michaelk

LOL Have you thought about producing an annotated translation of the manual? Thanks again MK

Jeff The short answer is "no". BUT... You can insert them, set the 3D orientation so they conform to the slope of the pipe, and then switch to a front or side view and move them into place. Not perfect, but it does work. hth michaelk

Jeff The simplest way is to make all the pipes a symbol. The symbol definition should be a pipe at z=0 The symbol could then be raised up to 18' in the OIP. or the symbol could be converted to a Light Position Object and the Z height set in its OIP. Or another way.... Create a symbol for the pipes. Insert as a symbol for non lighting pipes. Insert w/ the Position Insert Tool for lighting pipes. hth michaelk

Hmmmmm "|" is producing unexpected results... I know there are 18 objects in Layer1 and 0 objects in Layer2. =COUNT(((L='Layer1') & ('Plug In type'.'Field Name'='Field Value'))) + COUNT(((L='Layer2') & ('Plug In type'.'Field Name'='Field Value'))) returns a value of 18 =COUNT(((L='Layer1') | (L='Layer2') & ('Plug In type'.'Field Name'='Field Value'))) returns a value of 130 Confused... michaelk

Thanks, Pat! Have you ever tried referencing another worksheet to fill in layer or field value names? ie, in the above example: =COUNT(((L='Ref Worksheet:A2') | (L='Ref Worksheet:A2')) & ('Plug In Type'.'Field Name'='Ref Worksheet:B1'))) I know that syntax doesn't work, but is there a way to do it? michaelk

ETC posts theirs: http://www.etcconnect.com/product.downloads.aspx?ID=20084 hth michaelk

2 questions for worksheet/report gurus: 1. Is an OR allowed in a report? For example this will count the objects in question on one layer: =COUNT(((L='Some Layer') & ('Plug In type'.'Field Name'='Field Value'))) If one wanted to count the total of the objects meeting the criteria on 2 layers is there a way to do this: =COUNT(((L='Some Layer') OR (L='Some Other Layer') & ('Plug In type'.'Field Name'='Field Value'))) [That doesn't work. Is there a syntax thing I'm missing?] I'm currently resorting to =COUNT(((L='Some Layer') & ('Plug In type'.'Field Name'='Field Value'))) + COUNT(((L='Some Other Layer') & ('Plug In type'.'Field Name'='Field Value'))) Which brings me to ... 2. Is there a way to get the formula field at the top of the worksheet/report window to wrap? Once the formulas get long they get difficult to edit. Thanks in advance michaelk

Great idea, Frank. michaelk

Wow, Pat- That's a cool script. With Pat's script it's lightning fast. But, even without it, my pedestrian method is probably faster than clicking on each one or using the edit button on groups.

I just had a very similar issue this morning. This worked out really slick: 1. Duplicate all the instruments. 2. Draw a rectangle around the first group you want to change and name it something. 3. Create a worksheet. Create a database w/ the criteria Type is Lighting Device and Location is (whatever name you used). Include the focus field and sort by that column. 4. Enter the new values in the worksheet. 5. Move the rectangle to the next group you need to change. 6. Recalculate the worksheet. Rinse and repeat. hth michaelk

Jonathan I was hoping there was a 2D locus point solution, too. But it's eluding me. If symbols don't have a centered insertion point, or when symbols have text linked to data, the data can throw off the edges and center of the bounding box in a way that is different for each instance of the symbol.

Have you tried turning up the DPI of the design layer in question?

