Travis

Pete, Seems I posted this as a wishlist item a couple years back, but I can't find it. . . I couldn't agree more. Please make this change ASAP.

Peter, good point. (as usual!) Truth is, I hope pschlie reposts with a little more description. He/she mentions ending up in a drawing mode, which is different from what we've been discussing.

Ahh. I do notice the 3D reshape tool becomes active when I double-click close to a 2D element while in a view other than Top/Plan. Usually I'm trying to activate the 2D reshape tool (with the double-click), but I wasn't actually over the 2D element. I agree, this is annoying. . .mostly it annoys me that I can't aim my mouse any better! However, I must say that I don't think I've ever noticed the mode change without some input from me; I wouldn't be able to call it "random".

Is it possible you're pressing a key? Most of the common tools come mapped to the keyboard so you can change modes without having to go to the pallets. I don't believe I have ever experienced the behavior you describe. Rather, I find this part of VW to be exceptionally stable. HTH,

What OS are you running? Which version of VW and Quartz?

My best guess is you're overwhelming your memory with too high resolution settings. In the Print dialog, go to the pull-down menu and select Vectorworks. Make sure the resolution is set to 360 or lower. Let us know if this works,

After (occasionally before) the timberframe is complete, we use VWA's wall and roof tool(s) to represent the SIP system. We've only done one straw-bale wall, and my memory is we used the wall tool for that as well. HTH

I generally "rough-in" a frame design using the Framing Member tool, as Ron mentions; however, I simply use the Pillar command in VWA for posts (and attach record information for the Timber Schedule). Use the rafter setting for rafters and knee braces both (yes, I know, the brace top angle will be wrong, just keep reading); beams and purlins can be inserted with the same tool. One significant advantage of using this tool is the ability to create a Timber Schedule that will tally sizes and volume (board-feet for us imperialists). This helps when designing to a budget, and everyone has a budget. Make sure to use the power of Symbols wherever possible: i.e. when one size of brace will be reused, even once, create a symbol and duplicate it. Also, be sure to use the power of Classes to keep things organized: i.e. have at least one class for Framing-Rough (we actually use Framing-Rough-4x; Framing-Rough-6x; etc.) and another for Framing-Final. See my note on "dressing things up" below. The significant disadvantage is fine-tuning the members for "look". Knee braces frequently have a slight arch cut in the bottom face; tie- , plate- , and summer beams, as well king-posts, often have some embellishment or other. We've toyed with the possibility of hiring someone to create a plug-in just for knee braces, but for now we do this: once the general frame design is pretty well roughed-in and quantities have been verified, one of our artsy designers begins dressing things up; usually one symbol at a time. Do this by drawing the final shape of a member (such as a brace) in place, extrude/add/subtract/whatever to get a realistic 3D version of the member. We will usually even include tenons and sometimes mortises. Class this as Final (see above); copy/paste the final member inside the symbol that holds the Rough version of the same member. For the "refined" members, there should now be a Rough element and a Final element inside the same symbol. You may need to edit the 2D component of the symbol for clarity. As the design is refined, the affected symbol can be edited for Rough timber size as well Final appearance and/or joinery. The Rough elements (that were created with the Framing Member tool) will automatically feed the Timber Schedule accurate information, and the model (using the Final components) can quickly be used to create accurate shop drawings. Finally, you'll want to build a library of joinery details that can be referenced in as req'd. That way one doesn't have to draw every detail in every frame. I've watched other draftsmen in TimberCAD and seen their presentation and shop drawings. . .I'd put our work from VWD up against theirs any day. It seems Brandt's original query might have been directed toward steel, but hopefully the protocol outlined might be helpful. A wide-flange column could easily be modeled using the 2D Plug-in and then the Pillar command. I've tried to be informative without being over-detailed. If something's not clear, please repost. Good luck,

Brandt, What version of VW do you have? We do a considerable amount of post and beam work, so I could give you some pointers if I know what you're working with.

What an excellent suggestion!

I would second this motion. (Now if we could just encourage new users to utilize the *improved* search function, they might find more answers, quicker. . .and Pete wouldn't have to repeat himself as often.)

Pete, I agree it's not necessary. But one walks the line between being precise and concise when offering advice, don't you agree?

What link said and. . . make sure your roof object is on a separate layer from the walls. Good luck,

As an extension to Pete's suggestion, which I'd welcome, it would be slick to be able to rotate the image in the texture edit dialog. We often find it necessary to have two textures using the same image oriented at different angles so they can be applied to the PIOs Pete mentions to create a true-to-life rendering.

The tool isn't smart enough to know when you want to select something new and when you want to keep working with what you've already selected. You describe exactly how I think it should work. You might try grouping the objects you want work on, then double-click on the group. Good luck,

Kevin, I use the Section Marker to key details. With it, you have several options for either end of the line. . .including using a custom symbol. HTH,

No need to trace: just double-click the floor slab to get to the underlying 2D geometry. Copy the polygon, exit the slab, paste polygon in place (I paste it on another layer); use as basis for the framing tool. Good luck,

I would up that to at least 2Gb. I run 3 on my own, and the others all have at least 2. Otherwise, I'd echo the Mac recommendation: I bought my first one in February 1984 because I didn't think I was smart enough to figure out DOS. I've never looked back, or sideways either. Probably makes my recommendation sound rather one-sided. . .it is. Good luck,

Make the resulting polyline have a thicker lineweight. Select the group and scale up slightly (1.05 or maybe 1.1), then set a thicker lineweight. This is, in fact, exactly how the typefont works. HTH,

Use Work Group Reference. Make sure no layers have the same name in both files, then pick one to be the parent file. I'd probably work from a copy. From the parent, WGR to the daughter file and bring in the needed layers. If you truly want to "merge" the two, break the link but keep the elements. Now you have everythingin one file. You don't mention which version of VW you're using. . .please read http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthrea...age=0#Post77492 . . .but yes, VW12 does have some very advanced "live" sectioning capabilities. It works as well as your model is complete and there are numerous features to master. You'd do well to search these boards for threads related to sections and viewports. Keep posting & asking. Good luck,

Ronin, HLRs are "transparent". . .only the lines have density. This allows any color or grayscale from the second VP to show through. (That's what you're seeing in the examples posted.) Make sure the back VP is set to render with Renderworks or OpenGL. Update both VPs. If you don't have the RW option with your VectorWorks, this isn't going to work. Good luck,

On the Create Report window, click on the Options button. Here you can set Search in Symbols (or PIOs, if applicable). So long as you have the record attached to the appropriate elements inside the Symbol, the report generator will count each occurance of every record. Good luck,

The first thing that I'd check is Class visibility. It's likely all your Viewports have the same class and it's possible you've managed to turn that Class off. Good luck,

If the entire list had been reduced to this one item, I'd still have voted with the "eyes". Thanks for taking the time and thought to assemble this list.

At the top of your Navigation Pallet (or View>Class & Layer Options) check to make sure you don't have Gray/Snap Others turned on for either Layers or Classes. This setting would allow you to smart cursor the objects but not select them if they're not on the active layer or class. Good luck,