| It looks like we're not the only ones
excited about VectorWorks version 11. From what I hear, all the
stops on our National 11 Tour have been filled with animated discussions
of our great new product. The traveling has just started, so if
we haven't come to your city, we might be there soon. Check our
schedule for upcoming events, and keep in mind that we add new
tour stops all the time www.nemetschek.net/news/events.html#tour
We love hearing about all the great things our users are doing
with our software. Whether it be at a user group event, trade
show, or even by phone, we encourage you to tell us how VectorWorks
is helping you work. Every month, we include a profile column
highlighting a firm, architect, or project. If you'd like to see
yourself in that column, please contact linda@nemetschek.net.
We're constantly impressed by how our users discover new ways
to harness the power of VectorWorks. |
Sincerely,
|
 |
| Richard Diehl
CEO, Nemetschek North America |
 |
|
|
| Moonrise
Ranch (Fischer, Texas)
Francois Levy Design Studio (Austin, Texas) |
Built around two relocated rooms of an historic cabin,
this house is a synthesis of history, the land, and the
owner's profound sense of place. Designed to be only one-room
deep in most places, the house is in complete harmony with
its site. Its hull-like curved roof, cedar colonnades, deep
porches, and palette of natural materials create a sense
of well being and quiet beauty.
The design of the Moonrise Ranch residence was inspired
by the form of the nearby hills overlooking the flood plain,
above which the house is perched. The Blanco River, located
close to the house, and its tall cypresses growing midstream
together suggest the organic form of the roof: both hull
and barn.
The house was organized around a two-room cabin which had
been moved onto the site about ten years previously: a log
room built in the 1840s and a frame room added in the 1880s.
The rooms were separated and moved 500 feet to their present
site.
The design attitude with respect to these cabins was not
that of the historian; rather, they were treated as found
art to be reinterpreted within the context of the larger
architectural project. The log cabin served as the living
room for the new house, minus its original fireplace (a
replacement fireplace was added). The frame addition was
reinterpreted as the new kitchen. The dog run became a dining
area.
The rest of the program hinged around the cabins in the
sense that the new construction was also "of the site,"
arranged to take maximum advantage of landscape and light.
Much like the cabins, each interior space was articulated
as a separate mass, so that the experience of the house
is of a village under one roof: powder room and stone-lined,
sky-lit shower, small bedroom with a bath of its own, master
bedroom and bath combined in a common space.
These room arrangements were built off of the central high
gallery running parallel to, and as high as, the exposed
spine of the roof. The composition terminated in the rounded
double-wythe stone wall of the open master bath, with its
centrally-drained floor, wall showers, organic tub and hearth,
and graveled outdoor shower. The insertion of a four-story
tower with commanding views of river valley and hills held
the composition together and asserted an otherwise subdued
composition held strictly below the tree canopy. The experience
of the project thus extended far beyond the confines of
the property.
All of the available volume was deliberately opened up
beneath the long spine of the roof. The resulting interwoven
volume formed a continuum, exposing the "bones"
of the whaleback roof from a variety of vantage points,
and allowing light to penetrate deep into the interior.
Functionally, the series of high spaces draws tempered
air from the deep shaded porches surrounding the interior
to be naturally vented by the tower. The project’s
sensitivity and responsiveness to its climate and site creates
a bond between old and new. The inhabitants are intimately
and phenomenologically linked to the natural world. Not
only does the house incorporate the toil of previous generations,
but its climactic response is inspired by the past. One
might imagine that the life led here is reminiscent of that
of the settlers, an experiential sympathy with earlier inhabitants
living in an earlier world.
To learn more about Francois Levy Design Studio and Moonrise
Ranch, visit them on the web at:
www.francoislevy.com
|
|
| What can I use the Leather Shader for? |
| The new Wrapped Leather Shader is
a powerful shader in RenderWorks 11. The settings included with
this shader provide the flexibility to create a variety of textures.
Not only can the shader be used to create leather surfaces, it
can can be combined with other shaders to create dried mud textures,
gravel textures, and even water textures. (See Image
1a)
Two notable settings that control the appearance of the leather
shader are Irregularity and Curve Amplitude. The Irregularity
parameter changes the appearance of the cells that make up the
leather pattern, from perfect squares to irregular polygons. The
Curve Amplitude parameter changes the look of the cell borders,
from straight to curvy.
A gravel texture can be created by using the leather and granite
shaders together. The granite shader colors should be set to be
the same or very similar.
