Josh Schulman

What Peter is saying really gets to the heart of my initial comment. It is clear the VW is using the IES data to render. Why can't it display that data? How can that data be captured ? That's really what I'm after. Also, in regards to the photometeric grids, it would be great to be able to draw them on any object in 3d space. So not just a floor but on a wall, up a set of stairs, around objects.

Why can't VW use IES files to calculate foot-candles using the photometric grid? It can import IES files and use them to create lighting instruments the can be used for renderings, why can't it access that data and show us what it is "seeing"? Architectural lighting is an industry in need of disruption. VW should be that disruptor. AGI32 is clunky at best and crashes all the time. It can't be that hard to take IES files and use them to calc grids. Speaking of which, why can't you place calc grids on surfaces other than the "floor"? What if I wanted to see how bright a wall or backdrop was going to be?

When I use the Align and Distribute Items tool in Spotlight, Vectorworks crashes. Thoughts?

I think it would be handy to be able to give lengths to multiple control lines in the camera match tool. Would that not help set the scale and perspective?

I have noticed that the Align/Distribute Items tool in Spotlight is broken. This is still true as of the most recent Service Pack. Has anyone else seen this?

When I publish a sheet layer from VW all of a sudden my computer is giving me this: The file "(file name)" could not be opened because it is empty" Any thoughts?

I've had to do this before as well. The best solution I came up wit was to start with a bunch of random dots then group them. Take the group and duplicate array with a rotation of something wacky a few times. Then grab all of it and duplicate it, rotate it, mirror it, then spin it some more. Pretty soon you end up with many many "random" dots. HTH

That works well. Thank you!

I work for a staging and entertainment company. I am trying to get weights of groups of objects (truss, lights, motors, that sort of thing) easily reported. I created a record format for every object that I use and gave every symbol I use a weight. I'm trying to get a report back for a selection of objects that will tell me how much everything weighs.

I'm confused. What is the difference between the two?

Is it possible to create a report based on an active selection of objects?

In 2015 if you used the Replace function on a symbol, VW would remember the symbol folder you were last in and start you there. In 2016, you always start at the top of the symbol list for the current document. Is there a way to gain back the old functionality?

I have a large symbol library that I use and I haver had a consistent problem with 2016. I go to my library and import the fixtures that I need to use for the drawing, never mind that now I need to import the fixtures from my master library instead of just having them selected, and when I do, most of the unit disappears. I have looked in classes thinking that one of them is turned off to no avail. When I select the symbol and attempt to edit the 2d component, the program crashes. I do not like the stock symbols that are in VW which is why I use the ones that I have created. Don't even get me started on the new forced workflow of the instrument selection tool. It is slow and cumbersome at best. The last update was useful but please, can we get another to address theses stability issues?

I've noticed that the Spotlight plugins are much slower in 2016. For instance, using the Stagelift tool, the Lighting Instrument tool, the Stagesteps tool. Asking VW to generate the Instrument Summary. There is a lot of lag. Has anyone else noticed any of this?

It seems with the new version of VW if I have the tool selected and use my arrow key to pan over in the drawing, the tool de-selects itself. I don't recall this behavior in 2015. Is there a preference I"m missing or is this a bug?

I know that VW doesn't understand what weight is that way it understands length. Having said that, what is the best way to attach a weight to a symbol and then have VW add all of the weights of objects up? I'm looking for best practices or thoughts along those lines. I will say that I find working with VW worksheets to be a total pain in the butt. Thanks!

So I am making the hull of a ship and I know that VW isn't built to do this at all. What I've done is to make several cross sections or ribs out of Nurbs curves. Then I used the Loft Surface tool to make the sides. This all working like a charm. I now have a hollow "hull" but what I really need to do is fill it in. I need to fill it in so I can cut the profile of the ship out of the hull and not have it be hollow. I have tried using the Stitch and Trim Surfaces tool to on avail. There is not very good documentation on this tool. Any thoughts? I have attached the file as well. Thank you!

It would be handy if you could choose how big the resources were in the browser window. Sometimes they are so small it is hard to tell what they are.

This is great, thank you.

I'm trying to make a BOM for a series of drawings. How do I tell VW to only count objects (symbols) from a specific layer? I am trying to do this via the Create Report command. Is there a better way of going about this? Thank you

I would love to see some updated lighting fixtures libraries (spotlight). I would also like to have VW render linear lighting instruments better. For instance a Colorforce 72 having light come out of the length of the fixture.

I've noticed that it is not possible to do math inside of the Object Info Palette anymore. I've got a bunch of lines that are different sizes and I'm trying to universally shrink them all by .5" On old versions of VW I would have selected them one at a time and after their length in the OIP I would type in -.5" but that doesn't seem to do anything any more. Is that a bug?

Ahh, I see. JimW, thank you so much!

Here is one of the pieces that is rendering oddly. I'm pretty sure that the extruded text isn't poking through the back end of the object behind it but maybe I'm wrong.

So I'm working on this project and I have discovered that some of my objects are see through even though they don't have a texture applied to them. I made the text using the "Convert Text to Polylines" tool then I extruded the letters .1" I know that the letters aren't in the wall that they are next to. The really crazy thing is that the letters don't show through when in different viewing angles, just this one. Any help would be great.