Jump to content

line-weight

Member
  • Posts

    3,714
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by line-weight

  1. Of course this will be different for everyone, but the way I use colour in Vectorworks is different from something like Affinity photo. In a photo editing/painting/drawing app I will frequently be looking for lots of different colours and wanting to adjust them quite closely. In Vectorworks I am usually more interested in keeping the number of different colours under control and to a minimum. For example in some documents I might only want red and black. And it's actually quite easily to unintentionally have two slightly different reds in circulation on the same document. In the "Classic Vectorworks Colours" pallette which is "standard red"? Is it the one in slot 8 along the first row, or the first one in row 2? It doesn't necessarily matter much - but if I've chosen one, I have to remember which one it was, for the next time I come to pick it. Ok, so I should probably go to the "active document" button after the first time I select it, but sometimes I am lazy. Or maybe I have imported something from another document in the meantime, and so there is more than one red in the "active document" list. In any case what I really want, is an easy way to choose and name colours, and then have these displayed in a list to pick from. I know I can make a custom palette but that's a bit cumbersome and buried in submenus. And I often want a document-specific list of named colours. As I've not tried VW2023 yet I don't know if it's improved things in that regard. As a more general point (and I think it's been requested before) really what would be good would be the ability to manage colours as "styles" at least to some extent. So that I can define a colour for, say, "deciduous tree green", apply it to all the relevant objects in a file, then later change my mind about exactly what tone of green I want to use, edit the definition of "deciduous tree green" and have all instances in the file update. While some of that can be achieved using class definitions, that falls down if, for example, you are using viewport over-rides. A style based approach would also be better for controlling things when elements are imported from other files. For example, I import something that also has colour "deciduous tree green", and VW can ask me whether I want to replace all instances with the new or old version, or create a duplicate, and so on. (None of this is to say that a decent colour wheel picker would not be welcome - it would be, but in terms of the hierarchy of getting to things through menus etc, I would have it a bit down the list. And I agree entirely about the slider previews as per the OP)
  2. I used to use this approach when I still drew mainly in 2D. It was definitely useful to view linework (while working on it) colour-coded because it gives you much more instant feedback on whether something is in the lineweight/class you intended. In my case I used it primarily to keep a handle on what class things were in - but lineweight was commonly connected to class. Lineweight is not always easy to distinguish on screen, and in any case I'd often prefer to draw without "zoomed" lineweight (ie all thin lines) because that made it easier to spot when things hadn't snapped properly and so on. All this is now a bit redundant for me as I draw primarily in 3d. But I continue to code classes and materials by colour, colours which are helpful when drawing but don't appear in the (mostly) black & white drawings I eventually produce.
  3. I can't quite picture how anything but the most basic of drawing edits would be possible on an ipad - even with a stylus/pencil.
  4. Ah yes, thanks, there is also freely available Lidar imagery (as well as vector contour data) here in the UK and one of the things I'm trying to get my head around is whether I can convert it into something that is then usable in VW. In fact the contours you see above had come from via QGIS. Up until just now I'd also somewhat ignored the GIS features of Vectorworks so need to explore a bit more, what I can do within VW too.
  5. I price surveys based on how long it'll actually take me to measure up and then model properly, and invoice for it once I send the "as existing" drawings and before starting any design work. I explain that the survey drawings form the basis of all the drawing work I do at later stages and even if they proceed no further, the survey drawings are theirs to keep and use as they wish. I find that the speed and willingness with which that first invoice is paid is a useful indicator of how things might go further down the line.
