cberg

One thing I noticed is that the font size for all the pull down menus in VW2015 seems to have gotten even smaller and much much harder to read. Your software developers must all be in their twenties. Is there any way to change this?

So how will plan cuts work then with this new level/story paradigm? If I have a stair tower that goes up say three stories. And I have windows and doors in various locations. How it be possible to make sure that they show up correctly in plan? Cberg

VW2014 was released mid September... http://planet.vectorworks.net/2013/09/vectorworks-2014-releases-today/

I figured it out. It is indeed a preference. Under Preferences, checking Quartz imaging displays rounded end caps, whereas unchecking makes the ends square.

Maybe I am missing something, but I don't see an option to keep the edges square. Is it a display preference? Could you share the file with the line type? Thx, Cberg

Is there any way to edit the line types so that the edges are square instead of round when you zoom in on them. I saw this discussion but it was not particularly useful in answering the question. https://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=11292

I found a workaround but it is kind of a pain. I had to set up a design layer with the keynote legend. All the callouts are linked to this layer. It then keeps all numbers consistent and when one updates, all of my sheets update.

Here is what I am doing... I set up a master sheet with all my notes. A master keynote legend sheet as it were. I make global edits there. I place all my callouts as keynotes on this master legend sheet. All is good. I go into the various annotation windows of the next next sheet, and start labeling. I can reference the master sheet, and the numbers are consistent. All is still good. However when I want to move a copy of that master keynote legend to the sheet I am working on, the keynote information disappears. There appears to be no way to duplicate it or copy the master keynote information across sheets. If you change the callouts to reference the default sheet, numbers start to change from sheet to sheet. I was looking for a dialogue box for the keynote legend object which "establishes" the database. Instead the keynote legend appears to link itself to the sheet layer. I suppose I can ungroup the high level object and make copies, but it sort of defeats the purpose of having a legend. Am I missing something obvious?

I guess not. Frustrating.

Is there a trick to keeping the callout numbers consistent across various sheets? I am using the database manager and the place as keynote function of the callout tool...

Is there way to reference the same viewport detail callout to multiple locations. For instance I may have a typical parapet detail or sill detail. How can one place the same detail marker on more than one viewport? I am trying to make use of Vectorworks' "intelligent" automated drawing coordination features. Thx, Cberg

That's even better, thank you! I never knew about the =L trick. Is there a list of format commands for worksheets?

I see what you have to do. Set some additional criteria, and summarize by that criteria. Like the parking width. This will work if all the parking spaces have the same field values. It's a little bit of a cludge, but I guess it will do.

This is a similar but related question. If I have an object like a parking space, where I need to summarize a field, like the number of spaces, how do I collapse or summarize the information. For example, in the attached file, I don't need to list all the parking space objects individually. I need a tally of total spaces, preferably by layer. I'd like to be able to summarize by a field. See attached.

In the space tool, I'd like to be able to adjust the unit tolerances for areas and room dimensions separately from the document unit tolerances. Frequently you want these units to be to the nearest whole number, not fractions or decimals. However when you adjust the global unit tolerances, it affects the accuracy of the drawing and your ability I find myself having to frequently toggle unit tolerances and recalculate areas quite frequently.

Maybe I am not seeing something obvious... Why does the object information dialogue box for standard viewports allow you to change the drawing/detail tag name, but not the drawing number? Section viewports on the other hand allow you to change both the drawing name and the drawing number.

I've discovered that exports to Sketchup work better when the VW files are exported as ACAD 12/13 instead of later versions... Not sure why this is the case, but thought I'd share.

This drives me crazy as well.

Export from VW to Sketchup is neither quick nor easy. And while you can do it, there is a ton of time/cleanup work involved. I start with a fairly easy VW model. Attachment 0. 1. I have to export via dwg since in the standard architect version of the program there is no easy way to export to SKP directly. (I haven't found any other way to export cleanly.) As a rule, I do not export hatches or fills, and try to export as ACIS solids to keep the faces as coplanar, though this doesn't guarantee success. I turn off all classes that aren't necessary. Here are the things that I've discovered. 1. You can only export one layer at a time. Otherwise you get a huge mess. See Attachment 1, export with multiple layers turned on... 2. Even when you export as ACIS solids and no fills or hatches, there can be inconsistent results which require a fair bit of cleanup. For whatever reason, on one floor of my building there is a lot of triangulated faces. I have to delete all the hidden geometry to my faces coplanar. Window glazing objects do not export as planar objects, but as faceted planes. See Attachment 2. 3. Hybrid types of objects do not export consistently. Slabs for example are tricky to export, and require a lot of fussing. See Attachment 3. The complex slab shape for whatever reason, doesn't show up as a solid object. All of the above results in a lot of time fussing with the export model.

What about Sketchup export? There's an intuitive ease of use about SKP, that Vectorworks really doesn't have. It would be very helpful to quickly work back and forth between the two programs. Sketchup is much easier to design/communicate with. Vectorworks is better for documentation and figuring things out.

Then we would also need 'live' updating viewports that wouldn't require you to hit an 'Update' button once something changed in the model. Imagine having to hit Update to your plan viewport every time something changed....

Is there a way to adjust the Space Tool dimension tolerances separately from the VW Document Settings unit tolerances? For example, I might want my drawing dimensional tolerance to be set at 1/8" but Space Tool dimensions only set to the nearest inch, cm or whatever... Same thing for areas. Frequently we use these values to show general dimensions. I know you can adjust globally, under Settings_Document Preference_Units, and then recalculate dimensions... However, it would be helpful to adjust these values locally within the space tool. Thx cberg

The plugin works for me in 2014, sp3, on a mac running 10.7.5. Perhaps it is related to your OS? In my opinion, the screen vs layer plane mode is one of the most dysfunctional and confusing aspects of 3D Vectorworks. Screen mode seems like a legacy function that really should just go away. There must be some reason why it hasn't....

Is there any way this tool can be modified to add a Vertical Grab Bar? In our part of the world, we are required by code to install vertical bars in our accessible toilet stalls. Perhaps there is a workaround....

They probably used the Touch Up Text tool in Adobe Acrobat Pro (full version, not Acrobat Reader...) While you can probably secure or lock the PDF somehow, it is probably easiest to save the PDF jpeg, so that it is no longer vector based. It may make the file sizes a little larger. But you shouldn't notice a huge problem when you print. Cberg