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stayathomedad

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Posts posted by stayathomedad

  1. Hello all.

     

    I have a project to build a venue drawing with beam capacities. What they need is a simple 2D drawing to do overlays on. The issue is that I will be building it in VW and they will then be working with the exported dwg. Does anyone have recommendations for which 2D graphic and content features (symbols, groups, fills, gradients, etc.) translate well from VW to dwg and those that don't? 

     

    In reality I could build them a drawing with 2D and 3D components, but that pushes even more on my lack of understanding what is lost in the translation.

  2. Looking for some initial input into this project. I want to make additional attachment slings for trusses. To not only dial in trim heights more accurately, but also have correct visuals to add to the drawing.

     

    For example the 12in imperial sling that is in the VW library is very nicely drawn and is made of a single sling that looks to be 6ft long.

     image.thumb.png.deea65297cde926a5c059168f9d36165.png

     

    I like the look of the span set and I know about "Extrude Along Path" and I suspect that would be a good starting place, but I don't know how to go about getting the areas where the sling is bunched up to look right like it does in theirs. The attachments I want to build will not only include wraps like above but also some chokes, double wraps, etc.

     

    I would be happy to take any input into the process. Or...Maybe someone already has built more slings and I can get access to those?

  3. I've noticed that for tools, the screen tips that show up to give you info about the tools appears a little differently in 2024. Previous versions showed the tip if you hovered over any tool. In 2024, the tip only shows up if you hover over the active tool.

     

    For the tool modes, I have yet to figure out how to get those screen tips to show up in 2024. Does anyone have any insight?

  4. Even after I replace the hoist. I get the [BrxFemHandle not set] error if I run the calculations and have "Compensate drops" turned ON.

     

    If I run the calculations with "Compensate drops" turned OFF I get the symmetrical loads of 204.33 lbf that you show in your screenshot.

     

    I've always been a bit confused about what compensate drops does to a system and when is it appropriate to use. I am a bit surprised though that it can generate such drastically different load calculations on two points that in reality are going to be close to identical. In reference to the cleaner version of the sample file "CompensateDropsAsymmetry.vwv" posted above - With compensate drops turned on, point A1 comes in at 427 lbf. and A2 at 195 lbf.

  5. @Scott C. Parker I had a little time this weekend to investigate the behavior I was seeing. As near as I can tell it is not the customization of the hoist or truss symbols, but rather an issue of having Compensate Drops turned on or off.

     

    Honestly, I have always had a weak understanding of exactly what compensating drops is actually doing. With the attached drawing of the simplified truss system I originally referenced, when I have Compensate Drops turned on, the load calcs get very asymmetric, especially at the hoists I have labeled A1 & A2. When the option is off, the loading is symmetrical as expected.

     

    Compensate Drops OFF

    image.thumb.png.63983e3d4082712e28cb34fee81c98a7.png

    Compensate Drops ON

    image.thumb.png.a1291e37852c4f410b88a44f68dbb006.png

     

    File attached.

     

    If you have any insight to help explain this behavior, that would be awesome.

    CompensateDropsAsymmetry.vwx

  6. @Scott C. Parker Thanks for the reply and maybe you are still willing to give it a guess.

     

    It seems the question is more about my custom truss and hoist symbols than it is about Braceworks and and FEA process. I have customized many of the properties and look of the stock truss and hoist symbols. A total rebuild of my truss and hoist symbols is on my schedule, so understanding better exactly where I screwed up would be very helpful.

     

    I rebuilt the truss system using stock symbols and I get the behavior I expect to see. The calculations are symmetrical.

    image.thumb.png.9510d63ec9bca7fdcef8a82ecb8971fc.png

     

    But when I use symbols I've customized, I get this.

    image.thumb.png.0c6a257d1f67e9c1757923e85dc5390b.png

     

    There are many reasons for the various customizations I have made. I have always tried to be as thorough as possible when I make any changes, knowing that I don't want to be screwing with the Braceworks process, but obviously, I missed that mark!

     

    I have attached the (2) files.

     

    Again, thanks for your time.

    BW.CustomSymbol.LayeredTrussExample.vwx BW.StockSymbol.LayeredTrussExample.vwx

  7. I am working on a multi layered truss structure and I noticed an interesting Braceworks behavior that I would love to understand a bit better.

     

    The load calculations shown are on completely empty truss and all truss and symbols are inserted based on a symmetrical centerline. I notice a couple of interesting things.

