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CiaMariaPia

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Everything posted by CiaMariaPia

  1. I'm trying to model an existing warehouse building whose 20' tall exterior wall construction varies by height. The first 16' is 12" thick concrete. A 36" tall 8" CMU wall is set atop the concrete wall with the west faces aligned. Finally there is a 12" tall x 4" thick insulated metal sandwich panel set atop the CMU wall. The west faces of all three sections are aligned (so the east faces step back 4" as each material ends and the next begins. Can this wall be modeled as a single style? I've tried but I can't seem to get the 3 walls to be aligned atop one another. Instead of a wall that is 12" thick at the bottom, 8" thick in the middle section and 4 " thick at the top - BUT only 12" thick at it's thickest point - I get a wall that is 24" thick in plan view. The three components are the correct thickness and located at the correct height but they are not vertically aligned but rather staggered. How can I get the three sections aligned?
  2. Thank you Tom! I've turned off "auto-classing" and can see that's having the desired affect - at least on my test symbols. I've got a bunch of (failed) samples with small variations that I've been using to work thru this question. I'll go back through them and reset them to the new settings to make sure I've got right idea. Have a great day!
  3. I've been trying the "demo stuff in a demo class" approach but the objects I'm trying to do this to are Symbol/Plug-in Objects that come with VW. They are auto-classed and resist my efforts to assign them to "demo" class, they just re-assign themselves to their original class. This includes following the VW Help instructions to duplicate the original symbol, rename the duplicate and edit the duplicate. I've also edited the class name worksheet to add the desired "demo" classes to it. No luck so far.
  4. I'm having the same problem so I'm wondering if you ever found a reliable solution. Thank you. Tom
  5. I have the same question: How can these workflows - which seem to use "unstyled" walls, be applied to styled walls that have internal components (and the linework that goes with them)? Thank you.
  6. Thanks for the advice! I'm just working locally, not on a network. I've been "importing" the pdf but I'll try the JPG approach. Have a great week.
  7. I'm trying to trace information from a scanned pdf. I import the PDF into VW and can see the image. I work with it for a few minutes and then the image disappears. The PDF file is still loaded and I can see its outline but there is no image. I've tried saving, shutting down and restarting. Sometimes the image re-appears but generally the image will not appear. I've tried turning the PDF's "fill" and "pen" settings on and off. No effect. Any suggestions to get the PDF image to appear? Thank you. Tom
  8. My Wish List item: The "Search" function in VW's "Help" feature should return results in some type of hierarchy to make the results more immediately useful to the User. Example: I recently had the opportunity to use the VW Landmark workspace to augment the building I was designing in the VW Architect workspace. Switching back and forth was easy! But then I realized that I had no idea how the tool I was going to use (Hardscape) was supposed to work. So treated it like a slab and off I went but then drove myself into a corner when it came to controlling the hardscape's slope and displaying that information. After some frustration looking in VW Help (a "Hardscape tool" search returned 24 separate entries, some them different portions of the same page but none focused on the tool itself and how it worked) I got some excellent help from the folks at VSS. I realized my problem was that the results I got using VW's Help "Search" suffered from whether or not I used a appropriate search word/phrase and from the fact that VW's Search tool doesn't produce any type of sorted or hierarchical results. In addition, the tool icon/pallet didn't allow right-clicking to get a context menu where I could go to a "how to use this tool" explanation for the tool.. It would be a great help to be able to jump directly to "how to" info on a tool or at least get Search results that are sorted. Perhaps categories such as "How To", "Simple Tasks", "Special Topics", "VW University" etc. Thank you.
  9. Tom W - Thanks for the suggestions. I have been trying to model the windows using the standard window tool because there are so many "flavors" of windows and so many manufacturers. I was hoping I'd find a few key variables that would give me enough control that I could get close enough . As you note, it's a struggle mostly because it's so time consuming. I'll look at Andy Broomell's tutorial and learn something new. Thanks again! Tom O
  10. We use many different types of windows and doors and try to design AND draw accurately so that our "design intent" is clear and simply stated. Is there a way to create window "styles" that create windows that are more reflective of modern aluminum or vinyl windows and glazing systems? VW's window styles always look like wood windows. That's fine for old buildings that use wood windows or for residential applications where wood-based windows (Pella, Marvin, etc) are the norm in our area. But when it comes to schools and other commercial buildings created from extruded aluminum or vinyl are at least as commonly used. Even the Anderson windows that come in the standard VW Library really don't display the window components in plan view accurately (window sash size and location relative to the window frame. 1. Is there a white paper or tutorial that explains the various different style parameters and how they interact with each other? 2. I see that creating symbols is often recommended for customizing components. Can such symbols be linked to window styles so that they substitute for the off-the-shelf component profiles when a window is inserted? Thank you
  11. Matt - Thanks for the tip. This is actually a great solution because it's simple, uses regular workflows (not work-arounds) and avoids the time and effort required to fuss with graphic settings to "hide" the sometime unintended consequences of work-arounds.
