Simple, effective CAD package that looks great

This effective and intuitive CAD platform enables me to produce architectural drawings for clients with ease. I can produce incredibly detailed construction drawings that are both readable and informative and enable contractors, clients and any other 3rd party to understand exactly what is being proposed or changed.

Pros

2D tools are simple and intuitive - I have taught complete novices very quickly how to use the tools and produce great looking Architectural drawings. Can be set up so it is as easy as drawing on a drawing board (I.e. you draw to scale on a piece of paper (no silly model space/paper space like AutoCAD)). Colours, hatched, patterns and opacity all allow you to produce beautiful architectural drawings that are easy to understand and interpret. With tailoring shortcuts it is also very quick to use - I can produce drawings twice as fast as other employees on AutoCAD. Has options for 3D and BIM modelling (although I have only used it minimally as I prefer the freedom of drawing with simple lines). System for backing up data and saves is great and has saved my skin often when I could of lost days worth of work.

Cons

Has had issues with iOS updates in the past and time has been wasted waiting for patches. Very occasionally crashes for bizarre reasons.

Great software, but....

We started using Vectorworks many years ago because it was truly superior to Autocad at producing legible drawings. But Autocad has caught up. And we prefer modeling in Rhino, even though it is a more cumbersome work flow. Meanwhile. for BIM, it makes more sense to use Revit simply because everyone else is using it. IF we were starting our office today, we would not be selecting Vectorworks, much as I like it as a drafting program. And the expensive annual upgrades are frustrating, given how little benefits are.

Pros

Vectorworks is a great drafting program. it allows you to do anything you want, with great control over how the drawings look, and many ways to organize a complete drawing set.

Cons

The software is expensive, and the annual updates add very little. Autocad as pretty much caught up in terms of object-based controls. and ability to make beautiful, robust, legible, intelligent 2D drawings. While the 3D is very intuitive, Rhino is more robust. And for BIM, it is hard to justify not using the industry standard software. So where is the edge for Vectorworks?

With this program planners and public planners can design, create and model landscapes and urban pla

It is a software that, unlike others, works with real data from the geographic coordinates of the site, which allows a real study of what is going to be represented, allows connectivity with other formats to be able to import files among other advantages.

Pros

This software allows me to manage the design in all its phases, from the design or initial idea, to the presentations. It uses the data of the site, accepting the geographic information systems. It allows the modeling of the land and study of slopes. You can create floor plans with natural elements, as it has a library with green areas, trees, plants and other elements such as pavement and walls. Files are imported and exchanged with other programs and formats such as DXF, DWG or DWF. From the models I can make rendes that I can take them to other formats such as pdf, jpg, tif, among others.

Cons

It requires a PC with a good ram memory capacity (from 4 to 8 GB) and a 64 bit processor since in computers with lower capacities it tends to perform the functions in a slow way. The graphics card must be of high performance, in otherwise the rendering of images will be limited.

It does absolutely everything

I do not like it.. I find it a waste of time

Pros

If you want to do something there are probably at least 3 ways to do it in this software.

Cons

There are too many ways to customize and do things.. this makes everyday simple tasks very time consuming. It has too many glitches with Mac OS.. We havent been able to use the file sharing option without wasting hours and hours on redoing work due to crashing or random glitches that wont allow the files to save and sync.

Outstanding Software

We have been using the software over 20 years without hardly any issues! We can still open files from 1994!!!!!! We look at other softwares to make sure we are keeping up. When we factor in money, easy answer.....VectorWorks! We are a full BIM FIRM and VECTORWORKS does everything we need.

Pros

BIM capabilities, ease of learning, ease of use, ease of rendering, Smart tools, exceptional customer service, stability and speed of work.

Cons

Really ...... nothing. If the software doesn’t have something someone else has, they are probably developing it for the next version.