I am the author of the Vectorworks Essentials Tutorial Manual. I was recently talking to a university tutor that uses this manual with the students. They wanted an exercise that would extend the students’ knowledge of basic tools and commands. At the end of the third chapter of this manual the students…
I am the author of the Vectorworks Essentials Tutorial Manual. I was recently talking to a university tutor that uses this manual with the students. At the end of the second chapter of this manual the students should be able to draw simple objects and extrude them to create an…
I am the author of the Vectorworks Essentials Tutorial Manual. I was recently talking to a university tutor that uses this manual with the students. At the end of the first chapter of this manual the students should be able to draw simple objects and dimension them. The students sometimes…
To create a Site Model you require 3D data for the spot levels of the site. There are several ways to do this. One way of creating your site model is to import an image file showing contours, then trace along the contours of the polygon tool. There is a…
A client was asking how to make a roof that has a low point in the middle. Some people call this a butterfly roof. The answer is to use a standard Vectorworks roof and edit it to make just half the roof. Then mirror the roof to create the other…
I have recently been working on a lot of 2D detailing with Vectorworks. One of the issues that I came up against was the look of plaster. The person who drew this plasterwork originally had a very nice style for drawing a wiggly line. I am editing these areas of…
I have been working on a project that requires quite a bit of 3D modelling. To make this quicker, I use a combination of Add Solid, Subtract Solid and Intersect Solid. Using these tools makes it extremely quick to model this complex situation. Somebody asked me why do I use these particular…
Solar studies seem to be getting more popular with building professionals and building authorities. I am hearing a lot of my clients are being asked to provide a solar study showing the effect of their building on the surrounding properties. Of course the other reason to use a solar study…
3D Polygon Tool – Vectorworks has some really cool 3D tools and it’s tempting to always look at these instead of some of the basic 3D tools that Vectorworks has. The 3D polygon tool can be used to draw a polygon between 3D objects. You don’t need to use automatic…
This tool is so useful for creating complex curving shapes. There are three modes – No Rail mode, One Rail mode, and Bi-rail Sweep. Each mode has a use and each has very different results. Watch the movie to find out more. In the fist mode you use series of cross…