was overwhelmed by the response. I have decided to offer this session again in June. 

I have seen many tips and tricks on creating drawings, but not many on creating construction drawings. When I was writing the short manual on creating construction drawings, I wanted to cover creating construction details, but I felt that would have made the manual too long. 

So how do you create details? That is what we will be covering. We will need components to assemble into details. These could be pieces of timber (lumber), flashings, weatherboards (siding), fixings, hatching, and so on. Where do you make this stuff and where should you store it?

Can you use your sections to make your details? Should you?

See the calendar for times and dates:

 http://ical.me.com/jpickup1/User%20Group 

Revisions on Drawings

I saw a a neat trick the other day for controlling revisions on drawings. each revision has a revision cloud, using the Vectorworks revision cloud tool, and a stamp, using the Vectorworks revision stamp. The clouds and bubbles are placed in the Annotation part of each viewport. 

But that is not the neat trick. The neat part is that each cloud and stamp is assigned to a class. So the bubble and stamp for revision A is assigned to the class Revision-A. And the revision B is assigned to the class Revision-B and so on. 

This allows you to control the revision bubbles and stamps from the Object Info palette, by changing the classes on each viewport. 

Once I realized what what was going on, I thought this was really cool. 

Hi, I’m Joe

"I am a sole practitioner, so time and cost are important to me, but worse than that, there is no one else I can ask to do my work. If I'm not at work for a day, my work won't get done, I'll have to work harder to catch up. I've been looking around at other design professionals and I see that others are using CAD to expand their businesses, improve productivity, and to keep their businesses alive in a recession by offering new services. I'm new to Vectorworks and I'm not sure how to make the most from my investment in Vectorworks. The problem with spending two whole days in some stuffy training seminar is that it will cost me two days of lost productivity. The cost of the course is nothing compared the the trouble of making up the two days I'm not at work. Besides, I would be in a large group, how would I get individual attention, the training might go to fast, they might cover too much each day for me to remember. I wish they would arrange these seminars closer to where I work. I see some seminars on the other side of the country, which means I would have to fly, the ones that are closer, still mean hours of driving. What a waste of my time, and at what cost to the environment?

Ideally, I want structured training, in a small group of people so I can get individual attention, in small chunks so I can digest each session, and put into practice what I've learned before I move on to the next session. And I want the training to be close to my office, so close that I don't have to take my car would be good."  Joe 

Archoncad now offers you effective In-Depth Training - when you want it, without leaving the comfort of your office or workspace! Why? Because we want you to get the best from Vectorworks! To become more skilled, productive and creative! And it's truly cost effective!

  

Go to archoncad.com or email jon@archoncad.co.nz to find out more!

Where should you look for the Best Vectorworks Manuals?

I saw this on the NNA Community Board:

Just to let everyone know that I am making progress on the Room Finish Schedule and am making it work.  There is a very good description as to how to set up a Room Finish Schedule on Jonathan Pickup’s site www.archoncad.co.nz.  Roger has been bugging me to join Jonathan’s user group for quite a while and I finally did so last week.  I found an explanation on how to set up the automated Room Finish Schedule in Issue 0809 September 2008—Room Finishes Schedule and this investment is turning out to be well worth it.

As far as I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be a bug as initially stated by NNA Tech Support.  There also doesn’t seem to be any explanation of how to set up an automated Room Finish Schedule in NNA published User Guides, or Professional Learning Series DVD’s, on the VectorWorks web site, in any of the NNA VectorWorks forums or data bases or in any history of the VectorWorks User Discussion List.  So, Jonathan is providing a much needed learning tool for this issue and I am looking forward to viewing the other learning tools and guides for other issues.  Kudos for Jonathan for doing so (and no he didn’t ask me to plug his site for him!).

Cheers!

So, if you are looking for the best Vectorworks manuals, the manuals that really unlock the power of Vectorworks you need archoncad manuals!

http://www.archoncad.com

Eyebrow Dormer Window

I’m updating my roofing notes at the moment, and making them into a Productivity Manual. Right now I was looking at a dormer roof. 

If you edit the settings on the dormer you can make an eyebrow dormer. I used the option for the Bat Dormer and played with the settings to get this.  

Vectorworks Folder or User Folder?

