MikeN

If all of your windows are to remain the same and to negate this from happening again (having to update the individual window PIO's), it's a nice time-saving measure to create a symbol from the window style you want so that you can globaly update them all in the future.

I've seen Norton pickup other computers on the network before when looking for serial numbers, but I thought this intrusion was a bit abnormal...

I thought I'd post a quirk with the stair tool since the title of this thread is 'Stair Tool v12' (not that I helped much by keeping it on topic). When setting up a stair on layer 'x' then cutting and pasting to later 'y' for reference purposes, a dialogue pops up telling me that the floo-to-floor measurements isn't going to work. That's understandable. But when I undo to go back to where I'd originally created the stair and try to edit the settings, I get a VectorScript error that then renders the stair permenantly un-editable. Anyone else seeing this? Saving, closing and re-opening the file does not repair the issue. However, shutting down VW and re-opening the file does 'revive' the stair. [ 03-16-2006, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

Disagree. Complete redesign? No thanks. Tweaks? Yes please. I think the conceptual notion that NNA has taken with these tools is heading in the right direction as there have been some great improvemnts in these tools over the past couple of releases. I just think that they require a fair amount of tweaking. [ 03-15-2006, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

Before I open this can of worms, understand that I?ve been using Vectorworks everyday since 8 or 8.5 (lost track) and believe in its approach to CAD production and the future of BIM. I never hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking to purchase a CAD program and I think that NNA have made some great strides over the years and created some very valuable resources that I can?t do without. I?m of the opinion that software in general will inherently have flaws and if you?re willing to plunk down money for it you?ve got to be willing to work with and around those flaws to get the job done. I?ve bit the bullet so to speak. In conjunction with some interesting points raised on some recent posts (see BC?s above) and some chats with local VW users, I?ve seen a pattern develop with the VW release numbers in relation to their stability: 9.0, 9.0.1, 9.5 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.5 11.0, 11.0.1, 11.5 12.0, 12.0.1 etc.... To some extent I feel as though I?m paying for a beta copy with that of VW 12.0.0 and 12.0.1, which isn?t the end of the world for me because by nature I enjoy troubleshooting technological matters just as much as architectural issues. But from time-to-time I really get frustrated with what seems to be less than polished PIO?s. For instance the base cabinet PIO?s in 12.0.0 (there?s a topic from January on the BB about it) drove me up the wall for a couple of hours until I found a workaround for it but I?m beginning to see how some paying customers can get pretty ticked. It doesn?t help matters when some NNA Admin bulletin board responses fall along the lines of ?I wouldn't call the cabinet object in the state that it is as "final". Everything is a work in progress.? If that?s the case, shouldn?t it be called at least in beta state? If I?m not mistaken VW XX.5 releases are free upgrades if you purchased XX.0 so maybe we should be paying for the XX.5 releases rather than the XX.0 and XX.0.1. Here's a hypothetical release restructuring to replace what a previous poster called a ?false economy? for the 13 series. (on second thought, maybe NNA should bypass13 and move on to 14? ) - Rename 13.0.0 to 13alpha and release it for NNA in-house and select industry users only. - Rename 13.0.1 to 13beta and put it out there at no charge for wide release to the public for those willing to venture into the unknown. - Rename 13.5 to 13.0.0 and sell it to the public as a mature or ?stable? platform release. Call it beta and a lot of issues would be easier pills to swallow in my opinion. It should be noted that some of the cabinet PIO issues found in 12.0 were tweaked and re-released in 12.0.1. [ 03-11-2006, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

Christiaan Correct me if I'm wrong, but from your previous post it sounds like you're trying to mash two individaul stair configurations together. As mentioned above by Mike, the configuration you're showing in the image is a 'Double Platform-U' that can be found in the VW12 Stair settings and can be created in a single step (no pun intended). [ 03-10-2006, 05:11 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

It?s hard to withhold grumpy messages when your workflow is interrupted by gaps in logic regarding the development of the software tools. Regarding the door swing, why allocate it to the class 'sills'? If an integral component of a door is not showing up in plan and we have to hunt for a class to turn on that we'd never used in a previous release, at least place the item on a class that represents the actual door component like 'leaf' or 'panel'. Last time I checked there was quite a difference between a door swing and a door sill. [ 03-05-2006, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

Make sure you have a texture applied to the class settings of your glazing.

I've seen this happen when the same file is WGRef'd more than once within the same file. I've seen files work just fine with the same file WGRef'd twice, but more often than not, its also been the root of the problem.

Which Operating System are you running?

You?re previous post on CAD vs. Hand-drawn is a nice segue to this topic. I don?t think a printed set of drawings for markup, no matter what size the office is, will disappear any time soon as reaching a particular permit stage of a project is a milestone and requires a full print for review, not only for discrepancies but for the overall look and feel of the drawing package you?re about to present. From my experience the workflow model varies from principal to principal and their comprehension of computer applications other than just CAD, Additionaly, its important that the principal has an understanding as to when to put down the pencil and make the transition to digital drawings. The red pen and/or pencil are not dead, but some folks out there just need to know when to put them down and let the technological aspects of the software and the skilled user take it from there.

Has anyone seen some form of instruction for VWA 12 on how to use the Window Wall PIO's? I searched high and low through the PDF and F1 Help and have come up short.

