gwheckendorn

Can you share some examples of what you feel Chief does badly (that most Architects would love to have)?

Thank you for the insight Larry. Especially your suggestion regarding the Anno Sets and Layer Sets. I'm assuming these are features that once proficient, will provide for nice productivity gains, which is the "MAJOR" reason I am looking to make a change. I did visit the ChiefTutor site, but noticed most of the videos and info are to earlier versions of the software. I did not see any relating to the current version during my cursory search through the site. I'm not sure how much CA has changed over the past several releases, but do feel the older videos will still be a good place to start?

Thank you all so much for your posts...I was really hoping to hear all that I have heard above! I have a new project coming up and have discussed the potential of switching to a new software (and the associated & unknown learning curve I/we might have to endure) with the client. After showing them several of the features I am absolutely impressed with, they are all for it...and the extra time it will take for me to complete their drawings. Though I've invested a huge amount of time and money to get where I am with Vectorworks...I have great hopes that CA offers a much greater potential in productivity gains, as well as a much higher value output! And Kevin...I was the first of my group of fellow architects (college-mates) to see the value of CAD versus the mighty lead holder! (though I have my MArch degree, and took the design portion of the FAIA exam many many years ago, for several reasons, I chose not to complete or pursue obtaining my registration). Over the years, and one by one, they have joined the fray and now many claim to be self-proclaimed experts. They all use a version of AutoCad and wished me luck with moving to Vectorworks. Now I can't wait to tell them I'm making another move. I only hope I can come up to speed soon enough to show off in front of them! (lol) Thank you all again...I will keep visiting this post to see if there is more positive anecdotes I can hear about the move to CA!

Thank you for the feedback Terry. I have been experimenting with the CA trial and have been impressed so far. It appears to be a very intuitive program, but have run into some frustrations with confusing key strokes with that of Vectorworks...that will take some getting used to. Some of my reservations come from colleagues (but they are commercial architects) have said that CA is not sophisticated enough to do complex residential projects. They say that the program is more geared towards residential contractore and designers, not architects. I think that may have been true a while back, but after reviewing the program in greater depth, I think CA might be quire the opposite now! I'm looking for productivity...not complexity in user interface. The latest home I completed was a 2700 sf, story and a half with a complex topography and a walk-out basement. Vectorworks was so cumbersome to complete standard residential constrution details and items, and so residential symbol poor/weak, that it took me a rediculous amount of time to complete. If I made $2.00/hour on that job I was lucky!

I am a residential designer/builder who started with AutoCad many years ago and then made a significant move to Vectorworks, self taught on both platforms. Though very sophisticated, I have been very frustrated with the lack of productivity gains. I feel that Vectorworks is a software geared towards the commercail architectural market, not so much the residential. I have been researching CA but have yet to find information that compares CA against Vectorworks (ver. 13). My fear is not knowing what I will lose versus gain by switching programs. Any opinions, thoughts, advice I can get here would be greatly appreciated! I'm very close to pulling the trigger but think I need some level of assurance that I'm doing the right thing.