You may not want to upgrade, you may not be able to afford to upgrade, but I still think you should read about what is new in Vectorworks 2012. There are several important changes to 3D modeling that will change the way you think about 3D modeling. Amongst them are…
3-Way Wall Joining. Joining three walls nicely has been a bit of a headache. Version 2012 offers an improvement, but it only works when you apply it at the time of the wall creation and not later on by using the Wall Join tool.
Roof Framing. Many of the bugs that I reported in the Framing CPD manual have now been fixed. This means that when you now use the Roof Framer, the overhangs will be displayed correctly. As well as fixing these bugs, there have also been some other improvements.
Wall Framing. In previous versions, Vectorworks did not recognize the core part of the wall. This made the wall framer unusable unless if you removed all the wall components.
Slab Objects. You can now use slab objects with the Create Joists From Poly command. This means that you can now create your building with slabs, and still frame them when you want to.
Columns. Columns are another one of the building elements that can bound to your extreme. So again stories can be extremely useful in setting up your building projects.
Stairs. Because of the new story concept, stairs are now ‘story-aware’. You can select a stair to go between two different stories and Vectorworks will calculate the number of risers required to fit.
Road. The road object has not been given a major overhaul but it easier to use. In the past, when you used the Roadway (NURBS), the view would change from a Top/Plan view to Top. Because of this you would loose all the 2-D information you required to place the road…
Stake Object. When the tools were changed to have more information on the Tool bar, the Stake object became a lot more useful. You can now pre-set the elevation of the stake before you place them.
Site Model Improvements. When you modify your site model, Vectorworks will highlight your site model with a heavy red dashed border to show you the site model needs updating.