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