    Looking at just the B section - Based on symmetry it seems to me that the loads on either side of the centerline should be equal. 1B-5 should be equal to 1B-1. They are close, but not exactly equal. Looking at 4B-1 and 4B-2, the stage left #2 hoist is almost twice the calculated load of the stage right #1 hoist.

     

    I then took the structure and rotated it 180° and created the A section. The load calculations end up being exactly the same, kind of. The loads have switched to the other side of the stage. Comparing 4A-1 & 4A-2, the stage right #1 hoist is now the one that is almost twice the stage left #2 hoist. I got the same results whether or not compensate drops is active or turned off.     

    I am assuming this has something to do with how the FEA engine approaches a drawing and it seems to be affected by the coordinates of the objects. Is there a way to control this? Are there settings to improve the accuracy of the calculations with more complex layered truss systems? When the differences are rather large - how do we know which one is most accurate?

    Screenshot2023-08-17at9_35_04AM.thumb.png.307f9a20685f8c2725595ecb30a14bf1.png

  8. I have hit this wall before and thought I'd check and see what I can find out here.

     

    I have two pieces of pipe modeled and want to joist them at right angles. When I do this and use the Subtract solids command I get the little left over pieces on the section pipe inside the other pipe. I end up creating an additional extrude and use a solid extrude as the sectioning object to get the piece inside of the pipe to be deleted.

     

    But I'm wondering if there is a cleaner way to solve this that doesn't require me to make an extra extrude for sectioning?

     

    Thanks.

     

    Harry

     

    image.png.7adb8c762a9d68a30f6a6930f6bd60ff.png

  9. This is not the first time I have run into the issue of the Split tool not behaving as I expect. I don't do a whole lot of 3D modeling, so I usually stumble through it and never completely understand the why.

     

    Today I am messing around with a truss symbol and I want to adjust the overall size. My project involves taking the Generic Solid and cutting out certain sections to resize it. Using the Split Tool to do this, it works some times but doesn't work other times.

     

    Looking at the attached file, in a top view, I can use the Split Tool and cut the Solid into two solids if I draw a horizontal line through the oject. But if I draw a vertical line, the object highlights red, but doesn't actually split into two objects. Messing around a bit more I can see the tool seems to work if it splits the tube portion of the solid but not when just splitting some of the other parts.

     

    Can someone help clarify this behavior for me so that I can better understand. It just isn't intuitive to me for some reason.

     

    Thanks.

    Split Generic Solid.vwx

  10. Is there a VS to delete sheet layers?

     

    I am very new to VS and I have a project where I would like to delete sheet layers. I can see when I create a Braceworks report that there are sheet layers being created and deleted. I would like to create a VS that does a similar process.

     

    Thanks for your time.

     

  11. This has happened to me a few times. Every once in a while I will have a file that has different plug-in objects suddenly get a marker turned on. We joke around that the file has Markeritus™. The drawing I am currently working on has a very severe case.

     

    As you can see in the screenshot I have Truss Cross text, Truss Cross Symbol and Lighting Pipes in my file that, all of the sudden, have markers turned on. No change in attributes setting can make them go away.

     

    image.thumb.png.6dde6583a824ac9a7cc877189275b0c9.png

     

    If I convert the objects into groups I see that the polylines and polygons have markers turned on. Here you can see a Truss Cross is now three polygons with the Marker turned on.

     

    image.png.9b2ce42e9e831ce34e833da8fa1d5387.png

     

    All new similar plug-in objects that I create in the file will have the marker turned on, but if I copy the objects and paste them into a new drawing, the marker disappears. I wish I had a process of correcting this outside of copying and pasting everything or converting all of them to groups.

     

    Any input would be greatly appreciated.

     

  12. On 3/4/2022 at 5:40 AM, jcogdell said:

    I've opened a bug report for this but this is beyond my personal experience, so I'll need to wait till I've had a chance to discuss this with the dev team.

    @jcogdell Have you had a chance to learn anything more about Braceworks and referenced files?

     

    My client has switched over to 2022 and I have learned that it behaves a little differently.

     

    The first screenshot shows the truss system 1 foot above the screen. The rigging system is in the active file and the screen is in the referenced file.

    1831420239_1.thumb.png.acb3df1052e9da49cc95e090c9f3fa65.png

     

    The second screenshot is after I lower the truss system 1foot to touch the screen. I then change the trim height of the system by raising it 2 feet.

