Russ@Summit

Does nobody else have this issue?

Hi Wes... Yeah, that's part of the problem... when I select it, the graphic changes to being whatever was previously selected. I tried to describe that in my reply. Here's the process. I made a line type I want it to use. I go into the settings, and tell it to use that type... which is shown correctly initially... once selected the graphic changes to match the line type that was previously selected, however it becomes checked. I hit OK... and nothing changes in the actual document. Then I go back into settings, and it shows it again as the old line type. It refuses to actually use the type I made. I'll alter my signature but I'm on Vectorworks 2013 SP3, on a Mac Pro, 2.93 Quad core Xeon. OSX 10.6.8.

Thanks Wes... However when I open your attached file I still have the exact same issue. I try changing to Dash Overhead and it refuses to change to it in the parts. Here's two screen captures from your file. The first shows where I select the Dash Overhead (you'll notice that it changes the little graphic to match the one below it, the ISO-15). After selecting that, I hit OK, and then re-opened the settings, and took the next screen capture... where it shows that the line type reverted to the ISO-15. Is there something in my preferences that'll cause this?

So, I have been trying everything I can to solve an issue with the Wall Lines showing properly in my doors... and can't get it resolved. I have attached a file showing the issue. I put a door into a wall, tell it to Draw Wall Lines, and tell it to Use Part Line Styles, and tell my "Wall Lines" to use a particular line type. The problem is... it REFUSES to actually use that line type. It seemingly picks a random line type to use, unless I set it to continuous. And it picks a random line type to use for each file, and sometimes when I open the same file a different time. I can't find where to set the class for the "Wall Lines"... otherwise I'd much prefer to use a class definition than using "Part Line Styles". I've tried setting the door to not using any class, I've tried changing the class attributes to Use At Creation... and to not Use at Creation. There is nothing else using the line type it seems to want to choose. With the test I posted, try changing the door to use the Dash Overhead as the Wall Line in the Use Part Line Styles. Click the OK, and then re-open it... and it's bounced back to the other line type it wants to use. I'm lost.... Any ideas?

That's the only way I can get the 2D hatch to show up. I tried every other way.... I do what I call a "hybrid annotation" which is more complicated than I want, but I don't have time just yet to learn how to get roofs and such to work correctly. So I draw elevations around the house, and then make viewports for those in elevation. So, there are two viewports for each elevation (actually, 4... but two viewports are just to change between slabs and crawl spaces with a single class selection)... Annotations might work better, but this way I can make other options easier and keep them accurate to the plans properly.

Really? Does that come with a medal?

Here's a wall with it's construction, and a viewport on a sheet showing both plan and elevation. Works pretty well if you ask me.

Well... I've come up with a solution... it's a bit of a hack, but it works. In the wall type I put a layer called Brick Elevation (or whatever the material is), give it a thickness of .0000001, a hatch pattern of the brick I want, and a pen of none. I class it as Wall-Component-Elevation finish. Now when I change the wall type in my plans, it shows up as how I want it hatched in the plan, and how I want it hatched in the elevation... without patching/band-aiding/hacking together some annotations to make it work. So now when a customer changes from our standard siding to brick veneer... it'll populate the whole set of documents with the single change on the plans. It works, and pretty darn well... just wish I didn't have to do it that way. It's going to be a bit of a pain when the software gets updated to handle this automagically and I have to fix my walls.

I am gone to such extreme measures to be sure they are aligned, it's nuts. If it infact doesn't work to blend the finish materials beyond the section line, then is there another way to make an elevation which uses a 2D hatch pattern, and not a texture? I've read everything, and the look of the section is what I'm after, but I just want these lines to merge.

Thanks Peter... I have made as certain as I possibly can to get them precisely aligned. I have viewed them in plan, and in 3D. I have set the units to go to 1/64th, and tried dimensioning them from a static datum point I use. I've deleted and re-created them using the other walls as snap points. I've changed the heights to make them be mis-matched and then matched again in various formats (height of wall to ceiling, then adding the floor structure size, height to be finish floor above). I've tried everything... I spent most of yesterday... I'm about to bandaid the problem with an annotation.

