Housing and Community Development

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Residential Knowledge Community .
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I have a question for the Vectorworks users.  I'm currently using AutoCAD and thinking about changing to Vectorworks, but I have a concern about possible compatibility issues.  Do any of you have experience with sharing Vectorworks files with AutoCAD?  For instance, if I were to start a project in Vectorworks and hire a contract draftsperson who uses AutoCAD, could I easily exchange files?  Would line weights, hatches, layers, fonts, etc., appear correctly in exchanged files without having to go back and manipulate them?  Thanks for your input.
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William Foster AIA
William E. Foster Architecture
Pacific Grove CA
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William,

I agree with Andrew as to the worthwhileness of the Vectorworks platform, in spite of minor difficulties in learning/setting up the exchange. Jonathon Pick-up's Archoncad website  

++ 64 21 743 470

http://www.archoncad.com

jon@archoncad.co.nz

 has tutorials focused on the topic. Check him out if interested in the program's ability to play well with the others who do not have a vested interest in such.  Increasingly, as time goes by it has gotten progressively easier and easier. As autocad slips into history the important interface will  be with Revit. 

My difficulty with Vectorworks is just getting the appropriate training for my staff well before we fully transition into several work stations.  Unfortunately the sources for such knowledge are few and far between with http://www.archoncad.com being almost the only source of such knowledge.  Does anyone know of any good books on how to transition into Vectorworks from AutoCAD?

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Ricardo Ramos Assoc. AIA, LEED® AP, CSI
Principal
Alpha Analysis, Inc.
Arcadia CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2011 08:53
From: Bil Taylor
Subject: Vectorworks


I agree with Andrew as to the worthwhileness of the Vectorworks platform, in spite of minor difficulties in learning/setting up the exchange. Jonathon Pick-up's Archoncad website  

++ 64 21 743 470

http://www.archoncad.com

jon@archoncad.co.nz

 has tutorials focused on the topic. Check him out if interested in the program's ability to play well with the others who do not have a vested interest in such.  Increasingly, as time goes by it has gotten progressively easier and easier. As autocad slips into history the important interface will  be with Revit. 

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Bil Taylor AIA
Bil Taylor Assoc. Inc. (Taylor Design & Build)
Tucson AZ
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The official website has a fair amount of tutorial advice and books, but not sure if AC to VW is specifically addressed. I would venture a letter to the site's administrator because it is not that large a company (like 50 people). I have found them very responsive. Someone there will be able to advise you.

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Bil Taylor AIA
Bil Taylor Assoc. Inc. (Taylor Design & Build)
Tucson AZ
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-10-2011 03:11
From: Ricardo Ramos
Subject: Vectorworks

My difficulty with Vectorworks is just getting the appropriate training for my staff well before we fully transition into several work stations.  Unfortunately the sources for such knowledge are few and far between with http://www.archoncad.com being almost the only source of such knowledge.  Does anyone know of any good books on how to transition into Vectorworks from AutoCAD?

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Ricardo Ramos Assoc. AIA, LEED® AP, CSI
Principal
Alpha Analysis, Inc.
Arcadia CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2011 08:53
From: Bil Taylor
Subject: Vectorworks


I agree with Andrew as to the worthwhileness of the Vectorworks platform, in spite of minor difficulties in learning/setting up the exchange. Jonathon Pick-up's Archoncad website  

++ 64 21 743 470

http://www.archoncad.com

jon@archoncad.co.nz

 has tutorials focused on the topic. Check him out if interested in the program's ability to play well with the others who do not have a vested interest in such.  Increasingly, as time goes by it has gotten progressively easier and easier. As autocad slips into history the important interface will  be with Revit. 

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Bil Taylor AIA
Bil Taylor Assoc. Inc. (Taylor Design & Build)
Tucson AZ
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If you're in the Southern California area, you have a number of sources and trainers available for assistance making the transition from AC. Pat Stanford at Vectortasks.com is a good source of info (full disclosure, Pat and I are partners in training activities, although I don't train in AC transition).  

