Published: 15 April 2008 Architosh http://www.architosh.com/features/2008/reviews/vw2008/index.html

Nemetschek North America's VectorWorks Architect 2008 is easily the company's most ambitious update in the history of the program since it changed its name from MiniCAD to VectorWorks. There are several notable aspects to why this is so, but far and away the most noteworthy reason for this update being its most breathtaking is the progress the company has made with VectorWorks Architect 2008 as a true multi-user, building information modelling (BIM) application for the architecture market. The company has tackled convincingly true teamwork functionality through the use of "true external file referencing," centralized CAD management, and an array of BIM goodness, including the all important Industry_Foundation_Classes (IFC 2x3) data translation.

However, before we look at all that, we'll delve into the broad array of feature improvements in the core version of VectorWorks (Fundamentals).

General Improvements: Fundamentals

We'll start off this review by looking at some of the core improvements and this begins with the user interface itself. The VectorWorks UI has always been relatively simple compared to many of its CAD/BIM peers. The challenge with any software designer is keeping the user interface uncluttered, organized and logical while adding more features and functionality. In VectorWorks 2008 Nemetschek North America has made some minor but very smart improvements while maintaining the simplicity and elegance of its classic Mac graphics software heritage. Gone are the view-related tools at the bottom of the main window. Instead the view bar contains such items as Zoom controls, Fit to Objects, Fit to Area, and some brand new tools such as the new rotate functionality and the new "floating data bar"(head's up display). (see images 01 – 02).

01 - Click on this image to see the whole horizontal new data bar. Note the teapot icon represents rendering modes; the teapot is an icon within the 3d graphics community.

02 - The new "floating data bar" display system controls visibility here in the drop-down menu. Click on this image to read the various options.

Numerical input has always been in the program, it was just not under the cursor where it is far more efficient. Of course, there are legacy modes still available so those who do not like such functionality can optionally utilize the old data bar. (see options in image 02– floating data bar).

Head's Up Display and Other Improvements

The new Head's Up Display or "floating data bar" marks a major improvement for users who do an intense amount of numeric input. Essentially, it locates the data bar under the cursor and the user has several degrees of control with it. Most users will likely always utilize the floating data bar but some might prefer to invoke it by hitting the Tab key, which is an option.

The floating data bar allows you to swiftly create objects of precise shape directly under the cursor. Watch this series of QuickTime movies as we create a piece of furniture with exact dimensions and then locate it on the plan precisely 1" away from two walls in the corner. (see QuickTime QT-01).

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QT-01 - Here we create a furniture piece for this room. We input precise dimensions and then we locate it precisely 1" off the walls in the corner of the room.

When moving an object by simply dragging it the floating data bar is a particular benefit. Often users need to make minor adjustments to locations of elements and having such quick numeric control directly at the point of interaction is a real boost to users' productivity. (see QT-02).

QT-02 - In this QuickTime we manipulate a column or pier, moving it, using the floating data bar's numerical inputs. Having immediate access to these under the cursor offers speed.

Now in VectorWorks 2008 users can select multiple objects (of the same type) and make edit adjustments to them. In previous versions if a user selected say, five rectangles, the dimensional data fields in the Object Info palette would be turned off. Now they are available, making it easy to change the size of multiple objects at once. Although Nemetschek touts this functionality improvement relative to doors and windows inserted into walls, it can be useful to manipulating several objects that are the same but not turned into a symbol (eg: chairs around a dining room table, a series of posts or columns, et cetera). (see QT-03).

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QT-03 - In this QuickTime we were able to select multiple piers and manipulate their size all at once. There are however limitations when selecting objects other than doors and windows.Sometimes these other objects in formation may not all move (grow or shrink) as anticipated. Users must be careful when using this feature.

Improved Viewport Workflows

We are going to talk about the dramatic improvements in design-layer viewports when we cover Architect specific features (in a bit) but even in VectorWorks Fundamentals 2008 there are several improvements to the way "viewports" work.