In earlier versions of Vectorworks there was no user folder. All the things you wanted to customize could be done in the Vectorworks application folder. You can still do it this way, but Vectorworks now has user folders. A user folder is stored away from the Vectorworks application folder, so it can be challenging to find it and maintain it. So should you carry on with the old method?

The problem with the old method, is that if you re-install Vectorworks for some reason, as I am doing today, then you loose all the custom data you have created. I have to teach on Vectorworks 12 this week, so I’ve had to re-inatall Vectorworks. Now I’m finding that all my custom data is no longer there.

Setting up a user folder is a nice way to work. Vectorworks now creates a user folder on your computer to store all your custom settings away from the Vectorworks application folder. When I re-install Vectorworks all my custom data  will still be there. 

I recommend you store all you custom templates, library files and plug-ins in the user folder. 

27th April 2008

I’ve just been helping a client today. They have just suffered a computer meltdown and have had to re-install Windows. Unfortunately, their user folder was in the C:\Documents and settings\user\Application Data\... and so on. When they re-installed windows, they lost the user folder. 

If they had stored the Vectorworks user folder in My Documents, they would still have all the data. And, if you use My Documents, you can set up your backup system to backup your user folder. Then, you won’t loose anything. 

Jonathan 

Should you draw Elevations in 2D or 3D?

This month the online user group is looking at creating drawings. When we get to the part about drawing elevations and sections, there is a lot of discussion about whether you should use the 3D model, or use 2D drawings for the elevations. 

If your 3D model is fairly accurate, then you should use it to make the elevations. There is always a lot of discussion about BIM and elevations is an area where you get the advantages of the 3D model. This does mean that you have to model most of the things you want to see in the elevations. But that shouldn’t be too hard, after all Vectorworks does have tools to make site models, floors, walls, roofs and doors and windows. You can draw complex roofs that curve and custom made balustrades if you want to use the 3D modeling tools. So why would you NOT use the 3D model to draw the elevations?

As a friend pointed out to me this morning, 2D elevations are familiar. We have been drawing 2D elevations for such a long time, it’s hard to think of other ways. I was taught 2D drawing before CAD came along, and I sometimes find myself falling back to the 2D elevations on some projects, mainly because it’s familiar. But is it better?

If the building changes, the 3D elevations can be updated quickly, but the 2D elevations have to be manually edited. Some people say that they more over the line weights with the 2D. That might seem to be true, but the 3D elevations can still have extra lines, hatching and notes added to them.

Try the 3D elevation method. It might be strange to start with, but it will be more effective in the long run.

Vectorworks and BIM

There has been a lot of discussion on the Vectorworks tech board about Vectorworks and BIM. Some people disagree with me, but I said that the definition of BIM is not finalized. A few people said that I’m wrong, the BIM has been defined by Revit and ArchiCAD.

Maybe I should be more clear. I still think the definition of BIM is so loose, you can define BIM to suit your company. Even if we assume that the definition of BIM is as defined by Revit and ArchiCAD, the implementation of BIM can be defined to suit your office. 

Does Vectorworks suit BIM? I think it does. I also think Vectorworks needs to do a lot more than it does right now. 

It also seems clear that BIM has a relation to the design process. For example, if you use Design/Build contracts, you have definite reason to fully implement BIM. If you are using the traditional Design-Tender-Build process, you still need to create a full set of contract documents, so your BIM implementation has to be geared to that. 

I have just started to read the BIM Handbook by Chuck Eastman et al. (ISBN 0470185287) so expect to hear more about BIM and Vectorworks. 

Training in A Recession

The New Zealand government has just completed a summit to create more jobs and to get out of this recession.  There were 20 main ideas to come out of the job summit (http://www.stuff.co.nz/4862899a6479.html) and a couple of them were of interest to me:

• Keep people in education and add a training clause to government procurement contracts.
• Better matching of training to available job.
• Better support people affected by redundancy.

These ideas suggest training your way out of recession. Then I discovered this article for training your way out of recession (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/article5062390.ece). 

Half the companies discovered that training staff made them more likely to stay. One-third found it increased staff motivation, and almost half actually saved money in the process.

“Organisations must focus on nurturing talent if they are to survive, grow and succeed. The continuous development and growth of people is inextricably linked to business performance.

