Both software applications are directed at landscape designers. gCADPlus is low-cost software ($USD 95 for a one-time payment) whereas Vectorworks requires a monthly subscription (about $AUD 250). Each has its strengths and limitations. As an example, Vectorworks supports a variety of languages very well whereas while gCADPlus has some language-switching capability, language support is limited to basic CAD drawing commands. Language support in gCADPlus does not extend to the use of specialist landscape tools such as automating the generation of a plant schedule. Here the prompts and guidance are in English only.
Both software applications have their own file format, but Vectorworks allows the importation of Autodesk’s dwg format while importing foreign files in gCADPlus is limited to Autodesk’s DXF format for file exchange.
The file format for gCADPlus drawings is LCD and is the same for every version of gCADPlus. That means drawings are backward compatible with every version of gCADPlus.
Each version of Vectorworks has its own file version. (i.e. any file made in 2008 will have a flag that shows this when attempting to open the file in another version of Vectorworks.)
The previous extension for these files was .MCD, As of Vectorworks 2008, the new file extension is VWX.
Some older Vectorworks file formats are no longer readable by newer versions of Vectorworks regardless of backward compatibility tools. Vectorworks 2012 back to Vectorworks 2009 can open 2008, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and MiniCAD 7 files. Vectorworks 2008 and 12 can open as far back as MiniCAD 8.
Vectorworks is a comprehensive and advanced software application. The interface is complex, whereas gCADPlus is modeled on and uses a simple AutoCAD-like interface without the sophistication of Vectorworks.
Both applications make extensive use of plant databases. The plant database provided with the Vectorworks Landmark product manages an extensive list of plant names and botanical information which can be used to associate specific plant data with plant styles. The database in Vectorworks is a stand-alone FileMaker application that opens in a separate window whereas gCADPlus uses simple text files for its plant lists. These are easy to create for any site locality.
This movie shows how to create a plant list in gCADPlus, attach it to a symbol in a drawing, and use an automated tool to create a plant schedule.
Vectorworks, starting a new project
To start a project in Vectorworks, follow these steps:
- Open Vectorworks software.
- Choose “New File” from the “File” menu.
- Select the template for the type of project you want to create.
- Adjust settings for the project, such as units of measurement and paper size.
- Begin designing using the various drawing and modeling tools available in the software.
- Save your project frequently using the “Save” or “Save As” option from the “File” menu.
When using Vectorworks, it is recommended to set the scale before you begin drafting as it affects the size and proportions of your drawings. Having the correct scale will ensure that your design elements are accurate and to scale, making it easier to plan and visualize your project. It is also important to establish the scale early on so that you can make any necessary adjustments and avoid having to redo work later.
You need to set the scale in Vectorworks to properly size your drawing elements in relation to real-world measurements. You can set the scale for a Vectorworks drawing in the “Document Info” section of the “File” menu or in the “Page Layout” tab of the “Inspector.” Choose an appropriate scale that best fits your design needs and keep it consistent throughout your project.
gCADPlus, starting a new project is similar
- Open gCADPlus
- Go to File -> New
- Enter a name for the project
- Choose the appropriate units (in the metric world, usually mm although you can work in meters, and in the Imperial world units are usually decimal feet)
- Choose the template or create a custom one
- Press “OK”
- Start drawing or importing files.
A drafter using a gCADPlus CAD system works in much the same way as a ‘manual’ drafter. You don’t, however, pull out a piece of paper first, think about scales, and start to draw, but concentrate on building the design immediately (creating a full-size model of your design on the computer). This is done by very accurately entering data describing the design into the ‘drawing space’ – a space sometimes called the drawing editor.
‘Real world’ units, gCADPlus, AutoCAD, BrisCAD, etc.
Most drawing involves the production of plans. Any plan is a collection of lines that represent actual objects. The objects can vary in size. They may be doors or windows on a house plan; flanges or details of welding joints in a mechanical drawing; circles representing trees and shrubs in a landscape plan or sketched lines representing the boundaries of a blood capillary as seen down a microscope.
The objects have actual dimensions. The block of land on which a house sits might be rectangular in shape, perhaps 35000mm (35m) by 28000mm (25m), the door in an architectural plan may be 600 mm wide and 1900 mm high, the window 2700 mm by 1000 mm, the flange 400 x 400 mm in plan view, the canopy diameter of a tall tree 35 meters, a blood capillary 6 micrometers wide and so on. Every one of these items has dimensions that mean something to the designer in the real world!
When you draft by hand, you constantly use a scale ruler (1mm represents 100 mm -1:100; 1 inch= 8ft – 1:96, etc.) When drawing with CAD programs like gCADPlus and AutoCAD, you do not draw to scale, but simply construct the drawing in drawing units. In AutoCAD and IntelliCAD these drawing units are ‘set’ equal to ‘real-world’ units. This is a ‘mental’ setting in the mind of the designer. If the cursor (pointer) on the screen moves one drawing unit, this is equivalent to a movement of one unit in the world of the designer.
In Australia, everything in the building trade is measured in mm, so one drawing unit is equal to 1 mm. The window is exactly 2700 units by 1000 units i.e. 2700 mm long by 1000 mm wide, no more, no less.
You would probably work in meters if you were a surveyor because the usual distances are very large. However, because sheet sizes are measured in mm, most survey firms and landscapers working on large sites, will rescale drawings by a factor of 1000 to ensure that everything is measured in mm before printing plans.
Forget scale rulers
Conventional drafters use scale rulers constantly and need to be aware of the scale they are using. gCADPlus, IntelliCAD and AutoCAD users suffer no such restriction; they simply draw in ‘real world’ units where the drawing unit is equal to the actual unit used to size the object. Experienced manual drafters need to forget the traditional way of doing things and metaphorically speaking ‘throw away’ their scale rulers. Many new CAD operators who have previously trained as manual drafters become confused when first seeing a CAD system because they are not now required to work to a scale.
If you measure a screw 6″ long with a ruler, then draw it 6″ long. If you have a piston 2″ in diameter, then draw it 2″ in diameter. If you fail to draw things the same size as they are in the real world, then you will have endless trouble with dimensions, etc., etc. Never scale a drawing up or down. Scale title blocks up and down all you want, but not the drawing itself.
Scales and plotting
It is only at the final assembly of the drawing on the display sheet (border sheet) that one considers scale. We take might take the drawing of (say) a plot of land (the site boundaries), insert a drawing of plans of a house drawing into it, and finally insert and scale up the drawing sheet around the block of land at a suitable scale.
This lack of concern about scale when using AutoCAD is the major difference between CAD drafting and the use of conventional methods
Note: The approach to preparing CAD drawings outlined above is not the only one that is used, but most CAD drafters do work ‘full size’. Rather than inserting part drawings into a sheet of real-world size, some (a very few) drafters ‘scale down’ the parts as they bring them into the presentation sheet and then plot the sheet 1:1. The danger with this approach is that the parts have been scaled down and cannot be stretched and re-dimensioned later without taking into account this scaling factor. You really must learn to draw full-size when using CAD!
Vectorworks and real-world units
Because you decide on an appropriate scale at the outset of a VW project, as you draw objects, their size is drawn according to the scale factor. Inquiries about any part of the design will yield correct values, but if there is a need to change the scale factor in the middle of the work, some new drafting will be needed.