Mark Aceto

Massive appreciation for this feature. Thanks to all who listened!

Yup.

Oh, wow, looks like the WX 9100 is already compatible: So that's probably as close to the 1080 ti as I could get!

Thanks, @zoomer. What are the 2 GPU's? I'm only aware of the 580. Considering that the WX9100 costs $1600 before an enclosure, and VW can't take full advantage of GPU acceleration yet, the 580 might actually be a great solution for the next yearly cycle of Vectorworks/Apple hardware. BTW the baseline for me is the 1080 Ti... so whatever AMD chip will get me as close to that performance on a Mac.

Assuming OpenCL and OpenGL are comparable metrics for VW use, the 580 is a budget card at best: https://browser.geekbench.com/opencl-benchmarks And a $600 solution to a $5,000 problem computer doesn't sound like great budgeting. Hoping for a 16GB AMD eGPU solution (like the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100). Does anyone know if I can make that work with a 2018 MacBook Pro or a 2017 iMac? As it stands, the 2017 iMac is the still the fastest Mac for VW: https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks Waiting to see spec's for the 2018 iMac (hopefully no overheating/downclocking) before upgrading 2014 MacBook Pro. Assuming the 2019 Mac Pro will have a base cost of $10k, and all manner of disappointing compromises chosen by "experts"...

This is the only feature that matters in VW 2019. I'm sick of seeing my 10-core workstation with 16GB of VRAM maxed out at 120% CPU on the only core that VW is capable of using, so that I have to force quit the application, and lose my work. This is unacceptable. No more new features. The maintenance release is long overdue.

Reporting back here with some findings... Been using an iMac Pro 3.0Ghz 10-core CPU, Vega 64 16GB GPU, 64MB RAM machine for a few weeks now. Haven't tried rendering yet but I frequently get the spinning beach ball of death "Application Not Responding" message a lot (Activity Monitor reports the good old "using 125% of CPU"), so I can say without a doubt for any work that you're doing in design layers, get the fastest single-core clock speed CPU that money can buy. VW is absolutely CPU-constrained on a single-core before you ever get to rendering on multiple cores. That said, if you're on a Mac, you have to choose between clock speed (iMac) and GPU (iMac Pro) for now.

@Kevin McAllisterEditing, panning, zooming... all have huge lag, and will redraw the geometry (along with the weird ghosting you mentioned above). All of my colleagues are experiencing the same thing. We fly through 3D modeling on design layers, and dread plating the sheet layers because Vectorworks comes grinding to a halt. It feels like pan, wait a second. Double click, wait a second. Zoom, wait a second. That's why I thought the issue was with the graphics card but a 1080 Ti didn't help much.

Thanks, Jim. This is extremely helpful, especially with all of the conjecture surrounding this issue. Last question: are there any best practices for not making this issue any worse? For example, fewer viewports on sheet layers, reduce textures, wireframe vs openGL vs hidden line, sheet layer page size, viewport DPI...? I've made a habit of dimensioning as much as possible on a Dimensions design layer (in plan view) so it's one less cause for annotating a viewport on a sheet layer. Likewise I've started annotating notes and callouts either on design layers, or on top of viewports on sheet layers---basically anything to avoid editing, panning, zooming or just plain working with a viewport on a sheet layer at all. Just stabbing in the dark here but if there's anything I can do on my end to speed things up, and make life easier by working around this issue, please advise.

OK, and just for clarification: GPU won't help... until Vectorworks 2019? This limitation is not Mac-only

Sorry, that must be slang for Sheet Layers: light plots, ground plans... It seems particularly slow when I have 3+ viewports on the same sheet layer: plan, front, side, iso... So I'm looking for a solution to make that part of VW go faster (until it moves to the GPU).

So what's the solution for working around the issue of VW slamming on the brakes as soon as I start plating? Assuming the same maxed out GPU, RAM, SSD, would you recommend: i7 4-core 4.5Ghz W-2145 (Xeon) 8-core 3.7Ghz W-2155 (Xeon) 10-core 3.3Ghz Something else? I'm trying to find a balance between modeling, plating, and rendering speed in my workflow. I recently built a Mac Pro 5,1 12-core 3.46Ghz system with a 1080 Ti, 64GB RAM, 1GB SSD and 2x 4k displays. 3D modeling speed was great. 3D rendering speed good. Plating was as slow as ever. Assuming top/plan view etc. will move to the VGM by 2019, around the same time the Mac Pro is released, I'm really just looking for a solution for the next year or so. BTW I'm fully aware that a Windows machine would be a better solution (especially for the money) but I'm stuck on a Mac for the near future.

@JimWhas top/plan view moved over to the VGM in 2018 yet?

@JimWthis is super helpful. What are your thoughts on the 16GB Radeon Pro Vega 64, and the upcoming iMac Pro compared to the Windows workstation described above (other than the Mac being ridiculously overpriced)?

Unibrow escape key for when I try to render on a Mac

@Andrew Daviesadding to @michaelk... It's really an organizational vs. presentation distinction. I typically abbreviate viewport names to organize my drawing in a nerdy systematic hierarchy (similar to classes) for quick sorting and searching: Plan Overview Iso Left Iso Left Persp HL Iso Left Persp GL Front Stage However, I prefer to title drawings with natural language to improve readability for clients and collaborators: Overview Left Iso Left Perspective Left Perspective Render Stage Elevation

@JimWwhere is the constantly visible field?

Yep. Looks like they also added a subtle artistic style to the edges. However, the more salient point is that we still don't have Tyler GT truss symbols yet. http://www.tylertruss.com/product/gt.php Upstaging just drew their own cad blocks from scratch. Top of the wish list.

Is there a way to render a projector cone with lit fog in the same manner as a light beam?

@sidram Good to see you hear, Jamie. @nathansmith50 I'd love to check out those Layher scaff symbols, so I'm going to PM you. Thanks, Mark

For dead-on views -- Top, Front, Back, Right, Bottom, Back -- I spend most of my time using ortho. However, for Iso views, I spend most of my time using perspective. I would never want to impose my preferences on other users' workflows but adding the option to leave a narrow perspective on would save me a lot of time and frustration by allowing me to focus on the work itself instead of constantly fiddling with the interface. Thank you for adding that feature to the wish list. It seems like that preference would be a natural fit in the main toolbar, right next to the Standard Views picker.

@michaelk Are you using the Mad Catz driver/software that came with the mouse, or the default driver in OS X? Also, please advise if the Mad Catz software is required for any of the actions described below. Are you able to program any of the mouse buttons to Vectorworks? For example, views. Can you use the DPI/sensitivity buttons with the Flyover tool? For example, to adjust the speed of rotation. I've read a few negative reviews regarding build quality (wobbly parts, worn out buttons)... What's your experience? Thanks for your help. These pretty Apple input devices are becoming increasingly painful, so I need to find a mouse and keyboard solution.