Product Review: Cameramatch for Vectorworks

Continued from page 1

The program, like Vectorworks which it runs in, is available for both the Mac and the PC. As with all the latest versions of most software, the more computer power you have the more smoothly the program will work. Cameramatch and Vectorworks are no exceptions, they both seem to like my new laptop using Windows 7 with lots of RAM a lot better than my older XP PC. But I am able to get the same results with both computers; it just takes longer on the old one and it gets a bit fussy when it starts to run out of RAM.

03 – Cameramatch 2011 – The final planned architectural model.

As you can see from the final image above (image 03) the results of Cameramatch in helping to create 3D models based on, and coordinated with, photography is very good. I close with a quote from Cameramatch creator Matt Panzer and suggest that if you really want to get a good idea of what the program does visit his website. You can also download a free trial version here.

“Some CM (Cameramatch) users have made CM part of their normal workflow for every project. The clients love it because they immediately understand how the design fits into the existing structure or site. And early stages of the project benefit since the designer only needs to model the proposed parts in detail.” — Matt Panzer.

Pros: Simple and clear plugin user interface within Vectorworks; all new calculation engine works much better with particular perspective views; suggested sheet layer DPI listed on Object Info Palette; scales with Viewport scale changes; new shadow object eliminates need to use external image editor for simple shadows over the image; many smaller new features and changes

Cons: Instructions do require a thorough read-up but this is not a significant issue in itself; no significant performance issues on recent and modern hardware on both platforms; no major issues.

Advice: For those wishing to save days and hours on setting up 3D models–in Vectorworks–from site photography of existing conditions and context Cameramatch 2011 is a must-have plugin application.

Cost: 100.USD. Cameramatch 2011 requires Vectorworks 2011. For earlier versions of Vectorworks there are available earlier versions of Cameramatch. To learn more visit them online here: www.panzercad.com

To learn more about our contributor, John Helm, NCARB visit here. To see other Architosh product reviews published prior to our new site, please visit this old Features page. We have an array of indepth product reviews across CAD and 3D industry spectrums.

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