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MHBrown

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Everything posted by MHBrown

  1. Start my computer? I rarely turn it off. I just let it sleep. Thanks! Mike
  2. Thanks, I'll try those things. I'm using a MacBook Pro which does not have upgradable memory, so it's all Apple. Anyway, bad RAM would probably exhibit global, OS-level glitches and I've not seen anything like that. Thank you for the tips! Mike
  3. Ever since I upgraded to SP5 (curiously reflected as "SP3.1" when I boot VW) I can't import more than one PDF. A second PDF causes a death-spiral beachball and requires a force quit. Coincidental to this problem is the inability to close a VW file by clicking the red circle at the top, left side the window. This, of course, is added to the problem of not being able to switch between multiple open files by clicking on the window tab. It only switches via the "Window" pull down menu. These and other bugs are annoying, but not totally fatal, but this PDF problem is BIG. I often import PDFs and VW's failure to do this anymore is a big pain. I have to change a file to some bitmap format to bring it in and you can't snap to a JPEG. I need vector file import. Is anyone else seeing this and, if so, have any idea how to fix it? Thanks, MHBrown
  4. Thanks, Larry, I suppose that would work great as well. I'm not sure why translating to a .dwg format is a high-priority with viewport functionality. In the rare instances where I need to export a .dwg/.dwx file I usually export the 3D model directly. That said, I think the ability to choose units with the dimension tool would be fine as long as you didn't have to look through a long menu every time you did it. To me, viewports are the best place to pick your units because that is where you pick your scale. The scale of the drawing, of course, drives the selection of which units to use. It's not really something that should have to be done every time one draws a dimension.
  5. First of all, the "Imperial System" of measurement is neither better nor worse than the Metric system or any other random unit-based system. Who is to say that a power of 10s based system is any more intuitive than an inverse power of 2 system? Does it not depend on what you grew up with? Value judgements on such human inventions are non-sensical. Anyway, I digress. And you were probably just doing some harmless needling us insecure Imperial users, anyway. I think your method would work, so thanks for the tip, but I want something that is not so clumsy. Right now, when I want to change to feet or meters or whatever I do it globally under the Document settings, as if it were in the same category as sheet size. It is not. What I and, I believe, others want is a way to do this from inside a viewport--ideally in the OIP. So if I'm doing a detail that is half-scale, I can simply choose a reasonable unit type without having to go to the trouble of creating a class. I may never have a detail like that in the rest of the drawing. Or, worse, I may have lots of different scales in a drawing package and end up with a zoo of classes, many with only a handful of occupants. That's not really the purpose of classes. No, I think that once inside a viewport the user should be able to select not just the scale, but the units as well. These go together like nothing else in drafting (or "draughting" if you are into conservation of spelling so common in English🙂.) In short, if I can pick the scale; I need to pick the units. Pretty obvious to me, but that could just be my workflow. Mike
  6. If VW knows line lights don't work and haven't worked in at least five years, why are they still included in VectorWorks? Saying that they are not "getting any love anytime soon" is the worst kind of business attitude I've ever experienced. That is essentially saying that the people who work on VW don't care if it works or if it doesn't. Look, it is like this: if it is included in the application it must work. We users pay a fortune for this software and it paints itself has a professional level piece of software. This kind of cavelier attitude shows this to be a sham. Either fix it or apologize for the years of deception and pull it out. What arrogance. What other failing "features" are VW's staff ignoring? Thanks, MHBrown
  7. Oh well, yet another bug. Thanks for filling me in. Editing symbols--which is a fundamental operation in Vectorworks--has been in decline for a while. For example, unless you find and edit a symbol from the bloated and tangled Resource Palette, the symbol appears skewed at the angle in which it is placed in the drawing. Double-clicking a symbol still puts you in the edit window, but skewed. This sort of defeats the purpose of having symbols as an easy to edit operation. You can go to Top/Plan and it straightens out, but all other projections go back to the in-place orientation. It was better in VW2013 (which I still use on my 2008 MacPro from time to time). Don't get me started on the texture mapping tools and lighting. Both are going down the wrong road. I hope they right the ship at some point since I like the improved rendering itself. MHBrown