A mud and dried mud texture can be created using the leather and
marble shaders together. The marble shader should be set to low
detail. (See Image 1b
and 1c)
A water texture can be created with the leather shader alone. To get a water texture with larger waves, increase the Fold Detail parameter setting. Smaller ripples are achieved by decreasing the amount of Fold Detail. |
| How can I save viewports so they are always rendered when I open the file? |
| Viewports can be rendered in various
rendering modes. The viewports can remain rendered when saving
and closing the file; this allows the file to re-open quickly,
with the viewports already rendered, but also significantly increases
the file size. For this reason, a new preference called Save Viewport
Cache has been introduced in VectorWorks 11. This setting provides
the flexibility to toggle between rendered and non-rendered views.
(See Image
2a) This preference is located in File > Preferences >
Document Preferences, on the Display tab. When Save Viewport Cache
is selected, all viewports will be rendered when a saved document
is opened. When Save Viewport Cache is deselected, all viewports
will be in wireframe view when a saved document is opened. The
viewports can be rendered using the View > Update All Viewports
command. |
| How can I see other viewports when editing a specific viewport? |
| When editing viewports, especially
when creating annotations, it is useful to be able to see other
viewports on a specific sheet layer. The ability to see other
viewports on a specific sheet layer helps in coordinating note
placement across multiple viewports. To display the other viewports,
select Show Other Objects While in Groups in the VectorWorks Preferences
dialog box. This preference is located in File > Preferences
> VectorWorks Preferences, on the Display tab. (See
Image 3a) |
|
| Nemetschek
North America Announces the Availability of the VectorWorks 11
Software Developer's Kit |
| Nemetschek North America announced
the release of its VectorWorks 11 Software Developer's Kit (SDK).
The VectorWorks SDK is a C++ development environment in which
VectorWorks users, resellers, and third-party software developers
can create custom add-on solutions that expand VectorWorks' core
CAD capabilities. It is available as a free download from the
company's website. |
|
Two New Training Manuals Available for VectorWorks 11 |
Nemetschek North America announced
the release of The Essential VectorWorks Manual and The
VectorWorks ARCHITECT Tutorial by veteran VectorWorks user,
Jonathan Pickup. Both manuals are exercise-based, which lead users
through the essential concepts in VectorWorks and VectorWorks
ARCHITECT exercise by exercise. Each exercise is designed to teach
users to navigate the programs through practicing the demonstrated
tools and techniques. |
| Lighting
Designer Michael Keller: On Tour with VectorWorks and Aerosmith |
| Read how lighting designer and VectorWorks
user Michael Keller helped Aerosmith kick off its Honkin'
on Bobo tour.
www.plsn.com/cgi/issue/viewissue.cgi?category=27&id=1083877635
|
|
Michael Nardini
|
Share your drawings with the world! Send us your
images and renderings, and we'll post them in our Gallery. Plus,
we'll send you a spiffy VectorWorks
latté mug as a special thank you.
Email your submissions
to
webmaster@nemetschek.net.
Take a look at current submissions on our website here.
We'd love to showcase your 2D drawings, so please send us pictures
of your plans! |
|
TRADE SHOW DATES |
EVENT |
LOCATION |
June 10-12 |
AIA Expo |
Chicago, IL (Booth #843) |
June 16-18 |
PCBC |
San Francisco, CA (Booth #417) |
June 21-23 |
NECC |
New Orleans, LA (Booth #110) |
October 22-24 |
LDI |
Las Vegas, NV (Booth #821) |
October 30-November 2 |
ASLA |
Salt Lake City, UT |
TRAINING DATES |
LOCATION |
CLASS |
June 16-17 |
Columbia,
MD |
VectorWorks Fundamentals Only |
June 22-25 |
Calgary |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
July 12-15 |
Columbia,
MD |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
July 27-30 |
Atlanta,
GA |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
August 12-13 |
Columbia,
MD |
VectorWorks Fundamentals Only |
August 17-20 |
San
Francisco, CA |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
September 7-10 |
Columbia,
MD |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
September 13-16 |
Boston,
MA |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
September 21-24 |
Toronto |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
October 11-12 |
Columbia,
MD |
VectorWorks Fundamentals Only
|
October 19-22 |
New
York, NY |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
November 9-12 |
Los
Angeles, CA |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
November 15-18 |
Columbia,
MD |
VectorWorks Fundamentals & Hands-On
3D |
December 9-10 |
Columbia,
MD |
VectorWorks Fundamentals Only |
|
| AIA Accreditation
NNA is pleased to offer AIA Continuing Education credit for our
seminars. Architects can earn 16 learning units by attending the
VectorWorks Fundamentals course, and 16 learning units by attending
the VectorWorks Hands-on 3D course. For additional information,
contact marketing@nemetschek.net |
|
