RECENTLY I HAD A CHANCE to discuss the details behind the many interesting enhancements to the latest version of Vectorworks—version 2019. Dr. Biplab Sarkar, CEO, of Vectorworks, was kind enough to spend some time answering all my curious questions.
An Update in Three Themes
Dr. Sarkar said this year when they approached the development of version 2019 they divided 90 tasks into three major categories. These three categories were simplifying workflows, enhancing modeling, and lastly, enhancing quality and performance. This last theme, in particular, permeates through everything they did with 2019 and are doing so into the future.
An example of the first category is the improvement in sections for BIM workflows. Substantial changes to the sectioning process include new universal defaults, context-sensitive right-click options, and “over-ride” capabilities for objects beyond and before the cut plane.
Where the status bar used to say things like ‘processing 3D objects’ those messages are largely gone, there is intelligent processing happening in the background going into multi-cores.
In the modeling improvement category, Vectorworks 2019 delivers some stunning new features, the most interesting is the new site modeling features. “So it is basically a network of triangles,” says Dr. Sarkar, “this is our own technology—we did not license it.” He adds that while sculpting the ground will clearly be of high value and enjoyment for landscape professionals, architects will want to use it too to make sure drainage away from the building is happening correctly. “We think creating swales and berms in such an intuitive way will be much more effective for design professionals,” he adds.
01 – New surface sculpting 3D modeling tools lets designers “sculpt” the surface of terrain with the equivalent of 3D image brushes, with fall-off rates, radii, etc, making berms and swales land shaping easy.
The third category for workflows is strongly about performance, and this is a huge dramatic area of improvement for Vectorworks 2019. For the first time, the Vectorworks Graphics Module—the company’s own OpenGL engine—has been implemented at the Sheet Layers level.
4x Performance Improvements
Perhaps the single most important feature update in the latest Vectorworks version isn’t even a new feature but the profound speed-up in working with the software. Dr. Biplab Sarkar says that the speed boost isn’t just limited to working in Sheet Layers, inclusive of zooming and panning speeds, but also in such things as 4x faster file loading and navigation from one view to another.
“Anytime you move the view of the building to another view of the building there is a speed up,” adds Sarkar. He adds that what the company has done this round has been to more deeply implement the use of multi-threading of the code base. “We have on-demand Tessellation of the geometry,” adds Dr. Sarkar. “Where the status bar used to say things like ‘processing 3D objects’ those messages are largely gone, there is intelligent processing happening in the background going into multi-cores.”
Another key item with this release is that the VGM (Vectorworks Graphics Module) moves the processing of CPU bound final frame graphics from the main application thread to use background processing. As with on-demand tessellation, these final frame graphics computations no longer block user action. Yet another performance improvement as more graphics processing is shifted to harness the multiple cores that Intel chips provide. Without blocking user workflow, graphics are computed in parallel, assembled together and then travel back through the GPU as it heads to your computer display.
02 – it is now possible to put Clip Cubed objects on Sheet Layers. This adds much more flexibility for the presentation of information, including the ability to choose to show the cast shadows of geometry that is clipped out of view, as well as full control over layers, classes and rendering style settings.
For photorealistic rendering, Vectorworks 2019 continues to utilize the MAXON CineRender engine, as does its sibling rival GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD. MAXON doesn’t provide their very latest through to its sister companies, rather they get the year-before tech. Nevertheless, Renderworks workflows also speed up based on improvements to CineRender advances. And Vision software, a relatively new addition to the Vectorworks family, also gained massive speed ups in rendering, newly unioned to the company’s OpenGL technology for visualization.
The Deprecation of OpenGL by Apple: Metal vs Vulkan and the VGM
With the recent news of the deprecation of OpenGL in future macOS versions, announced by Apple at WWDC 2018, I had to ask Dr. Biplab Sarkar what that might mean for its proprietary VGM technology.
“Actually the VGM has been set up for this possible future,” Sarkar reassures. “The calls in the VGM are established in such a way that it will be very easy to go to Vulkan or [Apple’s] Metal for that matter.” He noted that currently, the company’s programmers are leaning more towards Vulkan, the open industry standard by The Khronos Group. The open standard would simplify cross-platform development, but there are emerging technologies that will enable bridging from OpenGL to Metal directly.
