RCrussellUK

In this instance the outer surface is now working correctly, the interior junction (Join.jpg image) looks good, but I cannot seems to avoid this diagonal join if I want the exterior surfaces to seal correctly on the exterior corner. Perhaps I must construct the wall on the right with the window in it, in two bands, one interacting with the beam wall, the other connecting through to the continuous lower wall?

The problem I find is that to get a clean wall join I must use a capped joint, or drag the one wall to the right line and then use the T join etc - so when it comes to component joining I get components of capped walls cannot be joined or walls must be joined before their components intersect messages. Yet as I found as with a previous issue, it's very hard to avoid a diagonal intersections so I have been using the capping to square the joins.

Thanks DWorks, I'm going to try some of that now, I've been coming close to the first part, but I think I need to get to grips with the Component Join. I wasn't aware it could be used efficiently in 3D view.

I'm still having difficulties getting my head around how to manufacture junctions between walls/roofs/cealings/surfaces clearly and accurately, when there's more than two different styles of wall and varying levels (beams). I have an existing situation with a single story room at the back of a two story house. The room volume from within the main property projects out into the extension, the roof from the extension cuts into the main block expressing itself as a large beam at the back of the room. The walls are all different thicknesses. I must read the top wall inside the room as a beam, and from outside a continuation with the upper wall and those to either side, making the roof join correctly and also showing a ceiling height inside (drawings included). One thing I thought I might do is create multiple wall styles, I already have 10 or so in the model but this seems to be quite an inefficient way of continuing to do this - instead of joining create a separation between the extension and main block (to avoid awkward angled joins and problems with surface components correctly forming corners) but this way I end up just building stand alone objects and the whole practice of joining things together seems to become rather laborious and somewhat pointless. I need that eureka moment where I can predictably use the wall join/component join tools, as it all seems hit and miss right now? I know practice will help, but it's the bespoke (and actually quite frequent) junctions like this I need to develop a method for. I know in SketchUP something like this would be fairly easy and fast to model. Yet I know so much about Vectorworks is superior to SketchUP (this became very apparent when I recently imported a complex SketchUP model of a large skatepark I had worked on and went though it with Vectorworks transforming the geometry to the much more powerful, and controlled geometry tools of Vectorworks) which is exactly why I made the switch, but I'm spending a lot more time doing fairly straight forwards things in Vectorworks than I ever did in SketchUP. I need to know this will improve, and how to improve it!

I think you should be able to click on settings in the OIP with the window selected, there is then a classes menu in which you can assign any existing or bespoke class you like.

Added to wish list http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=192729#Post192729

In the UK there's currently no Windoor tool as supplied to users with VW Architect in some other regions. Considering the common use of bay windows in the UK it would be incredibly useful to have a tool that can quickly model windows of this sort. Perhaps an extra tab within the current window customisation window could be added? This would also enable customisation of the wall supporting the frame and the head, inserting correctly into the standard wall and enabling separate class assignments. However implemented, I'd place this near the top of my wish list and wager many other UK Architect users would do likewise. Reference conversation: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=192250&gonew=1#UNREAD

Ahh good, I think you've helped me realise how I can make the wall work correctly, thanks Fritsch.

This isn't a proposed bay window, it's based upon existing where the frames give the appearance of touching, the junction concealed only by a plastic trim, I think there may be slender wedge shaped stud or something concealed within the frame depth, but it's not evident on the outside. The work we're doing isn't with this side of the house, so luckily we don't need this for more than illustrative purposes. Saying that I'd like to develop best practice in all that I do (good habits!) and may need this for the future, so I'm interested in making it more correct. This is not very accurate in terms of showing the junctions or indeed the exact dimensions of the window unit (I have the bay measurement and the window is inferred from a photo). I placed one wall above the bay, flush with the inner wall, one below, beneath the window, then sitting the windows together as a group on an extrusion for the sill, and a number of extrusions added together for the roof. It isn't really accurate in terms of the model either, I can only get one of the walls at a time to join with the main wall (either the one above or the one below) and the windows are not 'in' the wall, they are just positioned as objects. A previous version I made was more like what you say, I inserted windows into a wall which was bound to the roof. Thus they were properly inserted and had some structure between each unit. Unfortunately though, this was incorrect in terms of how the actual window appears (and of course we can't make corner windows that join on both sides).

This is my attempt at the bay window, took a little patching in plan view but I think it looks okay in 3D.

Oh yeah... happy thanksgiving to those of you that side of the Atlantic! One of those unexplained anomalies: I tried your test file, it worked without any hitch. Went back and my own skylights edited fine. I guess I could have done something wrong previously and just taking a step back helped me avoid on the next attempt. I do remember when trying to rotate them on the previous attempt I was having trouble getting out of screen plane and into the working plane...

