inikolova
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Posts posted by inikolova
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Hi @Florane,
The purpose of the Google Drive integration with Vectorworks Cloud Services is to allow you to use the Vectorworks Cloud Services features without having to modify your existing Google Drive workflow or file structures. You can submit cloud processing jobs from files stored in Google Drive, and you can view 3D models (.vgx files), panoramic images, or 360° animation movies via the Vectorworks Cloud Services web portal or the Nomad mobile app, for example. Syncing and collaboration with the files should be done with Google Drive directly.
ExpandIf everything is on the drive, and I connect through the VCS, then do I need to download the file to work on it ? But I would loose the SYNC feature I guess...
The file needs to be downloaded by the Google Drive destop app. If you download it from the Cloud Services web portal, the updates you make won't sync back to your Google Drive.
ExpandFor example, could we use the 'copy to home' option to get this folder copied to our VCS folder on our computer. Work on it for a bit, it syncs back to the drive and once we are done we remove the home copy. Would that work ?
Copy to home creates a copy of the file on the Vectorworks Cloud storage, which is not connected to the original in Google Drive. The changes you make to the file copied to the Vectorworks Cloud storage will be synced only to the Vectorworks Cloud, if you use the Vectorworks Cloud Services desktop app, but the changes won't make it back to Google Drive automatically.
ExpandWe can't seem to be able to share a google drive folder through SYNC and EDIT option. is that normal ?
Yes, Sync and Edit permission is only supported for files on Vectorworks Cloud storage. You should share the folder with Edit permissions through Google Drive directly.
ExpandAlso, we can't download any file that sits on the drive, we all get error messages 'failed - Network error'.
We will investigate. This should work, but it doesn't seem to work for me at the moment either. I have notified our developers.
ExpandEverything seems so complicated ! We would be happy to migrate everything to the Vectorworks cloud and only use from here as we got how it works now but we only have 20GB and can't find anywhere how to buy more storage space, that doesn't seem to be available.
I think it becomes very simple when you understand when it is appropriate to use the integration, and when it is better to use the app that stores the data. You don't have to migrate everything to Vectorworks cloud, but if this is your desire, we will be happy to accommodate your needs. Purchasing additional storage is not available at the moment, but we are able to increase individual quotas as needed, free of charge.
Please feel free to message me directly and I will be happy to help you further.
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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Hi @dnhopper,
I am sorry to hear that you are having difficulties making custom fonts work with Vectorworks Cloud Services. One requirement is that the font files need to be placed on the same cloud storage where the .vwx file is stored. So if your file is stored on Dropbox, the fonts need to be on Dropbox, and you need to select "Store on Dropbox and Process on Vectorworks Cloud" in the Publish dialog:
If this doesn't help you, please send me a direct message with a link to your file in Dropbox and the names of the fonts that are not being found. With this, I would be able to investigate the issue and try to help you with making it work. Trying to Publish from a simple file with custom fonts from my Dropbox worked for me, so I need to look into your specific scenario. Are the fonts you uploaded converted from a different format before uploding to Dropbox? Often, I find that the reason for custom fonts not working is due to conversion. I am able to fix the issue of this kind by editing the font metadata with a font editing tool.
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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We found that your issue is caused by the + character in the file name. Please rename the .vwx file and regenerate the 3D model and it should work. We are working on fixing the issue.
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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The button has a tooltip on mouse hover, but I can see how it can be easily missed. All points taken, we will make corrections accordingly.
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Thanks for your feedback. I am sorry to hear you found the job cancellation hard to find and thanks for pointing out the lack of a confirmation dialog. We will take care of these items.
Regarding the differences in rendering that you see locally vs the cloud - it could be due to different Vectoroworks build numbers (older build may work properly while a newer build have a problem or vice versa). Please feel free to send me a direct message on the forum with more details about the differences you are noticing and I would be able to investigate further.
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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Are you using a custom workspace?
The command is available in all standard workspaces, but you can also add it to your custom workspace using the workspace editor.
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The Export VGX command is available in Vectorworks 2022 SP3 or later. I will make sure to include this in the Help. Thanks for pointing that out! I am glad you managed to export the model via the Vectorworks Cloud Services desktop app.
Yes, transparent objects cast shadows currently. We are looking forward to fixing this it as we implement a "white model" functionality. It will require marking which objects are transparent so we don't make them white, so we can use that to also disable shadows.
Reagrding your glass texture that appears opaque, please send me a message with a test file so we can evaluate this specific case further. We are aware of some issues with displaying transparency.
Draw edges is coming soon, along with white model. 😉
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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Hi @elepp,
I am sorry to hear you are having troubles. Please send me a message with the link to the .vwx file and I will investigate.
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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Hi Tom W,
Both of these improvements (ability to change the background and clip cube rotation) are currently planned for release in September 2022.
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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2. Don't apply dark overlay on entire screen for setting slide out.
