Global design software developer Vectorworks Inc., formerly Nemetschek Vectorworks, Inc. announces the release of Vectorworks 2016, as well as its rebrand. The release includes more than 100 updates and features for its award-winning CAD and BIM design solutions, including Vectorworks Designer, Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Fundamentals and Renderworks. From streamlined project sharing, graphical scripting and point cloud support, to subdivision modeling and a system that measures a design's energy performance, users will be poised to generate, define, build and explore form and function through enhanced workflows and improved design processes.

"Designers know that the successful development of their best ideas requires flexibility and precision while leaving open the opportunity for discovery. That's why Vectorworks 2016 software empowers creativity throughout the entire process – particularly in a BIM workflow,” said Sean Flaherty, CEO at Vectorworks. "Over our 30-year history, we’ve always looked to our users for feedback to improve our software. As we move forward under our new brand with the release of Vectorworks 2016, we will continue to turn to them, both as a company inspired by great design and as a creator of tools that work how designers think, enabling visionaries to explore, model and solve their next design challenge all in one software package.”

To fully support Vectorworks' customer-centric philosophy, over 70 percent of the 2016 version's updates and features were born from customer feedback, with the entire research and development efforts for the new release led by the company's Chief Technology Officer Dr. Biplab Sarkar. 

"Delivering accurate modeling information while remaining true to a designer's vision is the pivotal point of any artistic enterprise," said Sarkar. "Vectorworks 2016 software's first-class tools and customizable workflows give you more resources than ever to design with confidence and precision, no matter your discipline, while supporting the creative process."

Today's announcement marks the beginning of Vectorworks 2016's worldwide rollout, which continues with the release of localized versions in nine additional languages over the next several months. Some of the tools and features in this release include:

  • Project Sharing is an intuitive means for teams to communicate and collaborate while working concurrently on the same Vectorworks design file.
  • Subdivision Modeling allows designers to transform primitive shapes like spheres and cubes into any form imaginable.
  • Marionette is the first and only cross-platform, Python-based graphical scripting tool in the AEC, landscape and entertainment industries. Designers can create visual scripts that take advantage of Vectorworks software's 2D and 3D modeling capabilities, integrating seamlessly with BIM environments.
  • Energos offers a dynamic, intelligent gauge of a building’s energy performance during the design process and is based on the Passivhaus calculation method.
  • Point Cloud Support allows designers using their preferred 3D scanning device to capture a physical location and import a 3D point cloud object into Vectorworks software to manipulate and measure.’
  • Roof Components and Styles will interact with wall components ensure accuracy in the documentation of sections and elevations. Roof faces and roof objects now have the same component representation as walls and slabs, further extending the power of BIM. 
  • Landmark Site Modifier and Hardscape Tool Improvements help landscape professionals and urban planners design more efficiently and be more creative with pavements and walkways, including sloping hardscapes. 
  • Spotlight Improvements offer tools to design and document overhead stage rigging, create stages and quickly access symbols to explore any idea imaginable.
  • Several New Features and Improvements in our Renderworks module include an upgraded MAXON Cinema 4D render engine, Caustic Capabilities with refraction of light through translucent surfaces, Ambient Occlusion that adds depth to designs with more realistic shadowing and the New Grass Shader, as well as new camera effects, such as depth of field, exposure, vignette and bloom, allow for more realistic and striking visualizations and animations.

The English-language version of Vectorworks 2016 software is available to Vectorworks Service Select customers today by download. Shipping of the English-language version to all other customers will begin on September 23, 2015. Visit vectorworks.net/2016 to learn more.