Firstly there is the new improvement when navigating between design layers (where your content is made) and your viewports (where your content is displayed and laid out). In the Edit Viewport dialog there is a new option, Navigate Back to Viewport, which is a default. This helps dramatically with work speed. No longer does the user need to revisit the Navigation palette or the Layers drop-down menu (see images 03-04) to get back to their viewport.

03 - A new default option in the Edit Viewport dialog allows you to easily navigate back to the viewport once you are done editing it. This is a huge productivity improvement over version 12.5.

04 - At the source design-layer the entire working window has a new orange-glow "highlight" with an orange back button. Once done editing, click this button to go back to the viewport.

Other enhancements include adjusting flipped text in viewports without affecting text in other viewports or design layers, and a new black and white only setting to control which viewports have colour and which do not. Zoom settings between the annotation mode and the crop mode of a viewport are now maintained. Viewport layer overrides enable the user to present multiple options by duplicating the same viewport and altering the layers associated with them. Lastly, there is new support for Associate Dimensions in sheet-layer viewports, but alas, we found that it only works in Top/Plan view mode, thus this feature is of no value in other view modes, such as elevation or section modes. (see images 05-06).

05 - Red-selection square indicate associative dimensions, but they only work between viewports and sheet-layers if in Top-Plan mode.

06 - Here we changed the wall on the design-layer and its dimension adjusted automatically. We hope Nemetschek fixes this so they can work in at least elevation and section modes.

VectorWorks has always led the entire CAD field when it came to colour, line weights, transparency and drawing effects. Now VectorWorks 2008 takes colour to an unlimited dimension with "unrestricted access" to the system colour palette. Even better, this new release comes with colours palettes for Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, Pittsburgh Paints, Pantone and more, including an AutoCAD DWG compatible colours palette. And you can create your own palette and name it. You also get a palette called, Colours in Active Document. (see images 07-08).

07 - Colours in the Active Document appear at the bottom of the Active Document colour palette. Colours can be added from other palettes or custom system colours.

08 - The new Benjamin Moore colours are accessed through the Colour Palette Manager. You can add colours into a new custom palette and give it a name for reuse.

And for those with PostScript-based plotters that do not perform well with a mixture of transparency and "screened" colours in the document, this broad brush of colours will mean you will never ever have to "wash down" a colour -- to make it lighter -- by applying a screen to it again. (see images 09-10).

09 - Here this bush was given its "light" green colour via a percentage "screen" from the colour palette screen options. The only way to get such light colours in wide variety in the previous version was thru 10, 20, 40, 60. or 80% screen values of a solid colour.

10 - Now with Pantone palettes and palettes from a wide variety of paint manufactures -- plus unlimited system colours -- you can always find a 100% version of the colour you are seeking. This helps plot times on certain Postscript-based plotters.

The last major new improvements in the Fundamentals version of VectorWorks 2008 is the new CAD Manager features. It is now much easier to manage CAD standards centrally and carry these standards to the next version of VectorWorks. In an office with several people or more, ideally you would store these on a central server but you can store standards locally as well.

And VectorWorks 2008 now has support for AutoCAD 2007/2008 products. Over the years -- and especially since version 12, when Viewports were introduced -- VectorWorks' import/export functionality has dramatically improved. Now onward to the "Architect" specific version of VectorWorks 2008 and the new features.

VectorWorks Architect Specific Features

A really cool new feature for architects who work with large buildings or buildings often with angles in their plans is the new rotate 2D plan feature. With it you can rotate your entire document so that the x-y coordinate system is re-aligned with angled portions of your building. Frank Lloyd Wright would have loved this tool! However, getting the knack of it may take a wee bit of time, as it did for us. See the QuickTime movie for it in action. (see QT-04).

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QT-04 - In this QuickTime we show the new rotate plan feature, which is really very useful and easy to master. Watch as we demonstrate it a couple of times.

