Vectorworks 2015 Release Highlights Mobile Options

The first 64-bit version of the portfolio for AEC, landscape design, and entertainment design features a new mobile app and automatic sync of file changes to the cloud.

More Mobility

The new Vectorworks Remote app enables users to operate flyovers, walkthroughs, and other functions via an iOS-based mobile device. The app automatically detects which modules of Vectorworks the user has installed. A plugin for Vectorworks is also required to sync mobile devices with Vectorworks.


The new Vectorworks Remote app can be used as a presentation tool, or during modeling, to view and manipulate models.


The Vectorworks Nomad mobile app has been updated to v3.0, and now supports 3D viewing of textured and shaded Vectorworks models via the cloud. Files are first uploaded to Vectorworks Cloud Services, and then can be downloaded and viewed on mobile devices. Use of this app, and Vectorworks Cloud Services, is restricted to Vectorworks Service Select subscription customers. According to Flaherty, almost 70% of licenses worldwide are delivered as part of the Service Select program.

"Increasingly powerful mobile devices are beginning to make new realities possible for designers," said Flaherty, "Since [Vectorworks Cloud Services was launched in 2012], we've seen a steady growth in the adoption and use of cloud services from our Vectorworks Service Select subscription members, who receive access to these services as an exclusive member benefit."

Even the Vectorworks Help system has become more mobile-friendly. It now supports HTML5 and can be accessed on any mobile device, via any standard browser (including Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Explorer).

Pursuing Standards

Vectorworks Nemetschek experienced its largest growth in the company's history in the first half of 2014, said Flaherty, with new unit sales increasing by a third. And AEC is the company's largest market, he explained, making up two-thirds of its business. That means BIM is on the rise, and a survey of architects, engineers, surveyors, and contractors included in the NBS National BIM Report 2014 agree: 54% reported using BIM workflows on at least on project in 2013, which was 15% more than in 2012, said Flaherty.

To foster that growth, he continued, Vectorworks Nemetschek is committed to the efforts of buildingSMART (which develops open, internationally recognized standards for BIM). "The best BIM is knowledge-centric, collaborative, and free from the constraints of any single tool or vendor's platform," Flaherty explained.

"The ability to support global BIM standards is important to us, as is the idea of connecting Vectorworks Architect users with their design and construction partners, and their clients," he said. "The support for open BIM and the use of international standards such as IFC [industry foundation classes] are part of our core BIM development strategy. This enables our customers to share valuable information across many domains of a project's entire lifecycle, from design to construction and its occupation."

That open BIM strategy is reflected in the company's recent partnership with Asite, which develops cloud-based collaboration software tools. Vectorworks Architect users can now connect commercial information with their BIM models, enhance coordination processes, and maintain an audit trail of design updates through Asite’s Adoddle collaboration platform. They can also share designs and BIM worksheets with collaborators hrough an IFC or COBie output and a cloud-based model for the project.

"This was an important partnership for us because we expected a period of what's called 'little BIM' adoption by Vectorworks users, where the workflow is all about internal collaboration, but what we found is … firms are jumping more quickly to what the industry calls 'big BIM,' which is the process of sharing information throughout the entire project lifecycle."

Partnering with Asite allows Vectorworks users to realize the benefits of big BIM, said Flaherty. "We'll forge more partnerships with firms that are committed to open BIM workflows," he asserted.

Availability

The 2015 English-language release was made available to Vectorworks Service Select subscription customers this week; the company will begin shipping to all customers on September 23, said Flaherty. The rollout for localized versions in nine languages begin in the fourth quarter of 2014 and continue through the first half of 2015. A 30-day free trial of Vectorworks software is available. http://www.vectorworks.net/trial/form

The free Vectorworks Remote app is available from the Apple App Store.
 

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