Gilbert Osmond

Replying specifically to the "Mac Mini M2 better?" question, based on the MM M2's specs, it's only an incremental performance bump, not a step change. So, only incrementally faster. Not sure whether someone's later reply concerning a Mac Mini M2 possibly throttling (due to heat) on a long render vs. a Studio is on point. Has anyone tested this head-to-head? Seems to me the M2 architecture in general is vastly more efficient than the prior bloated Intel junk, so that heat buildup on long renders may not be an issue? ---- Overall I think that for the majority of VW of users, the current gen. of M1/M2-based hardware is getting close to "good enough," and "fast enough," I.e. there comes a point in photorealistic rendering when the resolution, lighting, level of detail etc. is approaching the max reasonable limits of human perception, beyond which there is no need to go. Dep. of course on size & complexity of the models. Sort of the way smart phone camera tech has ramped exponentially over the past decade, and it's getting to a point at which there are only incremental gains left to be extracted, not massive step-changes in quality / usability.

As it turns out, I cancelled the M1Max 10-core / 32GPU core / 64GB and went for a lesser-spec'ced M1 Pro 16" Macbook with 32GB RAM. It's not due to arrive until mid-late Dec. My reason for going lower-spec was that after reading an Anandtech deep-dive on the M1 Pro vs. Max CPUs , it became clear to me that there's hardly any difference in single-threaded performance between these CPUs. It's only in very intensive multi-threaded and/or GPU-intensive workflows that an M1Max is justifiable. For my needs, the step-up from a core i7 2.6Ghz to an M1 Pro / 32GB ram is likely to fill my needs for at least 3-4 years.

Unfortunately that probably won't ever happen as it would severly undercut Apple's high-end price points on the new M1Pro/Max Macbook Pros while also pushing the Mini in the wrong direction (from Apple's perspective) toward the performance tier(s) of forthcoming MX-powered Mac Pros.

M1Max has 10 CPU cores, 32 GPU cores. I went for the 64GB RAM option. 2021 MB Pro 16". Looking forward to seeing how some of my more complex models run on this, compared to my 2019 MB Pro 2.6Ghz core i7 / 16GB RAM.

Is anyone else getting a "Product update check failed.." error when manually selecting Vectorworks --> Check for Updates in VW 2021 SP4.1? I know my internet connection is working fine. I'm thinking maybe it's a temporary server glitch on Nemets / Vectorworks side because other updates (for example Resource updates) are working fine, and my recent update to SP4.1 a couple of weeks ago also worked fine. I did already try rebooting my MacBook Pro & the problem persists.

I'm experiencing this exact same issue. I'm trying to do a simple Taper Face on a plain rectangular 3D solid. Some faces can be tapered normally, but others -- in this case, the face I want to taper -- cannot. The OIP shows Extrude - Locked. I've tried Unlocking the object multiple ways, to no avail. I think this must be some kind of bug because I never had this problem tapering any face of a simple rectangular solid in the past. I'm using VW2021 SP4.1 under OS X 10.14.6.

This is fantastic work. If you accept donations via cryptocurrency or some other online tips platform, consider posting it so I can compensate you for what this is worth to me. At least $50 USD. Thanks again & I look forward to ongoing refinements time-permitting.

I just added this to my Resources in VW Designer 2021. An initial test shows that it works pretty well. Thanks very much, learning to program with Vectorscript exceeds my time/attention budget for the forseeable future.

That's an interesting round-about way to achieve a similar result. I wonder if it would work for "1-dimensional" site models, i.e. where the "site model" is just a single line of points with no width (i.e. no cross-slope area.) Maybe I could use this to create 2D figures and then just convert the site model (in 2D plan view) to lines, and throw away the site model. Roundabout method...

Not sure if any do. I am not a licensed surveyor but I do a fair amount of informal surveying using GPS equipment to capture client landscapes. The workflow is easy -- shoot points, download a .CSV file of coordinates, import it into VW, and it's ready to use -- just need a way to connect dots semi-automatically to expedite linework.

Maybe there's some plug-in or 3rd party script that will turn up to help me do this. As a CAD platform that aspires to be survey-ready I find it hard to believe that VW doesn't include this feature as part of its basic functionality. The very nature of survey work is point collection, and it's frequently thousands of points, many of them marking out non-rectilinear 2D features such as paths, roads, irregular garden beds, etc. I spent nearly 1.5 hours since I first posted this question here, laboriously clicking from point.. to point.. to point.. to point.. to point... with the Polyline tool.. to connect over 2,400 roadway survey points from raw survey data that were imported as 3D loci.

I know how to use the polygon tool to draw lines by hand. What I want to do is select a group of 3D loci (in this case, a roadway alignment from a survey I just imported) and have Vectorworks automatically connect all the points with a polyline or NURBS curve. If there was a menu command "Connect Points into Line..." I would use that but as far as I can see there is no such command or anything similar.

How do I select a group of 2D or 3D loci and then create a polyline (or NURBS curve, if 3D) from them? I just want to select a group of properly-arranged 2D or 3D loci (i.e. they are all in a proper linear or curvilinear arrangement, there are no path crossovers or branches) and do something like "Create Line from Points..." but there is no such command? VW Designer 2021 SP3.1

Bump. I can't believe VW doesn't have a catenary-curve tool in it. There must be 100 uses for it for all kinds of design problems. Utility wires, zip lines, clothes lines, indoor & outdoor decorative swag lines/ropes/wires, rope barriers, indoor & outdoor hanging lights, rope & cable suspension bridges, etc.

Hmm. For some reason, "Options" doesn't show in my list of available items, thus I have no way to select "Delete" Perhaps it's something to do with my access "level" on the VW support forums?