Kevin McAllister

I'm going to get my renewal soon. My biggest concern is nothing else opens Vectorworks files, so once you're on subscription you can't stop as there is no other option for opening your existing native Vectorworks files. I have a lot of time invested in native assets. Honestly, the subscription model is also a little ominous given the state of the world. If you're in a country someone doesn't like they might just turn off all your subscriptions. Obviously not directed at NV specifically but subscription for everything gives over a lot of control (subscription cars? subscription printers?). Sigh, I can remember how excited I was out of theatre school when I bought my $1000 Minicad package. Kevin

That's a good fix. I've seen that issue. I wonder if they fixed where one side of a symmetrical object always ends up with a seam point and one does not. I'll have to try.... KM

Do others struggle with unwanted cropping of Shaded render mode edges in Sheet Layer Viewports? It's an issue that comes and goes with various updates. The default (no crop) crop box always crops off a few pixels of the draw edges mode. I often have to add a crop that's bigger than the default crop to get them back, which is not ideal. I have bug submitted this in various versions but it often returns after the next update. I would think this would automatically be on someone's radar. @Dave Donley? These examples are in VW2026 Update 3. Kevin Using the default (no crop)... the top of the curve is missing. Adding a bigger crop, the top curve is restored.

This improvement in Update 3 caught my attention. It is very specific and sounds like a rebuild of the Polygon tools. Does anyone know more? Does it carry across to the 2D Polyline tool? I use that almost exclusively since it's more flexible than the 2D polygon tool (other than the paint bucket mode, which actually makes polylines most of the time 😊). Kevin

Bumping this again. Other programs are leaving Vectorworks' navigation in the dust. I've been playing with Blender on a Mac and it easily has the best implementation of navigation I've ever used. Flyover by finger scrolling on a Magic Mouse. It is so good. So good. Ironically, I don't think Blender has navigation "tools" like Vectorworks. Its just inherently integrated into the program. So good.... One can only wish that Vectorworks catches up. Kevin

That's an easy solution too. Thanks, Kevin

Awesome, thank you! I love learning new things. Kevin

Often in theatre I want to give a door depth even though a standard theatre flat wall is only 4" thick. Is there a way to offset the door in the thickness of the wall? See image. I feel like I've done this in the past but I can't find it as an option now. Kevin

I suspect the reason it has never happened is because NV has been slowly modernizing the code to VW and the snapping module still hasn't been updated ( @JuanP ?). There's probably a long list of snapping improvements that are waiting for that update to happen. But it's still weird not to be able to snap to the origin in views other than Top/Plan ten years after the original wish. Kevin

Bumping this long ago wish. I still don't understand why the origin is only snappable in top/plan view. The drawing origin should work like the origin in a symbol, where it is snappable in all views. Not being able to snap to the origin in 3d views sort of makes it useless. Kevin

I've never used this keyboard shortcut before but I'm curious as to how the same short cut flips both horizontally and vertically 🤣. I think maybe the Help also needs updating. Kevin

Hi Dave, Just looking at the options you selected and wondering why you didn't select the checkbox "Enable seamless tiling"? If it's not used for this, what is it used for? I have tried making seamless textures in the visualizer before without much success. Ironically, seamless tiling textures are one of the few uses I can see for AI in regular use. Kevin

Edit the polyline using Command [. Select the interior void polylines and either copy or cut them depending upon the desired outcome. Exit the polyline edit mode. Paste in place. Change the colour of the polylines. Kevin

It worked fine when I did a test. What's the corner diameter? For a viewport crop, the corner diameter will need to be big enough to show in the scale of the viewport. I suspect that making the corner diameter much bigger will solve the issue. Kevin

I received this email from Vectorworks today too. I would guess eventually their pricing will align with Autodesk. At the rate they're going they will price themselves out of the entertainment market I work in. Fees aren't big enough to cover a Vectorworks subscription and pay yourself. It's funny to me they still use the Buy Now button on their website. It should really say Rent Now. Kevin

All workarounds. If you don't have a middle mouse button there is no temporary way to invoke the Flyover tool. In your example you're still activating the Flyover tool and disrupting your workflow. The View Control Cube is good but still means an extra mouse move to access it. And how about translating in and out? Basic tool-less navigation is not baked in like any other 3d program. Kevin

Bumping this wish again. Today I downloaded a trial version of Blender. I've only just started playing with it but it has the best navigation I've ever tried on a Mac for a 3d program. Orbit via finger scrolling on a Magic Mouse is the default. Simple single modifier keys to switch to pan/translate and zoom. So simple, no tools involved. Kevin

It hasn't always been like this. It used to duplicate a sheet as is with the numbering intact. I submitted the new behaviour as a bug a few times, but the change goes back to when JimW was still on the forums. If you duplicate sheets a lot like I do in my workflow, it can cause a fair amount of extra work. Kevin

It's interesting that you can't find a radial dimension on that planar object located in 3d space in the Front Viewport. I would consider that a bug. I don't normally put any 2d objects in the Design Layers so that's not a situation I've encountered. Kevin

Are you able to post a simple example file? Kevin

What version of Vectorworks are you running (normally users add a signature to their profile with this info)? What rendering mode are you using for your viewports? I've had mixed results myself, depending upon the complexity of the 3d geometry and how deep the solids operations go. The sensitivity to nested curves has gotten better over time but its definitely not perfect. I often have to add helper geometry in the annotations to dimension curves. Kevin

Vectorworks and Time Machine definitely don't play well together. If Vectorworks starts behaving weirdly you can often check and find that Time Machine is backing up. Kevin

Bumping this. I'm surprised that proper text editing and formatting has still not seen any upgrades..... today I really needed a right tab in the General Notes tool. Kevin

Bumping this. The unnecessary scrolling is still an issue in 2025. Kevin

Hello, I've been a Vectorworks user since 1994 (Minicad 5). I mainly use it for theatre and is often the case in the industry I am single person design business. My comments are about Vectorworks marketing. One of the most important things in marketing is know your audience. When I bought my Vectorworks license through Paxar Technologies they knew exactly who I was. When Vectorworks took over and opened a Vancouver office I became an email address. Vectorworks often sends marketing "deals". I don't think I've ever qualified for any of them (always deals on new licenses). I just feel spammed and wonder why am I receiving this offer. Here's the current example - And here's the fine print - I will only ever need one license and its current. I can never be a new customer (user since Minicad 5). I use service select so this info should be on file. I guess I stay on the mailing list thinking that one day I'll get a deal for being a loyal (30 years and counting) user..... 🙃 It really seems a waste to use these marketing dollars on me...... and I'm sure I'm not alone thinking this. Kevin