Taproot

Hong, Works like a champ!

A very common procedure is to draw one layer over the top of another. Ideally this would be accomplished by graying out the layer below and being able to snap to the objects on it. However, I can't figure out how to accomplish this. If the layer is grayed (and show snap others is on), snapping is automatically turned off. Is there an obvious method that I'm unaware of? Thanks!

O.K. I finally straightened this out via Tech Support. The solution for all those of you who might be updating 8x or 9x files to v.10x or 11x is to make sure that you run the "Update to V2" command found in: Tools->Utilities. That will correct the problem for windows and doors.

Thanks to both of you, I narrowed the issue. The problem is related to the "simple door" and "simple window" objects. In addition to cutting and pasting, any movement or tweaking of those objects will set off the error loop I mentioned before. I'm using VW 11.5, but started a number of schematic projects back in v. 9.5. I opened (upgraded) the files to 11.5 and the residual window and door objects are now problematic! It seems like SIMPLE window and door objects should be translated into the VW 11 Window and Door objects natively. Is there any way to make this work without manually deleting and replacing every window and door? Have other people been able to upgrade older files into VW 11.5 and work on them without this problem? I'm stumped!

Whenever I try to cut and paste data from one file to another, I get the following error: "The currently selected preferences folder has to be converted from 8.5.2 to 9.0.0 format." I say OK and then VW replies: "The folder has already been converted to 9.0.0 format" Then I'm stuck in a loop of the two prompts for 8 or more cycles. What's going on and how do I resolve it? Thanks

Another way to do this is to simply change the line attribute of the cropped object to NONE. It will effectively disappear.

I just modified the existing symbols. I followed up with you all via phone as well and for the benefit of anyone else reading this post: If you modify the symbols, they will only apply to newly created files (not existing files). For existing files, you have to manually adjust each symbol in the resource browser. Thanks for the tip about adding symbols. I wasn't aware that you could add new symbols to the document. I may make use of this in the future.

Robert, Thanks for the instant feedback. I've modified the file: [VectorWorks]\Plug-ins\Common\Data\ ID_Symbols.mcd;} to meet my aesthetic goals. Howver, even after restarting VW, the new symbols are not appearing. Suggestions?

I'm trying to set the aesthetic qualities of the ID Tool and have found that the "marker scale factor" doesn't appear to work. In addition, any changes to font, line style, or other attributes have no effect. Is this a bug, or is there another unique way to set the attributes for this tool?

Peter, I stumbled onto a unique solution that may be of interest to you or other users. I agree that the Custom view with its increment navigation is really cumbersome. However, try this: Set up your viewport for a custom perspective view. Then edit the viewport via the "crop" portal. Once there, you can ignore the crop features and rotate the model to whatever view you wish with the flyover tool and the other 3D view tools. Once you have it where you like it, you can exit crop and the selected view will remain.

DEFINITELY! I've tried some convoluted work arounds to try and achieve the desired result.

If you're serious about wanting this functionality -- IT ALREADY EXISTS! The solution would be to purchase Quickeys which will allow you to set any shortcuts you desire. On of the options they offer is voice control via a microphone. Here's an excerpt from their website. I presume this functionality is available to PC users as well: If a user has a microphone attached to their Mac, they can assign a unique phrase for any QuicKeys shortcut, which when spoken will activate that shortcut.

Brendan, I've known about it, but found it clumsy. Thanks to your post, I've perservered through to figure out the rhythm of it. I think it will help immensely. Thanks, Matthew

Brendan, Thanks for the helpful tip. So, as I understand it, you select the selection tool, option lasso or marquee the items to trim, then select the trim tool and then option drag from a selected item to the trimming item. Then voila - pancakes! Just kidding. In Powercadd, you click once to start the selection line, once to finish it (everything in between is selected) and then a third time to select the trimming line. This eliminates having to go back and forth between the two tools. Offsets are done in a similar way: One click selects, the next offsets, and you're still have the tool active to go do this to any other line/object. Is there a way to do this without needing to toggle back and forth between the selection tool and the trim or offset tools? Thanks!