I've sent feedback to Computers Unlimited... Will let you know what the response is.

So there's no official way of purchasing this in the UK? Out of interest can an existing license be transferred? Meanwhile are there no substitutes for it?

I'm trying to edit the Velux skylight from the resource browser to make it closed rather than open. I managed to set the skylights origin correctly so that it sits in the roof as it should, but as soon as I try to go in and edit the 3D object it doesn't operate as expected, and the geometry keeps disappearing on the screen?

You had to buy it separate in Sweden? Why do Australians get preferential treatment! Have you found it to be useful?

I have 3 important questions... I will send one of them to Computers 'Unlimited' and maybe they can tell me why? Why is WinDoor not available in the UK? Why is WinDoor not available in the UK? Why is WinDoor not available in the UK? I just watched a video on ozcad... Uk users can only get upgrades but cannot buy a new licence of Windoor?? The thing that really puzzles me, is why this useful tool is not included along with VW architect out of the box???

You're right. The next question is, how to override those lines that I wish to adjust independent of their overall settings? What I mean is, can I pick an individual line and override it's class parameter whilst allowing the rest of the group to remain separate - a bit like in autoCAD I guess. What I'm doing thus far is using a combination of polygons with fills to simplify areas with too much information (such as in my section cut, where some line work wants to show through) and patches over certain details where I need simple or different line work for 2D legibility. I realise there's still a long way to go, but was able to send out some drawings yesterday that were fit for purpose, although certainly not works of art.

Ah, I see! I was busy making proxy versions of each object class (walls, slabs etc) - still not quite grasping the way that this works. I had thought that when I clicked on a class in the VP OIP that it was bringing up the edit box for the main class definitions as from the Organization box, but no! Now I see that I am creating an 'independent' viewport-specific class definition, there's even a small blue icon with a little mountain appeared in the Viewport Class Properties list to show me I've altered this particular class for this particular VP. Eureka! That is much better - I was beginning to think tailoring each VP was going to be a very arduous task. This is much better. P.S. Awesome use of Eye Dropper Tool.

I don't get it though, I can switch classes on and off through the viewport OIP but what I'd like to do is alter the line weight as can be done through the main class attributes panel. Would I make a duplicate of lines I want to make in the design layer, switching on off and the other on in the View Port OIP. I can imagine doing it like that, so I have a separate class for each condition of each line/object type....?

Taking sections and elevations from the 3D model, they work pretty good. Apart from one, fairly major aspect, the line weights... I first took plans and as you might know if you helped with my last post, chose to thicken the wall line to make the wall thicknesses pop out from the drawing. The problem is this makes my sections/elevations a little peculiar, I have a thick line rather arbitrarily showing through at some points where the walls are shown. It then occurred to me as I was dropping some viewports on to a sheet: can I not control the individual VP line weights for each set of lines? This is what I had somehow assumed was going to happen, classes to set one condition in plan and another in section/elevation, or even adjusting individual lines (I guess I was thinking more autoCADish?)... yet I do not understand, can I adjust the line work for each VP independently? or do I need to send this to draft sight/illustrator to edit my 2d work?

Genius.

I didn't realise I could effect the join conditions of individual components beyond selecting the core component that will cut though to an adjacent core component? Do you mean the component selected with the cursor during the actual wall join operation? I mean this ability would be great. it's what I imagined VW would be able to do before I starting using it.

I used Vincent's method to produce this using 2014 http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=9893&filename=Wall%20Join%20Five.png there didn't seem to be another straightforward way of doing it?

Yes!.. it was absolutely the 'show wall components' tick box that I needed, thank you very much, you have saved me lots of work! There are a few walls where I have had to coincide three different wall types, that retain lines at their junction when this setting is on. I'm guessing there's no such simple way to control these lines visibility? eg. http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=9893&filename=Wall%20Join%20Five.png

Sort of like that. I just need simple line drawings for the walls in plan, showing wall depth and dimension. Like your 'components off' view in plan. In 3D though, I need to show an indication of wall surfaces but this doesn't need to be shown at all in plan. You've done that by entering a proxy 3D wall surface that displays differently for the plan view from the component wall? I was thinking there would be some way to use classes to isolate the overall wall from the components? To identify the outer limits of the wall object? Or maybe I would even have to trace the wall on my sheet layer with a fill to get such a clean effect? (I also want to remove the lines that appear at some wall junctions) but this would defeat some of the time savings taking plan from model. I imagine I need to understand how to set up my classes better, to prepare my 3D model with how it will function in 2D in mind, at the point of creation?