  12. Thanks to both Tom and Kevin some ideas for me to try. My building has a couple of different flavors of this condition. I only illustrated 1 because it was easy to grab a screen shot of that particular spot (2 offsets fairly close together). I have a number of conditions where there is only a single offset and the next offset is 20'-30' away, sometimes on the other side of an intersecting wall. I also have a condition where the wall keeps getting thinner as it steps from 16" thick to 4" thick in 4" increments over a distance of 20 feet or so. But you've shown me a couple of ideas and I'll start trying them out. Thanks again and have a great week!
  13. I have an an old existing bearing wall building with a long wall composed of masonry. Due to bearing conditions and some other eccentricities, the wall changes thickness as it travels the length of the building. One side of the wall is in the same plane the entire way and all of the thickness changes are expressed on the opposite side of the wall. Problem: Each time the wall thickness changes, there is a gap in the wall line between the face of the thicker section and the face of the thinner section. How do I get this short, missing "face" to show up in plan?
  14. You can also try a couple of experiments. Put your model into some type of 3D view ( left isometric for example) and create a clip cub so you can see the model in 3D with the walls and floors in section. Then: Change the lower level slab from F-Foundation Layout to 1-Slab and measure the height from the first floor to the second.....only about 6'. But the Design Layer elevations indicate it should be 10'. Click on the slab and in the OIP, change "Z Off" from4'-0" to 0" and measure again....10'. Click on the upper floor wall (on design layer 2-Floor Layout). Notice that it's a "wall" and that the style of the wall is "Ext Bearing-2x4-Vinyl Siding". If you right click on the wall, you'll see that you can "edit wall style" and this will bring up an entire pallette of criteria/features that make up the wall including the individual components with the "top" and "bottom" elevation criteria. Click on the foundation wall (on design layer F-Footing). Notice that it's an extrusion, not a wall. You can right click on it and edit the extrusion but you don't have nearly the control over the wall composition and dimensions that you do with the upper floor wall. I haven't given you any solutions to your original question but I think you can see that part of the problem is that VW Architect can do a lot of stuff but that stuff needs to be pro-actively controlled by you or else you get unexpected and hard-to-explain results. Patrick - In addition to Jeff's comments, I'd back up a step and ask if you are familiar with setting elevations for design layers AND how wall and slab styles or configured to utilize that information. I suspect that's where some of the mystery you are seeing is coming from and how you'll fix it. Are you familiar with Design Layers, Levels and Stories? If not, I suggest you look at those items and how VW Architect makes use of them. In no particular order, look at each of the following areas and I think you start to get an idea of how to control these components: "Layers" - You already have the idea about use of design layers to organize building elements. "Levels" - Looking at the "Organization" pallette (Tools|Organization) and note the "Level Type" for each of your Design Layers and the default "elevation" assigned to that layer. Click on the "Level Types" button and note the various levels that have probably already been configured. Click "OK" to go back to the Organization Pallette. Click on any of the "Stories" in the diagram and you'll see the "Levels" that have been assigned to that Layer and the height of that Level relative to that story. Click "OK to leave the Organization Pallette. Then go to your model and look at the actual elevations assigned to your two slabs (2nd Floor and the slab located on the F-Foundation Layout design layer). You'll see the Foundation slab is located 48" above the Foundation Design Layer. You'll also see that you don't have a 1st Floor slab ..... or maybe you intended the Foundation slab to be the first floor slab and then assigned it to the wrong Design Layer. Next, look at the wall style parameters for your 2nd floor perimeter wall. That wall has 4 components and each component has a "Top" and "Bottom" parameter that guides where that component will start and end vertically. You'll note that those 4 materials have different "top" and "bottom" elevations and those elevations usually relate to either one of the levels or the story or the design layer. If you make yourself a small chart or each wall and floor slab and it's actual (true) elevation, I think you'll see why your walls and slabs don't appear to be meeting the way you want them to. This will also tell you where you need to start making adjustments to wall or slab styles or level elevations. There's no right or wrong here other than you have to exercise control over these variables to make the building components do what you want them to do. One suggestion that works for me: Simplify your walls and slabs to be a single component then play with design layer assignments, levels, slab thicknesses and wall heights until everything is meeting the way you want it to. Then you can add wall components one at a time adjusting the settings for each component to get each new component to show up in the right place relative to the wall/slab itself and the top/bottom limits.