To add to Mike's comments, having used PowerCADD for several years I have definitely missed a number of its intuitive on-the-fly capabilities. Among them: 1. The offset tools allow you to toggle between (2) offsets. I typically use 1/2" and 5 1/2" for section drafting. Tapping the shift key toggles between them (with VW modes, it seems like a pretty easy fix to give us even three or four common presets). You can also tab in on the fly and set whatever offset you want. The other seemingly obvious production improvement is that to offset a line you simply click on it. Once a line is offset it is deselected. This eliminates the need to toggle back and forth between the offset tool and the selection tool. Believe me it saves A LOT of time. 2. Multi-Trim: When selecting multiple objects, the user draws a line. Any objects the line crosses will be selected. This works much better than either the freehand marquee or the rectangle marquee. 3. When tabbing into the toolbar, the LENGTH is the first field accessed. Most of us think intuitively in POSITIVE values. So, when we draft a line 2'-4" long, we don't think -2'4" just because it happens to be going downward along the Y-axis. X and Y values are handy, but secondary in priority. It should read Length, Angle, X, Y. 4. Hot keys can be assigned to attributes. This means that line weights, dashes, and arrows can be assigned to the keyboard. VW really shines in terms of the way it has set up workspaces, but the need to always use a class or the eyedropper to assign attributes seems limited. 5. Use of the control key (mac) as a modifier key for keyboard shortcuts. The command key is hardwired into the OS, so there are a lot of combinations unavailable. The control key adds a huge amount of versatility. 6. PowerCADD also allows for setting text styles. Similar to how VW now allows for the most common fonts to appear at the top of the list, In PowerCADD you can preset a series of defaults which include text styling. This is handy if you commonly use a room label which is TIMES - Bold - 24 - Underlined. This might be an easy vectorscript component. If it's out there, please let me know. 7. There is also a very nice "clean-up" tool that works similar to VW's Wall Join tool. When a marquee encircles the end points of two lines, it trims or extends accordingly so that they terminate together. Or, if the marquee is drug around intersection of (2) pairs of perpendicular intersecting lines, it will remove the (4) interconnecting lines. This is especially handy when trying to create door panels or 2-d wall cavities. VW keeps broadening its functionality and I love all of the new improvements - features. I think a little refinement to the basics could add a lot of polish to the software.

Felix, I'm surprised no one has gotten back to you on this one. I guess that makes me an early adopter - hmmm. My faithful old Epson 1520 was on its last legs (anyone need some parts?) so I just replaced it with the HP 110 plus nr this week. I'm also on a mac running the same system and version of VW, so this should apply pretty well to your situation. I found the HP naming system confusing. In essence, they are all of the 100 series. The 100 is the stripped down model, the 120 is the (6) color "photo" version, and the 110 is supposedly designed for CAD professionals. I say "supposedly" because the 110 is non-postscript. HP told me that this would be a non-issue for CAD drawigs and would only effect Pantone matching and other sophisticated image correction technologies. I found this NOT to be the case. Drawings print flawlessly from VW, but if you output to a PDF from VW and then try and print the PDF's, the embedded images distort into an illegible mess. This is true of PDF's in general (so far I've only sampled from a few applications). So, the driver isn't perfect ... but I've given you all of the bad news first ... let me offer some of the good news. Embedded in the driver is an option to print AS IMAGE. This takes about three times longer than a conventional plot but it does print images correctly. The driver was easy to install and aside from the image distortion listed above, it fits in seamlessly with the Mac OS. This is a lot more than I can say for some of the RIP software I've used in the past. To further fill out the driver options, Microspot offers a "POSTSCRIPT" RIP which is very easy to use. I downloaded the demo and it works well. It gives you a few more options and is relatively reasonably priced at $143. Here's a link if you want to look into it. Microspot Driver (X-rip) The paper feed tray and the roll combination are the reason I chose this machine and I am impressed with the result. The tray works well, The roll and tray can be used alternately without removing the roll. Large sheets can be manually loaded in the front or back while the other two media are in place ... so you have (4) different media paths in all. The color is fairly good. I find that saturation is consistantly on the lighter side, but thete is a driver filter that corrects for this to some degree. So, for $1300 there's nothing else in its class. Yes, I would give it a vote of approval.

