I’ve been working hard on the Vectorworks monthly manual each month and it’s nice to get some positive feedback. This comment came from a new user, who has already watched all my youtube movies.
Hi Jonathan,
I have watched all of the available training and am amazed at the clarity with which you explain the concepts in your training videos and the ease of understanding.
I am officially a Pickup training junkie and would like to thank you for making these available.
Again gratitude,
Simon P.
Subscribe to the short sharp training at this web site:
http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php
I worked with this reseller many years ago, when I was in the UK, and we always had a lot of fun selling and installing Vectorworks. We are back in touch now, and they are reselling my manuals in the UK and Europe. Façade-IT have been training and reselling Vectorworks for a long time, even longer than me. I worked with them for a while in the UK and I have found them to be extremely professional in dealing with customer and staff. They have some excellent additions for Vectorworks. Highly Recommended.
If you are looking for great training in Vectorworks, and of course, my manuals, check out Façade-it:
http://www.facade-it.co.uk/pricing/Vectorworks/training_pricing.html
I have had a comment about my new training resource:
s soon as I began the exercises in the BIM Vectorworkout, I realized this was great easy to follow tutorial. I'm very impressed with the way Jonathan Pickup has illustrated what seems to be a complex "new" approach to architectural design.
You can read the complete comment and purchase the training here.
http://www.novedge.com/products/3889
I’m excited that the users are seeing the resource in the way I hoped they would. Fast, easy to learn, and quick to look back into.
Technical Bulletin
Vectorworks 2009 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v.10.6) Stability Concerns
As many of you know, Apple will be releasing Snow Leopard on August 28, 2009. And as many of our customers work on a Mac platform, the release of Snow Leopard naturally brings up questions of compatibility.
Understanding that for the majority of our customer base, our software is a key component of their work flow, our CTO, Dr. Biplab Sarkar, does not recommend running Vectorworks 2009 (Service Pack 4 or earlier) on Snow Leopard at this point in time. Dr. Sarkar and his team are already in process, developing a version of Vectorworks 2009 that will be fully compatible with Snow Leopard and free to all Vectorworks 2009 users. Expect to hear notice of this version availability in early November, 2009. And, if you’re not already subscribed to our monthly e-Dispatch newsletter, please subscribe now so that you’ll get the announcement. http://www.nemetschek.net/community/edisp_subscribe.php
For those customers with software versions earlier than Vectorworks 2009, please note we do not have plans to update these older versions to support Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v.10.6).
Thank you for your understanding and patience. If you wish to read a more detailed technical explanation of the current stability issues with Snow Leopard, you’ll find that information on our ever-growing Vectorworks Knowledge Base site: http://cli.gs/JrsNtD If you wish to be kept abreast of all our latest updates on the Vectorworks Knowledge Base, you can subscribe to the feed of new posts there.
Respectfully,
Juan Almansa
Product Support Manager
Nemetschek North America, Inc.
T 410-290-5114
D 443-542-0716
S jalmansamd
E jalmansa@vectorworks.net
I’m a big fan of the Windoor Manager from http://www.ozcad.co.au. I have been using it for several years now, in preference to the standard Vectorworks window or door. it is able to create corner windows with butted glass, glass bay windows, but it’s most amazing trick is that windows and doors can be in the same frame.
I was telling Steve Scaysbrook about windoor and he said he had never seen it, so we did a screen share thing and he recorded a short movie of me giving him an introduction to windoor manager.
To see this movie, go to Steve’s blog:
The reviews for my new manual on 3D modeling are starting to come in. The manual has been designed to get beginners up to speed with 3D modeling, and the reviewers seem to understand that.
The first review is from FRANÇOIS LÉVY of Austin, Texas:
Throughout, Pickup addresses topics clearly and succinctly. NURBS, which have traditionally overwhelmed users new to 3D, are covered in a highly approachable manner, if not in tremendous depth. This is appropriate for users first learning 3D work. The accompanying videos are short and to the point, and the author strikes a good balance between keeping the viewer’s attention and covering the material fully. Needless to say, having print, video, and sample files all together covers the bases for all kinds of learners.
http://www.francoislevy.com/blog/blogger.html
The next review in also in from Steve Scaysbrook from the UK:
Now I have 3D under my belt, to me the price was and is not a problem, the quality of the sketch’s and above all the embedded movies on the CD make it a must have addition to my tech library, I can thoroughly recommended this book to anyone who has 2D CAD and wants to start using 3D CAD As we all move into BIM, 3D work is going to become more and more important, and this book has been such an enormouse help in achieving competence in 3D CAD work, nice one Jon
http://blog.konstrukshon.com/?p=1826
Nick from Salt Lake City says:
I would recommend this manual to anyone who has an acute need/interest in the power of the Vectorworks 2009 rendering platform. It is an excellent way to delve into the program that otherwise has a rather steep learning curve. I would also recommend it to those basic users, like myself, for an excellent way to expand your skill set, proficiency and speed in using the program for your creative needs. Either way, 3D Modeling in Vectorworks 2009 by Jonathan Pickup is an excellent tool for anyone who uses this power and effective modeling and drafting program.
http://nickhutch.blogspot.com/2009/08/3d-modeling-in-vectorworks-2009-review.html
Kevin Lee Allen Design Blog says:
I strongly recommend that students of Vectorworks, new users or users moving into BIM documentation buy this book. The $75 investment will be quickly recouped. Well, a few bucks and few days to work through the exercises and begin to master these powerful tools. You will have an excellent guide.
http://klad.com/blog/?p=821#more-821
So, if you want to learn 3D modeling, the manual is now shipping from NNA. http://www.nemetschek.net/training/guides.php
(Napier, New Zealand), 21 August 2009. Archoncad announce a new way to learn Vectorworks!
