Blender vs. Vectorworks Fundamentals

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Blender
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Blender is a free and open source 3D creation suite available in under the GNU General Public License. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline. Blender Cloud is a related service accessible via subscription, and is a training and content platform providing access to expertise from the Blender Institute for advancing one's use of Blender.
$11.50
per month
Vectorworks Fundamentals
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
Vectorworks headquartered in Columbia offers Fundamentals, a computer-aided design (CAD) application supporting 2D and 3D design and drafting.
$108
per month
Pricing
BlenderVectorworks Fundamentals
Editions & Modules
Blender Cloud Membership
$11.50
per month
Subscription
$108.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BlenderVectorworks Fundamentals
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details$108/M: Pay only for what you need, 2 GB of cloud storage, Basic tech support, Immediate access to new versions $90/M: $1080 billed annually | Save $216, Pay only for what you need, 2 GB of cloud storage, Basic tech support, Immediate access to new versions
More Pricing Information
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BlenderVectorworks Fundamentals
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BlenderVectorworks Fundamentals
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Medium-sized Companies
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User Ratings
BlenderVectorworks Fundamentals
Likelihood to Recommend
9.6
(23 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
BlenderVectorworks Fundamentals
Likelihood to Recommend
Open Source
Blender is an excellent tool for everything from simple to complex 3D animations, the creation of 3D images, etc. It performs excellently in all of these areas. In the realm of 3D modelling, animation and rendering, there is very little that Blender is not suited for.
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Vectorworks, Inc.
It is perfectly suited for residential work, and work where the project requires integrated 2d and 3d. It is terrible for integrated energy modeling. This needs to be fixed immediately.
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Pros
Open Source
  • Creating complex polygonal geometries is very easy in Blender.
  • Edit Mode and Sculpt Mode helps in creating non uniform surfaces for objects like rocks, surfaces, terrains etc.
  • Blender can use various external plugins to make it work in more smoother way. For example to import any 3d object one can use sketchfab plugin and easily import the free assets from web after logging in.
  • Blender has a better rendering engine known as Cycles, it is far more better than any other stock rendering engine which can generate realistic lightning, shadows and reflections.
  • The animations can easily be generated with blender animation toolbar and also it incorporate any other animations made in any other software.
  • The bone generation and its behavior of animations can be achieved easily in blender.
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Vectorworks, Inc.
  • 3D modeling - no need to start in SketchUp or other more rudimentary programs.
  • Seamless import/export with other programs - ideal communication with consultants.
  • Superb customer service, training, and tech support.
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Cons
Open Source
  • It's really a hard question, but it could be: a game engine. Older versions used to have it; I would use it to simulate machines game-like.
  • I'm struggling to find another one; maybe the fact that it is so powerful and has so many features that learning it can be daunting; better documentation WITH examples and/or a map of Blender capabilities would help to know where you are in terms of knowledge and the planning the roadmap to where you want to go.
  • Precision modeling. Coming from CAD and using Blender as part of my design workflow, I'd love to be able to model inside Blender as I model with CAD tools. At this moment, it's simply impossible.
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Vectorworks, Inc.
  • The program is getting a little 'fat', and needs to be slimmed down. It is starting to bog down a bit when doing certain functions. The program of late is more buggy then we are used to seeing.
  • I like how smooth Sketchup is in 3D. It would be great to get VW's to be more responsive in 3D.
  • The space tool is very clunky.
  • I would be great if a texture map could be a video and not just a still image. We could really use that.
  • PLEASE get the energy modeling capabilities up to speed. It needs to be much more intuitive and NOT based on Passive House standards. Please include a clear output for a projects Energy Use Intensity (EUI) and how a project is doing relative to the 2030 Commitment.
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Alternatives Considered
Open Source
We've only used the consumer (non-pro) version of SketchUp, which we love, but is very limited in features and output capabilities compared to Blender. While Blender's learning curve is MUCH steeper than SketchUp, it feels like truly complete, professional design software.
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Vectorworks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Open Source
  • As it is a beginner-friendly software with increasing demand in the animation sector again, it positively impacts the business.
  • Except in some specific cases, no one will use Blender on their own at a professional level.
  • When I was a beginner, it took me a lot of time to learn, consequently designing the creation. But if we want to learn to master Blender, we can do it. As long as we have time and a lot of willpower, since, we repeat, it is not a simple program and hides thousands of tools and possibilities.
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Vectorworks, Inc.
  • Subscription model ensures we always have the latest versions - per-seat license is very affordable.
  • Training costs are low (i.e. new hires get up to speed quickly).
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