So, there you are. Training is good for the company and good for the employee. Don’t cut your training budget as the money gets tight. 

Help Vectorworks to be better

Most of us want Vectorworks to be better. In the latest e-Dispatch from NNA, Sean Flaherty tells how you can help. there is a function in Vectorworks 2009 to allow error reporting to NNA. 

“ if you're keen to help us improve our product, we need you to take action that will give us more specific data. By selecting, "Send crash details," our team of programmers here gets notified automatically of any crashes and where in Vectorworks they occurred. If you'd like to help R&D improve Vectorworks even more, please elect to send us "usage patterns" also; this helps us see what events led up to a particular crash. To allay any privacy concerns you may have, we never see the data in your drawings. In addition, the information we collect is very tight and has no impact on your software operations, though it has the potential to have a lot of impact on our development.”

So, if you want to help, go to the menu bar. Choose Tools > Options > Vectorworks Preferences... Then click on the Session tab. Here you will find the settings Sean is talking about. 

If you don’t see the error reporting on your Vectorworks preferences, that means you need to upgrade to the latest version. The new Service Pack 2 has the error reporting. If you have Vectorworks 2009, upgrade to Service Pack 2, it’s free.  

Dimensioning In Viewports

I have a client that is having trouble with dimensioning an elevation. The view needs to be and elevation of some joinery. The easy way to dimension this is to use sheet layers and viewports. 

The plan viewport is easy to deal with. Put the dimensions in the design layer, the same layer as the walls and cabinets. 

The Elevation viewport is different. If you place these dimensions in the design layer, you will not see them in this viewport, they will end up in the plan viewport. 

The trick with elevation viewports is to add the dimensions to the Annotations part of the viewport. 

Right mouse click on the viewport. 

Choose Edit Annotations.

This takes you into the viewport annotation editing area., Notice the button at the top left to exit. 

Now you can add the dimensions.

When you have finished, click on the Exit Viewport Annotation button. 

There is your drawing.

Amazon Announce Kindle 2.0

If you haven’t heard of it, Amazon (the online book seller and store) has announced the Kindle 2.0. The Kindle looks useful because it can hold a whole library of books in one device. Unlike smaller devices,  the Kindle has a special screen that makes it easy to read. Some people are saying that it is as easy to read as a real book.

You get the books into the Kindle wirelessly. This seems to work only in USA, so it will not work where I live until they change the system, I will not be able to try one out. It’s a shame, because I can see a real use for this as an office system. 

Other people are saying that the new Kindle is good, but they won’t be upgrading. Of special note is the lack of conversion tools to get any book into the Kindle. This means that you will not be able to grab a manufactures PDF manual and quickly get it into the Kindle. If you could, then you could take the kindle onto a construction site with the manuals you need on it. 

The Kindle is so close to being a fantastic device. 

Online Training for Vectorworks 2009

I have been working on a way to make my training available to everyone, regardless of where they are living. I have run some trials and Now I think I have a pretty good system worked out. 

In the past I used to run my courses in a classroom over one or two days, depending on the course. This meant a lot of traveling for me and often for the clients as well, as most of the courses were in Auckland. The challenge is how to get to a lot of people that are spread out in many locations.

At the end of 2008, I tried a system using online training. One course had 2 people from Auckland and one from Connecticut. It worked really well. then I tried a Landmark course with people from Auckland and Christchurch. It worked really well :

“I just wanted to say thanks for the online training. The fact that I could take the training from my office was a huge help. Jonathan showed me just how easy Vectorworks is and allowed us the time to put the task to practice during class time. Being able to ask questions along the way also made a difference, it helps to understand what you are doing at the time rather than being confused all the way to the end.

"I hadn't really given Vectorworks much thought. We had the package for 2 years collecting dust so to speak before we found out about the online classes. I'm still not up to speed on the whole package but there is some comfort in knowing the I can request a class on a particular skill and should enough other participants want the class that Jonathan can make it happen.”

That has given me the confidence to add more course and set them up on my calendar. There are courses for landscapers, architects and users that want to get more out of 3D modeling. To see all the courses and the schedule, click on this link.

The Camera Match Tool for Vectorworks

Matt Panzer has updated his fabulous Camera Match tool. 