Archoncad is pleased to present a new service called Vector-workout™.
Vector-workout™ is a downloadable movie based training resource offering fast and easy access to instructive movies, ideal for sharpening vectorworks skills quickly.
Jonathan Pickup, the author, said "a client told me recently ‘I'm too lazy to read the manuals, just give me the information. Quickly!’
So, I've rethought how to deliver Vectorworks training resources as visual tools. Vector-workout™ is the result – it’s a visual teaching revolution for Vectorworks. As they say, a picture tells a thousand words, and Vector-workout™ kits do this brilliantly – movies are the perfect alternative to slogging through endless textbooks"
Vector-workout™ training manual kits use pdf files with embedded self contained movies. When you open the files with Acrobat Reader, you have bookmarks on the left-hand side for quick access to the movies. Acrobat Reader has a built-in search function, so you can type in a word or phrase and have Acrobat search for you.
Vector-workout™ kits are structured in a logical way, and can be used sequentially. This allows the user to start with basic principles and work though the kit in a structured way, as you would do with a textbook manual.
Alternately, they can be used non-sequentially - just use Acrobat Reader to find the specific movie you want and work smarter.
Jonathan also went on to say “we will launching a full range of Vector-workout™ kits soon, so there will be a variety of resources for all levels of user experience and design fields. These kits are very easy to use and so flexible that we know architects, designers, landscapers, etc, will find them ideal from improving their skills and productivity.”
The first set of resources available is the Vector-workout™ Introduction to BIM – go to www.archoncad.co.nz or www.novedge.com to view a preview of what this kit can do for you. This kit will suit beginners through to competent Vectorworks users.
Because Vector-workout™ kits are movie based, Archoncad offer it by web download, for instant access.
Each kit purchased will automatically entitle you to free download updates for that specific kit.
Available now www.archoncad.co.nz/training/vector-workout.php
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. For more information, please visit www.archoncad.co.nz/
The Konstrukshon blog has an article about the AECnetwork.
The AEC Network is an informal, free of charge, global network for the construction sector. All are welcome in this network, all we ask (and this is very important) is that members do not spam other members with sales approaches. We would like to foster an atmosphere where people can openly discuss their areas of expertise and look for collaboration and do not want to discourage participation due to unwanted spam.
There is one web site I always check out for architectural technology and Vectorworks:
This week the author, Steve, joined an online demonstration of BIM and Vectorworks. The review is well worth a read. http://blog.konstrukshon.com/?p=1595
Steve also has an article about CAD Class tables and what classes should be used for. Again, well worth a visit. http://blog.konstrukshon.com/?p=1569
Just tell Steve I sent you.
My new manual is now shipping from NNA. http://www.nemetschek.net/training/guides.php
3D Modeling in Vectorworks $75
The Vectorworks 3D Modeling Tutorial manual, by Jonathan Pickup, is a must-have workbook for anyone seeking to learn how to free-form model with Vectorworks. The manual will bring you to a competent level of 3D capability through exercises aimed at building a foundation of 3D Vectorworks skills. Specifically, you’ll learn how to create 3D forms through the use of extrudes, sweeps, solids, NURBS, loft surfaces, and 3D primitives.
One of my clients has just finished a course that uses this manual, and she was very happy:
“I have just completed Jonathon’s 3D course, and it has opened a whole new world for me. My design is no longer restricted to rectilinear planes. I can now do angled surfaces and compound curves, spin them around to have a look at them, and chop them into templates for fabrication.” Juliet, Exhibition Designer
This isn’t really to do with Vectorworks, but I just had a call from this company:
http://www.suretechindustries.co.nz/
This is from their web site
One of my clients just phoned up in a panic. They were trying to print a job to PDF. All the drawings except for one printed without the text boxes. I thought it might be a font problem, so I suggested a change to Arial (always a fallback font).
“had a few veiwports and referenced viewports on the page - all that use Avante Garde. Then 2 schedules and 1 worksheet - also all used avante garde. No text at all would actually appear in the PDF - even fonts that were not avante garde. Once I deleted the suspect schedule viewport every other bit of text began to appear - then I changed the font to Arial made a new viewport and it worked fine.”
Following the release of the short sharp manuals last month, I have added a new manual to the Short Sharp Manual page.
This manual is about Intermediate Worksheets. Not beginners worksheets, intermediate worksheets. The manual looks at 10 different worksheet examples to will focus on several worksheet issues. We will learn how to solve these issues using worksheets. We will look at several specific worksheet techniques to solve specific problems:
Counting Car Parks
Counting Site Areas (impermeable surface)
Building Occupancy for car park requirements
Building Occupancy for fire design.
Problems with design layer viewports.
Counting Landscape areas with several sites.
Problems counting just one sort of joist.
Bracing worksheet using connected worksheets, IF statements and sorting.
Roof Area calculations for downpipes or roofing materials.
Wall Area scheduling for quantity take-offs.
Find the manual here: http://www.archoncad.com/intermediate-worksheets.html
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.
