[Cloud Services for rendering]

Hi @LeeElston,

On the Publish dialog, select the item that you want to publish to an image and click the Options button. In the dialog box that appears, make sure the checkbox to Update visible out of date viewports is enabled.

 

 

Please let me know if you continue to have troubles.

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova

[Cloud Services not syncing]

@Sittingducks, 

We are planning to release a new version of the Vectorworks Cloud Services desktop app in a couple of days, which we would expect to fix this issue. I will let you know when it becomes available.

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

@Jan-Burger TROOST,

Thank you for your participation yesterday! It was very nice talking to you! 

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

@line-weight,

I really appreciate the time you took to describe your workflow and the way the new 3D model viewer in Nomad should work. It does help a lot!

 

Regarding the difference of appearance, it seems like you have draw edges turned on in Vectorworks and not in the web view. If you use the export Web View menu command in Vectorworks to generate the 3D model, there is a setting for Draw edges. Try turning it on and see if you can get a closer appearance. Unfortunately the automatic generation of the 3D model on the cloud doesn't allow you turn on this setting. So, I think your feedback also indicates that the Cloud 3D model generation should be configurable the same way as the local export.

I notice a slight color difference as well, but I think this is due to the lighting conditions. Light sources that are available in the Vectorworks model are ignored during the export to web view. Instead, a default overall lighting scheme is used for basic visibility of the rendered objects. So, preserving the light sources also seems important to you, as it affects basic appearance.

 

Best regards,

Iskra

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

Just now, Kevin Allen said:

I have also experimented with thee VCS Presentations, but I'm usually wanting to include links to video, documents and the like. The end result being a virtual meeting or trade show.

 

Good to know why you are not using it. We can add other supported file types to tour slides the next time when we release enhancements to Presentations. I have already heard this wish, so it is already on my list. 🙂

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

26 minutes ago, Kevin Allen said:

I also like to use Theasys for walk throughs built using VWX Panorama views.

 

Have you tried the Vectorworks Cloud Services presentations? From a quick look at Theasys, it seems very similar to what Tour slides can do, just with a bit more advanced features.

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

@line-weight,

 

This is a link to the Help article: https://cloud.vectorworks.net/portal/help/pages/create-presentations/?app=WEB

Also, when you sign into cloud.vectorworks.net, go to My presentations on the left panel. You will see a Sample presentation. Click on it to view the slide view. Click on the Tour example slide. Click on the pins to move from one panorama to another.

 

Please leet me know what you think about this functionality.

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

9 hours ago, line-weight said:

but it's the least bad out of a choice of bad options

 

Have you tried creating a virtual tour out of linked panoramas, using the Vectorworks Cloud Services presentation feature on the web portal? I think it is a great option to deliver a walkthrough experience without complex navigation. I have only heard good things about it so far.

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

8 hours ago, thecadman said:

There are different requirements for the 2D sheet view compared to the 3D model view...

Perhaps we can chime in with suggestions for both? 

Would that help @inikolova ?

 

Sure. I will take all suggestions! 

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

1 hour ago, thecadman said:

Is there any chance that we can have some input?

I am noting everything you mentioned, so it will be considered. We will also make sure to share early Betas, so you can check it in the early stages and provide more feedback at that point. 

 

[Is the 'Nomad' app still alive and does anyone use it?]

Hi Everyone,

 

Nomad is an app that is regularly being released with new features and fixes. 3D model viewing is one of its first features, and while we have been improving and adding new features into it, it has reached a point where it needs to be entirely reengineered in order to achieve good performance for big models and complex geometry, and to resolve many usability issues as pointed out here. We are actively working on this reengineering, but don't have an official date when it may be released. Stay tuned!

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova

[Shared Cloud Folders]

5 minutes ago, Christiaan said:

thanks for engaging openly like this on the forum.

My pleasure. Besides being a QA, I am also involved in the design of every new feature we produce on Vectorworks Cloud Services, so knowing what our customers want and how they work is very important to me. I am filing the wishes that I can distinguish from our conversation in our planning queue 🙂 .

[Shared Cloud Folders]

@Christiaan,

We are currently discussing the possible ways to support Publish on the cloud in a Project sharing environment. Right now, you can only publish on the cloud from a regular .vwx file. And yes, unfortunately, the viewports in your local file would not be updated. This is a long standing wish that we have, but it is a very hard engineering problem to solve. Since the Cloud is doing the viewport update on a copy of the file that you submitted, how do we merge the updated viewports back to your copy? What If you changed something that affected these viewports? We can easily save another copy in your storage named "_rendered", but then you end up with different files after each rendering, which I think is not ideal also. The best way in my opinion would be if we can find a way to hook up cloud processing to the Update viewport button right within Vectorworks. 

 

[Shared Cloud Folders]

1 hour ago, Christiaan said:

We never use this because it doesn't update the viewports. It only produces a PDF.

 

@Andy Broomell @_James @Christiaan 

If you are doing Publish, there is a PDF export setting "Update visible out of date viewport prior to exporting. You must have had this setting turned off. The Cloud is definitely doing rendering, not just export. If this is not working for you, I can help you. 

[Cloud Services not syncing]

Hi @Sittingducks,

We are investigating the issue.

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova

[Shared Cloud Folders]

1 hour ago, Pat Stanford said:

And the BIGGEST feature that would make me quit Dropbox instantly would be a link that could be shared (messaged, emailed, whatever) that would open the linked file from my local copy of the depository.

 

Can you help me understand why this feature would be useful to you and how you would use it? 

