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MHBrown

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Posts posted by MHBrown

  1. VW is really wearing me out.

    I'm in front, wire frame mode, in screen plane ONLY. I want to check the size of one of my shapes. I pull a dimension and the dimension disappears as soon as I release the mouse. So I draw a rectangle and see what size it is. The rectangle disappears, but he handles remain. When I go to top/plan the rectangle appears, but does me no good because I can no longer see what I want to measure. This happens all the time. I draw rectangles, lines or other 2D objects in a projection other than top/plan and they disappear...only to reappear in a random location when I switch to top/plan. The same happens with extrudes. I try to edit an extrude by double clicking to get to the root, 2D object (as I have done for over 20 years) and often I cannot edit it (trim, clip, etc.) This is not really a question because it concerns a change in VW's drawing philosophy that seems to have hopelessly tangled the 2D and 3D worlds that used to work much better together, in my opinion. Do I need to totally re-learn VW? It seems like all my previous experience as to how best use the great tools VW provides is mostly useless. I don't really recognize this 2016 version. Is anyone else having this type of problem, older users I mean?

    MH

  2. Thanks, Pete, that's what I do now and that is helpful to a degree. That, however, only gives you two units. I often work with non-North American clients and need to change to Metric along with the English units. There are many other reasons a professional drawing app shouldn't limit you to two drawing units. In short, this is something that needs to be done via the Viewport OIP. This is really very simple. Find some old timer who used to draft by hand and mimic his work flow. You will find that different drawings at different detail levels merit different units. You would use feet and inches to dimension a site's boundaries and the house sitting on it, but you wouldn't use feet and inches to dimension one of the bricks. Pretty basic stuff and I'm surprised it is missing from VW. Guess I'll "wish list" it.

    MHBrown

  3. Is there some way to set units in a sheet layer?

    I have many sheet layers in my project. Some need to be dimensioned in feet and inches, some in inches, some in fractional, some in decimal. I realize you can set Units the the global document prefs, but this is not useful in a document with 20 saved sheets.

    This is a pretty fundamental thing since I can't imagine a project where everything would be dimensioned using one units system. I went to the Edit Sheet in the OIP, but there was almost nothing there. I'm probably missing something simple. I know there is the dual dimensions pref, but that is a work-around and also only gives you two AND is probably a global pref AND requires you to turn on/turn off. It's a pain. This is in the latest version of VW2016 Architect. Thanks for any help.

    MHBrown

    • Like 1
  4. Thanks, Alan, but it doesn't make curved solids, as the wall tool does (the curved wall tool). My request is a basic, basic tool that has never been added. I make curved solids all the time. There are clumsy workarounds that I use, but a tool that can make linked curved and straight "double line" solids is way overdue. I'm unimpressed with the unnecessary features that bloat VW and other software while fundamental tools are ignored. Oh, well, I'll keep asking. It took a couple of years to have a "distribute objects" button added to the align feature way back when.

  5. I'm using the latest version of VW on an iMac. I'm trying to create a symbol. I create 3D geometry and overlay it with a 2D shape for Top Plan View. The polyline, circle and lines that make up the 2D part of the symbol, however, became 3D entities with me doing nothing. The are described in the Info window as 2D shapes, but when I go to an isometric view they become dimensionless planes. They do not appear at all in Plan View as 2D. I did not make them 3D, obviously, because they are not 3D. Why are they appearing as 3D? If I draw a square in the "Edit 2D" window of the symbol the square shows up as it should: as a 2D shape in Top Plan view. Why did these other shapes become 3D in practice while VW thinks they are 2D in the info window. Is this just a random bug? Thanks for any advice on this.

