Free Manuals Available

I made a mistake with the person that does my printing and now I have 4 Copies of of my Architect Tutorial manual for Vectorworks 12 (not 12.5) that I can't sell. I wondered if there were a few deserving people that have trouble getting Vectorworks training materials. I would send the manual free of charge by snail mail. There is no CD in the manual, so no exercise files or movies.

If you deserve a free manual, email me jon@archoncad.co.nz

movie 114 on Youtube

I've posted a new movie on clipping viewports on youtube. You do not even need to enter the viewport to use this.

Rebuilding Your Apple Mail Mailbox

I have been having some trouble with one of my mail boxes in Apple Mail, probably caused by connecting it to my Daylite contacts. Yesterday I found this neat trick called Rebuild. I thought, cool, it will fix all my problems. NOT!

Rebuild deletes all emails that are not on the server. So for me, it removed all my emails, and I do mean all of them. Luckily, I have copies for most of them, but I still lost a lot of old emails.

DO NOT use Rebuild unless you want to loose all those old, unsaved and un-archived emails.

Backing Up

You must back up your computer and keep off site backups. I’ve had loads of clients say, “I have an external HD. I back up when I remember.” The reality is that the interval between backups is the amount of information you are willing to loose. So if you back up weekly, you are willing to loose a week’s worth of information. If you back up monthly, you are willing to loose a month’s work. So, how much work are you willing to loose?

There are several programs you can use to create automatic backups of your information. I found some that were free, some that cost less than $50. For the peace of mind, and for the security of your business, that is a small amount to pay. I’m just finishing off my user group notes about this topic and they will soon be online for all the subscribers.

What do When You Are Between Projects

While you are waiting for the next project to start, or if your business is having a quiet time, you should build up your skills and use this time to make your business stronger.

I have been chatting with my friend Roger Williams about what users can do if they are having a quiet time. Roger has a couple of suggestions:

Well we all want more project work but it’s not here yet so what do we do to keep busy? Why not sharpen our VW CAD skills so we can work more efficiently when the new work comes to us. I’m sure we all have our manuals and reference books. Some can be a challenge to slug through but answers are there. There is a lot on-line as well. So why not put all of these resources to good use building your own Vectorworks resources.

Here are some of the resources you can use (and they are all free):

http://www.youtube.com/archoncad

http://www.nemetschek.net/training/free_resource.php

http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php

http://blog.konstrukshon.com/

http://www.webnash.com//page1.php

http://klad.com/blog/

http://www.vectorworking.com/

Spend a few minutes early in the day to set up a learning schedule over a couple of weeks or so. Let’s say something like an hour or two every other day to take on a task or “learning update” then DO IT!! Here are few a tasks and learning upgrades that we should all do.

Thanks for that Roger.

There are also resources that are commercial products. I write several manuals and tutorials, and I help several clients online. Many people don’t know that I spend a large part of my day providing online training and support to my clients. If you want online training and support, contact me directly at jon@archoncad.co.nz

Jonathan Pickup’s January Newsletter

Welcome to the New Year!

At this time of the year, many people have a short break at least. Where I live people are just starting to get back to work. So, what should you be doing for the start of the new year? I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t think they work. I am a fan of goals. They really work. When you write down a goal, and put a date on it, your brain starts to work on it for you. Before you know it, you have an idea of how to achieve your goals. Please, try writing some goals down and look at the goals every day. Goals have to be measurable, stated in the positive and have a date, otherwise they are just a weak desire.

Great News from NNA

Columbia, Maryland (January 12, 2010)—Nemetschek North America is pleased to announce that its Vectorworks® Architect software has been tested by the National 3D-4D-BIM Program with the General Services Administration (GSA, see www.gsa.gov/bim) as complying with the requirements of the BIM Guide Series 02, Spatial Program Validation. Vectorworks Architect software (version 2010, SP2) may now be used on GSA projects that require BIM.

This really is fantastic news if you are in USA, and it will allow architects to persue

more government work. Well done you hard working people at NNA!

Vectorworks 2009 SP5 Released

This new update fixes stability issues between Vectorworks 2009 and the new Mac OS X Snow Leopard (V.10.6). for a complete list of fixes and improvements in this service pack please visit this page: http://www.nemetschek.net/downloads/notes/2009SP5_Notes.php

Vectorworks 2010 SP2 released

Second Service Pack for the Vectorworks 2010 product line now available

Nemetschek North America has released its second Service Pack for the Vectorworks® 2010 product line. This Service Pack addresses numerous stability problems and quality issues, especially in the areas of wall and component joining, DXF import/export, and the Space tool.

http://www.nemetschek.net/

Movie-based Manuals

Get ready for a better, faster way of learning some areas of Vectorworks. If you don't like reading much, then Vector-workout is for you. If just want to get straight into the movies, with out all the words, then Vector-workout is for you. If you are looking for a training resource that makes it easy to dip into, then Vector-workout is for you.

Check out this site:

http://www.archoncad.co.nz/training/vector-workout.php#introBIM2010

Short sharp training

Last month the topic was Best Practice for Importing and Exporting DXG/DWG files. If you are a subscriber, you can download this manual now. This month we are looking at how to save a corrupt file, setting the Vectorworks backup, and backing up your computer. Very important topics! There are online meetings for this topic, just look at the calendar to see which meting you want to attend:

http://ical.mac.com/WebObjects/iCal.woa/wa/default?d=1&u=jpickup1&v=1&y=2010&m=0&n=User%20Group.ics

If you want to be there, you need to be a subscriber: http://www.archoncad.co.nz/usergroup/join_int.php

Guide to Productivity for Vectorworks 2010 updated

I have added 4 new movies to the Vector-workout Guide to Productivity for Vectorworks 2010, covering Workgroup Referencing. This is an important area of Vectorworks, when you need to share information, or if you need to keep the consultants drawings in a container. This update is free to all purchasers, so contact your reseller, or contact me for your free upgrade.

If you haven’t bought this Guide to productivity, you are wasting hours every week.. Get productive, get the best from your software.

Guide to Productivity for Vectorworks 2009 updated

I have added 10 new movies to the Vector-workout Guide to Productivity for Vectorworks 2009, covering Floors, Pillars and Workgroup Referencing.

If you have already bought bought this guide, contact me for your free update. If you haven’t bought it yet, you should get it. There are so many powerful techniques, you will be more productive this year.