  8. The texture mapping in VW 2022 is so screwed up that I think it is a total re-do. I have a textured object and no matter what I choose (plane, UV, etc.) I get an error saying the Attribute Mapping tool can only be used on objects with textures. My object HAS a texture, but it does not work. This. Is. A. MESS. So is lighting, for that matter. This is what happens when a too-small company used to 24 month major releases goes subscription with the same staff size doing 12 month subscription major releases. The only thing "major" about it is the bugs. MH Brown
  9. Sorry, I'm talking about in the Resource Manager (see image). The thumbnails are missing. Thanks, Mike
  10. Latest version of VW2022, Mac Monterey, MacBook Pro 2019 Title says it all: this apparently long-lived bug is still with us. I cannot see thumbnails in the RB's texture map window. It only shows a sad black to transparent gradient where a thumbnail of the image map should be. Why has this not been fixed? Will it ever be fixed? Is there a way to temporarily fix it? Thanks, MHBrown
  11. Hi Frank, I know you are trying to help, but I don't have a clue as to what you are talking about. Way, way back in 1992 I used something called Claris CAD ("Claris" was, I believe, Apple's software branch). In any design window (similar--in a very simple way--to VW's viewports) you could pick your units: from mm to hectare. This was a good idea 30 years ago and it is a good idea now. With all due respect (and I know you have an infinite amount of knowledge as to how CAD systems should work) your answer should have been something like, "Yes, that is an egregious flaw in VW. Sorry." Thanks, Mike
  12. For me, this is a must, must, must have: Units must have more flexibility beyond the global setting. As it stands now, a drawing's units must be the same in every viewport because it is set globally. Vectorworks MUST make it to where you may change unit types as a part of the edits in the Viewport Annotation window. The original global setting can be the default, but do you really think a single drawing page--much less an entire drawing package--should have just one units type? Small details are best dimensioned in inches (or mm/cm) where as large areas are better as feet and inches (or meters). This is such an egregious flaw I always check to make sure it is still there in each new version. Please fix this! MHBrown
  13. I've been experimenting with Twinmotion 2022 lately, using my 16" 2019 MacBook Pro. I have the I9 processor, 8GB VRAM, 32GB RAM, running OS Monterey. I exported using the included plug-in from Vecorworks and opened it in Twinmotion. The model I'm using as a test is a 20'x20' trade show booth with a lot of curved surfaces. Even when I have the settings set to "Ultra" the curves are all faceted. The whole image looks flat and the shadows are not terribly well done. I know this is a real-time engine, but I was thinking of something a bit better. I certainly didn't expect to see faceted curves. I must be missing something simple. Is anyone else getting good quality images for exhibit design? Thanks, Mike
  14. Thanks for the good advice, but I was able to import the exact same texture from another file and the reflections returned. That a texture could go bad that quickly is a little disconcerting. Also, the mapping problem is still there (where it looks fine in Shaded, but is displaced in Styles rendering), as is the curious error message that from time-to-time that I can't edit an object's texture because it doesn't have a texture applied. Why can't it see the texture? I have rarely had any of these problems in previous VW files going all the way back to VW9. Although the rendering has improved amazingly, so have these problems that seem to be caused by file corruption. It makes tight deadlines a bit more nerve-wracking because I just hold my breath and hope nothing goes sour at the wrong time. Before the subscription yearly upgrade program I didn't have this problem. Is the VW staff being overworked to keep up and, in the process, putting out a less robust CAD program? Oh well, it's still better behaved than Adobe products. I should count my blessings! Mike
  15. VW 2022 SP3, MBP 16" Intel, 32GB RAM OS Monteray I'm doing a rendering of a trade show booth. I've done dozens of renderings using final and fast interior Style settings in this file without a problem. Suddenly, the reflections do not work. I can bump it way up with plastic or mirror and get nothing. This is a bother, but the Renderworks styles is also not rendering the maps correctly. It is offsetting text that works just fine in Shaded mode. I've remade the maps, restarted, etc. Nothing. It is not an old file. Oh, and the the texture adjust tool does. not. work. It is awful. I may have to go back to exporting to Strata3D which is a better renderer, but it's a time-consuming step. Is anyone seeing any of these problems with what appears to be a very bug-plagued version. Thanks for any advice Mike
