Elite Exhibits

" ... If you open a new blank file, set the mode of the Selection tool to Polygonal Marquee, then close the application, when you re-open it, does the selection mode remain?" NO 1. File / New - Create Blank Document 2. (The Selection Option is set to Lasso by default) 3. Select the Polygon Option 4. Quit VectorWorks 5. Restart VectorWorks 6. Selection option is reset to Lasso Quick test with several tools - Most return to the last selected option - Text and rounded rectangle, for example did not. This inconvenience is not a critical issue. What I was hoping for? I had stumbled into a way to selectively change defaults - especially the options - so that one used the most returns as the default. (A functional feature from the long dead Claris CAD)

" ... or if you are viewing that file in a view other than Top/Plan." With simple filled Rectangles, I only find this issue if the Projection is Oblique. Then only with a "Layer Plane" Rectangle

I have had repeated problems with selecting items - copied from another drawing and pasted into a different one. The Items are visible, but the classes are not set correctly. Because of class complexity in the object of because the classes are off. Turn on ALL the classes and this is what I typically find as the solution. Again, the items are visible, and may even be selectable by the Polygon method, but not with the cursor.

This is on an older MacBook Pro with VW 2012 I use on the road. s Some how, the default Selection by Polygon option - has changed to Lasso. This is cumbersome as it is not the desired option to my workflow. (... of the last decade or so.) So when I expect the Polygon selection option I get the Lasso. It is NOT always what happens, but I have yet to determine the conditions. ie: selection from the keyboard, exiting a group etc. I assumed that it was some key combination (ala Claris CAD - which would be a great feature in VW) that let me set / reset the default option to Lasso, and I just did it by accident. I am unable to locate this feature in the documentation. On occasions, I think I have reset it by Command selecting the Polygon option, but the auto Lasso still returns. - Curious ...

I believe that there has been an option in VW / RW for some time - Align Selected Mappings - I gave up on any attempts to use it. Because it just didn't do anything. Posted a request to Dave Donley to let me know when it finally works (In late 2010) I believe that you will find it in the Obj Info Pallet / Render Tab ... all the way at the bottom.

One easy trick, is to have a sphere with the color as a Texture - (Put a light inside - no shadows - if the sphere is glowing red - make this light red) - and another sphere over all ... Each has different properties. Inside sphere Glow or Backlit Shader - The outside sphere could be clear and glossy. The Backlit shader may also need to be the matching color. And to get that reflective look, make sure there is something in the scene to be reflected.

... Anyone use saved views in the design layer to coordinate their printed drawings instead of creating sheets in the sheet layer? ... Yes, with the Batch Print - Saved Views are the easiest way to output rendered perspectives as PDF files.

I have a Plug in that unfolds ... Unfold 3DPolygon Triangles.vsm Search for it on the WEB

email Matt Panzer ... at PanzerCAD

The 3D Shape posted 10/29/13 8:57am is easily swept ... Peter

Monadnoc I do NOT have a handle on the Backlit and / or Glow shaders. The Glow Shader appears to work, but is NOT very adjustable. Down, not up. (ie: change the setting radically and the final rendering looks the same) Neon tubes look good with the Glow Shader and the Object Color (Attribute). (Dark background and adjacent reflective surfaces.) Add the Backlit Shader to a Textures with an Image Shader and the Backlit Shader, more than likely washes out the Image. To "Test" these Shaders, I set up a grid of cubes and apply various Textures to them. Changing the Shader Settings for each Texture. 0, 25, 100, 250 ... Rendered with Final Setting in RW, this gives a comparison of the Glow and Backlit Shaders So far, it appears easiest to go to Photoshop and Lighten the Image. Also helps to turn off "Receive Shadows" to add to the illusion. Is there a Guide any one has seen other than the Two Pages in the VW Help that references these two Shaders? Peter

The VectorBits tool is the way to go. Peter

Any reason you are not able to make a Shader in VectorWorks that has these colors and dimensions? - Then apply it to a flat (zero) extrude that has the "glass" section cut out of it. Peter

I have noticed this Bug for some time. If you are Editing inside a Group or inside a Symbol, and Rendered (Open GL) then the oddities start. The hint at this is a shape that appears to be sliced through by an imaginary plane. Peter

Why so complicated ? Did you try starting with a sweep? Peter

Question ? - ... "convert directly to a group of NURBS surfaces with the Convert to NURBS command (Optn Cmd N). Enter the group or ungroup and run the Unfold command." If one Extrudes a Square to make a CUBE, converts it to Nurbs ... How can the Unfold command be used to make a single flat shape that represents the six faces of the Cube unfolded? (Like a sheet metal pattern) The result of Unfolding an extruded square inside the "Group of Nurbs" is a grid of 2D polylines, that are overlapping. If a complex Extrude is Unfolded (An extruded five point star as an example ...) the result is a splattering of 2D Polylines. Always thought that the Unfold command did not work. Peter

Jonathan Tried your tip ... converted a simple 3D Poly to a polygon with the Extract Tool. The 3D Polygon was originally drawn as a Screen Plane Polygon and Converted to a 3D Polygon with Modify / Convert / Convert to 3D Poly Wanted to "return it" to a Screen Plane Object to then Extrude. Switched the Extracted Poly in the Obj Info Palette "3D Plane to Screen Plane" The resulting Polygon was both Mirrored and Moved from its original position? Not as I expected ? or is this a normal Screen Plane / Layer Plane faux pas? Peter

