Andy Broomell

I have often wished Vectorworks would add a new parameter in the OIP for all hybrid (2D/3D) objects which would allow you to switch the display of the object between hybrid, 2D only, and 3D-only. A few object types already have something like this (for example AutoHybrid Objects can switch to 2D-only) but this new feature would be something more universal. This would solve so many issues like the one in this post and across many others in these forums. It would add the flexibility to rotate a hybrid object on any 3D axis (which would simply switch the object’s display to 3D-only so that the 2D component becomes irrelevant for that instance, without having to make a separate symbol definition). The current restrictions in this regard are so frustrating at times. Similarly there are times where I want a PIO to be 2D-only when working in simple plan documents, where I don’t need any 3D geometry. I could switch the display to 2D-only and keep the file simplified. A simple drop-down in the OIP to choose how an object displays would add oodles of flexibility to working with hybrid objects in VWX.

This has annoyed me for ages, because it's buggy and/or poorly designed. To the left of the view dropdown, switch from the blue icon to the pink icon. That should make the views be in relation to the internal symbol orientation instead of the instance's orientation on the layer plane. But Top/Plan doesn't adhere to this same system, and also sometimes you have to switch in and out of a couple views before it starts working as expected. It's all a bit of a cluster... But hopefully playing with those two buttons helps.

Yep, and this still happens in 2023, sadly...

I didn't realize until I re-read the original post, and tried it for myself in VWX just now, that changing the Marker Scale for one instance also changes the Marker Scale for all other instances generated from the same Section Viewport. That doesn't seem right... Changing the line length per-instance would indeed be new functionality as discussed elsewhere, but I'm surprised we can't change the Marker Scale individually. Seems like a bug IMO.

When you say "different scales".... are we talking about the length of the Section Line, or the size of the markers/bubbles/text?

You can do this in Vectorworks, just don't type the equals sign.

It's not a matter of being "fixed" since it's not a bug since the functionality never existed. But no, sadly, this has not yet been implemented. In some other thread recently someone posted a script which can help renumber sheets in the meantime. Can't seem to find it at the moment...

I've noticed this step being much slower recently than it ever was in the past. I have a hunch that something may changed at some point.

Some objects import from Rhino just fine. Anything rectilinear comes in as Generic Solids which is great. But then other things come in as hundreds or thousands of NURBS surfaces, which often slow down responsiveness. At the very least, having the option to automatically import those objects as Meshes instead of NURBS would be welcomed, since I find Meshes don't reduce responsiveness as badly. This option would need a conversion resolution setting, of course.

I may have mentioned this earlier in the thread, but Rhino has become QUITE popular amongst set designers for films (especially sci-fi & fantasy genres). As someone who has to import said files into Vectorworks, any additional interoperability between the programs would be incredibly welcome.

But let's not gaslight him... Vectorworks is NOT great in this respect. It's not possible to lock an axis of 3D movement in the same easy way that any other modern 3D program does such as SketchUp or Blender. The "T" thing sometimes works if you happen to be able to reliably move on that axis for a bit without other snaps getting in the way. But any sort of complex scene and this isn't really helpful and rarely works. (By the way, Mike, I'm guessing you're using a customized workspace which is why T is Trim for you. To see what key you should use instead or to set one up, go to Tools > Workspaces > Edit Current Workspace, go to "Keys" tab and enter a key for "Set Smart Point, Edge, or Vector Snap Lock.") That being said, Vectorworks desperately needs to add: 1) a 3D dragger for basic moving of objects in 3D space (I've heard talk of this happening in the future), and also 2) hotkeys to lock the movement to an axis without having to click on said dragger (like the arrow keys in SketchUp, or x y z keys in Blender). Sadly I haven't heard talk of this happening, but it's been often requested, and will be the only way Vectorworks will ever be taken seriously as a 3D app.

Correct - I'd say any "functional" classes that are actually controlling sub-parts of Plug-In Objects (such as Ceiling-Main being used by the Door PIO) are understandable and should be kept. Another example is that the Plant tool seems to always come with a bunch of "Plants-XXX" classes which are controlling sub-parts of the plant graphics. So for me, the spirit of this thread is more about non-functional top-level classes that aren't necessarily controlling attributes of anything. But others might have differing opinions. That's always the hardest part with software design: finding a middle ground default that pleases everyone 😅

Go to File > Document Settings > Document Preferences, Display tab, uncheck "Crop Perspective View."

I've never gotten that to do what it sounds like it should do. But if someone else has made it work I'd love to hear about it. For me, auto-generated classes are typically coming in from symbol libraries via the Resource Manager.

I've also frequently experienced the Trim tool not playing well with circle/arcs. Inconsistently, of course, so hard to file a bug.

If you're trying to get a Blender file into Vectorworks, I've had the most luck using OBJ (Wavefront).

I've often wondered.. does anyone use those auto-generated classes? Is there anyone that desires a class called "Furniture-Main" (for example) and actively uses it? I suspect Vectorworks has inadvertently caused hundreds of hours of unnecessary labor over the years for users to clean up class lists. I'm sure the original intention was to be helpful with auto-organization, but most users that I'm aware find it to be a paint in the butt. Additionally, my biggest pet peeve is that auto-generated classes are invisible by default in all existing Saved Views & Viewports. This trips up users constantly. I can't even count the number of times I've helped fellow users on this topic.

Agreed. Note that in the meantime you can employ the Eyedropper tool to pick up and place attributes from one Callout to another (make sure "Plug-in parameters" is checked). However, this doesn't let you pick and choose specific attributes the way Style-based objects do. Updating Callouts to be Style-based would be a nice improvement, along with bringing them up to speed in other ways such as the ability to have character Tracking.

No, but that would be a great feature for Vectorworks to add. I would find it particularly handy in things like Title Blocks and Data Tags.

You seem to be correct! Sweet.

Vectorworks can do math: - (hyphen/minus sign) does subtraction + (plus sign) does addition * (asterisk) does multiplication / (slash) does division Various drafting conventions use a hyphen between numbers to indicate various things, but when in any Vectorworks field, it will always lead to it doing math (notice how the OIP doesn't show hyphens within values either). What you are currently telling Vectorworks is 24 minus half. Simply type a space instead of a hyphen and it should work.

I'm guessing you're in 2023 Service Pack 4, which has an issue where curved 3D geometry is getting faceted to a lower level of detail in viewports. Do you have a different version you could try rendering in to see if the problem goes away? You can also try going into the symbol to play around with different object types, such as converting an extrude to a generic solid (some users have reported similar workarounds but I can't guarantee anything).

Very good analysis.

That's only useful for applying prefixes or suffixes or replacing text. It doesn't re-number or do any actual sequencing. For example if you're wanting to renumber a range of sheets in order to insert a new sheet into the list, that's currently NOT possible except to do it manually. (It's oft been wished for on here though.) But it you wanted to change 1, 2, 3, 4 to 101, 102, 103, 104, that's possible with Batch Rename.

Hi Matt, I've made a JIRA entry (VE-104236) and tagged you. It includes a 5 minute video demonstrating how Perimeter mapping used to work like magic when you needed a texture to "wrap" across surfaces, and how there's no current equivalent.