• Podcast 215 – Test Yourself Exercise – 7

    Chapter 7 is an introduction to 3D modeling. 3D modelling is important in Vectorworks (as you will notice from chapter 2). Chapter 7 covered techniques like extrusions, add solid, subtract solid and so on. You can use those techniques to create the bracket showing here.

  • Vectorworks Tip #207 – Working Planes with Dimensions

    Sometimes when you place a dimension, the dimension snaps to objects that you are not intending it to. In this image you can see how the dimension has snapped to the front of one object and to the rear of the other giving me a measurement of the distance between…

  • Architect_061 Architect Special Interest Group January 2015 (am)

    In this session we looked at how to move a project from a 3D model to a Vectorworks model using building elements. We started by creating a 3D model in Vectorworks using 3D modelling techniques such as extrusion, taper face, push/pull tool, etc. After creating the desired 3D model, you can…

  • Vectorworks Tip #198 – 3D Modelling – Solid Section

    The Section Solid command allows you to use one object to create a section through other 3D objects. In practice this command can be a lot like the Subtract Solid command. So the technique is to make sure you create the base object, then create the sectioning object. This technique…

  • Podcast 208 – Test Yourself Exercise – 2

    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…

  • Vectorworks Tip #193 – Solid Modelling – Intersect Solid

    I often use Intersect Solids to create a complex shape. The basic strategy with this concept is that you create two shapes. This command will find where the shapes overlap each other (intersect each other), giving me the object that I require.

  • Should I Learn SketchUp?

    I teach a lot of people. So I hear a lot of comments, concerns and questions. A common question is about SketchUp. Should a Vectorworks user learn this? I admit that SketchUp looks very seductive, but you can model everything you need in Vectorworks, so why bother? This is a…

  • Vectorworks Tip #189 – 3D Modelling – Subtract Solids

    Subtract Solid is like the opposite of Add Solid. Instead of joining to solid objects together, this command will use one object to subtract from the other. So the technique is to make sure you create the base object, then create the subtracting object, and then subtract it from the…

  • Vectorworks Tip #185 – 3D Modelling – Add Solids

    This is where you take two or more three-dimensional objects and you join them together. The strategy with 3D modelling is to break your object up into simple, manageable chunks, then use Add Solids to join them together. In this image you can see that I created several different colored…

  • Vectorworks Tip #184 – Text – Text along a Path

    If you ever need to create text that follows a curving path, use this command from the Text menu. As well as creating 2D text that follows a curving path, this command will also create 3D text that follows the path.