Architosh Staff ([email protected])

19 Apr 2004

 

Mac CAD: Nemetschek announces VectorWorks 11

Nemetschek North America has announced that VectorWorks 11 is now shipping. The company has updated its entire line of VectorWorks products to version 11, including its suite of Industry Series tools targeted at specific CAD-based industries and professionals. Additionally, the company has updated its rendering module package to RenderWorks 11.

Richard Diehl, CEO, Nemetschek North America, stated, "VectorWorks 11 is a milestone release in our almost twenty-years of development history. Existing users will be pleased with the improved functionality in version 11 that allows them to continue to design in their own way, only faster and easier. Additionally, the new technology in version 11 will cause users of other programs to re-evaluate current CAD solutions."

What's Hot in VectorWorks 11

By far the hottest new feature in VectorWorks 11 is the new View Port technology, enabling easy to manipulate and dynamically linked views of the same drawing data at different scales. The technology is very similar to a common capability in CAD industry leader Autodesk's Autocad; however borrowing from VectorWorks' longtime association and development on the Macintosh operating system, the new View Port technology goes further in ease-of-use and elegance.

"It is a common known fact in the industry for those who have been using computers long enough to know that many of the best user-experience features ever produced on the Windows platform are often a result of that developer's experience developing for the Mac OS," says Anthony Frausto, editor of Architosh.com. "It should not be a surprise then to see a company like Nemetschek North America -- who now sells at least half of its software to Windows users -- do view ports better than a Windows-only developer like Autodesk."

VectorWorks 11's new features include a wealth of subtle changes to many of the features that have been in the program before, allowing drafting procedures to be sped up substantially. A new advanced page layout feature now allows users to compose drawings sheets independent of the program's traditional layer views. Also new in VectorWorks 11 are new artistic rendering modes that produce softer, hand-drawn like effects; and the company has developed a new compression technology to do what few CAD companies -- or developers in general -- seem willing to do: make files dramatically smaller!

Rounding out new features includes real-time texture mapping and editing to both 2D and 3D objects as well as new QuickTimeVR capabilities; a new context-sensitive search-driven help system; new advanced interpolated curved surface modeling and direct editing functionality; and support for Autocad 2004 and ACIS solids.

For more information, go to www.nemetschek.net

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