G Troyer

Thought I would give this a bump in case someone had a solution this year.

"Incomprehensible" is an accurate description. This is a very basic need for anyone generating contour maps on a regular basis. I NEVER use VW generated contour labels. It is just too time consuming to go through and weed out all the extras. I use the number stamp tool and work my way down through the map. It irritates me every time 🙂

Currently I use QGIS to convert my lidar point cloud to a shapefile with about a half million 3D Loci. I generate my contour maps from that. I am trying to bypass QGIS and use VW2019 to process the lidar file. However I only want to import classes 2,8 and 9 from the lidar file (see above). I don't want the canopy and high foilage shots to be included in my data. Is there any way to control this within Vectorworks?

Ok...I think I figured out what the issue is. I had "Use Shape" selected inadvertently (this is the default setting, see below) Even though you could hardly see it there was a little rectangle in the center of the label (and it was solid). That is why the label showed up as a group. Once I create the label without the "Use Shape" selected I no longer have that issue. However, I still cannot create a solid label from the start. I can have nothing selected and set the attribute to solid, but when I select the label tool the attribute goes to none. But at least when I am done creating labels I only have to select them all and select solid one time. If Vectorworks would just give us a good contour label tool this problem would go away for me :-)

Gerard, is that how the file behaves on your computer? I followed your suggestion above and selected the stamp tool but had the same outcome. :-(

Thanks for the fast responses guys! The "Create Text Without Fill" is not checked. I did forget that I had used the stamp tool to create those contour labels. Maybe it is a problem with the stamp tool? I suspect it is a bug.

Hi guys, Attached is a VW 2018 file demonstrating a problem I am having since upgrading to VW 2018. Frequently when I enter some text I will change it's attribute to solid. The palette shows it is solid yet it isn't. I have to select the object again and select the solid attribute the second time and then it works. Any ideas? Please see attached file.Solid attribute prob.vwx

Can anyone help me streamline the process by using Vectorworks to convert the las file into 3D loci? My size job usually ends up with an average of 10,000 loci. I am repeating myself a bit here but currently I download roughly a square mile of lidar data in .las format. I import that into QGIS and tell QGIS to only import the selected classes 2,8 & 9. This eliminates building and foliage shots. Then I export the shapefile which contains the 3D Loci. From that I can generate my site model. Is there a way to get Vectorworks to import only specific classes of points or weed the out afterwards? Adjusting the "percentage to import" will not help me here. Even if I didn't have to import specific classes I want is there a way to get Vectorworks to convert the .las file into 3D loci?

I can have a blank document and draw a simple line. I then hold the shift key and an arrow key down to "nudge" it. I know that earlier versions of Vectorworks pre 2017 would show the "live movement" of the object as it moved along. Today in 2018 it still doesn't update until I let up on the arrow key. Does anyone else have this problem? Thanks!

Have wanted this feature for a long time and love using it in 2018. Way to go Vectorworks!

To vote this issue up please go to https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/topic/53606-need-better-control-over-contour-label-placement/

While VW contour label placement is better than it used to be it still isn't user friendly in my opinion. I would like to be able to draw a polyline across the contour map and have a contour label placed wherever the polyline intersects with a contour line! Several other survey programs incorporate that feature. Currently I manually place contour labels using the text tool just because it is just too cumbersome to go in and delete multiple random labels and then drag the remaining ones to the correct location. Also please give us the ability to set the decimal precision for contour labels without affecting the decimal precision for the rest of the drawing. This is another reason I still manually enter contour labels. I guarantee Vectorworks will get rave reviews from most people who label contours if they give us this kind of requested control over contour labels. If you agree please vote this wishlist item UP ! :-)

I would like the ability to control the length of a polyline without manually extending or trimming it. In the Object Info palette for the polyline down towards the bottom it gives you the perimeter (length) of the polyline. It would be great to have the ability to enter the desired length somewhere down there and choose which end point to extend/trim from just like we do with a normal line. I design septic leach fields and am constantly drawing leach lines to follow contours. It gets tedious trimming each line to an exact length.

I have been wishing for this common sense feature for a long time and just realized this morning that it was added to 2018. Thanks Ozzie and Vectorworks!

Zoomer, I would love the ability to set the decimal point on the contour labels without affecting anything else. Also it would be great to be able to draw a polyline across the contour map and have a contour label placed wherever the polyline intersects with a contour line. How hard would that be? I know that other survey programs incorporate that feature.

Fantastic! It would be nice if we had a "do not show again" option when the alert pops up. Thanks Vectorworks for giving me access to my point data again !!

I use the stamp tool frequently to label my contours since it is faster for me than the current "label contours" option. It would be really nice to have a "choose increment" option within the stamp tool dialogue box! This would be especially handy for labeling 2' contours in my particular application.

I couldn't figure out how to get lidar into VectorWorks in a usable format. I downloaded QGIS. It is a free program and I knew it could do what I needed to do but just couldn't figure out how to get it done. I finally found this guy Randy Hale at http://www.northrivergeographic.com/services I gave Randy Hale a call and for only a few hundred bucks he sent me step by step instructions on how to get the job done. I take my lidar data which is in .las format and import it into QGIS. There area few steps involved to weed out the buildings and treetop shots. I export it out of there as a shapefile. When I import the shapefile into Vectorworks I have several hundred thousand 3D loci that I can select and create my site model as usual. Randy Hale is stellar. He spent time on the phone with me and made sure I was completely happy with the outcome before he ever sent me the invoice. A few well spent dollars for this tightwad!

I use a Logitech G602 mouse that has a few programmable buttons on it. I programmed a couple of buttons to Control up and down so I can use them to scroll through my layers without reaching for the keyboard.

Vectorworks is saying SP1 likely to release the first part of November.

bozho, that is fantastic news! This of course begs the next question. Any approx idea when SP1 will be released?

dangkhoa....I have Vectorworks 8.5.2 on a Mac that I used daily until a couple years ago when I upgraded to 2016 :-) I am pretty sure it will open Minicad files. I couldn't open the link you provided.

I have Landscape 2018 and can't seem to locate "Recreate from Source Data" either.

Is there any way to program a shortcut that changes the attribute of an object from "solid" to "none" and vice versa? It gets old constantly going to attribute box and using the drop down menu to make the change. Thanks!

Thanks zoomer...well said! Unfortunately I in the process of migrating all my 2018 files back to 2017 as well. At least I was only a week into 2018 so only have a dozen or so files to roll back.