Nemetschek Vectorworks CEO Sean Flaherty unveiled the software company is bulking up its product, releasing a 64-bit version of Vectorworks 2015 Sept. 16, when it’s available for download by Vectorworks Service Select customers.
Vectorworks 2015 will be available for shipments Sept. 23.
The product line—comprising Vectorworks Spotlight, Vectorworks Architect and Vectorworks Landmark, most commonly used by landscape designers—received more than 100 new features and updates, Flaherty said in a press conference Sept. 9.
“You can actually only be limited by your physical ground,” CTO Biplab Sarkar, Ph.D., added of the 64-bit capabilities.
Sarkar also honed in on the enhancements to Vectorworks Landmark.
“Landscape designers will see biggest improvements in the planting, roadway and terrain design areas,” he said. “The Vectorworks 2015 plant libraries have a new viewable directory, which allows the user to visually navigate through the libraries with symbols, 3D images and model options. The Pad from Grade Limits command provides greater control when setting terrain-modifying pads on sites. It also includes a new, interactive feature that automatically identifies any potential conflicts within the model.”
Nemetschek Vectorworks highlighted a few other takeaways about Vectorworks Landmark 2015, including:
- The new tight outline mode allows designers to swap from a sketch-like appearance to one that outlines each plant.
- The Landscape Area tool now calculates areas based on the surface slopes of any site model.
- Textures now are linked with planar hatching, meaning users can render in hidden line mode.
- Updates were made to the majority of the default textures in Renderworks to include a hatch that matches each image-based texture.
- Gradients now include options for color control and transparency for objects.
- A menu bar was added to the worksheet window, as well as a percentage number format and the IFC4 standard date format.
- Import and export support for industry-standard STEP files were added, in addition to improved SketchUp support with the import of textures.
- DXF/DWG-based workflows received import enhancements to leader lines, line types and tables as worksheets, plus there are export features, such as interactive dimensions and precision settings.
- There’s the ability to exchange data in the DXF/DWG or DWF formats.
- PDFs may now be edited within Vectorworks, with the option to crop, enable/disable snapping for PDF page objects and the opportunity to export files directly into PDF/A format.
- OpenGL styling and control capabilities were improved—users now can create elevation drawings in black and white with a new option to turn off colors.
- Custom Renderworks allows for removing color while retaining bumps, transparency and reflectivity.
Company update
The company also will launch its second mobile app, Vectorworks Remote. Flaherty followed up that news with an update about the company’s financials.
Vectorworks has seen its largest growth in sales ever, with sales increasing by a third in the first half of 2014, Flaherty said. He credited the spike to its growing market in Japan, which he said has been a “fast adopter” of building information modeling (BIM).
Flaherty also revealed the recipients of the Vectorworks Design Scholarship, noting 15 college students from eight countries were awarded a $3,000 scholarship, plus a Vectorworks software license and training for their schools.
In addition, Diego Bermudez, a landscape architecture student at University of Pennsylvania, received the Richard Diehl Award, accruing $10,000 in scholarship funds from Vectorworks.
For more information on Vectorworks 2015, visit Vectorworks2015.net.