 

1 hour ago, Pat Stanford said:

If it has to open in a browser then there needs to be a link to "Find in Local Data Storage"

 

 

The Vectorworks Cloud Services desktop app has a button that allows you to locate local files on the web. Are you looking for the reverse link basically? But you expect this to work for links that you share with other team members as well? So, from the shared link, the recipient would be able to add the file to their file list, sync to their desktop computer automatically, and then they can directly open the local file from there? 

 

34 minutes ago, Christian Fekete said:

What are the added functions on VCS that dropbox does not have

 

The biggest thing that VCS has that Dropbox doesn't is Cloud Processing. You can offload time consuming renderings to the Cloud, so you can continue to use your local Vectorworks while the Cloud is doing the rendering. Vectorworks Cloud Services also offers viewers for panoramic images and videos with VR viewing options. VCS has 3D model viewer with AR viewing option, presentation feature that allows you to link panoramic images to create a virtual walkthrough experience, and many more. In other words, Vectorworks Cloud Services is a cloud storage solution geared towards industry workflows. 

 

1 hour ago, Pat Stanford said:

As a possible work around, would it be possible to use Aliases/Links to allow the VW Projects to be physically stored on VCS while still showing (and possibly be accessible from) the general cloud storage option?

Please try it with caution. The Vectorworks Cloud Services should be able to work with shortcuts/aliases, but I have not checked it after the sync functionality was completely reengineered. I would not be surprised if there are problems. 

 

 

[Shared Cloud Folders]

Thanks, @Christiaan and @_James,

 

I appreciate the dialogue. I agree that there will be different needs in both directions and we need to find the right balance. 

 

Please keep your ideas and suggestions coming! When supported with real life scenarios, they are most helpful, as they help us understand your needs better. 

[Shared Cloud Folders]

@Christiaan and @_James,

 

Thank you for the clarification! Could you provide a list of items that you think Vectorworks Cloud Services is lacking when compared to the third-party providers you are using currently? I would like to add these things to our list of future improvements.

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova

[Shared Cloud Folders]

@_James,

Since Shared Google Drives sync to team member's desktop computers, it would be redundant for you to share the drive via Vectorwiorks Cloud Services, and have it sync to your computer from there. You use Google File Stream, correct? Vectorworks Project sharing supports Google File Stream, but since they do not have Delta sync, its performance will be worse compared to using Project Sharing with Vectorworks Cloud Services or Dropbox directly. 

 

So, your idea is if Vectorworks Cloud Services supports integration and sharing with edit permissions of Shared Drives, then you can sync the Google Drive to your Vectorworks Cloud Services folder on your local computer, hence utilizing the Vectorworks Cloud Services' delta sync? This is a lot of implementations on our side, just because Google Drive doesn't have delta sync 😁.

 

I hope this clarifies it a bit.

 

 

[Shared Cloud Folders]

Hello @_James

 

2 hours ago, _James said:

With googledrive integration for VW Cloud Services this could be really useful, but it doesn't appear that Cloud Services can access "Shared Drives" in google drive (i.e. a company 'server') only a users personal drive. Is this correct?

 

Yes, unfortunately, the Google Drive integration with Vectorworks Cloud Services doesn't support Shred Drives. We have a few enhancements submitted for this already, and I added your vote to them. This would be useful in other scenarios, but not specifically with Project Sharing. Vectorworks Cloud Services doesn't support sharing with "Sync and Edit" permissions for folders on integrated storages, because that would be redundant, complicated, and really not necessary. 

 

1 hour ago, Dave Donley said:

Is this a way to do project sharing without using dropbox, project sharing server, or other compatible platforms?

Yes, you no longer need Dropbox, or Google Drive, or project sharing server to do Project Sharing. All you need is a shared folder on Vectorworks Cloud Services that syncs to all project participants' desktop computers.

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova

[web view not working again?]

Hi @jnr,

Yes, shared link is an active option only for Vectorworks and Dropbox cloud storages. With both, if you don't get the link at the time of the export, you can always go to cloud.vectorworks.net and generate the shareable link from there. For temporary storage, it is greyed out and turned on, because if you don't receive a link, there is no other way you can get to the file. 

Regarding the behavior when the Cloud Services desktop app is not running, yes - I agree it is not working in the most intuitive way - It shouldn't return to local storage and require you to re-select your cloud-based choice. I will file a bug on your behalf on this.

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova

[web view not working again?]

@jnr,

I know this sounds obvious, but wanted to double check, as I was not able to reproduce the behavior you are describing: On the Export Web View dialog, do you have the checkbox to obtain a shared link turned on?

 

 

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova

[Project Sharing - Where are we?]

13 minutes ago, str said:

I also find the web interface now a bit confusing when it comes to permissions but even for simple silly actions (e.g. renaming a folder...  I am struggling to understand how, but I remember I did rename files in VCS in the past)

You can currently manage your file organization from your local Vectorworks Cloud Services folder. All changes will be synced to the web portal if you have the VCS desktop app running. We hope to be able to support rename/duplicate/move commands on the web portal in the future. 

 

Thank you, @str and @Christiaan for your insights as to how we can continue to enhance Vectorworks Project Sharing with VCS in order for it to become your preferred solution. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will be considered.

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova

[Project Sharing - Where are we?]

@Christiaan, I would love to hear how would you envision this. There are ideas that are currently circulating in this area, so I would love to hear your idea in more details. 

[Project Sharing - Where are we?]

Hi @Christiaan,

 

We are currently investigating the possibilities that can prevent your data from leaving the physical boundary of the country. The ability to purchase more space is also on our radar. In the meantime, we accommodate individual requests for allocating more space as needed. 

 

20 minutes ago, Christiaan said:

and maybe more to come in the future?

Yes, we will definitely continue to think in this direction.

 

Best regards,

Iskra Nikolova