    727589833_2.thumb.png.18946e7a2dc41f4576a790dc8f93a19e.png

     

    As you can see in the 3rd screenshot. The screen now changes height along with the truss system. Also the screen moved but the projection cone didn't (If you look really closely you can see the faint white lines of the projection cone).

    197438097_3.thumb.png.08d509863967bd6269288b329e824df3.png

     

    The big difference with 2022 is that even though the referenced objects anchor to the truss and change height with it, the weight of that object isn't picked up in the load calcs. Even though the screen is set to be a part of the calculations. In VW 2021, the weight of the object was detected and included in the calcs.

     

    Please keep me posted. I think making the referenced file/Braceworks link more reliable and definable will help those of us who use Braceworks in the Project sharing environment by eliminating our need to connect an object to the truss in order to include it. This in turn allows us to move the truss without having to check out other users' objects.

     

    .

  13. This really isn't a VW question. It's more of a question about printing high quality prints that Vectorowrks has shown me.

     

    For years we have generated sheet layers and did most of our final prints by using the Publish command, creating pdfs and then printing at a professional print store (Fedex Office or something similar). But this year we brought our own high quality printer into the office. It's a Canon ImageRunner similar to a lot of the machines used in Fedex Office locations.

     

    I now see a lot of differences in the print quality simply based on how I send the file to the printer. I have the same settings whether I publish the sheet layer as a pdf or if I publish directly to the printer.

     

    The lowest quality print is if I access the pdf I create through the Publish command and then print through my operating system. I am on a Mac, so I am using the Preview app. I am connecting to the printer wirelessly through its internal wireless capabilities. The quality improves slightly if I use Adobe Reader to print to the printer through the wireless connection. Both of these prints have greyed lines that aren't completely printing to the point I can hardly see them and are very sub-par.

     

    The quality improves substantially when I print directly from the Publish command (Still wirelessly). I can clearly see all of the greyed lines as I expect. Some of the edge borders however do not get printed.

     

    But I can take the pdf file, the exact same file that I opened with Preview and Reader, and put it on a thumb drive. Walk over to the printer and insert it into the USB port on the printer and then use the printers interface to access and print the files. If I do this I get my full drawing printed as I expected. It is even better quality than when I skipped creating the pdf and printed directly from the Publish command.

     

    What is driving the low quality prits? Is it the wireless connection? The pdf creation?

    Can I get high quality and wireless?

     

    Maybe these are better questions for a Canon ImageRunner Knowledgebase, but I thought that maybe someone here might have worked through this also.

  14. Thanks for your reply.

     

    Here is another detail to add to the question for the dev team.

     

    When I go to the file that has the rigging objects that is referencing in the arrays I can change the trim height of the truss on the second from the left array to 28ft. This is the same height as the array. Then when I use the change trim height command I can now see red highlights for the array. But, when I run a calculation on the system. It doesn't register the load of the array objects.

    image.png.b82f7a6619a9418f405dc0a7d0782734.png

     

    I can then delete the referenced file (the whole file, not just the viewport). Then if I re-establish the reference to those arrays, it can then register the array objects load into the calculations. I have had to repeat this process a couple of times to get it to work.

     

    What would be super helpful to me would be for there to be more documentation about the parameters for referencing loads into Braceworks. It is an absolute necessity for my Project Sharing workflow and I wish there was something I could refer to to help me understand the process better.

  15. This process is a bit inconsistent for me, and I don't quite understand the issue. To get the referenced arrays to be calculated I had to delete and re-create the viewport a couple of times. It seems if I do the exact same process sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When I saved these two files it was working for me. I'm relatively new to working with BW so maybe I'm missing something.

     

    The Audio.BWSample file contains (8) indentical arrays. The top four are rigged with objects in the Audio.BWSample file and I ran Braceworks in that same file. The bottom four arrays are on a different design layer. This file also contains a design layer viewport into the second file so that I could see the BW results from both files at the same time.

     

    The second file Referencing.Audio.BWSample is pulling in the four arrays in the first drawing and then doing the BW calcs on that referenced data.

     

    So as this screenshot shows there is a bit of a difference in how arrays are working in the drawing and through referencing and there may be a couple of different issues playing out in this process.

    image.thumb.png.2270f4e150f5c289f314a933679cb99f.png

    I'd love to know more.

    Audio.BWSample.vwx Referencing.Audio.BWSample.vwx

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