Lyuben

I think that the wobbly experience is not due to the specific sync technology - either cloud or project sharing server. It is more because of the way Project sharing works right now - many users modifying and having access to the same file. The larger the file and the more users tend to degrade performance. My take on deploying PSS on AWS - it is a good exercise, but not sure it can bring improvements.

I would appreciate some details on the way you create accounts for your colleagues. We have a logit to determine the default storage location and it seems to fail in this scenario as you are located in Europe. In general the storage location setting is per user and one user can belong to many organizations. That is why currently it is tough to associate the storage location with the organization. Maybe in the future we will add "Organization cloud storage" which might solve the issue.

Hi Christiaan, probably there might be some advantages of the server model, but nothing major that I can think of. In general VCS can also be considered a server model, because the copy of the project file that is stored on the cloud can be treated as the server copy. I think that updating the Sheet Layer Viewports and syncing them back can be done easier using VCS, because VCS has the whole infrastructure and servers running Vectorworks already in place that can render the viewports and update them. To sum it up: project sharing server is good for users that do not want their project files stored on the cloud and solves technical issues that are not relative for cloud providers.

The main issue PSS (Project Sharing Server) is trying to solve is the access and modification of the project file. The project file can be stored on different platforms (network drive, on Mac, Windows, Linux, Synology device etc.). That file being accessed by different platforms (Mac and Win) simultaneously often left the project file in a broken state (locked, partial etc.). PSS orchestrates the access to the project file and avoids conflicts and locks. When using cloud providers that issue is not there, as everyone has a local copy of the project file and the modifications to it are done on the same machine and platform. Changes to the project files stored in cloud providers are orchestrated by other service that has been there and tested for a number of years now. I would say that both solutions are robust and there is no compromise with reliability when using cloud providers. There would be no difference in sync speed. VCS sync is now fast using LAN sync (for users in the same local network), delta sync and regional storage (Migrating where your cloud data is stored can significantly improve sync speed. That can be changed here https://cloud.vectorworks.net/portal/account/) PSS is to be used in companies with very strict security rules where Internet is highly restricted or companies that do not trust cloud providers to store their data. If that is not the case and you are comfortable with storing your project files in cloud providers then there are no drawbacks of using PS with VSS over PSS.

Hello Samuel, If you change 'Layer Options' to 'Show/Snap/Modify Others' in Navigation pallet does it help? Thanks, Lyuben

Hi Benson, Thanks for bringing this up. We will consider updating it. Just to note that the currently selected option on your image is "Sync and Edit" - you can view that in the upper left corner of the image (the rounded in green option in the attached image). Lyuben

Thank you for bringing up these issues. Branding for all cloud stored and shared files can be set via: https://cloud.vectorworks.net/portal/account/ (Branding section) We are open for suggestions on how to make the new Web View work better. What items in the interface would need improvements? Meanwhile we will investigate the missing geometry.

When you re-open the file after a crash it should be the most recent saved state. And yes - the most recent file will get uploaded when you close the file. You can also force the sync process form the desktop app at any time by expanding the Sync activity panel:

Thanks for reporting this, Josh. We are investigating the logs and trying to figure out the exact issue. By default VCS desktop app would not sync backup files. If you'd like to enable that it can be done through the settings. The app will also not sync files that are currently opened in Vectorworks to prevent excessive bandwidth and storage use. You correctly pointed out that if Vectorworks crashes the file will not be synced (since there is a hidden .lck file that was not cleared because of the crash). If you open and close the file again in Vectorworks it should resume regular sync. When you say that "- VWX is set to auto-save and back-up every 25 operations to a generic dropbox folder." - do you mean that the backups are saved in Dropbox or are they saved in VCS folder?

Vectorworks Cloud Services now supports Google Shared Drives and "regularly" shared items.

We have considered publishing from working files. It is improvement that is highly likely to come with Vectorworks 2022 SP3 (March 15, 2022) or even sooner.

When collaborating on a project stored in a shared drive/cloud folder the recommended approach is to use Project Sharing. If you'd like to do that - go to File->Project Sharing menu in Vectorworks and follow the steps. Google Drive (as well as Vectorworks Cloud Services, Dropbox, etc.) is a supported cloud platform for Project Sharing.

A new version of the VCS desktop app - 9.0.1890 was released today. Could you please follow the link from the error message and try downloading and installing it manually?

Unfortunately this is not possible at the moment, but it is one of the features under consideration for the near future.

Hi Mike, VSS stands for Vectorworks Service Select. You can use Cloud Services in any case, but some of its functions are restricted for users that have active VSS subscription only. If you have one, you should have a different Vectorworks account and use that one instead. Hope this helps. Thanks, Lyuben