Kevin McAllister

I agree it these would all be great improvements. With respect to Andy's original wish, you might give this a free trial - http://www.benghiatlighting.com/software/products/savvy-symbol-key I think it does what you're looking for and more. Kevin

Mark, Aren't you going to have the same hardware issues with Autocad? I am assuming if VW2012 won't work on your current machine, neither will Autocad. It sounds like the first step is the machine, then you can give Autocad a trial run and perhaps also use the demo of Vectorworks 2012 as well. VW 2012 runs fine under Lion. They advertise lots of improvements in the brochure but I find myself appreciating the lesser known ones. This has often been the case. I can't say I've used the new push pull stuff and I just find the automatic layer plane stuff in the way even though I work almost entirely in 3D. But I do appreciate the work with hidden line rendering (intersecting lines) and the amalgamation of many of the duplicate tools into a unified 2D/3D toolset. I experimented with Stories and it was fairly successful, though I don't specialize in architecture. There is a lot more stability and functionality since VW2008. You can start to see the future with VW2012. Kevin

If you trace the rectangle with the polygon tool or the polyline tool you can create a shape that does what you need. Once you create the shape, double click on it to go into polygon/polyline reshape mode. Choose Hide or Show Edges Mode from the Mode Bar. Click on the centre of the sides you want to disappear. You can then add the hatch and delete your original rectangle. Kevin

Hi Carl, It sounds like you are having similar frustrations to mine in this thread - http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=32888&Number=162166#Post162166 Greyed out options have to do with which texture shaders are active in a particular texture. Unfortunately there isn't proper documentation anywhere that details what affects this (ideally there would be a table the showed when items would be greyed out based on shader). Anyway, since there was no concrete solution I am still guessing just like you. Kevin

Thanks to everyone for the insights into their drawing practices. Peter, what you describe is how I worked for years. Over the last two years, my process has migrated towards building a 3D model and then detailing it using Sheet Layer Viewports. Almost nothing is drawn in 2D. Other than the odd 3D dimension, I can't really imagine why I would be dimensioning in the model itself. There are one or two exceptions, but putting all of the notes and dimensions into the annotations of a viewport is a really clean, efficient workflow for my type of work. Kevin

I wish that either a Text Style (ideally) or individual Text Attributes (font / size / alignment) could be made "by class" like colours, line styles, fill, etc. This type of consistency of interface would simplify workflow. Text Styles were a great idea when they were implemented a few versions ago, but they've never been carried through. An example of another unfinished idea.... Kevin

I have often wondered about this. I've often been frustrated by choosing symmetrical, enter a value and have it pop back to proportional. KM

Not coming from an architectural background, I'd be curious to know a little more about your architectural workflow. Are all of you primarily working in 2D or 3D? Are you dimensioning in 3D? Over the last year I've moved to a full 3D workflow. My dimensioning almost exclusively is done in sheet layer viewports. I think I would find dimensions in the design layers in the way. Cheers, Kevin

I would save a copy of the file to work with. Using that I would toggle the Save Viewport Cache checkbox off in the Document Preferences. Resave, close and re-open the document. Then try updating the section viewport. Often dumping the Viewport Cache shrinks the file and solves some viewport regenerating issues. What rendering mode are you using to render the section viewport? I often set problematic viewports back to wireframe while testing. Kevin

The easiest way to actually import layers from another file is using the new layer dialog - - In the layer dialog, select New. - choose Import Design Layers, select Choose and navigate to the file you want to import layers from. - choose the layers - make sure the Import Layer Objects checkbox is checked - hit OK Your chosen layers will be imported into your file. Kevin

I entirely agree with Christiaan here. I have been using Vectorworks for a similar amount of time and for years I've been a strong advocate. Now there are so many other user friendly packages at a comparable or cheaper price point. The competition may not have the complete overall package yet but its not far off. Vectorworks has unfortuately become a collection of old technology, half implemented ideas, user workarounds and beta versions. Kevin

If you're using the drawing label on a sheet layer, you need to put it into the Annotations "layer" of the Sheet Layer Viewport. If you double click on the Viewport the edit options should come up, choose Annotations. Alternately you can right click on a Viewport and choose Edit Annotations. The drawing label is designed to show the scale of its current layer. The annotations "layer" is the same scale as the Viewport it is connected to so it shows the correct scale. Hope this helps. Kevin

