ibenjamin.price

Hey @Pat Stanford, I gave it hell with Marionette, but no luck. It seems that I cannot get the info I need from the Symbol. Marionette requires a 3D object in order to Get Volume. Im working with Symbols from the Resource browser. So thats a no go. Any chance you can help me with the Outline of this script? Any help is very much appreciated! Thanks! Ben

Ok, thanks for the info Marissa! What if it wasn't dynamic. As in, I have a list of information I want to populate in the Popup node. Now I just want to Run a script that adds that information to the Popup node one time. If i update the list, I would need to Add those to the Node as well... Maybe this is just a simple copy list and paste list into the fields of the popup node.... Thats probably the easiest way at this point right?

Thanks for the Info here guys. Ultimately, I'm not looking to do anything too complicated for the HUD. Very simple Rectangles and text that I'd like to see. Maybe a bitmap or two... I added a new post to the Marionette Forum about an idea I had to maybe pull off something close to this.

I'm trying to attach a rectangle object to a renderworks camera,. The ultimate goal of which is when moving around the design layer inside the camera view, the object always stays oriented to the camera the same way... Does anyone have any tips on what "input" node for the camera i could use to start this? There isn't a "camera" node, so does this require a custom node? Schematically, this seems quite simple. Input node "camera" - Get Location Node Rectangle Node- Set Location based off of the "get" data from the camera.. At its simplest I'm really just trying to create a coincident constraint between these two objects... Unfortunately, constraints don't work on cameras in 3D view... Any help or ideas is appreciated. Thanks! -Ben

So i've figured out how to gather a list of symbols. Using a the custom node "Symbol In Folderv2". I would now like this list to appear as options within a Dropdown in the OIP of the Martinet Object. I can't seem to figure out if there is a way to input that information into a Popup Node, or if the information has to be written into the node itself?

Hey Alan, Thank you very much for the info! Super helpful! -Ben

@MarissaF I've attached the example of whats going on. I've read some of the other posts, and it seems that text generated in Marionette automatically switches to 2D screenplane when wrapping into a Marionette Object. So now my 3D data isn't visible in top plan view, and my text isn't visible in the 3D view. Is there a work around here for this? I tried adding Set Text Orientation and giving it 3D coordinates, but that doesn't seem to help. The text doesn't ever move of the ground plane even with the 3D coordinates set with a Z height... Any help is appreciated. Thanks! MARIONETTE_2D_TEXT_ISSUE_v1.vwx

@MarissaFDo you still have this file available?

Hey guys, I got a request from a colleague the other day to look into how to make a "heads up display" mockup using Vectorworks. The initial concept is that we would be able to place a variety of 3D models in various "work areas" within the Design layer and move around the space showing different areas, but all the time seeing this HUD. Think Iron Man helmet. :-) My first thought was just place that stuff on the screen plane and then you can rotate around anything thats on the layer plane. Only problem is that the second you Zoom or Pan the "screen plane HUD" doesn't move with the view, you end up zooming & panning the screen plane as well as the objects on the layer plane... Does anyone have any experience with this already or have any ideas here?

Thanks Alan, Ill try these out!

Pat, Thanks for the confirmation. That all makes logical sense to me. Now to figure out the best way forward. Im gonna look into marionette first and see what I come up with. This is slightly easier for me then scripting, just because I can understand it better when its visual. Only problem there might be the nodes just don't exist for what I want to do, or they require some time of customization. In with case, its probably easier to do a script. Do you know of any good tutorials that cover any of this ground on Record Formats and auto population of data? This seems like a very straightforward script to me. and can get more detailed later on... but isn't it basically this? Symbol (symbol name: xxx) Record format (format name: Part Info) Record Field (field: x location) Record Field (field: y location) Record Field (field: z location) Procedure : Get x location Get y location Get z location Set Record Field String : X location Set Record Field String : Y location Set Record Field String : Z location Run: Im just not sure how to format all this info and if something like "get x location" or "set record field string" is the correct statement. I assume the same type of statements exist with "get volume" "Get total Surface area" "get bounding cube"... Is there a library of these statements somewhere where I can check to see if this is correct?

Mark, Thanks for the tip. I've been able to do that part thus far. My main question is about the auto data field population, like Volume for instance. I can get this information if I run the Machine Design : Get 3D Properties command. The I could fill this out in the symbol field by hand. But Im trying to get the information like that, to populate in the record field automatically after I run the script. This 3D Properties command has most of what I need. Now I need to figure out how to tie that to the Record Fields and then run the script. Im current trying to go at this from a marionette approach. Maybe there is a way using @DomCsymbol node to "get volume" information from a symbol and have that populate or "set record field"... Just spitballing here. I'll play around a bit more and upload my results.

Hi Patrick, This sounds like a great resource. Do you still have this file? Doest look like the file migrated over with the post. Thanks! -Ben Price

@JimWcould you add the attached file from the original post? Doesn't look like that migrated over. Thanks!