Design Layer Viewports and True-File Referencing

Now we are getting into the meat and potatoes of this major update. In VectorWorks 12 Nemetschek North America added viewports which created a model-space / paper-space structure to the program akin to Autodesk's AutoCAD software. However, such viewports were simply "windows" displaying particular views of data which would be laid out on "sheet-layers" to create drawing sheets. Now VectorWorks 2008 adds true external file referencing.

The essential key addition here is the new ability to create design-layer viewports. With the ability to create and place viewports on "design-layers" newfound possibilities open up, including the option to create references to "external" VectorWorks files. Bear in mind that creating viewports for sheet-layers is still a preferred way to lay out your architectural drawing sheets, as it enables you to create a viewport or viewports of essential and repeatable title-block data.

For users who have adopted sheet-layer viewports in VectorWorks 12 your first baby step in creating "design-layer" viewports may surprise you. When creating a viewport in VectorWorks 12 you always created the viewport on top of the drawing data you wanted in your viewport. In other words the source location. However, when creating a design-layer viewport you are in the receiving side of the location where the viewport is to be displayed. The following QuickTime movie demonstrates the difference (see QT-05 - QT-06).

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QT-05 - In this QuickTime we work through the palettes of setting up both types of viewports: sheet-layer and design-layer. Note that you need a "crop object" for sheet-layer viewports.

QT-06 - In this QuickTime we update a design-layer viewport (from the Nav palette) and show that there is no "annotation" space layer in design-layer viewports. You dimension and note on the placement layer.

The Viewport dialog box now has several new areas. There is a new Select Source button and at the top, where it says Create on Layer, you have a new pop-up menu that is clearly organized and provides three options for the location (ie: New Sheet Layer, New Design Layer or choose one of the existing design layers in the current document) (see image 11). If you choose an external source another dialog pops up where you can select the source of your viewport data. Previous external references appear in a drop-down menu, while selecting New Reference allows you to choose a new VectorWorks file. (see image 12).

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11 - This image shows the new Create Design-Layer viewport palette, with its new organization and "source" options.

12 - This image shows the new Create Design-Layer viewport palette, with its new organization and "source" options.

So users may be confused as to when you use which type of viewport in VectorWorks 2008. To clarify, design-layer viewports are generated from and rest upon data on design layers themselves. Sheet-layer viewports however rest upon special sheet layers and their data is generated from design layers. If the purpose of a viewport for you is to show already drawn data at a different scale then you will want to utilize sheet-layer viewports because design layers can only have one scale at a time. And design-layer viewports do not have annotation layers attached to them for noting and dimensions. Instead you note and dimension them directly on the design layer in which they rest. (see QT-06).

One of the primary goals of design-layer viewports for Nemetschek North America was to add true external file referencing (xRefs). The company has spent considerable effort on developing strategies for utilizing these new capabilities and has two projects on its website for download and examination. The largest project is a million square foot plus, mid-rise multi-use structure of considerable size. As part of the VectorWorks BIM in Practice Series, the Ellicott Heights project explores and demonstrates the use of true-external file referencing via design layer viewports and shared project resources. It is excellent that the company is providing such resources for its users.

Viewports: Some Issues

In the Ellicott project discussion PDF document Nemetschek North America describes two methods of dividing the BIM data. The horizontal method involves dividing a building by floors, each constituting a data set. Each would be a separate file, view ported into a master file containing the whole project. The second method is the vertical division, each programmatic function constituting its own data set, regardless of floors. The Ellicott project (see images 13 - 14) utilizes both approaches.

13 - The Ellicott project is a sample BIM implementation. Over 1.5 million square feet the view above shows a sample floor level file representing horizontal organization of the data. Team members could be deployed to focus on overall plans.

14 - While other team members could focus work on apartment unit plans, as seen in the image above. A 3D view of the plan above is shown at left in axon view.

However, we encountered a few quirks within the tools when applied to a horizontal versus vertical approach. In the more straightforward "horizontal" approach separate plan files would constitute the floors of the BIM geometry, including a roof level in its "own file." However therein lies a small problem. If you have anything but a flat roof and need your walls to fit up against the geometry of the roof, you cannot access this layer from within the "Fit Walls to 3D Geometry" command (see image 15) unless the roof object itself is within the same file.

