New Data Manager and Data Visualization Features Characterize Vectorworks 2020

This Tuesday, Vectorworks, Inc. announced the 2020 release of Vectorworks Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Designer and Fundamentals, as well as 2020 versions of Vision and Braceworks. This newest release brings improved software performance, quality enhancements and new data-driven workflows.

In an interview with Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar, he spoke of the areas that Vectorworks addresses in the 2020 release. “Data and usability are the cornerstones of this year’s product line enhancements,” said Dr. Sarkar.

Just in one primary feature, Data Manager, users can experience functionality as though they were using a BIM manager, with the ability to change data to a number of fields simultaneously.

Vectorworks 2020 extends the existing Data Visualization feature to the design layer environment. This lets customers change objects’ attributes using data parameters to visualize data for error checking, work validation and quality control.

How do you visualize your data and make changes to all that data?

We spent a lot of time on big features:

Data Visualization: While you’re designing you’re able to see whether the doors have certain thicknesses, and you can create a complex criteria and colorize all those doors and do some checking of design and make changes to those objects.

You can find out if all the five doors that have no closers for example, or lack fire protection. You can visualize data by changing colors and textures, basic quality control. That’s one of the major features this year.

In addition, we have what we call Data Manager. You have a big BIM file and maybe a couple of thousand doors, windows, walls and floors and you want to change the fire rating in a particular way and you want to change all that data in one shot. We have created a facility whereby you will be able to make changes to the fields of particular objects simply by changing one record. Then push all that data in one shot.  It’s almost like the function of the BIM manager. I wouldn’t say this is a function that all architects would be able to do because it involves a lot of management of data but the facility is there now in the tool. You would be able to map your data from one object into a particular record field and push all that data by changing that record. And so it’s almost like a simple user or BIM manage re-editing capability we’re providing. Many of the big firms are asking for this because otherwise they have to go one by one to each of the objects and change the data: change the records and the information attached to the objects in a BIM file.

The other thing we’ve done for large BIM files, is we have now created more intelligence in the program whereby we automatically reduce the mesh that is present in the objects and simplify the level of detail depending upon the zoom of your current scene. If your doorknob is highly detailed and you are zoomed out you are not actually looking at the doorknob and you don’t need that high detail. For a large BIM file that is very important because we were running into issues where large BIM files ran into some instability with the graphics card that is on your computer. Now with this intelligence, we’re able to have this change in these large BIM files and this flyover.

We have created user interface changes, for example, when you have a big list of classes and layers, how do you change those properties without going into a dialog? Click on it and you will be able to do what we call instant editing or direct editing. You want to change the wall complement or wall thickness or change the layer name or any of the other layer properties you can do it right there where it is listed, not go into a dialog and make that change. Left click to edit anything on your file.

We’ve also created the properties differently. There are thousands of properties and how do you actually get hold of that particular field you’re trying to change? You have to scroll up and down to find where you are. The Data Manager I just mentioned allows you to actually simplify the whole set of data that is attached to the object. The intern of a firm only sees these properties, architects see other lists of properties, the BIM manager sees the whole list, so you can actually make those sets for presentation of your properties for the objects. This is very useful for complicated objects like windows and doors, etc. as they have so many different properties.

Are there improvements in the IFC certification process?

We have Level 4 Certification of IFC files. We were the first one that got that. We are now able to reference the IFC files. You don’t actually have to import in the IFC files because you might want to reference it in some cases because the IFC file is changing continuously, when you can just update that reference and reflect the changes in your files.  Also it does not change the class and layer structures of your file when you are not importing the IFC file in, you are just referencing it.

What are some of the other features of this release?

The buildings can be surrounded by hardscapes. And they follow the line and are aligned with other objects like the building walls or in some cases they’re attached to the roads. We did not previously support hardscapes that go up and down. We supported only hardscapes that slope in one direction.  Now with the new version we actually have hardscapes which is more similar to the site model that go up and down along the site as well as it gets aligned with the walls with other roads and hardscapes. It’s a more practical way to design hardscapes when you’re designing an actual building.

We have added an animation feature that replaces the old one. This one has the create orbit and create spin path tools. As an example, you have a building going up inside along the stairs, and you can just draw an NURBS-curve along the stairs wherever you want to go around the building, create the different key frames and allow the camera to go up and down, and create an animation object. You can create a movie from it, you can change the path, reshape the path, and viewing angle of the camera, look up and down, look around. You can come back anytime and edit. That is a new walkthrough animation feature we’ve added that is more usable.

What about your partnership with Esri?

A big highlight of 2020 is a partnership with Esri, linking with the ArcGIS Online database. When you’re modeling a building  and you know your lat and long or the coordinates of the address, of a particular site, you can type in the address. The satellite image of that site will be downloaded on your screen, and you can crop out the portion you need and you can use it for creating your design context of your building. This is a great way to start your building process.

You can also download the street maps and other maps that is available in ArcGIS Online Services. Very proud to have this partnerships. Autodesk did last year this type of thing.

There are so many services ArcGIS provides that our users can use. We have all those tools in a tool palette and now we have a GIS tool palette. Landscape users also able to use them.

What about new features on the modeling side?

There are a couple of new improved things we’ve added on the modeling side. Similar to mechanical CAD, we have now added feature based modeling on the Vectorworks side.  You can now go back to the history and change the object, similar to how Solidworks or MCAD packages work. The manufacturing world and construction world are getting merged together into one system. It’s important to have feature sets from both worlds.

We have added 60+ new features on the entertainment side. We have tracked how many system crashes per hour in the beta phase and have seen the time between subsequent crashes has gone from 4-6 hours to 8-10 hours.

What about Integration with other products?

Besides IFC supports, we’re also looking at Direct Live Sync – whenever you make a change in Vectorworks it will make a change corresponding  with other software packages. This will  come out in service packs. Software vendors who are doing energy analysis and BIM objects, supplying tiles and hatches and different resources, will be able to download their resources into Vectorworks. We have a facility whereby inside Vectorworks we can use the Chrome browser – and it makes it easier to integrate with these other packages.

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Additionally, customers will experience optimized Open BIM capabilities, improved file performance and other updates that include:

• Increased workflow efficiency with the ability to directly edit fields in a list browser, such as in the Navigation palette or the Organization dialog.
• Improved file performance and responsiveness of large and complex models with the updated Vectorworks Graphics Module.
• A new Schematic View workflow to handle the complexity of modeling and documenting rigging workflows in Vectorworks Spotlight.
• Accurate geolocation of a project with the new Geographic Information System (GIS) toolset and an integration with Esri’s ArcGIS online services.

To learn more about the release of Vectorworks 2020, please visit vectorworks.net/2020.

Tags: 3D, AEC, architects, architecture, BIM, building, building design, CAD, collaboration, construction, design, engineering, engineers, infrastructure, laser scanning, Open BIM, SolidWorks, Vectorworks, visualization

Categories: 2D, 3D, AEC, AECCafe, apps, architecture, BIM, building information modeling, collaboration, construction, engineering, field solutions, file sharing, geospatial, GIS, IFC, infrastructure, managed services, point clouds, reality capture, rendering, simulation, site planning, sustainable design, Vectorworks, virtual reality, visualization

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