Kevin McAllister

The bug submit form is still as frustrating as ever. Today I went to submit a bug and since my Operating System (Mac OS X 10.15) isn't in the dropdown I left it unselected. Bug submit kicked back the form and reset it so I had to re-enter my whole bug submission again ☹️ Why is it so hard to make a good bug submission form? Or to even keep the current one up to date? Kevin PS. Its things like this that really really make me miss JimW. He was a customer service superhero!

This is awesome! Thank you! Kevin

It's definitely more sensitive that it was in the past, but I use this feature all the time. Its easy enough to hit delete and re-place a point when it happens and you don't want it. Kevin

Generate 2d from 3d Component option should really be available in the 3d component contextual menu too. Switching components is a extra unnecessary step. You're almost always going to initially generate a 2d component automatically from a symbol that only has a 3d component and so when you go to edit the symbol by double clicking you'll always end up in the 3d component first. Off to wishlist this! Kevin From this thread -

This option really should be available in the 3d component. Switching components is a extra unnecessary step. You're almost always going to initially generate a 2d component automatically from a symbol that only has a 3d component and so when you go to edit the symbol by double clicking you'll always end up in the 3d component first. Off to wishlist this! Kevin

Bumping this wish. There still isn't an easy way to update viewports by sheet layer which is a real shortcoming. (Even the viewport pane in the Organization palette can't be organized by sheet!) Kevin

If you just need an uneven surface I would suggest using the Subdivision tool. Create a subdivision square primitive. Split the edges a couple of times and push/pull your points vertically using the grabber tool. Simple and available in all versions of VW. Kevin Contoured Ground.vwx

Yes, this is what Sheet Layer viewports are for. If the viewport next to your pasteup is a Sheet Layer viewport, you could easily Option-Drag it to make a copy and then change its View to Isometric. Kevin

^ the absolute worst I've encountered is the "hole" object of symbol designed to insert into a wall. It is so buggy. KM

I usually draw a guide shape to do this or rotate my objects so the direction of rotation is easily achieved, do the rotation and then restore the object position. Unfortunately the Rotate tool doesn't really make this very easy. I think I've wishlisted something like this in the past. If there were a "universal" widget like in most other 3d software it would be easy to rotate around an axis. Kevin

In this case I would probably cut the object into horizontal slices, since those look to be predictable rectangular slices, and work from that. Any approach is dependent upon how the end object is used (eg. how big is it, materials, etc.). For example it could be easily made with a few rectangle frames and four corner sweeps of steel rods welded together, then covered in stretch lycra. But that would be a scenic form not a structural form 🙂 Kevin

Here's how I might try it - Duplicate the two contours and group them, then work in the group. Convert the contours to NURBS curves. Move the inner contour up a known amount. Loft between the contours with the Create Solid checkbox enabled. Use the third mode of the Extract tool (Iso-parametric Curve Mode) to extract the midpoint curve. This will give you a NURBS curve contour. Alternately, you could slice the solid with the Split Tool and then extract the top of the bottom half as a 2d planar surface. Kevin Intermediate Contour.vwx

Hi Grant, That's a hard question to answer without seeing the surfaces and understanding the surface you're trying to extract. Is there a way to cut away the "surface" you need a as a thin solid, rather than extracting? Kevin

Awesome tutorial! KM

Here's the file containing both water features on separate layers as a VW 2019 version. Take a look at the file. It has the various pieces and steps I used from left to right. KM Spiral Water Feature v2019.vwx