Dr. Biplab Sarkar, newly appointed CEO of global design and BIM software developer Vectorworks, Inc., offered an inside look into Vectorworks software’s future development cycle to 600-plus attendees from 23 countries at the annual Vectorworks Design Summit in Chicago, Ill., yesterday.
 
Surrounded by visionaries from across the architecture, landscape and entertainment industries, Sarkar presented his keynote, "Leading the Future of Vectorworks Software," where he introduced several planned developments including the Resource Manager, Structural Member Objects, Irrigation Tools, Vectorworks Analytics, Vectorworks Cloud Services for All, Vectorworks Graphics Module (VGM) performance enhancements and Web View/Virtual Reality.
 
"Our driving philosophy is that the customer comes first, especially with our development process. This approach to our technology life cycle delivers the tools they need to transform their workflows and dramatically impact the world of design," Sarkar said. "Today's presentation served as a transparent medium through which we revealed upcoming features in future releases of Vectorworks software, as well as how we intend to employ user feedback to shape ongoing development."
 
Learn more about the seven key features that Sarkar and several members of the company's research and development team introduced during the keynote:

• A revamped, intuitive interface for accessing Vectorworks resources, the Resource Manager feature will enable direct browsing of resources from multiple library sources, including online libraries. Metadata tags will be attached to each resource to improve the searching, filtering and discovery of resources based on user criteria.
• The Structural Member Objects will empower designers to more easily and accurately model common structural elements. Key components of the feature include the availability of Polyline modes for creating curved structural members, the capability for interactive editing in 3D views, enhanced 2D Top/Plan representations of structural objects and interactive manipulation of a network of structural elements.
• Irrigation Tools will aid in the design documentation and analysis of irrigation systems. These tools facilitate design by automatically performing calculations for many important factors including water pressure, water velocity, pipe sizing, gallons per minute and water coverage.
• With Vectorworks Analytics, the collected data from users who opt in to share data usage, will be used to improve the workspaces and interface of future lines of Vectorworks software. This will provide customized interface optimizations, improved data collection and analysis for diagnosing performance issues.
• Previously unavailable to everyone, the advancement of Vectorworks Cloud Services for All will allow all professionals, clients, collaborators and students to automatically view 3D scenes in the Nomad app and download files shared by other users.
• Significant performance improvements to the Vectorworks Graphics Module (VGM) will include faster, smoother and more accurate graphics during zoom, pan and animated Top/Plan view changes. In addition, the new VGM engine will allow faster interactive drawing operations.
• Web View/Virtual Reality will offer the ability to export designs from Vectorworks software to a web-based interface that works on essentially any hardware and operating system that supports a web browser. The feature will enable game-like controls and realistic walkthrough experiences of 3D models for improved communication with clients.  

The Vectorworks Design Summit concludes tomorrow, wrapping up three days of more than 30 Continuing Education opportunities, plus training, one-on-one tech support and an expo hall with headline sponsor Bluebeam Software Inc., along with a host of other exhibitors.
 
To learn more about the Vectorworks Design Summit, visit http://www.vectorworks.net/design-summit.