JMR

Here are my ten cents: This applies to small and midsize public buildings, where the stairs are mostly simple in geometry. 1. Stability and predictability. Currently the stair object sometimes generates ghost stair shapes to another layer and is, in general, very buggy. 2. Clarity. It is currently difficult to exactly decipher which settings affect which geometry and how, until one exits the dialog window. 3. The lock settings should work more reliably, currently it’s a bit difficult to predict what happens after a particular lock. The other tabs don’t always update as they should. 4. There are error messages with no apparent solution offered. 5. Stair run/rise is the usual starting point. The rise cannot change within a stair flight, also the run should remain constant unless the stair is winding around a curved landing. Usually the architect knows beforehand what the elevation difference between the stories is, what kind of rise/run is possible for a stair of that particular usage situation (normal/egress etc.) use, and this with the available space determines the resulting size and configuration of the rest of the stair. 6. Ability to lock top and bottom z, as suggested in this thread. For an architect, it is very important to remain confident that all kinds of elevation values stay put. Currently this can be affected too easily. 7. Ability to lock bottom step vertical edge and (2nd) top vertical edge location. Most often we know beforehand, how much space there is for a stair available. 8. Ability to separately input and lock landing dimensions. The landings usually must be of certain size to allow for stretcher use. There are also other regulations regarding landing sizes. 9. Ability to adjust multiple line types/thicknesses at once. Now they have to be picked one by one, AFAIK. 10. Stair step/landing elevation display would be nice option, easy to check landing heights etc. 11. Railings: Currently these are almost unusable. Railings are laborious to draw by hand, therefore a proper geometry would allow for generation sections/elevation views of the railings. Currently the railings jump vertically at a landing, a condition never seen in real life. Also the abovementioned issues with geometry. 12. Railings: The architect is interested in the top/bottom heights of the railings, and in the spaces left between the posts and possibly between the stair and the railing. There are regulations for the maximum space between the posts, vertical distance between open steps, “holes” between the railing construction and the step. All these should be lockable and editable. The regulations vary by country. Eg. horizontal divisions that allow climbing are not allowed in some countries. 13. Perhaps a possibility to use custom geometry for the railing profile as in extrude along path. 14. Ability to easily control what is shown above and below the break line, the current method is almost there but I’ve had difficulties with railing visibility setting regarding the break line. 15. Ability to add “friction” strips on steps, or visual cues for the visually challenged. Perhaps by a custom symbol or geometry. 16. Circular stairs: Currently the structure options are way too limiting, as are the 2D graphics. The circular stairs are mighty difficult to control as it is. There are regulations as to the minimum run at a certain distance from the inner edge, also for another distance at the inner edge, eg. 900mm. The stair minimum width is calculated from this inner minimum run, not from the inner edge. Additionally, the inner edge must not be zero. These regulations vary by country. Therefore; to be able to set minimum runs at least two different distances from the inner edge and display these for building permit approval. 17. Separate central column controls and outer structure (eg. cage) controls. Ability to get rid of structure beneath the steps if the stair is supported from the centre and the outer ring. 18. Ability to stretch individual steps in plan, if desired. Perhaps also solid operations as suggested. 19. Ability to produce all necessary drawings for the stair by using current elevation/projection/plan views. 20. Ability to get rid of the top/bottom structural joinings if necessary; Often the architect draws a solid stair solidly connecting to the top/bottom floor, then the construction bid winner selects a prefabricated stair fitting to the particular dimensions and the engineer makes a detail drawing of the connection suitable for that particular manufacturer’s stair. 21. Stairs spanning multiple stories. This really is a must.

I've encountered this same issue with surface hatches. The world z functionality is oddly random - sometimes it works, sometimes not. The shifting z coordinate renders surface hatches pretty much useless in elevations, at least with multi storey buildings.

^ This means door tagging freedom, no? I get rid of my 2-miles-long door tags! In general, the "quality improvement" approach of the 2019 release is most welcome, well done and thanks!

YESS!!!

Do you by any chance use a 4k monitor? I've tried two different setups at 4k and neither of them works. The program window itself works fine, but palettes jump unpredictably at restart, and are not visible in the 2nd, 2k monitor. Or they disappear on the 2nd monitor after a while and cannot be found unless one unplugs the second display.

This problem still persists in VW2018 Designer SP4, I ran into it repeatedly last week. The only solution is to create a new heliodon in the desired class, from scratch.

For 2018, a single floor plan sheet layer viewport for a 2000m2 building exports at ~14MB DWG, typically. This is huge. I've unsuccessfully tried to find out why the exported DWG is so large. There are only vectors in the viewport, not images etc.

...and the ability to make the unequal door smaller leaf glazed...like every unequal leaf glazed door in the real world is. Small but important things like this.

Tiles don't export to DWG. For us, everything we draw has to export to DWG, for the engineers. ...Or I don't know how to. Tiles are easy to make - I wonder if that interface could not be used to make hatches as well?

Hi, How do I prevent slab section hatches from being exported to DWG? If I export a top/plan SLVP to a DWG, slab section hatches become visible, even though they are not in the viewport. All different component hatches are included in the exported dwg, thus the floor plan is not readable. The top/plan view is from above the slab, or should be, IMHO... The only way I can think of is to turn off the slab classes in the viewport, but then again this is not always possible. Thanks

For us this has been a constant "feature" since 2018 launch. Doesn't happen all the time though. I notice we all run pc's....perhaps something to do with Windows/VW interaction? We see this both on gtx and quadro machines, on quadro maybe more often.

We have this with VW Designer 2018 sp4, occasionally. Restarting VW remedies the situation. Graphics card drivers are up to date. I haven't tried printing though.

GetSpaceNameForObj etc. work well with space objects, one only has to check that objects are on the same z as the space object is (=usually layer plane). The same goes for LOC. The screen grab displays a door schedule utilizing these functions, column C for space number and E for space name. Particular to doors is that the function might display two spaces since the door usually sits between the two. A draggable marker to "assign" a space to door object would be handy, similar to the one used in ADT. These functions are really handy, we never have to anymore assign space names and numbers by hand to furniture, equipment, devices etc.

In extrapolation of this topic, how does one export batt insulation so that it is visible in the .dwg as well? I can select batt insulation tile as a wall component fill and for me it looks perfect, but it will not export to .dwg -> insulation appears empty for a structural engineer looking at my .dwg file.

That's what I thought it should do - I can't figure out how and why they always revert back to the stacking order. And it's not just me, it's our other users as well. Maybe we are hitting a key combination or something by accident...just don't know.