“I would say we are at least a year away from making this decision,” adds Dr. Sarkar. He explains that they still have many parts of Vectorworks to rewrite using the VGM. “Our selection system is not using the VGM, nor our interactive graphics.” Once those items are moved over to the Vectorworks Graphics Module then and only then would the company be able to re-code parts of the VGM for either Vulkan or Metal APIs.
next page: Data Tags and Layer and Class Filters
Data Tags and Layer and Class Filtering
There are two new major sets of feature updates to existing technologies in Vectorworks in the new 2019 version. The first of these is how tags work for objects. The new Data Tags features are a wholesale rewrite of the way the user can tag data in their drawings, whether it is pulling data from an object type, like a door, or simply incrementing a particular tag that associates itself with none of the object’s data.
The key to the new Data Tag tool is its flexibility. Users have simplified ways of tagging all kinds of objects in their drawings and associating the type of data that appears with various attributes or incremented values. Tags also can now live in the annotation space and not just the design layers as in previous versions. It is also now possible to completely edit all tags within a particular family of tags at once or their incrementing numbering or lettering after they have been put down.
The calls in the VGM are established in such a way that it will be very easy to go to Vulkan or [Apple’s] Metal for that matter.
“In the earlier versions of Vectorworks every object had its own way of doing tags,” says Dr. Biplab Sarkar, “so we thought we would create a single [universal] tag system.” The old door and window objects still have their existing tag systems, but the user can choose not to use them and instead utilize the new data tagging system.
Another powerful new update involves the Classes and Layers system. Now in Vectorworks 2019, there are new ways to search and organize classes and layer groups in an intelligent way. The search bar helps users find just the layers and classes that matter to them at the moment.
Dr. Sarkar says that when people started using project sharing technologies in Vectorworks—a technology that enables an entire project to reside in a single file if you want—the number of layers and classes could get overwhelming. “You are basically creating a huge project,” he said, “and that can have several hundred layers and classes.”
03 – The new Data Tags system is a massive overhaul of the previous system providing far greater flexibility, speed, and power for all users.
When you import DWG files in particular, off the web, those DWG layers convert automatically to Vectorworks classes. This process adds even more classes which need to be either eliminated or organized and renamed. The new filtering technology greatly aids users to wrangle all this class and layer information intelligently.
Final Thoughts
Dr. Sarkar had several more items to talk about but these were the large big changes to Vectorworks in 2019. One smaller item of note is that the Revit interoperability in version 2019 uses the very latest ODA Platform API library from Open Design Alliance, but exporting to Revit from Vectorworks with this library is not supported yet as it is not very useful. “At this point, it is still triangles for now,” adds Sarkar, “it is just geometry and not intelligent objects.”
MORE: Open Design Alliance Announces Teigha BIM for Autodesk Revit
While architectural professionals may find usefulness in the Revit interoperability—particularly the importation of Revit objects from their consultants and suppliers—Vectorworks Architect 2019 includes robust support of open industry interoperability standard, IFC 2×3 to coordinate and collaborate with other BIM authoring tools. The company already supports IFC 4 and—along with other members of buildingSMART—are processing through their testing and certification processes. As a member of the Nemetschek Group, the entire group is working towards stronger integrations around Open BIM workflows and technologies and IFC is an important technology in that mission. Earlier this year Vectorworks announced some integrations around PDF workflows with its Nemetschek sibling company, Bluebeam Software.
04 – Transoft is the latest third-party API-based integrated tool to be added to Vectorworks, helping designers evaluate turning paths of vehicles.
Vectorworks is also working to expand the use of its API with third-parties. This year Vectorworks Landmark, Architect, and Spotlight 2019 includes integration with AutoTURN® Online. This continues API expansion working off of earlier third-party integrations like BIMobject and mTextur of Germany.
In closing, while the Vectorworks team can continue to build out and refine features, the company can also tap powerful new functions for users by leveraging third-party developers through their Vectorworks API. Vectorworks users win by gaining additional key new functions—like the verification of turning paths for vehicles in AutoTURN—while third-party developers gain by expanding their tools to large existing user bases.
Learn more about Vectorworks 2019 today here.