Waiting for the annual release of Vectorworks improvements always bring to mind a visit to the local pub serving all-you-can-eat Sunday lunches - you can’t help but sample the whole menu. Which, in Vectorworks' case, includes Vectorworks Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Fundamentals, Braceworks, ConnectCAD and Vision. Unlike my pub lunches I’ll show a bit of restraint here however and come back for a second helping of the new release in our next issue.

Vectorworks 2022 has plenty of interesting enhancements in the Architectural version alone, and one of the first of these concerns the tools that improve BIM workflows. The new release provides enlarged and visually improved worksheets and improved search facilities, making it easier to create material takeoffs, reports and schedules. It also includes new criteria, new search functions and an improved formula bar, making it easier to work on more complex models.

The UI is much improved too, with the Attributes palette modernised to provide a more efficient layout, delivering accurate and immediate previews and removing the need to open dialogue boxes. There's also a new Status Bar at the bottom of the application window which gives quick access to cursor settings, snapping options and toggle snapping.

Performance Improvements
It's interesting that Vectorworks has also highlighted the ability to use Apple's NextGen Tech, which makes Vectorworks' products faster and more intuitive. Besides running directly on Apple Silicon processors, it gives Vectorworks access to Metal on Mac, and DirectX on Windows and a new Direct Link to Twinmotion.

The latter is particularly interesting. Models can be created quickly and easily in Vectorworks before being uploaded directly into Twinnotion using Datasmith's Direct Link, found in the Visualisation toolset. Model export settings can be set low or very high depending on the detail you wish to export, and show in Twinmotion. Once in Twinmotion, you can add its range of animated characters and other scene-setting components. If there are any changes to the project you can return to Vectorworks and make the necessary updates, and then use Datasmith to upgrade the scene, retaining Twinmotion components. This results in a fast and easy method of creating high quality visual renderings.

Staying with rendering, the use of the new Redshift Render Mode from Vectorworks' sister company Maxon, the world's first fully GPU-accelerated biased renderer, speeds up rendering substantially. It's especially useful for performance rendering, such as camera and volumetric effects, lighting and anti-aliasing. You will need a powerful GPU to take advantage of this.

Per-Face Texture mapping
Vectorworks users can now map different textures to different faces of a solid modelled object. The Texture tool located in the basic tool palette provides different ways of doing this. The first mode allows users to add texture to all faces simultaneously. Alternatively, you can add selected textures to individual faces or pick up textures from a face and apply the same new texture to all of the faces that had the same texture as the first.

More straightforwardly, you can just drag and drop a texture directly from the Resource Manager and apply it to a sample face or multiple faces using a combination of keystrokes. Once applied, the Object Info Palette will allow you to quickly identify which textures have been applied to each face, and then either rescale or remap the texture in place. Double-clicking on the Texture icon results in a view change to modify the image with more precision.

Redesigned Wall Tool
The Wall tool has been partially redesigned to improve control and accuracy. Wall components are more accurate and turn at door and window openings. This leads to more realistic models in 2D and 3D and more accurate reporting of materials. Round walls are now recognised as a single 'wall' object in Vectorworks, which makes reporting much easier, as you only have to report 'wall' rather than round wall and 'straight wall'. Users retain complete control over individual wall settings when turning them into integrated components.

Direct Stair Editing
I say this every time, but I am amazed how each new release of Vectorworks manages to enhance its stair settings still further. Vectorworks 2022 has Direct Stair Editing, which allows users to quickly and easily place and edit stairs in both 2D and 3D views. Starting from a library packed with different stair types, users can quickly place them by drawing a rectangle, indicating the direction of travel, and creating the stair path and its height, without having to open a dialogue box. You can also directly remodel the stairs in 2D by selecting one of the smart handles, or in 3D by selecting a side of the stair and pulling it out, or by inserting the desired measurements in the heads-up display.

Interoperability
Vectorworks takes pride in being a design hub and continues to invest in optimising the most-used file formats, supporting value-added partner products and ensuring that project teams and BIM collaboration remain unrivaled. To this end Vectorworks 2022 includes improvements to DWG file import to support Civil 3D, DWG and GIS georeferencing. Additionally, IFC import/export capabilities are enhanced for improved material takeoffs, schedules and reports and GIS workflows.

Landscape and GIS
Vectorworks Landmark 2022 provides developers with purpose-built design tools that integrate plot or terrain development with architectural design. It can be used either as a standalone landscape design tool, leveraging GIS, or to take a project from the first cut and fill to the creation of production drawings - with BIM as a common element throughout.

The demand for more sustainability in designs has encouraged Vectorworks to leverage the immense amount of information available from GIS sources, specifically Esri. Support for ArcGIS Layers in Vectorworks allows users to download and incorporate vector geometry and data into Vectorworks, and export information from Vectorworks back to ArcGIS Feature Layers.

This is another facet of GIS and BIM Exchange which allows Vectorworks to read the georeferencing data embedded in a DWG file, an image or an IFC import. This makes it easier to collaborate with design team members, importing and exporting files without losing this data.

Site Model Components is a Landmark feature that lets users either import geotechnical survey information to define strata thickness or subsurface layers, or define the strata thicknesses as 'components' of the site model. This helps create a realistic 3D site model for more accurate 2D representation in your drawings, and more accurate calculations for things like cut and fill analysis. Knowing what's under your building or lanscape site enables you to accommodate more sustainable terrain management technologies and create more effective planting schemes.

And speaking of planting schemes, a new feature that I particularly liked is the Plant Root Zone. The landscape design professionals among you will know that, when you buy a new shrub, it comes with the complete root ball (usually in a hessian sack) and the instructions for planting it. The Root Zone setting in the plant tool in Vectorworks 2022 introduces all that and more for larger scale planting, and even provides the cut and fill figures for each excavation, along with 2D and 3D representations in the Plant Object toolbox.

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