michaelk

Bruce Tried to add an example, but it timed out. Here's another try...

Bruce Does it need to be an image prop? Since you don't need it to do image prop tricks, like face the camera, it would be easier to map a texture to a 3D poly. That should solve the opacity problem. hth michaelk

Is there a slick way to duplicate a section line and move it? I have to take many slices of a building, and each Section Viewport has settings in the Advanced Properties for depth, height, and length. And each section line instance has graphic adjustments. On a sheet layer, I've got a section line through a viewport. I'd love to just duplicate the section line, move it down a few feet, rinse and repeat, and enjoy all the section views that suddenly populate the sheet layer. But it doesn't seem to work that way. Any ideas? michaelk

You got your choice: R or ?. michaelk

Bruce You must be talking about radial dimensions. I think all the dimension standards have a ? as a leader. I can't find a way to define a leader in a custom standard. I think you're stuck deleting it from the OIP You're right about searching help. michaelk

Using the Attribute Mapping Tool to adjust image textures often causes Show Grid to be turned on. Please make that stop :-) michaelk

Thanks, Bruce - Now it's happening to me! I think the Attribute Mapping tool is causing the problem. It turns on the attribute axes and - most annoying - it sometimes turns "show grid" on. arrggg michaelk

Enter a value in the Hanging Angle field in the OIP for each stick of truss. For curved truss click the "Show 3D Only" button. hth michaelk

Bruce It looks like you were in a working plane. (Shift-1 is the keyboard short cut.) Switching to Top/Plan view will take you out of the working plane and back to whatever the ground plane is called now. hth michaelk

1- I get the same results - Editing the pixel size or printed size doesn't have an effect on the size of the marquee. But I think it has always been like that. I'm not sure what the intended effect of those editing option are. I do know that File Type: JPEG 2000 Image doesn't seem to have as many editing options as JPEG. 2- I'm not seeing that behavior, and I can't reproduce it on my computer. hth michaelk

If I don't figure it out, that's what will probably happen. Unfortunately, converting to a group breaks the link between the two symbols... It's not impossible to work around. Just curious why the color changed... michaelk

That was the first thing I tried. It almost works, except for inserting into a wall. Mirroring a symbol inserted into a wall doesn't insert the mirrored duplicate into a wall.

I created the Grate 2 as a mirror of the Grate 1 symbol. That way any changes in the grates only have to be done in Grate 1 - Grate 2 will automatically update. It's curious to me that the colors look ok in final quality renderworks, but not in Open GL... Thanks, Ray michaelk

Can anyone tell me why these two symbols are different colors in Open GL, but the same color in Final Quality Renderworks? One symbol is a mirror of the other symbol. How can I get the mirrored symbol to be the same color in Open GL? thanks in advance michaelk

Jonathan's right. 12.5 won't do it. You will need 2008 or later. 12.5 Spotlight did have a very cool thing called the "Editable Worksheet", but that was for lighting instruments only. michaelk

Do you have Renderworks? I'm not sure what it does w/o Renderworks. michaelk

I'll have to go back and take a look at v12 and refresh my memory. 12.5 Fundamentals or one of the design series? michaelk

If I understand correctly.... Tools>Records>Link Text to Record will link text (often in a symbol) to a field in a record format. That record can be called on a worksheet. hth michaelk

Back in the day I used to use EAPs because it was easy to get the length on a worksheet, add the lengths, count the pieces, etc. But Petri's comment about using volume and dividing by the surface area of the cross section made me rethink things. Attached is a very simple example that will generate a cut list for each unit and estimate a materials order (+10%) based on the length of the stock (ie how many 12' 2x4s vs 16' 2x4s) ordered for each unit and a total for the drawing. It uses simple extrudes and extrude along paths. Most of the extrudes are generated from blue symbols and then stretched to length. Not necessary, but it made the process of "tracing over" an elevation or ground plan very fast. Still doesn't account for angled cuts. But I'm not sure how the cuts could be reported on a list in a meaningful manner even if it could be figured out... michaelk

Try rendering in Final Quality Renderworks. michaelk

Do you mean you want to see the physical shutter handles sticking out of the fixture? michaelk

Let's not begin a discussion on religion... Does this show the shutter cuts on your computer? michaelk

I'm not a fan of the shutter feature. No feadback. Takes too long. But it does what it does. (see attached picture) Make sure you have a focus point assigned to the instrument. hth michaelk

I just tried it, and it seems to work at least in this way: Shift click on multiple instruments in the Vis Palette > Right click > Edit... > you are at the Properties Palette. You can also turn lights on and off right from the Vis Palette w/ multiple units at a time. hth michaelk

If you right click on an instrument and choose Edit Light... you will get a editing palette called "Properties" - [Not to be confused with the palette you get when you choose Properties... which is also called "Properties". (That HAS to be a mistake!)] - You control the light from there. From the Vis Palette you can also right click on a light (or use the little triangle) and get to the same "Properties" (not the other "Properties") palette. I'm guessing that the interface is working this way because it is universal for light objects in the rest of Vectorworks. But you're right, the Vis palette takes a while to get used to... MK