EN
Name: Davor Petranovic | @Davor P and Daniel Schagemann | @schagemann
Company name: Vektors
Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davorpetranovic/ | https://www.linkedin.com/company/v-k-t-r-s/
Country / Region: Sydney, Australia
Target group: All Archicad users, especially BIM managers and project teams working on complex projects.
Supported languages: English
Compatibility: Archicad 27 and newer
Available services: Training, prevention and monitoring for Archicad workflows, plus experimental and custom solutions
Pricing model: Both free and paid products
LEARN MORE ABOUT Vektors SOLUTIONS
Get to know Davor and Daniel!
Who are you?
"We are BIM & Design Technology Managers and developers based in Sydney, Australia, working mostly in the Archicad ecosystem. Our backgrounds are in architecture, BIM management, 3D modelling, content management and visualisation."
Davor: "Part of my work is for Akin Atelier. Kelvin Ho and the team are doing some impressive interiors and architecture. Alongside that, Daniel Schagemann and I started VKTRS as a way to bring together tools we had already developed, improve them, and build new systems for Archicad users."
Daniel: "I have used Archicad since 2000 and started Macinteract in 2006. Since then, we have worked with architectural practices across Australia and New Zealand, providing Archicad and BIM implementation, systems integration, support and training. VKTRS grew naturally out of that work, particularly the tools and systems we had been developing to solve recurring problems in practice."
What motivated you to develop for Graphisoft products?
"Mostly frustration, in a good way.
Archicad is very versatile and gives users a lot of power, but also a lot of ways to get into trouble. Between the many options available, tight deadlines and the reality that not every user is an Archicad pro, models can easily drift off track.
A lot of our development work is about putting better guardrails around that process. At first, it was about solving problems I kept running into as a BIM Manager. Then it became clear that many other Archicad users were dealing with the same issues."
How long have you been active in the Graphisoft community?
"I have been working with Archicad for over 10 years, across practice, BIM management, project delivery, templates, libraries, office standards and now add-on development."
About Vektors
"We develop tools and systems for Archicad users that help projects run more smoothly, with better audits, better guardrails, better backups, better content workflows and fewer avoidable problems.
- Image to GDL
- Sonar / Audit Tool
- BIMcloud Backup
- Find Operators
- Addon't
- PDF Analyser
- Vektors Mesh
Our goal is to help teams avoid preventable model issues before they become a problem, approaching this through different Vektors: training, prevention and monitoring."
What inspired you to come up with the idea for your developments?
"My first full-time BIM Manager role was in a large practice where we had some projects that no matter how much troubleshooting you performed, you could not get to the bottom of the problem. Often it was a large-scale project that had been around for years, passed through many hands, and accumulated issues through changes and redesigns.
- Large projects accumulated issues over time.
- Small projects could also hide surprisingly disruptive modelling problems.
- The need was clear: build tools that prevent teams from wasting time on recurring issues.
What challenges did you face during development?
"The development itself is usually the enjoyable part. Knowing that there will be a solution at the end is what makes it exciting.“
Are there any interesting findings or insights behind the scenes?
"Having an idea - easy. No shortage of those.
Building a demo - not too difficult, especially with the AI tools available now.
Ironing out all the small issues before you have a real product - that is where most of the development time goes.
Even harder - getting the product into users' hands."
How does your solution add value for Graphisoft users?
"The main value is reclaiming time. Architects already have enough on their plate. The less mental energy they spend managing the software, checking whether workflows were followed correctly, or fixing preventable model issues, the more they can spend on the architecture.
Training, workflows and favorites are all important, but there are still gaps where issues can creep in. Our tools and services are there to close those gaps as much as we can."
Do you collaborate with other community members or teams?
"Yes, we have worked together with other developers. Bernd Schwarzenbacher did much of the heavy lifting on both Sonar and the Audit Tool, and I highly recommend his work.
We also participate on the Graphisoft forum when there are user questions we are able to help with.
We are open to collaborating with anyone - just open the comms."
Which solutions do you offer?
- Image to GDL: Upload images and in a few minutes you have a ready-to-use Archicad 3D object.
- Sonar / Audit Tool: A comprehensive project auditing and monitoring system merging Sonar from Macinteract and the Audit Tool from bim4bim.
- BIMcloud Backup: A set-and-forget app that backs up your BIMcloud as part of an industry-standard 3-2-1 backup strategy.
- PDF Analyser: A browser-based web app that runs on your computer and troubleshoots heavy PDFs.
The documentation is available on the Vektors website.
How can we access your content?
"Users can access current tools and information through the Vektors store: https://store.vktrs.co/. Or contact us directly for experimental or custom solutions."
Future plans or next steps for your development
"Our direction is to continue developing systems that help Archicad projects run as smoothly as possible: better audits, better guardrails, better backups, better content workflows and fewer avoidable problems."