  6. Yup same here, maybe not once an hour but happens at some point on many days.
  7. I'm coming up against this problem in VW2021, and have just finished reading through this thread. I actually think there are two problems with the way contour interpolation happens. 1) The "self-connecting" mesh thing which is what was causing the platforms @lisagravy initially complains about in the first post, and which is very clearly explained in @Benson Shaw's video. And then various fixes for this are described (although, I would say that this is not something that should have to be done manually, so it's disappointing that 4 years later the root cause still seems to exist in the site model tool, unless it's been fixed in VW2022 or 2023). 2) The site model appears to add no smoothing in the Z direction, at least as far as the interpolation of contours is concerned. So if you have 10m contours, and there is a gentle slope from 0m to 10m, then a steep slope from 10m to 20m, and then you ask it to interpolate contours at 5m or 1m intervals it simply draws a constant slope between each of the 10m contour lines. It can smooth the curve of the individual contours in plan view but as far as I can see no smoothing happens for the slope gradients. One consequence of this is that the tops of what should be rounded mounds are made into dead flat plateaus. Here's a view of a site model with contours as per source data and then interpolated: Problem 2, I don't think has really been addressed in this thread. Anything I'm missing here? If not, can anyone suggest other software that might be able to take source data contours and interpolate them with proper smoothing for me? I've only just started looking at QGIS, am yet to get a grasp of what it can and cannot do - is it something it might be able to deal with?
  8. In an ideal world, if a new fence tool arrives, we would be able to convert "old" fences into the new one. I have one model in particular where I have quite a large number of fences that follow long non-straight paths that follow the terrain of a site model. Because of the limitations of the current tool these are built up from multiple straight-line segments, where I have adjusted the start and finish Z values. That's an ultra-tedious way to draw fences (and it's also very tedious each time I want to adjust them). If a new fence tool appears, I would probably be keen to convert all the old objects into the new type, which would then be easier to edit and update. Probably asking too much, but if I could select all the segments of each of those fences and simply say "convert to new fence" that would save much time and tedium.
  9. have a look at the link in the first post of this thread - there's an update from just a day ago.
  10. Limitations there are presumably that if you want to edit the path of your fence you have to individually edit several objects - and that it will give you curved wires/bars rather than in straight segments between posts.
  11. Any info on whether the various external monitor issues that a lot of people saw with Monterey have persisted or improved in Ventura?
  12. Can the "hedgerow" tool in VW2023 be used/abused in a similar way to create something fence-like?
  13. Different countries having the opposite convention, in a world where it's increasingly common to have things supplied from or manufactured abroad, means that it's become a slightly useless notation that actually causes more problems than it avoids .... the world needs to come up with a new and different way to show hinge position that everyone can agree with, and get rid of this one. (Stair arrows are a bit similar, but I think it's mostly agreed now that they point upwards not downwards?)
  14. your other option is to have a "core" wall into which you insert doors etc, then a patchwork of "cladding" walls (or even just solids) covering it as you wish depending on your exact situation this may be less or more fiddly than the alternative.
  15. Could be something where you could try a bit of photogrammetry?
  16. I'm not sure those BIM surveys are really much use for anything other than tracking trends over time. As far as I can see, their sample is not a random one nor do they do anything to try and correct for biases in who responds to it. I doubt it can be extrapolated in any useful way to work out how many architects use Vectorworks.
  17. yes agreed. And an employee on the forum saying "please file this as a bug submit" (which does happen here) isn't good enough. It shouldn't be the paying customer's job, if they've already given all the necessary info on a forum thread. Of course one of the big plus-points about forum threads - for users and software companies alike - is that someone with a similar problem might be able to find the relevant thread, and solve their problem straight away, without needing to bother anyone for official support. In that way a well managed forum can supplement documentation and fill in gaps that might exist in it. This also could benefit from more active forum management - for example, merging threads that duplicate discussions, even splitting off discussions that are useful but off-topic, into a new thread with an appropriate title. Re-naming poorly titled threads so they are easier to find in search results. Having well defined sub-categories and moving threads into them, if they are posted in an inappropriate one. I post on some discussion forums which are just interest groups - no commercial entity involved - but where the moderators are pretty proactive in doing all the above. Sometimes it borders on over-policing but it does make it much easier to find information in searches.
  18. just to be clear ... what I was describing there in terms of days from issue being raised was the response on this particular forum thread. rather than an interaction with tech support or bug submission.