  15. Patrick - In addition to Jeff's comments, I'd back up a step and ask if you are familiar with setting elevations for design layers AND how wall and slab styles or configured to utilize that information. I suspect that's where some of the mystery you are seeing is coming from and how you'll fix it. You didn't mention it but did you create the wall style being used and establish the design layers and their criteria or are using the some things you found in VW? Are you familiar with Design Layers, Levels and Stories? If not, I suggest you look at those items and how VW Architect makes use of them. In no particular order, look at each of the following areas and I think you start to get an idea of how to control these components: "Layers" - You already have the idea about use of design layers to organize building elements. "Levels" - Looking at the "Organization" pallette (Tools|Organization) and note the "Level Type" for each of your Design Layers and the default "elevation" assigned to that layer. Click on the "Level Types" button and note the various levels that have probably already been configured. Click "OK" to go back to the Organization Pallette. Click on any of the "Stories" in the diagram and you'll see the "Levels" that have been assigned to that Layer and the height of that Level relative to that story. Click "OK to leave the Organization Pallette. Then go to your model and look at the actual elevations assigned to your two slabs (2nd Floor and the slab located on the F-Foundation Layout design layer). You'll see the Foundation slab is located 48" above the Foundation Design Layer. You'll also see that you don't have a 1st Floor slab ..... or maybe you intended the Foundation slab to be the first floor slab and then assigned it to the wrong Design Layer. Next, look at the wall style parameters for your 2nd floor perimeter wall. That wall has 4 components and each component has a "Top" and "Bottom" parameter that guides where that component will start and end vertically. You'll note that those 4 materials have different "top" and "bottom" elevations and those elevations usually relate to either one of the levels or the story or the design layer. If you make yourself a small chart or each wall and floor slab and it's actual (true) elevation, I think you'll see why your walls and slabs don't appear to be meeting the way you want them to. This will also tell you where you need to start making adjustments to wall or slab styles or level elevations. There's no right or wrong here other than you have to exercise control over these variables to make the building components do what you want them to do. One suggestion that worked for me: Simplify your walls and slabs to be a single component then play with design layer assignments, levels, slab thicknesses and wall heights until everything is meeting the way you want it to. Then you can add wall components one at a time adjusting the settings for each component to get each new component to show up in the right place relative to the wall/slab itself and the top/bottom limits.
  16. Perhaps another, more generic way to think of this is to allow wall component thicknesses to be modified directly in the Object Info pallette in much the same way that VW allows elements of doors and windows to be modified in the Object Info pallette without having to create a new window style. In this way, you could have as many components in your "core" as you wish to suit the needs of the project or your personal preference or to create drawings with a consistent look and feel .... but the outermost layer can still render correctly and simply and the "cores" join up simply and cleanly.
  17. This is similar to my preference: A wall style where the "core" thickness is variable - and can be set for each instance - and a "finish" layer on each side of that core that can be a real component (such as brick) or merely a "finish" of negligible thickness (to allow color/texture when rendering). The inner "core" and each outer layer then join other walls in the conventional VW manner: Cores join together and finish layers can be joined (as appropriate to the two materials) or not by controlling the end caps. The key element of this is that these walls are all one "style" and the thickness of the core is variable and can be set on-the-fly by just changing the setting in the Object Info pallete. No need to create and manage multiple wall "styles" to accommodate small thickness variations and the rendering of the wall in plan (especially), section or elevation is simplified because there are fewer elements to control.
  18. I'm evolving toward the same approach because of the time/effort I've spent trying to get styled, multi-component walls to clean up properly at intersections and to accommodate the multitude of small variations in wall thicknesses my projects seem to have (lots of old, existing walls). Could you help me understand three things about this approach: 1. Is this an approach you take for rendering or are you able to use the same model to generate floor plans? 2. How do you handle the physical appearance of the wall in a "Plan" view? The axonometric sketch in the Wishlist response seemed to have voids within the wall at various intersections. Do these show up in your plan views or is there some way to suppress/hide that inner linework? 3. Do your wall finishes have real thickness (3-5/8" for brick, 1/4" for ceramic tile, 3/4" for wood, 0.001" for paint, etc) so that the "core" matches up to the structural core plus airspaces or does the finish have a negligible thickness so that it disappears inside the wall line when plotted?
  19. Tom - Thank you for the file. Very nicely done! I'm going to take it apart and see how you did it and then see if I can make that approach work for my current project. Thanks again! Tom
  20. Good Evening - Has anyone come across a door object associated with an overhead coiling style door? Manufacturers such as Cornell, Cookson and Overhead Door manufacture them but none seem to have VW-compatible files available for download and VW's BIMTool seems to find only one, small wood residential-style door and that translation from DWG doesn't seem very "smart" so far - much more like a drawn symbol. Thank you. Tom
  21. Thanks for the suggestion! I'm trying a couple of things and will report back on what I find.
  22. Thank you Wes! While not the answer I was hoping for, a truthful answer is better than stumbling around in the dark. Any chance VW is heading in a direction that will make a more comprehensive "system" for designing/drawing? Have a great week. Tom
  23. I've modeled a existing space that includes existing ceiling featuring several coffered areas. I can't seem to create a reflected ceiling plan of that ceiling to illustrate the needed changes. Other posts in this Forum seem to have found the same problem but I've not seen any solutions other than work-arounds that are really nothing more than old-fashioned 2D drafting .... but searches rely on keywords and who knows if I'm using the right ones. Many Thanks!
  24. Totally agree with the the Door/Window comments but would add that a similar upgrade is needed for curtainwalls. Not only is the current approach - creating a symbol for the curtainwall - clumsy and time-consuming, it's clearly a workaround to a problem that shouldn't exist by this time. Let's not forget that most of us are not designing 50 story buildings but rather small structures that need the ability to have multi-unit window assemblies. We can easily buy the actual windows but can't draw them or interact with them to the same extent that we can work with the walls. .... and we won't talk about how much more sophisticated and fluid these elements are - and have been - in other CAD programs.
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