Their website gives you all info you need - http://www.pinkincdesign.com/pdfs/Pink_Specs_StdWW.pdf I would download and import the PDF into Vectorworks (File>Import>Import PDF). You don't say what version you are running so this may not be possible. You might consider adding a signature to your forum profile detailing your Vectorworks version and setup (Under My Stuff at the top of the forum page). If you scale the PDF to the right size it gives you everything you need to build one. Someone also posted this link yesterday which visually shows a variety of implementations of the various lofting and NURBS tools - http://www.youtube.com/user/Archimodul Essentially you want to create three curves in 3D, as Jonathan describes and use the Loft Surface tool. You will need to use the second mode (Loft with one rail). Select the spine first, then the top and bottom curves. Note that it will not work if the top and bottom NURBS curves are not going in the same directions (Object Info Palette when the NURBS curve is selected, check the Show Direction checkbox to show the arrows and the Switch Direction button to change the direction of a NURBS). See the attached. Good luck, Kevin

Yes, this would be awesome. I almost wrote a wish for dividers the other day. It would also be great if groups of layered classes could be opened and closed in the Navigation Palette, expanding or contracting the list. KM

The challenge is the cycle through key in the instance I am describing needs to be defined as a left hand key. I almost never use the U key because of this (and for some reason I've never reassigned it either). Part of an efficient interface is not having to continually remove your hand from the mouse.... Perhaps Tab as it currently is cycles through the Heads Up Display, CMD Tab or Option Tab to cycle through the tool options.... Kevin

I ultimately think a combination of things are needed to clean up the interface. I can definitely see multi-key shortcuts being part of that. Other programs also allow an index of tools and commands to pop up by hitting a hot key and then the letter of the alphabet. Or favourite tools by right clicking or another hot key. But I also think the tool options in the mode bar should pop up next to the tool, much like the heads up data display, so you can cycle through them using tab (should be the right click in my opinion). Direct, visual. Like the attached image. So you can quickly change the number of duplicates etc. just as you would anything else in the heads up display. KM

A great wish. Look at the implementation in Cinema 4D or the new FormZ beta 7. Simpler, fast and more efficient..... that's what's needed. KM

John, The only way I know how to do what you're looking for is with NURBS surfaces or planar surfaces. With NURBS, you can use Stitch and Trim surfaces in the Modelling menu (3D Power Pack I think, my menu is customized) to make the NURBS into a solid once you have all the faces. I have been playing with a beta version of FormZ recently that will do what you want pretty easily. See this wish list thread for examples - http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=163641&Searchpage=1&Main=33196&Words=formZ&Search=true#Post163641 The advantage it has over something like Sketchup is that it is a true solids modeller. I've been playing with a back and forth workflow between it and Vectorworks and things translate pretty seamlessly. If you do a lot of blocked in models it may be worth checking out, especially at the moment as its a free public beta. Let us know how you make out. Cheers, Kevin

It would be great if when it was inserted, the crop object was automatically assigned to a crop object class. KM

Are any of the elements scaled symbols? I've had issues with how they appear in Viewports.... KM

Yes, that's a workaround I use all the time. I am wishing for a proper tool. FormZ essentially adds these elements to a surface as breaks in the object, allowing you the option to push/pull them, texture them differently etc. KM

I would like an "Imprint" tool like the one found in FormZ 7. (Yes, there are work arounds, but a proper tool would be great.) I often find myself wanting to "imprint" 2D lines and curve geometry into the faces of 3D objects. Kevin

Zuken86, What version of Vectorworks are you using? How did you "join" the two arcs together? It seems to work as expected in VW2012. In your case it is actually working but its acting as if the polygon is a closed shape (the circles are evenly spaced around the figure 8 the closed shape creates, the centre circle is actually on the invisible straight path). Kevin

So I think there's an easier way in your situation. Draw each of your rectangles as per your layout. Extrude them all together as one extrude. Map your image texture using planar mapping. You should be able to use the attribute mapping tool to align, scale and rotate your texture. Note that "top" in texture mapping seems to be the plane which you extruded from, not necessarily the top view. Once you have the texture the way you want it you can choose ungroup. Each of your panels will become an individual extrude but the image mapping will hold position so each one will still be the correct piece of the whole image. Kevin

Benson, I used to feel the same way and avoided solid additions, especially multiple additions or subtractions nested into each other. I have found that in the last few versions of Vectorworks solids operations have become much more stable. I too have changed my workflow accordingly. Kevin