This tool allows Vectorworks users to quickly and accurately align a 3D view to an existing photograph.

Other features in Camera Match 2009 include anti-aliasing for mask objects, which blend the edges of the mask with the rendered model, as well as a more streamlined workflow that automates the creation of render backgrounds as needed.

Camera Match 2009 is free to all Camera Match 2008 users, and it can be downloaded from www.panzercad.com. It will also be released soon in the localized Italian and German versions. The Camera Match plug-in can be purchased from the website for $100.

I have used this tool on projects where you need to match a view to a photo. This tool really works and it will save you heaps of time. 

The Podcad Podcast for Vectorworks

I’ve rally been enjoying listening to the Podcad Podcast. The podcast is made by guys in California, Dan and Pat. They know a lot about Vectorworks and a lot about what’s going on. 

Don’t forget to tell them I sent you. 

Run Your Business Like a Farm

A couple of weeks before Christmas my son went up to his Granddad's farm to help get the hay in. Of course, these days it’s all tractors and large bails of hay that you move around with ease. 

A couple of weeks later my son was helping to spread fertilizer on the land used for hay-making. When I asked my father in law why they were spreading fertilizer he told me it so he would get a good crop of hay next year. 

That got me thinking. Why don’t we add fertilizer (learning new skills) to our careers or businesses now to make them stronger next year. This is the best time to start to get better at the CAD program that you use. 

Think like a farmer, start adding new skills right now. Learn how you use your email better, learn to use your calendar program better. Update your web site. attend regular training for your CAD program. 

I was listening to my audio book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R Covey, and he also uses this example of the farm. Your business, and your life, is not like an exam at college where you can cram in the last week. Your business and you life is much more like farm. You have to add fertilizer before you plant, and you have to plants months before the harvest. 

For my clients and myself, the fertilizer is training (courses and books). Get Vectorworks training here:

http://www.archoncad.co.nz

VectorWorks movies on youtube

I've started to place my podcasts on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/archoncad

VectorWorks 2009 Announced

You might all know this already, but the latest version of VectorWorks has been announced:

http://www.nemetschek.net/

I am now in the process of upgrading my manuals to the new version. i always take this opportunity to look at the manuals, see if I can make them easier to use and make VectorWorks easier to learn. I will be adding podcasts to my podcast site and adding the same podcast to youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/archoncad

What Does the online Use Group cover

I had an interesting chat the other day with one of my old clients. They were unsure about  some of the recent topics that we have covered in the online user group.  They had a phone call recently from a large client the other day that wanted to know if they planned a new development, where would it be seen from. We covered a technique for this a couple of months ago.

The interesting part of me was that when my client originally saw this topic they weren’t sure that it was a useful technique. Now they have a need for this and they can respond to their client positively and show a skill level far above the competition. This is what I want the user group to do for everyone.

Check out the user group at:
http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php

What Does the online Use Group cover

I had an interesting chat the other day with one of my old clients. They were unsure about  some of the recent topics that we have covered in the online user group.  They had a phone call recently from a large client the other day that wanted to know if they planned a new development, where would it be seen from. We covered a technique for this a couple of months ago.

The interesting part of me was that when my client originally saw this topic they weren’t sure that it was a useful technique. Now they have a need for this and they can respond to their client positively and show a skill level far above the competition. This is what I want the user group to do for everyone. 

Check out the user group at:

http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php

Is VectorWorks powerful enough

I was chatting to an old friend the other day and he suggested that there are many people that can use VectorWorks in a way that looks competent, but really they don’t understand the power of VectorWorks. 

That got me thinking, do people really understand the power of VectorWorks? For example I have know people that use groups instead of symbols, or they cut and paste instead of using layer linking (or design layer viewports). Some of these simple techniques can make VectorWorks faster and make it easier to use VectorWorks. 

there might be several (maybe hundreds) of tricks that could make you more effective at VectorWorks. These are the sorts of topics we cover in the cadsupportonline user group. check out the user group at:

http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php

WinDoor Numbers windows in Vectorworks

I have just finished my cadsupportonline user group manual on windoor. This 3rd party plug-in for VectorWorks is well worth the money you have to pay for it. One thing that I really like about windoor is the ability to number the windows and doors.

The window numbers are not in order, but you can re-order the numbers...
This is a really productive trick and makes Windoor well worth while.

