Vectorworks, Inc. Announces Rebranding and Vectorworks 2016

Vectorworks, Inc. formerly Nemetschek Vectorworks, announced this morning the rebranding of the company plus the release of Vectorworks 2016.

Vectorworks 2016 includes more than 100 updates and features for its CAD and BIM design solutions, that include Vectorworks Designer, Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Fundamentals and Renderworks.

Over 70 percent of the features were generated from customer feedback., according to Chief Technology Officer Dr. Biplab Sarkar.

Vectorworks Architect does not limit you to a certain workflow. You can easily work in 2D using your existing CAD standards, design in 3D with free-form surface and solids modeling tools, or merge 2D and 3D in Vectorworks hybrid design. And, with support for IFCs, your BIM projects can be easily moved downstream to others involved in the building process.

A Migration Manager for Vectorworks users now allows them to migrate their data from older versions to newer versions, not only content and the files, but also different templates, things that you need on day to day basis. “It used to take them a couple of days just to get their data into the new format,” said Sarkar.

Because of the extent of this release, I asked how long some of the features had been in the making. “We have worked on some features for a couple of years, particularly the project sharing, where they did prototypes a couple of years ago,” said Sarkar.

The top five features of the release were previewed at AIA this spring:

• Marionette, Vectorworks’ form of visual scripting, similar to Autodesk’s Grasshopper and Dynamo, is a visual program to extrude mathematical functions in a drop down, has varied protrusions and cutouts. For students who know Python scripting, this feature is familiar and also could be likened to Generative Components from Bentley Systems.
• Energos is an Energy Analysis tool that built on the passive house calculation method inside Vectorworks Architect. The analysis begins with the sun, location, type of project, and compliance check (LEED, BREEM). What kind of heating, ventilation, cooling systems does the building need? You can generate reports to submit for certification.
• Collaboration – Vectorworks 2015 didn’t allow people to open the same file at the same time. With Vectorworks 2016 Project Sharing, the file opens as a project file, and the user can assign privileges. The results can be synced by the administration.
• Point cloud support, and subdivision surfaces are also added.

The new features also included in today’s announcement are: Vectorworks 2016’s worldwide rollout, which continues with the release of localized versions in nine additional languages over the next several months.

Some of the tools and features in this release include those mentioned above as well as:

• Project Sharing is an intuitive means for teams to communicate and collaborate while working concurrently on the same Vectorworks design file.
• Subdivision Modeling allows designers to transform primitive shapes like spheres and cubes into any form imaginable.
• Point Cloud Support allows designers using their preferred 3D scanning device to capture a physical location and import a 3D point cloud object into Vectorworks software to manipulate and measure.’
• Roof Components and Styles will interact with wall components ensure accuracy in the documentation of sections and elevations. Roof faces and roof objects now have the same component representation as walls and slabs, further extending the power of BIM.
• Landmark Site Modifier and Hardscape Tool Improvements help landscape professionals and urban planners design more efficiently and be more creative with pavements and walkways, including sloping hardscapes.
• Spotlight Improvements offer tools to design and document overhead stage rigging, create stages and quickly access symbols to explore any idea imaginable.
• Several New Features and Improvements in Renderworks module include an upgraded MAXON Cinema 4D® render engine, Caustic Capabilities with refraction of light through translucent surfaces, Ambient Occlusion that adds depth to designs with more realistic shadowing and the New Grass Shader, as well as new camera effects, such as depth of field, exposure, vignette and bloom, allow for more realistic and striking visualizations and animations.

Tags: 3D, 3D cities, 3D printing, AEC, architects, architecture, AutoCAD, BIM, building, building information modeling, CAD, collaboration, design, engineering, infrastructure, mobile, point clouds, reality capture, Vectorworks 2016

Categories: 2D, 3D, 3D PDF, AEC, AECCafe, AIA Convention 2015, apps, architecture, BIM, building information modeling, Cloud, collaboration, construction, file sharing, global locking file systems, Nemetschek, point clouds, project management, reality capture, render farms, rendering, sustainable design, virtual reality, visualization

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2015 at 9:28 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.