ChadL

I dropped a bunch of images into my symbol library to use for signal flow diagrams. I am trying to do a signal flow for an LED wall that I used the LED tool for, and instead of redrawing the LED wall I flipped to the front view and dropped in the (image) symbols there. When I create a vp from that all the images are grayed. Is there a reason that those images gray? How can I prevent that from happening? Thanks,

Now that you say that I remember hearing about that a while ago. I must be working on a lot of old documents. Thanks,

I don't understand why the Seating Layout Tool's default rise per row is set at 2". 95% of all seating layouts I do are 0 rise, 99.999% of all the layouts I do are not 2". I would guess that I am like most people drawing. If I want a specific rise per row, I will put that in, otherwise that should be defaulted at 0"! Enough of my venting now. Thanks,

I would love to see the Class Hierarchy change slightly. It would be really helpful if the parent class visibility's affected it's child classes without changing the visibility of those classes. This would allow you to grey or blank those classes and quickly restore the visibility that you had prior. example: Lights Lights-flown Lights-ground Lights-moving lights Lights-LEDs Let's say I have the Lights-flown and the Lights LED class visible, and everything else invisible. I want to change the Lights (Parent) class to invisible and make everything under it invisible. The change would be that the 4 classes under it would save their visibility (even though they are currently invisible) so that later when you made the Lights class visible you wouldn't have to change anything for the child classes.

I am still running 2013 (for another week or so), but I am wondering if anybody else has problems with the palettes not saving their location. I switch between 1 screen and 2 screens regularly. I accept that I have to move my palettes around when I switch, but what I keep running into is them not saving on exit, or when I select 'save palette position.' It is totally frustrating, especially with VW constantly crashing and everytime I restart I have to redo all my palettes even though I saved their position.

I am a huge fan of trackball mice. I own and use a Logitech M570 (it is in my travel bag), but after extended use I find my thumb gets tired and I am less precise. My favorite mouse is my Kensington Expert Mouse. I also use and recommend the Microsoft trackball explorer.

+1

I started a long time ago making a specific folder for VW backups. I got sick of VW not saving the backups in the right folder and having to search for the backup file.

Something that happens to me a lot too is I will have an intercepting line. Sometimes I will snap to that instead of the lighting position, and the light won't attach to the position.

2) Whenever you upgrade (either version) your changes (additions and deletions) will be lost. You'll need to edit the list again. This is why I have created a .txt file that has my lens info in it, so every time I have to redo it, it is a simple copy and paste.

Make all your classes visible. Chances are when you made the symbol you drew it in a class that you now have turned off. If this is the problem, you'll have to edit the symbol and change class from there to the appropriate class.

Make sure you launch VW as an administrator(right click on the icon, run as administrator). If you don't then it won't allow you to change those files.

I can only speak on 2 of these, because I never liked the position summary so I always turn it off. I have never tried the offset duplicate, I always leave that option unselected, so I just duplicate and then move. Autonumbering has never really worked good for me either, so I just use the numbering tool. After writing this I realize that I am not much help here, but maybe this is some insight for you? I am curious though about the offset duplicate tool now. I can see many uses where that would be helpful, but I would want to be able to turn it off quickly so I can dup and move. Is there any way for that?

Yes, you are probably right. I am wondering why somebody wouldn't want that turned on.

That seemed to do it. Why would I ever want that turned off?

The seating layout is some of my least favorite tools because I all the extra work needed to make them work right. Every once and a while it is actually easier to use the tool then draw it out. Since upgrading to sp4 I have noticed that I lost the focus point that I used to be able to drag around and change the orientation of the seats. Has anybody else noticed this, and has anybody found a way to get it back? Thanks,

This is not a perfect solution, but I don't send VWX files. I always export them as DWGs and send that. I am mostly interested in protecting my symbols that I have spent lots of hours and money creating. I never really thought of the venue. Exporting as a DWG will strip all the VW data and stuff from the file. Yes they can still go in and recreate a symbol from all my geometry, but this at least makes it more work. This is something that I brought up on the Wish List forum a while ago. http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=37000&Number=182510#Post182510 I agree there should be an easy way to protect the IP that we create. VW has put locks in on their symbols and tools (you can't use architect symbols in without a Architect or Designer license), why can't they do the same for us?

Interesting tool. I search throughout VW and could not find that tool anywhere except for the shortcut. Makes me wonder what other gems are hidden. I would image it can become useful when you have want to use a Plug-in tool that doesn't have a shortcut. Just hold and click on an object already created.

Couldn't you just convert it to generic solid?

I am a very heavy user of classes, so I love the Hierarchy Class Structure. I have to agree with the faster rendering times also.

I recently read a post about changing the Lighting Device Parameters, and re ordering. This is one of the greatest tricks I have learned about VW lately. I always have to scroll down in my OIP to get to the part I want. The only problem I am running into it is that it does not save the settings. Even if I select 'set as default' when I open a new document it goes back to default. Is there a way to save these preferences so every document I open (even old ones) gets the same OIP settings for lighting devices? Thanks,

I personally find it helpful to not have my instruments automatically inserted into a specific class. I have all my conventional symbols setup in my conventional class, and my movers setup in my movers class, etc. Then what I do if activate my Flown, Floor, or Set class and drop instruments into them. This is extremely helpful because now I can isolate my lights by Type or where they hung.

Is there a way for VW Spotlight to display dimmers in Universe/channel format instead of channel? i.e. 2/1 instead of 513. Or a way to toggle between the two?

Yeah, but even if I don't set it in the preference, and just drop in a new PIO it does not appear there. Like I said the only way too import is to put a dummy speaker in the drawing, then edit that speaker. It seems like that is an extra step. I know eventually I will have my library built up and this will be a none issue, but just wanted to point out what I thought might be a bug.

I don't have the import option when I click on the tool then the Tool Preferences(or just drop in the speaker from either v2 PIO). The only way I have found to get the import option is to use the 'AudioArray 2' or 'AudioSpeaker 2' tool, drop in a speaker, then go to the OIP and click on configure array.