#Vectorworks viewport software#
Vectorworks software affords you the freedom to design whatever you want. Use this to your advantage, especially preset templates, which cut down document set-up time. That’s part of what makes Vectorworks so powerful: you can mobilize your project from start to finish, from sketch to complete BIM presentation. Before taking this course, I didn’t think beyond design itself to consider what follows.ĭefinitely familiarize yourself with using sheets and viewports to present your designs. I should admit that I tend to treat documentation as an afterthought. Viewport for the colonnade designed in the Core Concepts class. Fortunately, Vectorworks has integrated all steps of documentation and presentation into its software. On that note, proper documentation is huge in design. This was super helpful in my documentation process. It means you can draw more accurately and produce designs to scale. To do this, all you have to do is press the TAB key. Instead of drawing free-hand, consider using this box to type in your desired dimensions. On a related note, you’ll notice a dialogue box whenever you place geometry. This way, you aren’t struggling for precision in the 3D drawing space.Ĭlasses and layers are pretty straightforward and mastering them will make your designs much easier to interpret. You can organize all of that floor’s geometry into a layer, then set the layer to appear precisely above the first story at a specified elevation. Limiting the visible geometry also lets your machine run smoother since it doesn’t have to render extraneous objects.įor layers, imagine you’re drawing a two-story building and you’ve finished the first floor, but you’re having trouble properly placing objects on the second floor. To work on the interior, you can mark the roof and walls invisible, which means you can easily navigate complex, information-rich designs. So, for a building design, you might have a class for walls, a class for roofing, a class for interior design, and so on. Don’t ignore classes and layersĬlasses are organizational categories. I’d map the selection tool to where my thumb rests, then I’d feel really smart about how much time I’m saving. If I were a consistent Vectorworks user, I’d use a gaming mouse with extra buttons. My biggest takeaway from the training is that you can take this even further. Throughout an entire career, this adds up. You’ll save yourself a fraction of a second each time you press “x” instead of scrolling. Instead of scrolling to each tool with your mouse, commit key shortcuts to muscle memory.įor example, the selection tool is mapped to “x” on your keyboard. This is all me here, relaying what I learned and what excited me in Core Concepts training. Keep in mind that these tips come from me, not the course itinerary. I went in blind - the blank sheet in Vectorworks was foreign to me.Īs I went through the course, I took notes on what I thought would be useful to a bona fide beginner. Taking this course was my first interaction with any sort of design software. It's worth noting that I am not a designer.
Recently, I completed our Core Concepts course, which was designed for beginners like myself to form a foundation for more proficient usage. Hi, I’m Alex, a copywriter for Vectorworks. But hesitancy subsided as I realized how learning the basics is just downright feasible. Vectorworks software is beginner-friendly.