How do I get a record format field to populate with a piece of information about the symbol. For example, i'd like to get : the volume information of the symbol to appear in a record field of said symbol. the location in X,Y,Z space in the design layer to appear in a record field of said symbol. the bounding cube size of the symbol L,W,H to appear in a record field of said symbol. the Surface Area of the Symbol to appear in a record field of said symbol. Would the best thing be to write a script that would grab that information, then populate it inside a specific record field? Thanks anyone for you help. -Ben

Nice one Pat! Thanks for posting. This is super helpful.

hey guys, just a follow up on this. I took the advice you guys gave and here was the solution I went with. Create the Extrusion Profile as 2D Polygon. Extrude 1mm Create Symbol of extrusion. Place Symbol in all locations where the Extrusion Part is needed. Type the length of the extrusion piece into the Y scale. Making the starting extrusion 1mm helps with not having to do complex scale ratio math. Scale of 1 = 1mm. So 11.5928394mm = Scale 11.5928394 Creating this symbol and then placing & adjusting the 30 different length extrusions took me about 15mins. The lengths won't ever change now, but its still easy for me to update the original symbol and the profile shape of the Extrude to update all 30 instances of the profile. Thanks again for everyones help! -Ben

Thanks for the heads up. I checked these out. Seems that it requires the Symbol to be a PIO in order to work. So that doesn't work for me at this point, because I want to be able to freely rotate and manipulate the object after a label has been attached. Once I convert my Symbol to a Instrument or accessory as a PIO it automatically becomes a hybrid object...

Hey Christian, There are instances where i want to see the text of the record fields for a symbol, like when I'm trying to get feedback on notes or updates or status of things. But I there are also many scenarios where I don't want to see that info but i want it as a part of the symbol. Like when I'm building an assembly of something or using this object rotated in 3D space. Using the link text to record field automatically adds that text to the main symbol, and it seems as though it cannot be removed from an instance unless you detach the record entirely. Unless I'm missing something there?

Hey Pat, Thanks for the help. The updating of the "info card" is mostly for maintenance and status updates after initial setup. At first we're thinking we would load the record field data for these symbols by copying from existing spreadsheet into a report. After that. we would be updating individual symbols to reflect current status, notes or updates from Design, next steps, ect. Both of these approaches sound logical from a conceptual standpoint to me, albeit somewhat beyond my skill set. The Scripting approach is probably the best place to start. I don't think we have a problem with having to run the scripts each time. It would be ideal if we are able to update a single "info card" and also all cards at one time. I appreciate the note about your workload, no worries and thanks for the help. Do you know of resources out there that can help me get this scripted? -Ben

Hi there, Im looking for any help you can provide on best practice here. I've got a symbol placed in my design layer that has a Record Format (Called Detail Record) with 5 Fields. Part Name : Part Code : Version : Status : Next Steps : I've manually populated the field data in this symbol so that all the record fields are full. Part Name : The Greatest Part Ever Part Code : 0123456 Version : 001 Status : On Fire Next Steps : Please add fillet to edges and ensure draft is at 1º on side Now for the trick : I want the record field information that I populated to show up next to the symbol on the ground plane, so when I fly around in place I can view all of this info. BUT I do not want the visible text of the field data to live with the symbol. I want it to be separate, so if i move / rotate the symbol in 3d Space and not have the information move with it... ( I tried attaching text to the record field, but that just adds the text to the symbol and then the text moves with the symbol. ) Is there a way to link Symbol A populated field data in Record Format A to Symbol B record data field? Im thinking maybe I have my symbol with the data, then I have an "info card" symbol, that is reading the information and showing it in the design layer.... It seems I need my "info card" to query the specific symbols record data and auto populate the field... Any help is appreciated! -Ben Price Mac OSX El Capitan, VWX 2017 Spotlight, Late 2013 Macbook Pro

Hey Pat, Thanks so much. I managed to figure out the other solution. Just didn't look in the resource browser, which was where the script was... duh :-) I like the solution you have proposed here, only reason the worksheet solution seems better to me is that it will import the spreadsheet that I already have made, so no reformatting of stuff... Unless, would your solution work for a CSV file? Really appreciate the help everyone!

Sorry Michael, Im not so savvy yet with plugins and scripts. Is there a Tut or video somewhere showing me what I should do with this VWX file in order to get this to work?? Tried copying and pasting the script text from the other post into a new script in my plugin manager, but I keep getting an error... Sorry for all the needy hand holding. Any help is appreciated... -Ben Price **** CORRECTION **** I wasn't looking in the right place. The script is in the resource browser in the attached file and everything works like a charm! Thanks very much @michaelk

Copy that. No worries. Hopefully@JimWcan upload those quick. Thanks again for the help!

Haha, wow. I searching for classes from Spreadsheet so this never came up! :-) Thanks so much for the help. If you have the file, i'd appreciate it, but if not, no worries, I should be able to get my head around implementing this script. Thanks again.