  16. Suddenly, the Attribute Mapping Tool will not work. This latest episode is a simple rounded rectangle swept along an arc of around 30 degrees. It is an overhead banner. When I place the texture on the face, it more or less disappears. This is typical, but I was always able to wrestle the mapping tool into working. Now I get the message that I'm working on something without a texture. It has a texture, so what is up? These problems began with 2022 and my updating to OS Monteray and have gotten worse with each service pack. I'd love to go back to Catalina, but that is a lot of trouble. Does anyone see similar problems with texture mapping in general and this tool in particular. Thanks! MacBook Pro 16" Intel Mike
  17. I managed to fix it by checking the "solid" fill box. Now, I should say, that ALL the shapes were already solid. The model was rendering just fine in other modes. I remember this problem with other versions of VW, so I tried it. It's sort of like kicking the shapes in the head and saying "hey, you're filled!" That, of course, does not fix the problem. I could send you the file, but now that it is working properly I don't think it would help. I should also add that the objects were not exotic shapes. One was a sweep, but the others were just extruded polygons. There were some closed polylines that didn't work and I converted them to polygons. Everything worked after the "Fill" booster shot. Thanks for the offer. I can still post the file if you'd like to see it. Mike
  18. So, no one else is seeing this problem?
  19. No, Unified View is apparently a legacy tool that is no longer considered a part of VW unless you add it. It looks like it is a bug with this version. I'm using a pristine NEW document in 2022. I ended up having to create a Copy to Lines 2D drawing--ala MiniCAD ca. 1998-- and use that (after lots of line removal. Even my line lights had rendered although that is turned off.) I might just export to 2018 and work on my 2015 MBP. Thanks for the tip. Anyone else seeing this? Thanks, Mike
  20. I am in Top view, so it should render all the symbols. I'll check the Unified View. I've never had that problem before, but if that is it Thanks! The big round object does not have a solid fill. It's like a big ring. Thank you, Mike
  21. I'm on a MBP 16", VW2022 SP1, OS Monterey, 32GB RAM. Among the many problems with VW2022, the one bothering me the most right now is an apparently broken hidden line renderer. Note the image of the Hidden Line render done in the design layer. It correctly only renders what is visible--although it is fleeting. As soon as the mouse is moved it goes to mostly wireframe. Sometimes. Not always. In a Viewport, however, as shown in the second image, only a few of the lines are hidden. It also does not render symbols, but instead shows them in Top/Plan view, even when Top is selected as the view in the viewport. In general, this is a very sluggish update, but this viewport rendering problem is a real deal killer. Any ideas? Thanks, MH Brown
  22. Yes, that looks like you're on the right track. I'll use your advice and do a little more experimenting. I'm trying to make a ground plain that disappears as it moves to the horizon line. Thanks for the help!
  23. Does anyone know how to create a Renderworks texture that will start opaque and gradually become transparent? I like to have the floor of my exhibition renderings gradually fade away into the background color and the best way to do this is with a gradient map in most rendering apps. Usually you build a black to white gradient in Photoshop and place it in the texture map design somewhere. I'm using VW2022 on a Mac running Catilina, although I'm going to upgrade soon to a version which I can remember how to spell. Thanks for any help! Mike
  24. It is January 22, 2022 and this is still a problem with my 2019 MBP with 32GB RAM and a 8GB 5500M video card. It has nothing to do with "far away objects" and everything to do with how the video card is working with the software. This. Needs. To. Be Fixed. I'm using VW 2022 with the latest SP installed on Catalina (I don't dare upgrade the OS). MB Brown
  25. I'm using VW2022 on a MBP 16", 8GB GRAM, 32GB RAM, OS Catalina and I've noticed that the Convert to Light Object or Area Light Object does not really work all that well. Not as well, anyway, as it did in VW2018. It sometimes works with lines, but not always. Has anyone been successful in creating glowing outlines of picture frames, for example. I want to create a poly line light object, but that was a complete no go. Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong? Thanks. MB Brown
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