    MHBrown

  6. I've always only worked in screen plane, but from time to time I decide I need to try using different working planes. Right now, I have a table top that has a hole drilled in it (via solid subtraction). The top is tilted at 45 degrees, but I need to look at it in plan perpendicular to the face. When I switch to top/plan in screen mode it is, of course, showing me the plan of a tilted table. So I set the working plane to be parallel to the tilted table, assuming that I now have the x,y.z coordinates similarly tilted. When I select top/plan or even plan, however, I get the same, truncated view as when I was in screen mode. Why is that? When I'm in an isometric view the indication is that the x,y plane is indeed parallel with the tilted table. So why does my plan, left, right views not show it? Very confusing and not at all intuitive. If I change the x,y grid the other views should follow. I've seen some applications that use what they call j,k,l dimensions for a "temporary" change to the directions. This is not a good idea at all, but does VW use something like this? In summary: how do I look at a table top square on that is tilted at 45 degrees without temporarily swinging it up those 45 degrees? I'm sure I'm missing something simple, but not sure what that is. Thanks for any help.

    MHBrown

  7. Regardless of how I set my preferences, it still switches from Screen Plane into other planes without my doing anything. This is looking like a bug since the Document Prefs clearly says "Screen Plane Only," yet it changes anyway. I sometimes glance to the info palette and it will say 3D instead of Screen. Then I know I'm in trouble.

    I think the poor snapping of VW2016

    is partially attributable to this, but it's hard to say for sure.

    MHBrown

  8. Alan, I work exclusively in 3D, but working in 2D is the easiest way to keep things precise. I work pretty much like Kevin, drawing data lines to help me keep things neat. Also, like Kevin, I'm stumped by the inability to snap at ALL intersection points: 2D and 3D "hybrid" snaps, included. Everyone has different ways, I suppose, but Vectorworks's strength for me has always been to work in 3D by carefully limiting one's self to using two dimensions at a time. That doesn't mean I don't use some of the added features. Some of them are great. Since I've been using this app for over 20 years, however, I've gotten picky about which "features" I feel are worthy. Thanks for the tips!

    MHBrown

  9. In VW 2016, I pull down the "Screen Plane Only" from the menu, but it keeps changing. I'll be working along when things start going a little crazy, objects don't snap, rectangles and drawn and disappear, etc. I look and notice that the selection has changed to one of the others: "Working Plane only" or "Screen Plane or Working Plane." I do not nor will I ever want to use anything other than Screen Plane Only in Vectorworks. Is there a way to erase the other two options or otherwise lock it in to Screen Plane only? Thanks for any help on this.

    MH

  10. I found a couple of bugs In VW 2016:

    The rotate tool does not always work in views other than Plan.

    The date stamp does not update, even when refreshing using the info palette. You have to delete the existing date stamp and replace it to get the file name to update. On a Mac, El Capitan, VW build 288897.

    I'd like to send these to the VW bug report list, but when I click on it I'm routed to tech support. I thought I read someone said there is a place to submit bugs. Is there?

    Thanks,

    MHBrown

  11. That's not really helpful to me because I'm trying to snap the joist to another joist, so I have to see both pieces. If I go into the 2D profile of the extrude to edit it I can't do that. I can't select a "face" of the extrude to use the push-pull tool because it is "inside" the other joist. That's why I need to make it shorter. Furthermore, the most accurate way to snap objects together is to eliminate one of the axes, x, y or z. That way you are certain to snap to the correct spot. Lastly, it makes no sense to have a tool such as the Reshape tool that works in "...a side or front view" and not plan view. What do you have against Plan view? Sure, points would be located on top of each other, but I've been able to drag extrusions under that condition for years in both MC and VW. In short, I want to grab a tool and have it work in all situations. Many of VW's tools seem to be conditional and those conditions do not seem to have a logic behind them. At least I don't see it.

    Thanks

    MHBrown

  12. VW 2016 SP1, Mac OS 10.11 (El Capitan)

    I notice that the Reshape tool does not work. Here is an example.

    I am looking in top/plan at an extrusion, a 2x6 joist.

    I want to make it shorter, so I select the Reshape tool and draw a marquee.

    I get the little circle with the four radial arrows around a vertex of the extrusion.

    I move the vertex, but it does not move.

    I try every possible combination, but none of them accept the movement.

    Shortening a joist in plan should be simple, but it is not. This tool doesn't work. The joist is sitting at 45 degrees, so I can't simply drag it. I suppose if I could figure out how to change the X-Y coordinates to align with this joist I could do it that way, but that is really the tail wagging the dog. The 3D reshape tool should work, but it doesn't. Can anyone explain why?