Mike, Thanks - the zero thickness polygon approach makes sense. I can see how it would work as a patch and retain the correct relationship to cast shadows, etc..

OK, How about if you select Yes/Always for assign class attributes and then later change your mind. How do you then reactivate the manual approach? Regarding Emi's comment, I find that there are a number of items that I regularly put in classes without wanting to assign the class attribute. For example, a standard technique I've come to rely on is to create a generic "model" class that contains all of the elements that I want to display in 3D such as cornerboards and exterior trim, but I don't want to clutter up my plan drawings. I typically place the individual elements in a "style" class and then as a group put them in the "model" class. In this way, I get elements that update without having to fight with them on the 2D drawings. Is there a better way to achieve this result? Thanks,

MIke, Using a datum line to cover up the seam is an interesting work around. I don't find it that attractive, but it is remarkably clever on your part. What do you do for butt joint walls i.e. where you have two walls of differing heights next to one another thereby leaving a vertical seam?

Having used Powercadd for years, I know exactly what you're experiencing. Regarding 'Move Points', there are two methods which VW employs to acccomplish that task. 1. 2D objects such as lines, polylines, etc. can be adjusted by first grouping them, then entering the group, then selecting everything you want to reshape, then drawing a marguee around the points to move and dragging one of the selected points the appropriate distance. All of the objects will adjust in this manner. This is fine, but it only works on 2d objects. 2. The tool that you are really looking for is the STRETCH tool available at the VECTORBITS site. Unfortunately for me, it is only updated through VW v.10 and although it works most of the time in v.11 it doesn't "undo" consistantly. Since you are on Windows, it may work perfectly. Good Luck!

In my opinion, VW needs to make the model usable for projecting live Elevations (and hopefully one day sections). The viewports coupled with Artistic Renderworks make this ALMOST possible. Currently, a model rendered in Cartoon setting or Lines and Shadows will render a fully functional elevation EXCEPT all stacked and butted wall seams are highlighted. There must be a way to roll over these seams in the same way that Final Quality Renderworks does. Unfortunately, Final Quality Renderworks does not adequatelly punch out the lines for Construction Drawings. So, we are having to resort to all kinds of work-arounds to try and achieve what should be a core-feature of the program. With a little fine tuning, it seems like the capability already exists within the program to bring this about.

Travis, Thanks for the excellent resources.

I'm curious if anyone else out there is actually using the model/viewport scenario to generate their final elevations?? I'm still learning the programs' capabilities and my current approach is to spend the extra time to develop a thorough 3D model so that you can use it to generate the elevations. (I'm hoping that sections are on their way). So far, I've achieved the best results with the Artistic Renderworks "Lines and Shadow" setting. This is OK for schematics, but it isn't really tight enough for working drawings. Is anyone out there able to use the viewport technology to produce satisfying working drawings, or is everyone converting the elevations back to 2d lines (disassociated from the model)? If so, can you give all of us a hint as to how you do it?? Thanks!

I've had this problem as well. Further, if you go back to the drawings to add annotation or anything else that doesn't materially effect the model it also requires you to update all of the viewports. In my opinion, it would be better if the viewports could retain their rendered setting and just signal the fact that they are no longer updated by displaying the hatched border around their perimeter. In this way, the operator could still have the benefit of the rendered image and only update it when they needed to. The more I work with the program, the more ideas I have for "wish list items." Is it better to bring them up in the individual posts related to the issue, or save them all up in a list format for the "wish list" forum? In other words, does NNA read all of these posts, for ideas or exclusively the wish list forum?

The Vector Depot link that I think CEA is referring to is: Katerina's Class Utilities The tools do what you are asking and a whole lot more.