Keith W

This was a brand new document, with only two imported dwg drawings, each on their own layer and each entirely in their own class. Oops: I had tried selecting one object, but I must not have noticed that the "Scale entire drawing" button was ungreyed, and so I didn't think it made a difference (since the entire drawings was still scaled). That was the problem. Thanks! k

Hi there, I've been having problems trying to scale a single object or class or layer, and I finally realized that "scale entire drawing" is always checked and greyed out, so I can't change it. Any thoughts why that would be? Everything I'm working with is on design layers. As implied, I've tried separating things into classes and layers, and turning everything "else" not-visible, but "scale entire drawing" really means just that. Thanks for any help. Keith

I just bought Designer: it includes Architect plus everything else (that is, Architect DOESN'T include anything that Designer doesn't have). Part of the reason I went for Designer is that Landmark allowed certain site design things that I thought might be frustrating otherwise. But I subsequently have run into several places in the manual that say "if you have Designer, do it this way, otherwise, you have to do it this way", so there are some things that are disabled in Architect: I think it was about external file referencing or something... Keith

Hi there, I'm wondering if there's some way to get access to my layer setup (name, Z, +_Z are the fields of immediate interest) in a format that I can cut and paste into an email or spreadsheet, or something. I suppose I could just pdf a screenshot too... Anyway, is there some way to get it in a schedule-like worksheet or something? Keith

Thanks Vincent, you helped me understand what I don't know. Back to the drawing board! k

When I take your file, view it in hidden line render, and rotate with the flyover tool or a different fixed view (back, right, etc), the view is as you want it, I believe. You have to hit "render" on the pop-up. How are you viewing it in 3D? Try what I'm suggesting here. k

How would I trace if I can't snap? Or do you mean trace approximately, or with zoom or something? keith

I had the same problem when I just installed 2009 last week (new user), and an update of my video driver solved it. I only did it so I could prove it wouldn't work. Rats.

Hmmm. I guess that means I can't snap to other views, i.e. Right or Left or isometric, etc, from a different layer? If one wants to duplicate the geometry of one of those views onto another layer, how would one do that? Or is this problem/limitation only with design layer viewports? Worst case I suppose I could snap lines or whatever onto the original layer, and then cut and paste in place. That seems a little circuitous.

OMG! I hadn't seen anything about the Top/Plan vs. Top view. I still don't quite understand why that would matter, but that does the trick! Thanks a bunch.

This has to be obvious... I'm (obviously) still learning. I've got an imported dwg on one design layer. I can snap to it when that layer is active. When I go to another layer, I CAN'T snap to it, even when I choose "show/snap others" or "show/snap/modify others". Actually, I can't select anything on the DWG layer, even when am on that layer and can snap to it. I don't know if that's related. I've got stack layers off. I can't figure out what I'm missing.

What kind of file were you referencing? I think I saw similar behavior with a pdf, though in that case I'd actually imported it. Keith

First, thanks for all the advice. I didn't describe the situation adequately for most of you, I guess. Think of it this way: there's an entire screen full of filled rectangles and other goodies. I want to rectangular-select or lasso-select a subset in the middle of it all. But instead I select and move whatever's under the cursor when I try. I read the other thread someone pointed to, and it appears others have some frustration with this behavior. Hmmm: I don't quite get what you mean, but you did give me an idea that seems to work. Hold down the shift key, and make the selection. Now, I'll have selected the rectangle (or whatever) that's immediately under the cursor, AND whatever I drag-selected. Then, still holding down the shift key, unselect the unwanted item. That's better than I figured out at the time... But what's perplexing to me is that in the primer/movie I was watching, they seemed to do it effortlessly. Perhaps one item was unselectable due to layer or class settings, but sicne I was trying to follow along, that means I must have missed something else... Anyway, thanks for people's thoughts/suggestions. Keith

I'm new to VW, going through the Architect training DVD. At one point, I'm directed to select a rectangle (actually, a stack of layered spaces) from amongst a tessellated arrangement of rectangles/spaces, which is done in the tutorial using the rectangular 2-d selection tool. The thing is, when I click to start defining the selection rectangle, it selects that space rectangle, and moves it as I try to stretch the selection rectangle. I wouldn't bother people with such a goofy question, I'm sure it's something obvious, but I've spent an hour or more reading the manual and trying everything I can think of. Thanks for any help! I hope I've been clear enough. keith

Hi there, I'm a new user to VW Design 2009. I have several models I've created in Envisioneer, most of which have very little substance in their worksheets beyond the model views themselves. So mostly I need to import the walls, windows, etc. These are single family homes, not extremely large or complex. I believe I know that I'm not going to be able to import components (i.e. walls), but only lines. So I assume I'm going to be tracing over those, in order to create components and a full VW model. I've already experimented with DXF, and it seemed to import correctly, though I don't immediately see anyway of accessing one layer/floor at a time. My question is, what's the best strategy in such a case? I could import pdfs of each floor plan, and simply recreate the model, tracing over that. Or perhaps I could import the dxf, show only one floor at a time, and trace over that. Any thoughts? Thanks for any help. Keith