This was a known problem before the release and we already have a partial solution for it. For the next release, the panel will hide when you start moving the slider. For a final solution, we are planning to have all the panels be adjustable size.
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- Popular Post
Expand- I had some problems with safari. No problem with chrome
Seems that Safari is just slower on all stages - downloading the viewer, downloading and unzipping the scene, loading the scene. This might also be happening because of unpacking compressed textures on the CPU in Safari which could be incredibly slow. Not sure if we can do much for this, seems that Chrome is just optimized better than Safari. Potential future improvements in model file size and viewer size might help remedy the problem a bit.
ExpandI had some problems using the clip cube
Would you please specify the problems you had, so we can investigate further?
Expand- The possibility of inserting borders must be added immediately.
Draw edges is on our list. Added your vote/comment to it.
Expand- I believe that implementing visibility of classes and saved views is something that does not require a lot of work, but that would also radically change the experience here!
Saved views and classes are being considered, but they are not trivial. Some discussion about classes and saved views here:
Expand- It would be very useful to be able to add the visibility of 2D objects.
This is on our list. I added your vote and comment to it.
ExpandI hope you will continue from this point of view, because what you have done is really beautiful, but in my opinion, as a user and designer and teacher, some very important elements are still missing.
This was just the first release for the Unity-based viewer. We are continuing development of new features and improvements with full steam. Thank you so much for your constructive feedback, we are glad to hear you are satisfied to some extent :-). And thank you for the good words about the work that has been done so far!
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But I was wondering a bit why I could not rotate the model on screen.
Usually when you reach the "north or south pole" of a Panorama (or standard view ?),
it will stop, but you only need to slightly rotate around the pole to re-rotate for Z
about X or Y axis. That did not work at all in this case.
I am not sure I understand the problem. Are you saying you tried to adjust the view while you were upside down, and that did not work? I think that is expected as the current restriction is that you can only view the panorama in a landscape orientation (rotated to the right).
Yes, when you reach the North and South poles, the motion and orientation sensors stop there to prevent you from rolling over. You could drag the image to adjust the view up and down relative to the position of the device.
Does this help?
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Panorama Demo (was upside down for me)
Panoramas have a fixed orientation due to numerous technical issues associated with handling device orientation changes. Try rotating your device to display the panorama in the correct orientation.
Expandit would be nice to run Nomad also on the Desktop, when no iPad available.
If VW allows Nomad Desktop usage, I could control or test what I want
to publish - before I give it away .....
We have plans to have Unity-based desktop 3D model viewer that you can use to view .vgx file on the desktop. I think this will satisfy your need.
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Syncing Saved Views between Vectorworks and Nomad seems like low-hanging fruit for this kind of thing. Is that not such an easy task?
Thank you for the continued discussion on saved views and the different cases where they may be useful. As far as I know from speaking to the developers, dealing with saved views and their class/layer visibilities, is not trivial. That is the reason why they were not included in the initial release. We will be having team discussions, considering your input, and we will see what's feasible for the short-term, and what would be more of a long-term goal.
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I'm not sure I understand why Nomad is needed in this process.
If you are using iCloud, and don't want to use Nomad, that is totally fine. You need to use Nomad only if you want your file to be saved on the Vectorworks Cloud Services storage. For example, if all your other project files are stored there and you want to store the Morpholio files at the same place. If you prefer iCloud, it is an equivalent alternative. No Nomad is needed in this case.
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At first I had trouble, with an error message saying that I had to manually type in my password (instead of using iOS keychain), but once I did that it worked. Strange behavior. It's working now.
This is not an error exactly. It happens when we can't redirect you to the app after you sign in. Using face ID or other auto-fill mechanisms may result in this page. We implemented this page as part of the login workflow, to catch these scenarios. There is a button that takes you back to Nomad for your convenience since we were not able to do this automatically. You don't have to type in your credentials manually, you just have to tap the Go to Nomad button when you see this page. This should not be a reason for concern.
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At the moment I think we rely on the active view in the file, right?
You are referring to the ability to define the initial view upon loading in the viewer, right?
The old web view export was using the current position of the camera upon export for the initial view, but that hasn't been re-implemented for the new export and viewer. This is one of those things that we will work on for subsequent releases. I think there may be different ways to go about this. This might get connected to the wish for saved views, as the initial view is a flavor of a saved view the way I see it.
Yep, I already have your other wishes on our list.
Thanks!
Iskra Nikolova
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- it seems it's still not possible to display with edges drawn - or am I missing a setting somewhere?
- Edges are under consideration alongisde with many other visual improvements, such as ambient occlusion, for example.
Expandflyover navigation - it's sort-of usable, but I think it can only ever rotate around the centre of the model, is that right?
In the old viewer, the center of rotation was fixed and was based on the origin of the .vwx file.
The center of rotation in the new viewer is determined dynamically, aiming to never be outside the current view. If the tap is over the model, the center of rotation is determined by a ray cast to the nearest object surface. If the click is on an empty region of the scene, the center of rotation is set to the center of the screen at the depth of the last rotation.
