Vectorworks Site Model Contour Plan

One of our most frequently asked questions is related to dealing with sloping sites when using Vectorworks Landmark and Vectorworks Architect. Of course, sites are rarely flat and the slightest change in level will have an impact on the realisation of the design.

For architects and landscape designers, the planning process is becoming more demanding in terms of 3D visuals and cut and fill calculations.

Our email support service is often inundated with survey files sent to us by designers, who are hoping to create a site model, only to find that the survey does not contain the required data in a 3D format. In some cases, it’s a quick call to the surveyor to ask for the correct data, but sometimes, it’s too late and leads to additional costs and delays.

With this in mind, we’ve put together a quick help sheet listing the ideal formats for Vectorworks-ready survey data, designed for the designer to pass on to their surveyor at the time of ordering the survey, so that they can get what they need and avoid delays in starting the project.

Loading the survey is just the start of the process. After that, a good understanding of the options within the site model itself for portraying the land form is essential for getting the most out of the product. After that comes a good understanding of the functionality of the site modifiers for changing the site. Followed by how to sit a building on the site, and impose a new landscape design to establish cut and fill.

We have a site modelling course running on Monday 6th February, at our offices in Newbury, so if you’re looking to hone your skills in this area, why not come along and join in the fun?

In the meantime, Mark and Adrian are off to Yorkshire: Mark to carry out two days of product and interior design training on-site and Adrian to spend time presenting the benefits of Vectorworks to students and lecturers at two Colleges in Yorkshire.

January and February are very busy training months for all of us and, whilst Kate has managed to squeeze in a short skiing trip, she is also busy training on her return. In addition, we are building up to our first show of the year. We are taking Vectorworks to Surface Design 2012 at the Business Design Centre, London on 7th – 9th February. This will be the first time we have exhibited at this particular show and we are really excited about it.

The mix of architects and interior designers, allied to discussions about texturing for interior and exterior surfaces, is a fantastic fit for the capabilities of Vectorworks Architect with Renderworks and its use in interior design. Come and see us on Stand 408.

If you can’t make Surface Design, we’ll be at Ecobuild in March and many other events throughout the year. Check our events page and make plans to see us in action with Vectorworks – It’s another busy year ahead!

Our new Vectorworks Foundation courses have attracted a lot of interest and the first running was oversubscribed, but luckily we have another session in the training diary for the end of the month.

In addition, over the last two weeks we have been incredibly busy at two large practices, not just explaining the new features of 2012, but working with their teams to streamline processes based on the capabilities of Vectorworks and tailoring the Vectorworks resources to meet their needs. It’s hugely satisfying as a trainer to see the results they achieve.

Spread the cost of your Vectorworks investment

We’ve also been very busy spreading the word to university/college lecturers and students about how Vectorworks is becoming the increasingly popular design tool of choice, whether that’s architecture, landscape design, interior design, set or lighting design. 2D/3D and fantastic rendered visuals all in a single package is a very powerful message as these industries are realising. What’s more, as a student, Vectorworks is free as long you are in full-time education.

However, even if you need a commercial licence, not only is Vectorworks a very cost-effective option, but also one that we at Training for Design are able to offer with finance to spread the cost of acquisition over regular monthly or quarterly payments. This last month we have had a large firm of architects, a start-up landscape design company and rapidly growing exhibition designers who have taken advantage of this facility. So if you need to move forward but would appreciate some help to spread the cost, find out more about our finance offer, call us on 0845 003 7066 or email info@vectorworks-training.co.uk

Even if you’re not heading for the track to hone your athletic skills, the sportsman’s disciplines of practice and training are key to increasing business performance as well. There won’t be any running or jumping involved, but at Training for Design we’ve created new training programs to get you fit to beat the competition.

If you are new to Vectorworks or want to refresh on the basics – you now have two options. With all the improvements that Vectorworks 2012 brought us, we now have a 2 day Group Foundation Class, or if you prefer, a single day of 1:1 will cover the same ground.

For those going further, we have created industry specific programs to help you make the most of Vectorworks and master classes for those wanting to delve into specific elements in more detail. Our personal trainers are ready to tailor a program just for you! So why not take a look at our current training schedule and register, or call us today to discuss your very own fitness program on 0845 003 7066

© Janine Pattison Garden Design

We start the new year by announcing a fantastic opportunity for a garden designer looking to work with a growing and friendly landscape design organisation. Janine Pattison Garden Design is renowned for creating stylish and contemporary gardens throughout Dorset and along the south coast, in particular serving Poole, Sandbanks, Canford Cliffs, Branksome Park, Lilliput and the New Forest. Working for both private and corporate clients, they enjoy close ties with developers, interior designers and architects. In addition,  they were winners of The BALI Principal Landscape Design Excellence Award for 2011! Congratulations to Janine and the team on that one!

To find out more about this exciting role, click here. Here are the essentials: You will need a knowledge of Vectorworks Landmark 2012, and be technically minded. A very friendly and ‘can-do’ person, you will be well presented, highly organised, flexible and enjoy working with a dynamic team but also capable of working independently. This position is a technical and administrative one and is not suitable for designers looking to be developed creatively. Find out more about Janine Pattison Garden Design here.

Let it Snow!

So, today we offer our final Christmas gift. In this twelfth in our series of training tasters, we take yesterday’s Christmas tree and create a snowy landscape for it to sit on. We add lighting and alter the render settings to make it look cool. Again, although we’re getting a little festive here, you will touch on skills here that are useful for landscape design, architectural design and even outdoor event planning, where you need to create a model of the land. Click here to watch the movie. We hope you’ve enjoyed this series and will continue to visit us in the future to find out more about Vectorworks and the training services we can offer – either in person or over the internet.

Make your tree and turn on the lights!

Day Eleven of our free training tasters has arrived, so it’s time to get festive! Today, we’ll show you how to create the Christmas Tree model that we’ve used on our website and in our Christmas emails. You’ll learn how to add decorations and make them glow! If you don’t need to design Christmas Trees, don’t despair… The skills you’ll learn can be applied to all sorts of other things too. We just thought it would be good to get into the Christmas mood… Click here to find today’s movie – enjoy!

Smoothing the Import DWG process

So, day ten of our 12 Days of Christmas has arrived. Click here to view today’s gift. Today we are focusing on one of our most common support questions that comes into our support service: “How do I import my surveyors file and get everything to be the right size?” We import a lot of DWG (native AutoCAD) file, but we thought we’d share with you some tips on how to make the process go smoothly. We hope you enjoy the movie!

Vectorworks Landmark lists plants by category.

Day Nine returns to the worksheet capability within Vectorworks, specifically the ability for Vectorworks to count plants and list them however you want. Click here to watch the movie and download the supporting PDF. Earlier in this series, we looked at separating the planting list by planting bed and you can still see the movie on that subject on our 12 Days of Christmas page). Today, we look at how to create a worksheet that lists the plants by plant category, so that it’s easier to send off to the nursery for a quote. As with our other tutorials, even if you don’t use plants, do watch the movie. The principles covered can be employed elsewhere within Vectorworks to organise any information that is attached to objects. We hope you enjoy the movie!

Creating Glass Textures with Renderworks

Christmas Day Eight is here! Today’s treat follows on from Friday’s movie. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create two glass textures from scratch to apply to the bottles that you modelled on Friday. Of course, Renderworks comes with many glass textures for use in your model, but the purpose of this tutorial is to show you how to use the options within the texture editor to create something more detailed and save yourself from having to perform complex modelling. Enjoy the movie!