I too have tried to transition from AutoCAD to VectorWorks Architect, but unfortunately have not found sufficient transitional training available to successfully make the shift.  The tools in VectorWorks are very impressive, however the lack of in depth tutorials on the navigational controls, view setups, sheet setups and plotting has left much to be desired. 

I have been using Form-Z and AutoCAD for over 15 years and SketchUp for over 9 years and I still found myself struggling to figure out how to turn my VW model into a basic set up set of drawings.  I have to admit that the Graphisoft ArchiCAD trial copy and tutorials were substantially better at showing one how to transition from AutoCAD to their software platform.  I just wish Nemetschek could provide something similar.  If anyone else has this information, it would be greatly appreciated.

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Ricardo Ramos Assoc. AIA, LEED® AP, CSI
Principal
Alpha Analysis, Inc.
Arcadia CA
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Regarding William's question of translating back and forth between one CAD program and another I can only say good luck! Having used almost every CAD program out there, including Vectorworks, I can say that going back and forth between two CAD programs takes a lot of work & time to set up. You need to map all of your layers to oblects, all of your layers to line weights, and all of the objects line weights to the equivalent in AutoCAD. All this cross mapping can be done but don't underestimate the time it will take to set-up and then the need to follow the mapping styles exactly when you draw in Acad (for example don't put a door accidently on a window layer as it won't translate correctly). Following this technique is not something a 'contract' employee would probably be familiar with. Like I said, it can be done, but it's not easy. Best thing would be to stay in one program (Vectorworks, Revit, Archicad, etc...) and do all your work there. I use Revit quite successfully for our residential renovation projects but even though Revit and Acad are the same company (Autodesk) I wouldn't want to translate back and forth between the programs.......... much easier to simply stay in one program and do all the drawings there. ------------------------------------------- Dean Cretsinger AIA Morris Day Designers and Builders McLean VA -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 02-08-2011 00:52 From: Ricardo Ramos Subject: Vectorworks I too have tried to transition from AutoCAD to VectorWorks Architect, but unfortunately have not found sufficient transitional training available to successfully make the shift. The tools in VectorWorks are very impressive, however the lack of in depth tutorials on the navigational controls, view setups, sheet setups and plotting has left much to be desired. I have been using Form-Z and AutoCAD for over 15 years and SketchUp for over 9 years and I still found myself struggling to figure out how to turn my VW model into a basic set up set of drawings. I have to admit that the Graphisoft ArchiCAD trial copy and tutorials were substantially better at showing one how to transition from AutoCAD to their software platform. I just wish Nemetschek could provide something similar. If anyone else has this information, it would be greatly appreciated. ------------------------------------------- Ricardo Ramos Assoc. AIA, LEED® AP, CSI Principal Alpha Analysis, Inc. Arcadia CA -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 02-07-2011 14:56 From: William Foster Subject: Vectorworks This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Residential Knowledge Community . ------------------------------------------- I have a question for the Vectorworks users. I'm currently using AutoCAD and thinking about changing to Vectorworks, but I have a concern about possible compatibility issues. Do any of you have experience with sharing Vectorworks files with AutoCAD? For instance, if I were to start a project in Vectorworks and hire a contract draftsperson who uses AutoCAD, could I easily exchange files? Would line weights, hatches, layers, fonts, etc., appear correctly in exchanged files without having to go back and manipulate them? Thanks for your input. ------------------------------------------- William Foster AIA William E. Foster Architecture Pacific Grove CA -------------------------------------------

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Ian McIlvaine AIA
Tierra Sol y Mar, Inc.
Venice CA
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When I started my business in '94, MiniCAD was the least expensive, MAC platform CAD software that worked in 3D.  16 years later, I am now using Vectorworks and am constantly surprised to hear of the amazing "improvements" to AutoCAD or Revit that are features even MiniCAD had 16 years ago.  In short, I heartily recommend Vectorworks.

Translating files to DWG files in order to communicate with engineers can take some fiddling around at first, but I have not had any issues exchanging files with my consultants.