  19. Quoted from another thread, here is a response from @Katarina Ollikainen If the issue is fixed in VW2023 SP2 that of course will be great news. Assume it will never be fixed in VW2022, so 2022 will be a release that I have to skip entirely. In the meantime, fingers crossed.
  20. Thank you for your reply - it's much appreciated. I'm going to put a link to it on the thread that deals with the specific problem, so that it is easier for others to respond to: https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/topic/101453-strange-shaded-mode-artifacts/
  21. Oh, and this thread is a classic example of inconsistent engagement: Day 1: issue raised Day 4: VW employee responds Day 5: VW employee acknowledges problem exists and says it will be worked on Days 6-91: further posts from users Day 149: user confirms problem still exists, attempts to ping VW employee without success Day 195: another unsuccessful attempt to ping VW employee Day 211: again, user confirms problem still exists, attempts to ping VW employee without success Please can I be clear I am absolutely not trying to have a go at @jblock here, whose job I'm sure requires him to keep on top of all sorts of things that are not keeping an eye on user forum notifications. But if there were someone whose job it was to keep an eye on the forums, then they could not only update and respond to threads like this, but behind the scenes make the contact with the necessary people, in order to make those responses.
  22. This lack of ticketing/tracking system is one of the main reasons I generally refuse to waste my time submitting bugs or emailing tech support. Instead I generally post my issues on here, where even if no one from Vectorworks can help, at least some other users might. There are various other services I use, that I pay a lot less for than I do for my Vectorworks licence. For example, the software that runs my website, or my web hosting company. An enquiry gets ticketed, and I get a recorded string of communication with someone helping sort out my problem. Sometimes it gets switched between people, presumably because they work in shifts, but it all happens under a single ticket number. Sometimes it's via a live chat system, sometimes email. Either way, it all gets recorded somewhere that I can access, and there is a definitive point at which the ticket is deemed closed. Sometimes after an extended discussion there's a conclusion that in fact there's a bug in the software that needs to be fixed, and I don't necessarily get to track that, but I am at least reassured that someone has looked at it closely and recognised there's an issue. Then there's my internet provider. They actually have a user forum (a bit like this) where you are actively directed to as a way of solving problems. If you start an enquiry there, it's nearly always replied to by a staff member, if it's not answered by other users. And sometimes, (if some specific details of your account are needed to sort things out) they will initiate a conversation with you by DM. If VW wants to move further towards the "software as a service" world they need to up their game. As well as adopting a ticketing system they could have a more formalised approach to the forums. It's always greatly appreciated when a VW employee engages in a thread here, but it doesn't happen in a consistent way. As has been requested many times before - there should be at least one person whose specific job it is, to monitor everything being asked on the forums, and direct things to the right people. Of course, the actual software engineers should be using their time to do the engineering, not administer the forums, but surely they can only benefit from being made aware of discussions about stuff they are working on. And, from a commercial point of view, isn't it to VW's benefit if potential new users look at the forums and see that there is an active and consistent engagement with problems. Actually most people are pretty tolerant of things not being perfect if they feel that problems are recognised and being worked on. It's largely the frustration of shouting into the void, whilst your productivity is hammered by software that isn't working as you want it to, that brings the rage on.
  23. Note that hardly any of them are annual subscriptions. Also, how big are the numbers in absolute terms? Maximum of 900 monthly subscriptions in Aug 22. The number of active VW licences in the UK seems a closely guarded secret - a figure of about 650,000 globally is often mentioned, and I've seen one suggestion that 10% of those are UK (no idea if that's accurate). That would suggest a backdrop of 65,000 UK users, when looking at those subscription numbers.
  24. And then there's stuff like this. Core functionality that gets broken and then there is no urgency in fixing it. The problem I describe above appears to persist in VW2023. There's another thread about it, not started by me, specific to VW2023: https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/topic/101453-strange-shaded-mode-artifacts/ Same pattern as my VW2022 thread - initial interest from VW representatives, requests for sample files, promises it will be looked at etc. Then silence and tumbleweed.
×
×
  • Create New...