Layer Linking or Design Layer Viewports

if you have upgraded to VectorWorks 2008 you might be looking for the Create Layer Link... command. If you are using VectorWorks Fundamentals you will find it, but not if you are using VectorWorks Architect or Landmark or any of the other flavours of VectorWorks. That’s because the command is not longer in the same place, in fact the command has been removed from the menu bar al together. 

Instead of a layer link use a Design Layer Viewport (DLVP). The DVLP is similar to a layer link when you use it, but it is much more powerful. In VectorWorks 2008 you can crop layer links, but with a DLVP you can turn classes or layers on and off and change the graphic style of classes/

Layer Linking or Design Layer Viewports

if you have upgraded to VectorWorks 2008 you might be looking for the Create Layer Link... command. If you are using VectorWorks Fundamentals you will find it, but not if you are using VectorWorks Architect or Landmark or any of the other flavours of VectorWorks. That’s because the command is not longer in the same place, in fact the command has been removed from the menu bar al together.

Instead of a layer link use a Design Layer Viewport (DLVP). The DVLP is similar to a layer link when you use it, but it is much more powerful. In VectorWorks 2008 you can crop layer links, but with a DLVP you can turn classes or layers on and off and change the graphic style of classes/

Macintosh Leopard and VectorWorks Quickview

I’ve just installed VectorWorks on my new macintosh and i noticed that the VectorWorks files show you a preview of the file before you open it. It’s really odd to see the rendered view of the project in the finder.

This is a real advantage. You can see the plan before you open the file, so you know if you are opening the correct file, or the correct version of the project.

cadsupportonline user group topic past movies

I’ve just finished uploading the movies for user group manual and extended podcasts. I realised that there are now 150 movies in all the issues to date and 26 extended podcasts! I was just surprised at how much was available....

When you join the user group you get access to all the current back issues (and the movies and podcasts).  

If you are not a member of the cadsupportonline user group you should visit this page to join.

http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php

Drawing by hand, or drawing with the computer?

I’m working on a quick concept drawing for a client and they had some minor comments. Move this, add windows here, move this over there... you know how it goes. It took me about 15 minutes to make the changes, update the plans, elevations and 3D views, then email it to the client. This is not a lot of time.

Over breakfast I got to thinking, it was a lot of changes in a short amount of time. I used to have clients complain as they were learning VectorWorks that they were quicker when they were drawing by hand. But the changes I made to the concept plan could not have been made in such a short time by hand, and you could not have scanned the plant and emailed it... 

When you think you are quicker drawing by hand you have to remember that drawing on the computer lets you generate 2 or 3 alternatives with very little extra work, and any changes can be made quickly, much more quickly than a hand drawing. 

If you are using VectorWorks yet, and you are still drawing by hand, change now! Start the new year with a new purpose, with a new business tool, start using VectorWorks effectively. 

I can help:

www.archoncad.com

jon@archoncad.com

VectorWorks 2008 updated

One of the new features of VectorWorks 2008 is the ability to keep it up to date. On the About VectorWorks screen is a button now to check for updates.

On a Macintosh you should :
Go to the Menu Bar
Choose VectorWorks > About VectorWorks...

On a Windows machine you should:
Go to the Menu Bar
Choose Help > About VectorWorks...

If you have installed the first version of the Service Pack 2 then you will see this Check For Updates... button. Click on this button to check for updates.

You will be taken to a web page that will tell you if your software is up to date or not. If you need to download a new version, you will be given the instructions you need.

My only concern is that the latest update is called Service Pack 2. This is not the first time the update has been called service pack 2 and my clients are starting to get confused about their updates...

Environmentally Friendly VectorWorks Support

I have been helping several of my clients over the internet now, ant it just occurred to me that this is one of the best ways to provide environmentally friendly support. If you ask a consultant to visit you for support, they might have to drive 30 minutes for more to get to you office. Of course they have to drive back to their office afterwards. That is leaving a carbon footprint, it’s using petrol and so on.

What about getting training when you need it over the internet. It leaves a small carbon footprint, but you will be using a computer anyway, so it’s not like driving your car for an hour or too.

So, for environmentally friendly VectorWorks support, contact me, Jonathan....

jon@archoncad.co.nz