michaelk

I'm using a 2 year old MBP w/ 2G of memory. I had zoom issues at first w/ 2009, but that script that was posted fixed it. I don't see any of the symptoms you describe. Good luck michaelk

You could either reference them in through design layer viewports or Set layer visibility to Active Only on the new drawing > Select All > Copy. in your drawing go to the layer you want > Past in Place. hth michaelk

No. the fence is converted from a polygon. The segments make up a little concave area where are the craters are. michaelk

Turns out there are no stray objects at z=0 or anywhere else. The craters only appear in the proposed views. They are outside the fence, in an area that is in a concave cove or bay of the fence. Any other ideas? Thanks michaelk

Thanks, I'll go digging for stray geometry. If I find anything, is it possible to remove it from an existing DTM? michaelk

Looking for more DTM wisdom. The giant triangular impact craters are outside my fence. What happened? thanks michaelk

Is there an autocad standard for to line weight? Or does every office make up their own? thanks michaelk

Again, I have no idea why this works. But all you need to do is add a little bend at one end of the leg or back support. It works. Don't know why. hth michaelk

I don't know why this works, but it does. Add a vertex to the legs. It seems go off the deep end when you render a colinear 3D poly in hidden line with a smoothing angle. But as soon as the leg is non-colinear, it works fine. Maybe somebody out there will know why. hth michaelk

Carl I don't think you need to set a background. VW creates the background (Background-1) the first time Lit Fog is selected on any Spotlight instrument. You can edit the fog by editing the Background resource. But I don't know of any easy way to have some instruments use different fog backgrounds in the same drawing. michaelk

I should probably have also said this: The button you are selecting - Draw Beam - is only showing the field angle and the beam angle (in the case of ellipsoidals) of the light. It's very helpful for calculations, but not for rendering. michaelk

You're almost there. Assuming you are using VW 2009 (or 2008)... Open the visualization palette. If there is only one lighting instrument, it will be the only one listed under the Light tab in that palette. (If you have more than one instrument, enter a channel number and/or a purpose in the OIP.) Click the On button. Render with Final Quality Renderworks (Make sure there is some geometry for the light to hit) For added fun, you want to see the beam, right click on the instrument > select Edit Light... The Properties Dialog box will open. (which has the same name, but is different than selecting the "Properties..." option.) Select Lit Fog. It helps if the distance fall off is set to something other than "None". You will have to do this for every light that you want to have a visible beam. hth michaelk

True. Unless your profile is a circle (ie. symmetric in any direction) you will notice a twist in the extrude where the NURBS path curves. Unless, I think, the curve is a fillet. Then the result is a radius corner in the extrude without the twist. I think. If you do need fancy corners and the twist is a problem, then the Loft Tool may be the way to go. hth michaelk

Yes. The oldest version of VW that will run on OS 10.5 is 12.5.3. MK

You are correct that you can't edit the path object with the 2D reshape tool. The way I understand it, when you Extrude Along Path the path object gets changed to a NURBS curve, which is what it needs to be to work in 3D. You can also create a NURBS curve first, then Extrude Along Path. Either way, the path object needs to be a NURBS curve. But you can edit the path object with the 3D Reshape Tool. And change the path in 3 dimensions. hth michaelk

ahhh, sure http://web.me.com/smallgroup/sg/Drapy_Drape.html Hope the rest of the class enjoys... michaelk

This is what I mean.... In this example the soffit has a texture that doesn't cast shadows. The fixture symbol has an ies data light source, and the geometry of the fixture is taken from the dxf provided by the manufacturer. No need to "drill" a hole in the soffit. Just insert the symbol and set the z value. hth michaelk

Unless the soffit texture didn't cast shadows. michaelk

email me off list. I'll walk you though it. michaelk

Vincent Not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for, but it sounds like you are describing a birail loft. Is the attached picture what you are looking for? michaelk

Dave Get all the truss in place before making it a group - if you still need it to be a group. Here's a quick and dirty way to draw it: (I hope 2008 and 2009 are similar enough to follow) 1. Draw one side of the truss. In this example I'm using a 8' long flat truss. Hanging angle =0, Rotation = 0 (All the rotations will be 0 in this example) 2. Switch to a front view. Duplicate the truss section and change the Hanging Angle to 45. Drag it into position. 3. Duplicate the first truss section again. (or either section, really). Change the Hanging Angle to -45. Drag it into position. 4. Rinse and Repeat to get the other sides... The final result will be an octagon truss structure on it's side. (I think that's what you were after.) hth michaelk

I don't have 2008 on this computer, but if I remember... No need to convert to a symbol. There should be a "Hanging Angle" field. Enter 45 in this field and you should get what you are looking for. hth michaelk

The straight truss changes color by choosing a color from the attributes palette. I think that the reason the other truss won't change color is that it has been changed to a lighting object. michaelk

Curious If you insert a lighting instrument with the Inst Insertion Tool, then undo it "uninserts". But if you Redo, nothing happens. If you insert a symbol with the normal 2D symbol insertion tool, then undo it "uninserts". But if you Redo, it reinserts. There seems to be a difference between the 2D Insertion Tool and the Inst Insertion Tool. michaelk

But if I "cut" the fixture, rather than delete, then the undo works correctly. Could be a bug. michaelk