Online Vectorworks Course | Vectorworks for Beginners

Kick off your journey into Vectorworks by exploring the user interface, navigation controls, and essential setup steps that form the foundation of efficient drawing. You'll configure your workspace, set up key preferences, and get familiar with the project structure before diving into the exciting task of modelling the iconic Villa Tughendhat.

Learn how to create clean, accurate 2D architectural plans using Vectorworks' core drafting tools & import techniques. You'll be introduced to snapping techniques, smart cursor cues, and drawing aids that help you set out plans with real-world accuracy.

Move confidently into the third dimension as you begin modelling architectural elements like walls, slabs, and volumes. This lesson walks you through the process of extruding and assembling key building components, translating your 2D linework into a working 3D model.

This lesson focuses on integrating the Ground Floor layout with upper levels, aligning cut planes, and ensuring walls, stairs, and slabs respond correctly in both plan and section views. You'll also explore Vectorworks' parametric object tools, teaching you how to insert, modify, and align these elements accurately within your design.

Refine the internal arrangement with interior walls and partitions using wall styles and join settings. You'll assign classes and materials for better visual organization and rendering control, while learning to clean up intersections and manage finishes across different rooms.

Master the Window Tool as you insert openings based on your imported references. Customize styles, mullions, glazing settings, and wall penetrations, ensuring that window components align properly with the building's design language and performance intent.

Build on your facade detailing by adding interior and exterior doors using the door tool. You'll explore parametric settings like thresholds, swing direction, and door leaves, including how to represent special types like sliding or garage doors while maintaining BIM integrity.

Populate your building with 2D and 3D furniture symbols, focusing on iconic elements for visual storytelling. Learn to import, scale, and organize custom objects, assigning textures and classes to ensure consistent appearance in both realistic renders and technical drawings.

Introduce structural expression with the Structural Member Tool by modeling vertical steel columns and support frames. You'll explore options for parametric customization, and how to integrate structural elements cleanly into your architectural model.

Move beyond the building footprint by generating a terrain model using imported contours. Use site modifiers to shape the ground, add retaining elements, place vegetation, and blend your architecture harmoniously into its surrounding context.

Enhance the exterior environment by modeling the road network, terrace edges, and outdoor elements. Learn how to flatten uneven terrain using Building Pads, embed guardrails, and apply realistic surface materials to roads, terraces, and external floors to create a cohesive site design.

Shift from modelling to documentation by setting up sheet layers, creating custom title blocks and drawing sets. You'll manage viewports, assign drawing numbers, and prepare consistent layouts—building a drawing package ready for client or contractor presentation.

Develop clear and readable documentation by using text styles, leaders, and dimension tools effectively. Focus on applying revision clouds, custom markers, and relevant tags for elements such as doors, windows, and columns to ensure your drawings meet architectural standards.

Illuminate your model using both natural and artificial lighting systems. Experiment with the Heliodon Tool to simulate realistic sun movement and daylight studies and use interior lights to create balanced visual atmospheres for day and night renderings.

Build high-quality visualizations using Renderworks cameras, view styles, and light settings. Learn to organize cameras into sheets, adjust rendering quality, and test different presentation outputs such as white models, shaded views, or photorealistic perspectives.

Prepare your final outputs by exporting PDFs, images, and presentations in both individual and batch formats. Refine your visual styles, optimize render settings, and explore export tools to deliver a polished, professional package for clients, portfolios, or competitions.

Take your presentation game to the next level by learning how to create clean, stylized exploded axonometric diagrams, entirely within Vectorworks. In this lesson, you'll separate building layers, apply a sharp visual hierarchy, and orchestrate an exploded view that communicates structure, sequence, and design logic with clarity.

Learn how to transform standard architectural drawings into visually engaging, presentation-ready visuals. Moving beyond clean linework and basic annotations, the lesson shows you how to incorporate trees, ground planes, soft tones, and subtle landscaping to create a more atmospheric style.

Explore how to develop precise 2D construction details using Vectorworks' drafting tools. From creating callouts to navigating detailed views and placing them on drawing sheets, this lesson focuses on workflow and clarity. You'll learn how to build up crisp, annotated sections that communicate construction intent clearly.