Currently the Align / Distribute Objects command will align or distribute objects by their left sides, right sides, centers, or space between objects. I'd like to also have the option w/ symbols to align / distribute by insertion point. michaelk

What tool are you using when this occurs? Does it happen when you are trying to insert an accessory, or when you are trying to edit an existing symbol?... btw - instead of zooming you might want to try the lupe tool (it's called something like that) The default keyboard command is "z". Think of it as a local zoom, just the area around your cursor zooms in. You can repeat it several times. Escape to exit. michaelk

Ah, yes. When you get a lot of lights the VP can seem overloaded. The naming convention in the VP seems to be Channel Purpose UID - in that order. If you don't have anything in the channel or purpose fields then it starts w/ the UID. So, for your purposes, you could just enter your names in the channel field. hth michaelk

I would stay away from the name in the Data Tab. That way madness lies. The number is an identifier number that every lighting fixture and accessory has to have. For what you are trying to do, you might be better off using one of the 6 User Fields in the Shape Tab of the OIP. This will also make it easy to put that data in a Label Legend and access it through worksheets. hth michaelk

I can't make it happen w/ SLVPs. Are you using DLVPs? Can you post an example of a stripped down file with the problem? michaelk

I think Ozzie is on to something. In 1:1 scale the difference between line weights is hard to see. I tried setting the pen weight of an inner detail line of a plant symbol to 2.00 in 1:1 scale and couldn't see the difference. Changing the scale to 1/4" (1:48) made the difference VERY clear. michaelk

I'll echo Andrew's echo of Pat. I expect there to be some bugs. IMO, if there aren't any bugs, they aren't trying hard enough to stretch the capabilities of the software. And I'm sure that bugs like this - that are hard to duplicate - are equally hard to isolate and fix. FWIW, I got an email from someone at NNA saying that they are looking at it. There may be a discussion to be had on the process of submitting bugs and wish list items and a feed back loop in those processes that may have made this and other issues easier to isolate sooner - topic for another thread. We all have bugs and wish lists we we would like to see fixed immediately, and not knowing where they are on the list, or if they are even on it at all, can be frustrating. But in my experience, it seems like NNA has been attentive to many bugs and wish list items. If this really is a bug - I'm not excluding the possibility that I screwed something up - now that we know how to recreate it, I expect there will be a fix in the near future. Even though I have seen this issue several times in the past, until last weekend I would have found it difficult to isolate, describe, and reproduce well enough to make the problem clear to NNA engineers. So until I could point to something and say, "there it is, please fix that", I'd be happy to supply a list of things I rather see the engineers spending their time on. But nobody asked me for that list michaelk

Michael Do you have Preferences>3D Tab>3D conversion res: set to "Very High" ?

Select the arc and one rectangle. Edit>Duplicate Along Path will get you close. You might have to play with the offset to get it evenly spaced to each end... hth michaelk

Darren Correct. Once you convert to a light position it becomes a Plug In Object and you need to edit the symbol from the Resource Browser. It will be under Symbols/Plug In-Objects named the same as your position name with "-sym" after it. (Assuming you use the above method to create the position.) Right click on it in the RB and you can choose to edit the 2D part or the 3D part. It may be helpful to know that any 2D objects you create in the 3D part will find their way home when you exit the symbol. Same with 3D objects in the 2D part. So, for example, if you are missing the 3D part you can right click on the symbol in the resource browser, choose Edit, choose 2D, duplicate the line, turn that line into 3D and exit the symbol. You didn't say what version of VW you have. If you have 2010, just be careful about putting 2D object Layer Plane mode in the 3D part. If you want to nuke the position and start over you just need to delete the symbol in the drawing and then delete the symbol from the resource browser. (If you delete the symbol from the resource browser first, the position geometry will go away and leave behind the position name - which you still need to delete - but may be harder to find). Once it is deleted you can try again and use the same name. The instruments will be unaffected and (depending on what version you are using) will attach themselves to the newly created position. hth michaelk

The problem is that you are converting the original line to 3D. You need both 2D and 3D geometry to create a lighting position. One way is to draw the line, duplicate it, convert the duplicate to a 3D object (by extruding along path, changing to a nurbs curve, or a 3D poly), then select both the 2D and 3D object, group them, and convert to lighting position. You can also just edit the current positions and add the 2D or 3D part (whichever is missing) hth michaelk

Have you tried setting the smoothing angle in the hidden line render options to 20(ish). (I've found the sweet spot is usually between 15 to 30)

Orso Schmidt just posted a ton of hatches in the Vectorworks Share - Hatch forum. Some roof hatches included. http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=134684#Post134684