Replies

1. 
   Piffin | Feb 07, 2005 05:15am | #1

   I'm not a mac guy, but i think Vectorworks has something that fits, not that it is cheap

    

    

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   Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
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2. 
   CloudHidden | Feb 07, 2005 06:36am | #2

   I'm a Mac fanatic--bleed six-colored blood and all that--and happily use Vectorworks. Sounds like overkill here. 2D CAD should suit you fine. Look at:

   http://www.macdraft.com/
   http://lemkesoft.com/en/cadintosh.htm

   or google 2D CAD Macintosh for others.

1. 
   Piffin | Feb 07, 2005 03:05pm | #4

   I'm curious, Cloud, about something here. When you buy Vectorworks, do you gert both win and mac on the same disc, or have to specify which. Reason I ask is whether if i had a mac, I could load onto both workstations and swap files, or ir I were collaborating with you or someone else on a project, would the file sharing be any problem? What is the native save as format for VW? 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   CloudHidden | Feb 07, 2005 05:16pm | #6

   You don't get Win/Mac combined on the disk. The files are in a VW native format which is cross-platform. No conversions necessary. File sharing would be easy. DXF conversion is how I share with others, including my engineer. Never had a problem with that conversion.

2. 
   EWE | Feb 07, 2005 03:54pm | #5

   Thanks for the link. CADintosh looks perfect. 2-D is all I need.Brookfield Woodworking
   Cushing, Maine

3. 
   Dirtpatch | Feb 07, 2005 10:03am | #3

   VectorWorks is great. It's as easy to learn as any CAD program and has plenty of depth if you want to get sophisticated. I used it for our house plans at http://www.dirtpatch.ca. Click on the house plans link. The developer runs a pretty good web site with support materials.

   Scott.

1. 
   WoodHackor | Feb 07, 2005 05:53pm | #7

   Scott,Sure is a great project you have there. I'm certainly no architect, but those plans look great. Is this your first set of drawings? Is this going to be your main home? Sorry about all the questions, it's just looks like you are doing a great job and I would sure like to hear how things have been going for you. Great View you have... Are you living in the trailer year round? That's the best looking woodshed I ever saw. Thanks for sharing the link.~Chadbtw - I love the URL

1. 
   Dirtpatch | Feb 07, 2005 08:00pm | #9

   Hi Chad.

   Thanks for the kind words.

   Yes, it will be our house. I've hacked around with CAD software for a few years, but I'm certainly no pro. We bought five hours of consulting time from a very helpful and unselfish architect who helped with design issues and ruthlessly scrutinized my plans. Drawing the plans was a *LOT* of work, consuming all of my spare time for a few months. But the big advantage is that you can continually play 'what if' games to refine the design (what if I move this wall here... what if I make this window bigger..... what if blah blah blah....) In retrospect I think it was worth it, and the house has turned out, so far, the way we envisioned.

   Things I've learned:

   - Plan your layers carefully (foundation, basement, first subfloor, etc.) and enter layer depths accordingly. VectorWorks is naturally a 3D tool, and whether you know it or not, it is always stacking layers as it is told.

   - Get to know the tool constraints ('snap to'). Your drawings will happen faster and be more accurate.

   - Save a new version of the file every day. Your data will be safer and you will be able to see a developmental history.

   - Study as many professionally drawn plans as possible.

   - When drawing, try to enter numerical values in the +X and +Y boxes rather than dragging the mouse. It takes some getting used to, but boosts accuracy.

   There's probably a million other things, but this is all I can think of for now.

   Good luck.

    

   Scott.

1. 
   Piffin | Feb 08, 2005 02:27am | #10

   Some CAD programs really make design work hard don't they? 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   Dirtpatch | Feb 08, 2005 04:43am | #12

   Ya, I suppose. It seems that the simple ones sooner or later reach a limit that stops you dead while the sophisticated ones have a painfully long learning curve. That's my moto:

   "Long term pain for long term pain!"

   Cheers,

   Scott.

2. 
   Piffin | Feb 08, 2005 05:07am | #13

   What I was getting at is software forcing you to think in terms of lauyers and scripting instead of doing that for you behind the scenes and allowing you to think like a builder or designer. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   Dirtpatch | Feb 08, 2005 05:29am | #14

   I think that's partially true, although I'm neither a builder nor a designer, so I don't really know how to describe my thinking!

   I found the VectorWorks product to be a pretty good match to the way I envisioned the building process. Each layer turned out to be a 'layer' of the house (ie. foundation, basement, first subfloor, first floor, etc.). Each layer has a particular depth that a builder would need to know (2' 8" footings & foundation, 8' basement, 10 1/8" floor package, etc.).  Once all this was set, I started drawing objects on each layer in order to 'build' the house. Whaddaya know! It worked.

    

   As for scripting, that's beyond me and I didn't do any. I found the hard part was learning the mechanics of all the different tools and the various 'tricks and tips' that the manual doesn't cover. I found the VW forum very helpful with this, just like this forum is helpful in so many ways.

    

   Scott.

    

   PS... I've got nothing at all to do with developer of VectorWorks other than using their software to design my house.

   Edited 2/7/2005 9:31 pm ET by Scott

4. 
   Piffin | Feb 08, 2005 07:16am | #15

   VW is probably half way between the fully practical Softplan or Chief, and the geekdom of AutocadI'd like to have the time and money to play with it. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

4. 
   woodguy99 | Feb 07, 2005 06:44pm | #8

   PowerCADD is a 2-D drafting program for Mac.  Exceptional program.  Check out the user group at http://www.engsw.com/PowerCADD/PowerCADD.html

   It's not cheap, $900 or so, but you get what you pay for.

5. 
   MisterSteve | Feb 08, 2005 03:30am | #11

   I just started using Archicad. http://www.graphisoft.com
   Its got more potential than I do, but I'm learning.