Vectorworks, Inc., a Nemetschek Group company, has announced the 2022 release of its global BIM and CAD product line, with its latest version now offering full native support for Apple Silicon on the macOS platform, in addition to a plethora of performance, BIM, modeling, rendering, and productivity improvements and new features.
Vectorworks 2022 product line consists of Vectorworks Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Fundamentals, Braceworks, ConnectCAD, and Vision.
The product Vectorworks Designer has been renamed to Vectorworks Design Suite to more accurately reflect the fact that this product is aimed at designers working across multiple industries such as architecture and landscape architecture, for example. Vectorworks Design Suite includes all the features of the individual product lines, namely, Fundamentals, Architect, Landmark, and Spotlight. Vectorworks is used across a vast range of industry sectors but its primary sectors are AEC industries like architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and planning, garden designers, interior design, and entertainment designers.
Vectorworks 2022 Details
“Vectorworks 2022 is an invitation to embrace the exceptional flexibility and interoperability that is expected of our purpose-built, design-focused products,” said Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar. “When you dive into all the advances in the product line, you can see how we are constantly investing in developments that deliver workflow freedom to designers and creators throughout the architecture, landscape, interiors, and entertainment design industries.”
Next-Gen Tech
New in version 2022 include next-generation technologies including support for Apple Silicon-based Macs—meaning ARM-architecture-based Mac computers like the new M1-based MacBook Air, MacBook, Mac mini, and latest iMac. Additionally, the latest Vectorworks release has jettisoned OpenGL for full use of Apple Metal on Mac and DirectX on Windows, bringing low-overhead graphics APIs to the popular BIM/CAD package.
New interactive UI improvements are core technology features that will speed up workflows for users.
As the first AEC industry BIM software platform to run natively on Apple Silicon processors, Vectorworks 2022 has shown speed increases of 2x – 4x across the board, leveraging the high-performing single-core performance of M1 processors in the latest generation of Macs.
Next-generation rendering technologies are also included in this release, with a new Redshift Render Mode and a new Direct link to Twinmotion. Finally, the BIM developer has redesigned several UI palettes for faster workflows and added per-face texture mapping support as a supplement to the previous way of assigning textures per class.
3D and BIM
In Vectorworks Architect 2022 architects gain a brand new Walls technology enabling them to have direct control of individual wall components and how they terminate and wrap into doors and windows or terminate each other. The Stairs tool has also been dramatically rewritten and now supports direct editing and reshaping, making it far easier to design complex-shaped stairs.
The new re-written Walls technology now enables per component flexibility for how walls components terminate or wrap into each other or into openings like windows and doors.
Other BIM improvements stem from updates to the worksheet database and data manager features and technologies, which align with the rewritten Walls tools, making Vectorworks Architect 2022 is highly accurate materials take-offs digital platform. The new worksheet tools make it easier to create richer more detailed and targeted reports, schedules and data take-offs.
Interoperability
Vectorworks continues adding more integrations with value-added partner products and file formats. In this version, DWG file import improvements feature new Civil 3D compatibilities, DWG and GIS georeferencing, and IFC import/export enhancements.
Landscape and GIS
As the leading BIM platform for landscape architecture professionals, Vectorworks Landmark 2022 boasts new modeling options for sites and earthwork, delivering benefits to site and landscape professionals like subsurface geological strata with tools that enable accurate volumes for fixed and variable thicknesses of that strata.
Subsurface strata modeling is vastly improved and along with the worksheets database improvements, means users can more accurately determine soils data among other things.
Being able to report accurately on soil layers is complimented with updates to plant tools, hardscape objects, and integrations with Esri to make it easier for landscape architects to create GIS-based sustainable sites.
Entertainment
The entertainment industry is served by multiple products including Vectorworks Spotlight 2022, Braceworks 2022, ConnectCAD 2022, and Vision 2022. Multiple re-engineering efforts have gone into these latest versions to help accelerate overall performance and provide greater consistency between tools. This improves processes, like the new cable and power planning improvements.
ConnectCAD features new automatic cable runs, and distance take-offs so users can forget about calculating lengths of cables by hand. The new EyeDropper Mode will help speed up ConnectCAD devices. And in Vision 2022 users can now work with laser visualization with the industry leader Pangolin.
Learning More
To learn more visit this page here or join the conversation on social media with #Vectorworks2022.
The English-language editions of Vectorworks, Braceworks, ConnectCAD, and Vision 2022 are available today. The release of localized language versions will begin in October and conclude the first quarter of 2022. For more information about the availability of Vectorworks 2022 in other markets, contact your local Vectorworks distributor. Vectorworks Service Select and subscription users will receive upgrades to Vectorworks 2022 as soon as the product is released in their local markets.