ExpandThe main thing is that moving the "joystick" to the side translates sideways - but I think most people would expect that moving the joystick to the right would rotate the view to the right.
We can add an setting to rotate the view with the joystick.
ExpandCan we get back the navigation by pointing the camera?
This is on our list of features to carry over from the old viewer to the new.
Thanks for the discussion about saved view. This is also on our list of future improvements. We think that saving a view within the viewer could also be helpful, and also a way to "play" these views, like an animation, would allow you to just hand over the model to your customer. They would be able to see exactly what you define for them and they wouldn't need to learn how to navigate.
Please keep your suggestions coming!
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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Congratulations & thanks to the VW Nomad development team.
I passed your praise on to the team who worked on this. This was a long project and we are so happy to finally deliver it to you! We hope you enjoy it. This is just version 1 of the new viewer. We will continue to improve it and add more features to it going forward. Please let us know what you wish to see in it next.
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At the moment it's running very buggy for us. The pins are jumping around and resetting themselves. I have to reload the browser regularly 😔
It's costing us a lot of time to make changes.
ExpandToday this tool was beyond usable. The pins were jumping around, changing their colors randomly, changing their sizes.
I didn't realize it was so bad. Would you be able to capture a screen recording when this happens so we understand the issue better? We won't know how to fix it if we don't know how to reproduce :-).
ExpandThe line break of our texts happen in weird places.
I logged an issue in our bug tracker. I think the text just gets cut off when it reaches the end of the row, which length is determined by the size of the thumbnail preview. I asked if this limit can be increased, so longer words can fit in it. What do you think would be a good character limit?
ExpandThis seems to be a safari issue. It works in Firefox.
Thanks, I saw the issue and reported it to the team. It happens on Safari, and only for Board slides.
ExpandWe can change the names of the pins but the names of the files stay the same in the presentation.
I added this to our list of improvement requests to address this year.
ExpandHow does the 3D Panorama defines it's starting point.
A pin in a Tour slide can have two saved camera positions, to allow you to fine-tune its view depending on how the viewer accesses it.
- Pin opened from a panorama view: Set the camera position when you create the pin; you can modify it later by using the pin edit controls. You may have more than one pin that opens a particular panorama image.
- Pin opened from the Tour map or the side navigation pane: Set the camera position from the image’s context menu n the Resource panel of the Tour editor or Tour map editor, or from the Tour map pin edit controls.
Note that the tour will start with the camera position set for the first image in the Resource panel that has the home icon.
I believe the camera's default initial loading position was determined by the view set on export as well. I am checking with an engineer for more information.
Best regards,
Iskra Nikolova
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- The starting camera position should always be adjusable, also in Panoramas that are not part of a tour. I dropped a panorama on a floorplan and can't adjust the view. Now people have to rotate the view first to see where they are.
I like the idea. I submitted it to our list of improvements to consider.
ExpandThe layout is very limited. We would like to have more freedom in layouting our presentations.
We have received a lot of feedback about this. We are planning to tackle this soon (definitely this year, but we don't have an exact timeline set)
Expand- Occasionaly the pins I create are jumping around when I am trying to adjust them.
I am aware of this issue. With the flexible layout implementation, I am sure the way pins are implemented will have to be changed.
ExpandChanging lots of pins is very tedious. We like to indicate different types of images with color codes, but if we change the colors it becomes a very tedious job changing 20 pins.
This is another improvement we are planing to start working on soon.
ExpandScaling issues like these happen.
I am not seeing this issue currently. It would be appreciated if you could provide more details around the circumstances under which this is happening.
ExpandIf I type this text in the editor I don't see it in the presentation. Somehow the <> lead to the software ignoring the text.
Nice finding. I filed a bug to the team to look into it.
ExpandPins that are very low on the presentation become very painful because the settings are disappearing.
I am aware of this as well. Since there is a workaround, we have not considered as a high priority item, so it still unresolved. I informed the team about your report, to raise awareness of the issue. I hope it can be fixed soon.
Thanks for the time you took to share these items with us!
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Vectorworks Cloud Services: save cache of viewports when rendering
in Wishlist - Feature and Content Requests
Posted
@Christiaan Thanks for reviving this thread!
Saving the .vwx file with the rendered viewports back to your account is a quite simple task. However, think about what happens when you send a file for rendering on the cloud, and you continue to work on your local copy and make changes. By the time the cloud finishes rendering your viewports, you made some changes to the file, but the file you get from the Cloud with the updated viewports doesn't have your latest changes. Is that desirable? I think not. Saving a copy of of a .vwx file every time you do cloud rendering can be a dangerous setting, if not used properly, which is waiting for the cloud to do the rendering and then continuing work with the copy of the file you received when the rendering is finished. To me, waiting for your rendering to complete before you can continue working defeats the whole point of cloud rendering. I think the best way to implement your request would be with streaming, allowing the cloud to send updates directly to the .vwx file that you are working on, but we don't have this yet.