Up-grading

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Permalink Reply by Sam Cleveland on November 20, 2011 at 2:09pm

I was in the same boat, but upgraded VW 2008 (the next version after VW 12.5) to VW 2011 about a year ago. There are a ton of improvements and it took me a couple of weeks to get used to new features. I am very glad I upgraded because the new features (hundreds) have vastly improved my work-flow and overall quality of work. I recently upgraded to VW 2012 and have never looked back, except for RenderWorks. If you use RenderWorks, the texture shaders are completely different starting with VW 2011. This took me the longest time to learn and occasionally, I switch back to VW 2010 for some rendering tasks. The online tutorials are very helpful in making the transition for most new features, however, there is not a lot of help regarding RenderWorks. This is more of a trial and error experience.

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Permalink Reply by Charles Hunter on November 20, 2011 at 2:56pm

Thank you, your comments are very helpful.  I'm isolated and don't have anyone else using the program so I have learned most of my VW skills on my own by trial & error.  I do enjoy the training video's find them most useful after I have figure it out on my own, use to confirm I'm doing it the right way. Since most of the newer training tools available today came out starting with VW 2010/2011 have not used any of the "pay-for" training offered by VW, have you?  If so what has your experience been? 

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Permalink Reply by Sam Cleveland on November 20, 2011 at 5:13pm

I have not used any of the "pay for" training recently, although, I did attend an in-person paid training session @ Nemetschek in Columbia Maryland several years ago. That session was very helpful, but, expensive including travel costs.

 

I have recently subscribed to Jonathan Pickup's ArchonCad newsletter which is also helpful.

 

A couple of questions:

1. How are you using VectorWorks? architecture, drafting?, stage sets?

 

2. Do you use RenderWorks?

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Charles Hunter on November 21, 2011 at 3:13pm

I use the program for architecture, engineering and drafting.  Since I become quite proficient with the program I found I could do the drafting faster and with less mistakes myself than having a drafts person.  So needless to say the draft person position has not been filled.  I have used RenderWorks on a very limited basis, but it seems time concumsing and real slows the CPU down.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Cleveland on November 22, 2011 at 9:06am

If you are not doing a lot of 3D modeling and rendering, the learning curve for drafting may not be too long. I do a lot of 3D modeling and many of the new features are related to modeling and rendering which is why the learning curve for me was pretty long.

 

Hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Pickup on November 29, 2011 at 9:58am

There are ways to shorten the learning curve: buy a manual and attend user group meetings. I write training manuals for Vectorworks and every year I update them to show the most up to date and productive methods for using Vectorworks. If you have a user group nearby, attend. It is better to learn from others. If you do not have a local use group, try my online subscription, it is much more than just a group of meeting meeting on a regular basis. 

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Permalink Reply by Charles Hunter on November 29, 2011 at 11:20am

I'm located in Northern Wisconsin and I don't know of anyone else using VectorWorks.  Almost exclusively AUTO CAD because that is what is tought in high schools and technical colleges in a 300 mile radius.  I did join the USA UG but haven't seen much value in it as a learning tool.  I signed up for your "VW 2012 Test Drive Webinar" which is suppose to be tomorrow.  Haven't recieved any communictation as to whether it is happening or how to go about participating.  Since I'm on Central Time will need to logged on by 8:00 AM.  I have been using VW over ten years now and it seem to me that the ability to get support and training is getting far more difficult, time consuming and complicated than needs be.  What happened to just being able to go to the company website and get the information needed?

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Permalink Reply by Sam Cleveland on November 30, 2011 at 8:48pm

I strongly suggest you download the free demo version of VW2012, watch the movie tutorials on the VectorWorks website, and experiment with the new features. Also, contact a VectorWorks sales rep to discuss upgrade cost options. VectorWorks is a feature rich application. It can be customized to be very straightforward, but it can also be configured to be very powerful (I prefer the later).Depending on your needs, VW 12.5 may be perfectly suitable for you, but it may not be compatible with newer hardware (my dilemma). Also VW 2012 may not be compatible with older hardware (also my dilemma).

 

I live in a small town, and as far as I know, there are few local VectorWorks users… but when I show my colleagues what I can do with VectorWorks (some AutoCad users), I know they are envious. So I figure I have "a leg up," at least for a while.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Bowyer on November 30, 2011 at 8:35pm

I'm a newbie to VW, but I will offer this general advice about software programs. Always try to stay as current as you can, and always try to do it before you have to do it. Nothings worse than being well versed in old or outdated programs when everyone wants the latest and greatest. 

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