2023 arrives a bit early, courtesy of Vectorworks, in the form of the American (Columbia, Md.) company’s latest release.

Vectorworks is the world’s most popular AEC CAD on a Mac. It also does a commendable job in Windows, for which its Architect is overshadowed by Autodesk’s Revit and by its own Nemetschek sibling, Archicad. The application apparently has no equal in lighting (Spotlight) and stage design (Braceworks) as well as landscaping (Landmark), according to company officials.

English versions of Vectorworks Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Fundamentals, Braceworks, ConnectCAD and Vision are available today.

The theme of the new release appears to be increased productivity. Vectorworks Chief Technology Officer Steve Johnson elaborates:

“We understand the importance and value of time and we’re excited to give some of this critical resource back to designers with Vectorworks 2023,” he said. “In our continued effort to empower our users to design without limits, our latest release boasts upgrades to essential tools that will lessen the need for manual work. With the freedom to model anything with fewer steps, more automated operations and more ways to collaborate with others, users will be able to supercharge their workflows and maximize their productivity.”

As with any major release of CAD software that has a multitude of significant improvements, providing a summary of the most important ones remains a challenge. Here’s a few offered in the announcement.

Data

Vectorworks 2023 simplifies the process of creating reports and quantity takeoffs so that reports for walls, slabs, roofs, and so on, are more accurate.

The Data Manager lets users search, filter and select multiple datasets. Users can copy and paste data from and to datasets. Users now have more control over creating data tags and editing them. They can search for and change data tag object associations, display different units and more.

Interoperability

Improved collaboration with Revit files. (Picture courtesy of Vectorworks.)

Vectorworks 2023 adds more support for Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), an AEC CAD data exchange data schema intended for the description of architectural, building and construction industry data. Users should notice quicker IFC file imports and they will be able to import from more applications.

IFC import improvements. (Picture courtesy of Vectorworks.)

Vectorworks 2023 enables users to exercise more control when importing and exporting files to and from Autodesk’s DWG and DXF formats and there is a new dialog box that lets them select and deselect layers and objects to include.

Graphics

Calculations for Section Viewports are now done with the Vectorworks Graphics Module, which presumably takes advantage of either GPUs or parallel processing, pushing calculations into the background while user activity progresses unimpeded. Viewport updates up to 6 times faster, according to Vectorworks.

Vectorworks 2023 implements Maxon’s Redshift Everywhere so that users can show Redshift renderings regardless of hardware limitations.

Cloud

Subscription users can create and customize boards and make virtual tours with Vectorworks Cloud Services. Virtual tours have increased compatibility with various formats, including 3D models, 2D formats (such as PDFs), images and more. Also, the Vectorworks cloud and mobile 3D viewer have been updated with more options and features.

BIM Meets Landscape

Landscaping meets BIM with georeferencing settings and referenced file support. (Picture courtesy of Vectorworks.)

Vectorworks 2023 facilitates interoperability between BIM and landscaping users by integrating GIS and georeferencing. By using a master document, grading plans and terrain modeling can be accurately superimposed.

Vectorworks 2023’s new GIS Settings and Coordinates let users pick their preferred method of coordinate entry for georeferencing data more accurately.

A Bustle in the Hedgerow

Landscape designers can specify mixed or single species of hedges with the Hedgerow Tool. Hedgerows can be placed on 2D and 3D views and can be quantified by size either now or in the future, with the ability to calculate their size at maturity.

That’s Entertainment

Rigging workflow improvements. (Picture courtesy of Vectorworks.)

Vectorworks Spotlight 2023 aims to make rigging design and planning easier. There is better integration between hoist and bridle objects that produces “consistent and manageable documentation.” Two leg bridle behaviors have been updated to be consistent. In addition, the symbol-based truss cross object is more controllable.

More Spotlight enhancements:

The Shaded Render Mode no longer limits users to eight lights.
There is more rendering support for textures, gobos and haze.

Vectorworks for languages other than English will be released starting in October 2022 through the first quarter of 2023.