It first appears that you can perhaps utilize the "old-style" workgroup referencing approach and "import" those layers from referenced files -- in this the case the roof plan file -- into the target document; however that approach denies you the ability to use the new design-layer viewports methodology -- which is far superior. This essentially means that in our personal test files we simply had to add the roof layer into our "level-1" VectorWorks file so we could utilize the Fit to Walls to 3D Geometry command. Could there be another and simpler way to deal with this?

15 - The Fit Selected Walls to 3D Geometry tool doesn't work unless the roof geometry resides in the same file so its layer is visible in the drop-down menu shown. This negates a complete "horizontal" distribution method as sampled in the Ellicott project.

Nemetschek's response to this is to create a design-layer in the appropriate floor plan file (in our case: level-1.vwx) and set its Z height to the correct level for the roof's bearing. Now place a design-layer viewport to the external roof plan file on that layer. Now it is possible to utilize the "Fit Walls to 3D Geometry" command because -- the layer on which the roof object rest is within the file in which you execute the command above. This is a workable methodology but we wonder if and how it could be improved.

Viewports Summary

The true-file referencing through the new design-layer viewports is such a large feature addition that it bears us summarizing and touching on some final points. Firstly, design-layer viewports allow for quick and easy duplication of data both within and outside your current file. This flexibility is limitless. A new feature is the ability to support class and layer overrides for referenced layers in design-layer viewports. Why would you use these? Because you could reference a plan below or above your current plan level and make it semi-transparent, enabling an alignment comparison (a very useful thing for coordination). Likewise for elevations comparisons (both types). (see QT-07).

Finally there is the new capability (not discussed in the manuals) of using what is called a "shuttle file" for handling the importation of AutoCAD DWG or DXF data from consultants. Rather than importing, say, your structural engineer's plans into your main files, you can import them into a "shuttle" file, which itself is used as source data for a "viewport" of the structural plan data. Why do this? There are several reasons. Firstly, note that xRefs in VectorWorks via design layer viewports don't add new layers to your target or main file. Nor do they add new classes. This keeps your main files clean and simple. Things are simply "referenced" but you still have control over these referenced layers viz-a-viz the new layer overrides so you can change colours, transparency, gray view or turn off a view of individual layers in these references. (see QT-07 - QT-08).

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QT-07 - In this QuickTime we show updating a design-layer viewport of an external file. We use a "shuttle file" to contain our exported in AutoCAD structural information. With this data updated via a new import process into our "shuttle file" we can clean things up in the shuttle file and then update its reference in our level-1.vwx file, which holds are main building plan.

QT-08 - In this QuickTime we show how layer overrides work. A very useful feature, it can be used to turn a referenced plan layer semi-transparent for overlay comparison and coordination.

More BIM Control

In VectorWorks Architect 2008 Nemetschek North America has truly arrived as a full-fledged building information modeling (BIM) application. Not only was true-file referencing a necessary ingredient but so too were the following features.

This latest version now supports two-way worksheets for door and window schedules. Two way editing means that the door object placed in the wall can be edited from the door schedule worksheet and it will be updated in the 3D model automatically, and vice versa. (see image 16).

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16 - Two-way worksheets enable editing of doors and windows in their schedules with the plan/model and the corresponding components will auto-update elsewhere throughout the BIM data.

17 - Wall components can be classed into separate classes for further visibility control in viewports (both types). This degree of flexibility is very powerful.

And now there are classable wall components. This means you can break down your multiple-element walls by class, affording you advanced opportunities with visibility of elements at different scales, in different situations, views, et cetera. For instance, you may decide to "class-out" certain wall components at smaller scales like 1/4" = 1'-0" or smaller, or "class-in" components at larger scales. You control your wall components in the Wall Preferences dialog box where a double-click will allow you to edit an individual component (see image 17).