    Thanks,

    MHBrown

  13. Thanks to bcd (cute name), but, no, that is nothing like the double-line tool or curved wall tool.

    I'm talking about something that works like the curved wall tool at a minimum, but more like the polyline tool only instead of drawing joined curves and straight segments it would draw joined curved and straight closed shapes. Additionally, you could snap from point to point. That is what I'm asking for. I already know the workaround you suggest, but clearly that is a ham-handed way to create what I'm talking about. Using your method would require many more steps. If I could draw a complex line with the polyline tool and then use the offset tool as you suggest that would almost be useful (requiring only one extra step). Alas, the offset tool does not work on the lines created with the polyline tool, although there is no reason why it shouldn't. I was fairly clear, I hope, on what I was wishing for. I'm not sure why you suggested something unrelated.

    MHBrown

    • Like 1
  14. This thread is listed as happening in 2010, but obviously it is more recent than that since it is discussing VW2016. Please let me know if this is wrong. If I am speaking from five years in the future (2015) let me warn you that the snapping ability between VW2010 and VW2016 is night and day: as in VW2016 has horrible snapping. VW2016 will snap on the imaginary rectangle that encloses a shape, for example. That's right, the same annoying flaw as Adobe Illustrator. If something is on top of something in VW2016 it is almost impossible to select the lower object...even if it is "sticking out." Yes, just like Illustrator. I'm very disappointed because I used to complain to Adobe how they should look at VW as to how object selection should work. Well, I can't do that anymore. Trying to snap two objects together is equally flawed. I've never had to zoom in super close just to put a couple of corners together. It is slooooowwwwing me down. This has to be fixed. I appreciate Donald's list of solutions above, but these are all things a seasoned VW user will have already tried. I fear this is a software bug and I hope it gets fixed soon. VW has plenty of information to go on from this thread alone that something is not right.

    Thanks,

    MHBrown

    VW2016 SP1

    iMac El Capitan

  15. This is so basic that I'm almost embarrassed to ask for it. I think remember asking for this is the late 1990s: a curved double line tool. That's the best name I can come up with, but it's easy to describe. It is exactly like the double line/polygon tool except it draws curved objects. It's also like the curved wall tool. It would snap just like the arc tool (or just like the curved wall tool). Ideally, it could switch between double-line and double-arc as you draw so you could make a series of connected rectangular and curved solids. Form-Z had this tool years ago and probably still has it. To draw a curved solid object in VW now you have laborious work arounds. Let's say you want a "C" shape that is 3" thick and 36" x 18" in size. I have to draw an 180 degree arc 36" in diameter. Draw a concentric arc, 33" in diameter. Clip the smaller arc from the larger arc. Now fill in both ends with rectangles and "add" them to the previous construction. What a pain. Give me a curved double line/object tool.

    I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one asking for one.

    • Like 1
  16. I think I posted it on the wish list in the late 1990s, so I'm not sure it would still be there. It would be better to post it again. I would be very, very surprised if this request is not already on the list. It seems pretty fundamental, especially since there are two tools—double line tool and wall tool—that are very close.

  17. I can't believe that there is still no way to draw curved solids analogous to the double-line tool. The entire list of "improvements" is mostly, if not all, enhancements that are not critical. I can't tell you how many times I've needed a curved solids tool. Sometimes I try to use the round wall tool as a workaround, but walls are so clumsy to use (if you aren't building wall that is) it becomes useless. What is so hard about taking the Arc tool and all its ways of creating arcs and making it work for solids of any thickness? THAT would be something worthy of a list. VW2016 is nothing more than VW2011 v.5. Big deal. Disappointed here.

  18. I just upgraded to the latest version of VW Arch 2016 two days ago (6 November 2015). I believe I'm using the first version of OS 10.11, which I think they are calling El Capitan, or something insipid like that. I'm on a late 2012 iMac with the 1GB video card and 16GB of RAM. It may work since I upgraded, but there is no way to know until the situation comes up again in my normal workflow.

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