Kevin McAllister

Ah, the saddle-span tent..... I've spent way too much time trying cleaning up models of it. It is possible to make a close representation using NURBS, but it will have surface breaks because of the complexity of the surface. Try doing it in quadrants. Vectorworks is not necessarily the best option because you have very little control over the NURBS tolerances when making surfaces. These days I just use the manufacturer's mesh model like you are. Its unfortunate that its so low res. I have the faceting in my renders as well. Kevin

Here's an example of Pat's second suggestion - extruding a regular rectangle and then filleting the top and side edges. I think this is your best bet. Kevin Fillet v2017.vwx

If you want to Loft it, it would be possible in multiple parts using the third mode of the Loft tool (two rails and a profile) - Kevin Fillet Approach Loft.vwx

Hi Peter, I would approach using solids and a fillet and then extract the surfaces. Kevin Fillet Approach.vwx

I think you may have misread my post. As I said, I've never found tangent snaps in VW very reliable 🙂 There's definitely room to improve the current snapping system. Kevin

Interesting. When I tried it the vertical line connecting the two is not vertical at all..... I've never found tangent snaps in VW very reliable. I tend to draw a known tangent and rotate it around the circle to where I need it. I also wish there was a way for the second click to be the tangent point on the circle (eg. from a point on another object to the tangent point on a circle). Kevin

I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to do, but the easiest way to create a NURBS surface is to draw a 2D surface and convert it using Command Shift K. Alternately you could use the loft tool. If you post more about what you'd like to achieve I might be able to help further. The advantage to the sectioning surface being a NURBS surface is that it doesn't need to be a flat plane. If you're trying to section along a flat plane, I would use the Split Tool. Here's a file with two examples of sectioning a cube. Kevin Solid Section Examples.vwx

Hi Bruce, You need to use a NURBS surface, not a NURBS curve, for the sectioning surface. Kevin

Wow, good sleuthing Matt! That worked on my system..... The handle system hasn't been moved over to the VGM yet, has it? Kevin

Your file in the other thread definitely has issues with unwanted ghosting of objects when editing other objects. I'm pretty sure its not related to hardware (it occurs on my iMac Pro and your system is a similarly modern spec). I can get it to sort of reset itself when I cut/paste your object into a new file and toggle Show other objects in editing modes on/off. Its stuck in the existing file however. Kevin

I can confirm that the file exhibits all the things you describe. These are exactly the types of issues I see all the time and the reason for this wish years ago - And also this wish about beta testing in user submitted files - I've filed a lot of bugs over the years, but things like you're file exhibit are hard to submit and are almost impossible to reproduce. They definitely come from the conversion process of moving a file forward into a new version. Not sure what to suggest but I definitely sympathize. Kevin

Have you tried contacting Tech Support directly? It may be a faster way to resolve your issue... (Matt beat me to it....) Kevin

I can see the issue from your screen shot. The object you've highlighted is a "Curtain Object" not a "Soft Goods". I wonder if the object predates when Andrew's (Landru Design) objects were integrated into Vectorworks. I'm not sure which version that happened in. If it were one of Andrew's objects, it would say "SoftGoods 2". Kevin

Hi Mike, I completely agree with all of this and this is the same workflow I use. But I know from experience that there are more unexpected issues with files that are brought forward continuously, especially if they pass through a few different versions. Often, cutting and pasting a problematic object into a new clean file and then cutting and pasting it back into the original file can solve the issue. I've generally found VW2020 to be pretty stable. Did you migrate your preferences and workspace from VW2019? I have migrated workspaces but I've never migrated preferences. Hopefully someone here can find a way to make things smoother for you. Kevin

I haven't seen this with VW2020 but I'm using an older version of the Mac OS. Does it happen in all of your files or just a few specific ones? I've found most of my issues with VW2020 have been file specific and happen in files brought forward from older versions.... Kevin