Is anyone on the board attending the BIM seminar w/ Robert Anderson in San Francisco this Wednesday the 11th or going to the Nor Cal user group meeting?

I like some of the changes to the Wall Took in VW 12. However, I've recently noticed that once you've set the wall thickness through the Components of the Wall Preferences, you can't change the the thickness through the Object Info Pallette anymore. I understand the desire to streamline and nail down wall type standards, but it would be nice to still maintain some flexibility for on-the-fly adjustments. Is it possible to enable this wall thickness option?

I'd love to help you. I should have a list to you by later this week.

With the advent of viewports we've reached a comfort level working and producing complete drawing packages in 3d with Vectorworks and no longer have the desire to create traditional 2d interior millwork elevations. So, I guess this if the first time I've bothered to use the cabinet PIO's for presentation and production rather than just massing studies and thus wanted to tweak particular millwork elements. And yes, there are clients out there who want some variation between color & finish of the doors and bases. As someone mentioned earlier, glass doors would be a prime example (see comments below about Vectorscript). The question for me would be, throughout the history of the Cabinet PIO, why has NNA neglected to implement the same level of style/class availability as those afforded to the Door and Window PIO's? For example, under the 'View' tab of the Door PIO settings, I can almost infinitely tweak the door elements through style, class and texture application. It just makes sense to me that those same options would carry over to the cabinet objects. In regards to Vectorscript, when you have a look at the Base Cabinet Vectorscript parameters it would seem as though NNA considered adding these options but for some reason decided not to. For instance I see a Glazing parameter but it?s nowhere to be found in the actual Base Cabinet PIO options. The Cabinet PIO's are so relatively similar to the Door and Window PIO's that I'm surprised they weren't developed at the same time. What makes me scratch my head even further is the fact that people are relying on picking up third party millwork applications to fill in gaps when NNA has come so close to a relatively complete package with some of great strides in the PIO's now available in 12.

What's interesting is that within the Vectorscript of the Base Cabinet PIO, a lot of the paramaters are there to be utilized and a some of the fields are filled-in with this: __NNA_DO_NOT_CHANGE. Anyone care to explain what the plans are? [ 11-22-2005, 09:19 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

I've started using the Base Cabinet PIO and through the object info palette am able to set the style of the counter and the kick but not the most important part: the millwork itself. I want to be able to edit the style of a cabinet door or drawer front as well as the millwork boxes. You'd think it would be a straight forward feature to implement as you're able to tweak the frame, sash and mullion of door and/or window PIO's. Am I missing something or did NNA release an incomplete PIO? If so, why release it at all when it's missing the most important component? [ 11-22-2005, 09:08 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

Alanmac, I should have clarified my opinion in regards to color and its cost relation to printing and not necessarily to VW. Color printing in my neck of the woods costs an arm and a leg and quite often the client can't justify the cost for color mark-up sets unless they're for a presentation. [ 11-22-2005, 08:52 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

Developing 3d colored and textured drawing packages has been a great tool for us and I have to echo the sentiment of a few other posters in this thread. With a fair amount of tinkering around and setup time required, 3d colored and textured drawing packages are the way to go. The modeling tools in VW are there in order to execute this process however, VW still has a lot of ground to cover to develop the necessary 3d production tools we require in order to make 3D & color a more cost effective platform for drawing production.

Printing in grey scale depends on the printer and the related driver it uses. For instance, I use a HP 11x17 printer for my in-house check sets and the HP print driver has a grey scale option. When printing I do not change my VW document settings to 'Black & White Only' and continue work in the color environment. I select the grey scale option that is accessed from the 'properties' dialogue of my HP printer within the VW 'print' command. You can also set it up to print Grey Scale by defualt in the printer settings of your OS. Additionaly, while retaining the color VW document pref, you can print grey scale using Adobe PDF from your 'print' setup and selecting Black & White from the PDF 'Paper/Quality' properites. Bottom line; when trying to print in grey scale in VW, do not use the 'Black and White Only' VW Document Preference - retain the color profile and use the Grey Scale or Black & White setting within your printer settings. [ 11-22-2005, 01:30 PM: Message edited by: Runtime Error ]

I've recently had the same issues with scaling 3DS files however the texures seem to be fine. Haven't spent much time exploring the issue, but I'll post something when I do.

I'm sure there's an even better model out now with this PCI express platform, but in Dec 2004 I started using using the 128mb ATi Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo card on my laptop and it still performs admirably. Although I don't render with Final RW on my laptop (partly because I render on the desktop), working in the Open GL environment is never a problem.

alanmac correctly replied with reference to the platform specific license and the fact that you'll have to pay for the changeover. To clarify the matter, ask your VW deaer for for a 'Second Seat' price when you order your PC license and you should recieve a discount.

Based on your sentence structure it sounds like your desktop is slower than your laptop and despite the 1ghz difference in RAM they don't seem to be that much different. Either way, I can run VW12 on a Mobile Pentium M @ 2gz w/ 1gb RAM and a 128mb ATi video card with absolutely no problems. Please clarify if you were asking if turning off services within XP or VW will help it run faster. If you meant XP, yes there are some services that run in the background of XP that drain overall computer performance. If you meant VW, yes there are some tweaks you can make to your workspace and the 3d environment that will help you move around the drawing a bit quicker. Just quickly clarify your laptop platform and related XP or VW issue and I'll send you some tips that should help a bit.