Next a true BIM application should allow you to actually work in 3D -- with your BIM model and the primary tools that generate its primary geometric production. This is different than saying a BIM program should have advanced free-form modeling (NURBS-based). VectorWorks has had NURBS-based modeling for years and it outshines all other BIM programs in this category. But the ability to actually make and edit a wall, for instance, in 3d view is actually new. These new capabilities extend to inserting doors and window elements too. (see QT-09)

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QT-09 - In this QuickTime we show the new 3D wall create, edit and modify elements features.

Lastly, anybody considering their 3D CAD application a BIM today must have support for exchanging data via IFC (industry foundation classes by IAI, the International Alliance for Interoperability). VectorWorks Architect 2008 adds support for this key interoperability technology.

Closing RemarksVectorWorks Architect 2008 offers very nice small improvements that many other reviews seem to miss mentioning. A key one is the new object-based opacity control. VectorWorks has led the CAD industry with CAD color transparency in version 12 but this was limited to the Macintosh side of the application. Now both Mac and Windows users have object-level transparency/opacity options, utilizing the underlying graphics architecture of both operating systems (Mac OS X/Windows Vista).

The Resource Browser has several nice improvements, including a useful new Home button for better navigation as well as the ability to export resources from your active file (or any file that is open) to another file that is essentially not open. This means in teamwork situations individual team members can contribute key shared resources by sending them upstream into project-template.vwx files or other master files.

A key aspect of building design for US General Services Administration (GSA) is the utilization of BIM and the ability to attach associated data to the industry standard for Space objects. The Create Walls from Spaces command has added the ability to offset the exterior wall by using the custom offset of its wall style.

Finally, Adobe PDF support -- which is already very solid in VectorWorks 12 -- has been improved in 2008 with the support for PDF bookmarks generated via the batch Export PDF command. And lastly VectorWorks 2008 supports AutoCAD 2007/2008 and other key file formats.

RecommendationsThere is no doubting it now, VectorWorks Architect 2008 is a true BIM application by just about any definition. Like all BIMs (and there are really only five (ie:

ArchiCAD, Allplan, Microstation, Revit and VectorWorks Architect) future major contenders in the market, VectorWorks 2008 has some weaknesses and some strengths. One of its weaknesses is in the area of integration between pre-built parametric objects and advanced complex geometry. All BIMs are weak here so in some sense all are strong. But as more architects push the boundaries of complex form in their building designs, this area of competition forms a sort of "space race" in the BIM industry between the major contenders. VectorWorks' advanced built-in NURBS modeling puts it in good position to lead here but currently it is not the leader. It also suffers from a weaker position in regards to other types of integration (cost estimation being one of them) and BIM to 3rd party BIM tools -- used for various analysis, engineering and facilities management.

On the flip side it outshines the rest of the industry in superb 2D CAD integration within the product itself. It is also a more flexible BIM package in regards to the fact that many BIM-based projects are actually implemented as a mixture of BIM and traditional 2D CAD.

For existing VectorWorks Architect users looking to test the BIM waters this is your bus stop. And if you decide moving to BIM is still not right for you at this time, the many 2D creature comforts added to this version will still add value and efficiency to your work. For those now looking to jump from "whatever-2D-CAD" program you currently use to a true BIM workflow, VectorWorks Architect 2008 must be included in your considerations. ---- Anthony Frausto-Robledo, EIC

VectorWorks Architect 2008 - CAD/BIM SoftwareUpdate: 5/5 - Massive update provides tremendous value. We are

impressed with the reach Nemetschek took on the BIM front.

Peer Value: 4.5/5 - Generally a leader in value in the CAD world; it is still a freshmen in the BIM world.

Features: 5/5 - Killer features in this update include its new design-layer viewports w/ xRef capability, layer overrides in viewports and the awesome rotate tool.

Learning: 4.5/5 - Solid help system and good BIM support materials; QuickTime tutorial materials that are free (on the Web) are few.

Performance: 4/5 - Neither the cheetah nor the lumbering lion in the BIM field or the CAD field. However, this version felt just as fast if not faster than the previous version.

Final Score: 5/5