Kevin McAllister

I've messed around with the printer a fair bit in the last few days. Its quite mesmerizing to watch as it prints. All of the direct VW STL exports I've tried have generated errors when slicing so for the moment I'm sticking with the VW>C4D>STL workflow. Kevin

I'm curious. Details? MakerBot has shipped various generations before it so there's a bit of a track record. It is on the high end of resolution for extruded plastic technology. It prints using PLA plastic which is more friendly than ABS plastic and some resin technology. It has a larger build volume than other current models. Its close to plug and play out of the box and they seem to have a good tech support network. There's a fair library of 3D files geared towards their technology online to experiment with and learn from. Its an emerging technology so things are always changing anyway. Kevin

Christian, that's the printer that originally peaked my interest. Unfortunately its not a shipping model yet. In the end I chose the MakerBot Replicator 2 for various reasons. I made my first couple of test prints last night. One was a test file from the manufacturer and the other was a simple, extruded letter B created in Vectorworks. Unfortunately the VW STL export is not yet up to the task and doesn't generate water tight models. The slicing program gives me a bunch of errors about polygon holes. So instead, I used the Send to Cinema 4D command, ran the optimize command on the model in C4D and then exported an STL from there. The C4D STL file worked fine. (I had the same problem with an earlier file which I forwarded on to NV tech support.) The first print is using medium quality. Its about 1.5" x 2" by about 5/16" thick. I'm pretty impressed by the detail. I'll post some more photos when I print something a little more interesting. Kevin

This really is essential. They should look at workspace customization in Cinema 4D where you can search for things to add by typing the first few letters of the tool or command. You should be able to drag and drop whole toolsets (and have them maintain their toolset icons too). Kevin

Is anyone using Vectorworks in a 3D printing workflow? I am starting to explore 3D printing parts of my Vectorworks models and wondered if anyone has any first hand experience. They will be exported at STLs and be printed on a MakerBot Replicator 2. Kevin

So true. I need to generate this type of clean, clear drawing every day. This is what a sheet layer viewport should look like in its default form without any rendering or updating required. Not some useless wireframe view. I'm not sure why something so fundamental, so simple is so difficult for Nemetschek to understand and achieve. Kevin

2D and 3D polygons, as well as their polyline companions (2D polylines / 3D NURBS Curves), should all behave and be edited in the same way. There should be a universal toolset that works with all of them in the same way. This includes the simplify function you are looking for. Kevin

This would be very useful. KM

I believe the preference toggle is new in VW 2013. The option seemed to be auto-enabled in older versions of Vectorworks by a recent Apple system update. I've noticed it when I've opened things in VW 2012. Kevin

The auto-open feature is related to the operating system so perhaps its smart enough to find relocated files. (Vectorworks itself is not.) You can turn it off under Vectorworks Preferences>Session>Enable Mac OS Restore Functionality for Vectorworks. KM

The easiest way would be to temporarily move the file out of its current folder. Vectorworks won't find it so it won't open it. KM

Wow, that's an obscure preference! Not sure how anyone would find that. KM

A text class style is essential. You should be able to override it for an individual object just like you can with any other attribute. It should be implemented in a way that's consistent with other attributes by class, not become yet another layer of interface clutter. You should also be able to assign a text style to a class. Kevin

If you're rendering in hidden line mode, DPI shouldn't come into play for your version. I believe it would come into play with the combination of VW2013 and planar objects. KM

Bob, I don't have any 2D objects in the design layers, they are all on sheet layers and in annotations. My decision is purely about snapping. I work in a similar way to Bruce, and extrude in various views. Once and a while, I'll set a custom working plane if there's a specific need. Vectorworks needs 2.5D snapping, much like Cinema 4D. Often the 2D lines I draw are guides to create a shape. They can only exist is the screen plane or VW gets confused in its current form. Kevin

I know, that's why it needed to be said :-) I'm surprised you don't have a hash tag for this yet.... KM

I recommend screen plane. The snaps are just so much better behaved. Until this is addressed I can't see changing the way I work, even though everything I do is entirely 3D. Kevin

I believe its been preselected in previous versions. KM

This is an example of a preference that should be set to ON by default. I can't imagine why you would ever want Unified View turned off in a 3D workflow. KM

Yes, yes, yes. KM

There is definitely something different about how Sheet Layer Viewports render. I've had many problems and crashes myself. The weirdest anomaly I've seen so far - do a batch export PDF of various sheet layers with Viewports that need rendering, when the export is done every Viewport that needed rendering is displayed on screen, one on top of the other, even though they are on different sheets. Changing the pan or zoom of the screen resets things. Kevin

I am surprised they are so out of touch as to how users are working with the program (well, I guess I'm more surprised that they're ok with this). It would be really easy to send someone around to major centres and meet with users. If the software doesn't work for users, who is it made for? Kevin

I agree with Christiaan on both accounts. There are actually a lot of annoying default changes in VW 2013. My biggest is the implementation of a stacking order for Sheet Layers as the default. The stacking order is based on the order in which the Sheets were originally created. With list by stacking order as the default, every existing file I open in 2013 has to have its sheet layers physically resorted or I have to click on the sheet number column to temporarily re-order them. Why, why, why? Kevin

So today I tried using some default content from the Entertainment library. I used a round banquet table, a covered chair and a couple of Eurotruss pieces. I put them together into a simple hall layout with seating for 500 (50 tables with 10 chairs each). These are the problems I found - - chairs and tables are poorly made for rendering well. If you try and do a straight front elevation or section of the room using a sheet layer viewport and hidden line rendering Vectorworks crashes (my system is brand new, top end retina Macbook Pro). If you can only get beauty renderings and not the basic elevations from the model, what's the point? - the table symbol had its origin centred on its 3D geometry, resulting in the tables being sunk into the floor. Why should I be fixing basics? - The tables auto generate a "cloth" class but the elements aren't even set to by class in the symbol. - the Eurotruss pieces (a straight section and a corner) don't even line up in front/side views the way the symbols are built. I should be able to drop it on the plan and it should line up in elevation. Why is this stuff so poorly built? We, as users, are paying for it. The quality of this stuff needs to be improved to some basic minimum professional standards. KM

Christiaan, I think this is a great idea. Kevin