I'm running into an issue making elevations, and I can't find a solution. I had it solved at one point, but no idea how it was solved, or how I messed it up. I have discovered, and been told, that to show elevations with 2D hatches I have to make a section cut outside the building and render that section cut as an unshaded polygon. Then I can annotate that section cut with details I want. Then, there's this magic button for merging similar materials so adjacent walls with a different construction, but the same exterior finish (say a 4" stud wall with brick veneer, or a 6" stud wall with brick veneer) will merge to "look" like one... if they are aligned properly. Right now, this doesn't happen for me... either when they are walls on the same level but different construction, or exact same wall types of different levels. The wall construction is pretty basic, there are only 2 components, the studs, and the sheathing (which I apply a hatch that looks like siding, as we don't show sheathing on the plan, so when it shows up in elevation, it looks like siding). It has this issue regardless of the wall construction as it appears with a brick or a stone veneer. Thanks for your help.

Well... that might be the case, but I'm not smart enough to know what all it would involve. This system though would help me IMMENSELY! Right now I feel like I am forcing this to work.

Go to Option A... use a tool that lets you select which elements you want on that option, start clicking. If it's smart enough, it'll let you select which elements show up in which option. This would be way easier to control than layers, as changes could populate thru certain options, but not others. Thus options could share certain elements. Right now with layers, and viewports you need to create several viewports to show the options you want, and annotate accordingly. A single design option switch would be responsible for changing the entire document.

Thanks everyone for your help... I guess it shows that there isn't a single technique which works for the majority of situations and users. I wonder if this means there's a short coming in the software, or if it's a testament to it's flexibility. A design options sort of thing might be pretty useful for this situation... if it doesn't add too much complexity to the software. If it were smart enough, you could draw everything the first time on option 1. Then, when you switch to option 2... you make your changes, and the software "registers" the original option, and the changes for the new option... it would only need to track what you actually touch. This way it updates everything that's associated with that option, and isn't intrusive. Just a thought... it would make this software MUCH better for me... and I'm sure I'm not alone... yet if you never wanted to use it... you'd never have too.

Hi Barkest and Wes.... Thanks for your reply... I have gone thru and made symbols and wall types and all sorts of things to use classes, and have set up most everything to be displayed as their class shows them. I haven't gotten into the overrides in viewports as yet... mostly because I haven't had too... but that's a useful thing to know. I am re-drawing all of our models of homes now to be classed and layered properly. Nothing was on a sheet layer, everything was on design layers. I understand the layers in VW being associated with building levels, and have gotten used to working with that, so no worries there. Mainly I am interested in the best procedure for various design options. If we offer a house with 5 different kitchen configurations (some that affect layouts of adjoining areas), what's the best way to arrange the elements so that I can turn them on and off quickly. They way I have it set up now works well for turning things on and off through an entire set of documents... it's just cumbersome to set up... and can get confusing as I have layer names, viewport names and possibly viewport class names (if I put viewports on a class of their own). The reason I came up with putting viewports on a class when viewed on the sheet layers is not to change the way they look... just wether they and all of their associations are visible. If I turn off FirstFloor-OptionA for the whole document (and I've set it up properly), every drawing that has to do specifically with Option A (elevations, plans, sections) will turn off. It just takes alot of setup... which may be unavoidable. Thanks again for your reply.

Hi... I'm new to Vectorworks. I'm working for a residential design firm and come from an AutoCAD basis. I'm trying to clean up a previous employees files... and they are a mess... everything in on class:none, and there are layers like crazy. The firm has some base models of homes, and then a set of available options. What I'd like to do is figure out the proper procedure for setting up these options so I can, hopefully, turn on and off these options based on client selections. My thinking right now is to class everything properly as their objects, then add layers for the options. Then, creating viewports in the sheets with each option and annotating them. If it was an option which changed more than one drawing (say the plan and elevation) my thinking was to create a class to put the viewports on, and turn them on or off through the whole document, thus making the options easy to work with. Is this thinking correct? I know someone else has solved this already... I just want to do it right because there's alot of setup... and as I am working on some new designs, I'd like to set it up correctly from the start. Thanks.