We continue to have issues ... not with Screen Plan vs Layer Plane but with the Automation, that at times has little logic. Switch to an elevation to dimension a part and all the dimensions are on the ground plane. Essentially an extra step is needed where none was needed in the past. We have set Screen Plane to the default, but the Automation in 2011 adds time and steps to some simple tasks compared to 2010 ( At least for our design discipline. ) Wish there was a way to switch the "Auto Layer Plane" off. Peter

Also have a few Layer Plane anomalies when a 2D rectangle, (for example) Drawn as a Layer Plane Object, is moved in the Z direction. Most are visually confusing and "correct them self" when the view is rendered. Peter

We have attempted to have all three items inside a Hybrid Symbol 2D Geometry and Text (Screen Plane) 3D Geometry (Extrusions etc) 2D / 3D Geometry as Layer Plane There appears to be a Bug that does not allow all three to play nicely together. We have sent in an example detailing the problem, but have yet to see a solution. Example. Machine with a subfloor base plate. In Plan a Layer Plane object would represent the extents of the subfloor mounting, while a simple Screen Plane polygon represents the outline of what is above the floor. (Along with a Call Out that ID's the unit In Perspective, the Screen Plane polygon and Call Out text would "disappear" as expected with the Layer Plane subfloor object and the complex 3D "Machine" look as expected. Peter

Any suggestions on Hybrid Symbol Editing with VW 2011 ... Not to get the Layer Plane / Screen Plane issue going again. Editing of Hybrid Symbols is more complex more steps in 2011. Looking for suggestions on connecting the 2D with the 3D When editing. Typically this is with existing Hybrid Symbols or Symbols created from other Hybrid Symbols. One example of an induced problem with 2011 is when a Hybrid Symbol is rotated on the drawing. Double clicking an instance on the drawing is now a different "edit mode" than locating the symbol in the Resource Palette and selecting edit. To work around this issue, we no longer double click an instance on the drawing to edit. In place we use the Locate Symbol in Resource Browser option from the contextual menu (right click) and edit from there. Pre VW 2011, one could edit the 2D portion and create / edit any needed 3D. Now the 2D may end up as 3D ie: Layer Plane. At this point, we find it easier to draw / redraw new geometry, then edit the symbol in question by pasting in the new and deleting the old. This sometimes requires one to get the geometry from inside the symbol. Two Trips or two "Convert to Group" operations ... Any easier suggestions? P.S. It appears that VW 2011 SP4 has a bug fix for the disappearing 3D (VB-93548 3D elements of symbols disappearing during edit) ... that may help Thanks in advance - Peter

Been a bug for some time ... set the dpi up Typically we set it to 1200 You may also find it easier to "Print" the pdf vs Export - Peter

Horst - I dissected the "Spiegelkugel" and find es ist eine sehr magische methode! Not a Mirror at all, but a light squeezed thru small holes. -Peter ************************************************************ I'm kind of lucky, that I know The C4d Material Manager (a bit) otherwise I would not have been possibilbe for me to create, for example this Mirrorball shader, which is in VW 2010 impossible. ************************************************************ Would you please ask for more information from this person? ... and where is the location of the Maxon C4D manual that contains textre information ? - Thanks - Peter

Several simple suggestions. Alway have the texture start at some logical location. If that is the lower left corner then so be it. But make it uniform. Add some check boxes: 1. Lock Shader Origin Location (This would keep the X and Y from changing when the scale is changed) 2. Center Texture on object (This would keep the object centered when the scale is changed) 3. Scale texture to Object Width (This would automate the match process when a shader need to fit the object) 4. Scale texture to Object Height (This would automate the match process when a shader need to fit the object) Is there a reason we are not able to use the Nudge with the Texture Map? One major continued failing with the attribute mapping tool is where the texture IS and where the object IS, when the object is remote from the center of the drawing world. We work in an isolated environment, with the Attribute Mapping tool, by the nature of the object. Make it a Symbol or a group then edit that object. (In the past the old texture mapping was isolated from the drawing.) The issue appears, for example, with an Image based Texture applied to a simple extrude. The location can be 90 degrees off and at the other end of the drawing. Often off the screens current zoom. (In the attached LPEG the Texture is 195ft away from the 10 ft object?). Assumption is, the texture maps to the drawing world, not the object. We find that the new iteration of Attribute Mapping is a step up from 2010, but still illogical in several ways. More often than not we are making duplicate textures, or going outside to Photoshop to alter or fix the image shader size / ratio in place of the struggle that is the past tradition with applications like Form-Z where you spend your time entering number guesstimated numbers in the OIP, then re-render, then entering a different number in the OIP, then re-render then ... Peter

I have also had similar results when I attempted to "Batch Print" to PDFs. (Never had one run past 20min before I escaped.) - (I have a request into VW Training as to what the issue is - Traditionally we used the Batch Render Feature, although there are limitations in this process when some drawing items are changed (lighting is an example) and there is a class based Bug that makes for some work around fun. (With Batch Render you are able to specify a very high resolution output with the Batch Render Que - Ironically we do some screen captures (32 in cinema displays make for a nice big screen capture ... ) that rival export, mostly sent as PDF to clients, but they look good even when printed to 11x17 laser - Peter