Kea

Sounds good! This doesn't sound that good : / it seems that one has to spend a lot of time testing and developing the proper workflow *sigh* and if it's difficult to get decent 2D-material from the model it's a problem indeed. Probably we would end up with separate files / layer for the model & 2D drawings, after all.

It seems that no major improvements have come with the latest version : / The project sould start with studies of the present state of structures, needs of the client, and alternatives of what should be done. At some point after preliminary design stages the BIM would come in question. We hoped, that we could decide only later if it would be really needed or not... but the project / construction consultant of the client seems to be very much pro the model. The client wants the BIM to be "relevant" of course = not too extensive / expensive. The main gains are expected from the hvac design, if I have understood right. There might be needs to demolish and redesign some exterior walls due to their poor technical condition; also some small extension might come to question. That would make the BIM model more complicated of course. (Hm, how to scan all the existing pipe openings in the walls that are hidden behind the ceilings.... cannot demolish them all... And would the laser scanning material be in any profitable and editable format... Hm). I don't know yet who would be the hvac consultant, and what application would be used. Around here all architects use either Archicad or Revit for BIM, we also have a leading BIM specialist in the team, but of course he has no experiences on VectorWorks; for the applications above he has all the starting files customized etc. His company would also do the collision studies with Colibri. Btw, he has found out that Archicad is more IFC-compatible with other applications than Autodesk Revit - Autodesk is big enought not to care . I trust that smaller companies at least try to follow the IFC standards more closely, they cannot afford to neglect them.

Hello, there's been a lot of complaints of VWA / it's capabilities of modeling for BIM. We are a small architecture office, and now we might have a renovation project starting where they want to have a BIM, too... We are not sure if it's relevant for the project (ok, there's a big kitchen & auditorium with new ventilation systems), but in any case we should be able to offer the IFC-model (in that case the present spaces / structures should be laser scanned first). The client wants to know how compatible VWA is with the applications the engineers use, and we want to know if VWA 2013 is any better in BIM than the previous versions. We have used VW for 13 years, but haven't had any big building projects - we are pretty worried about the lack of support in this sense - and I know no other VW users around here to consult : / / Kea

Thanks for your messages! it's very important to know that the acad doesn' support the bezier polylines. I only wish I had known it earlier ? now iI think that some important files might also be "corrupted" (sent to engineers already last year?) If there're a lot of contours, old and new ones on top of each others, one can't notice with one look if there's something wrong. This time I noticed the problem only because the old contours were hidden. Using the arc smoothing command seems to twist the curves, too, but after that they convert into dwg alright. (propstuff: I don't have acad myself, I just imported the dwg file back to VW. Of course the dwg could be ok and the problem arrives when importing the file to VW? but I doubt it, especially after the other information you gave me.)

VW 12.0 / Mac OS X 10.3.9 The curvy polylines were distorted in the DWG file I had exported? I had to convert them into polygons in order to have them exactly right. Now the curves consist of many points instead of few stategic ones? Is it a bug or is there something wrong in the preferences? I also tried to export the 36 polylines in question alone (60 Kt), but the result was the very same ? so it doesn't seem to be a memory related problem? although I have very little free hard disk space at the moment. (Some settings in the prefs: 2D conversion res.: High Pict/ PDF export & printing: 600 dpi)

Katie, thanks for good hints. I've sometimes made tree-objects with the Trace polygons -command; the objects only tend to be rather heavy-sized. I've got to check out also the Human Figure Tool. Mike, image props you proposed look good (and reasonably priced!). The semi-transparent people -effect sounds good, too. Thanks :-) And Robert, the style of the 00_Entourage_Figures look also quite promising. I hadn't found this library myself as it's not in the Object Browser by default (should browse through the VW 12 manual?one day?) Cheers, Kira

Yes, I forgot to mention in the original post, that it's 2D objects I'm looking for. I've checked the 2D objects in Vector Depot quite long time ago and didn't find any suitable ones that time ? and now the files seem to be too old to open with VW 12 anyway. So the serching goes on? But propably I'll have to put up with the old ugly ones ffor the time being as there isn't too much time to spend in the net. Not to mention designing the objects myself :-) Maybe *one day*.

Ups, 3D PopulationWorks seems to consist of 3D vector objects - not 2D raster images. (That's why it's called 3D in the first place? ) Now I also understand the price.

Just tired of searching all the cad-forums in the world! So could anyone recommend some stylish/designed human figure objects (in vector graphics)? I don't like the (ultra-detailed) objects that one finds on the 3rd party plug-ins page of Nemetcheck? Raster graphics based 3D PopulationWorks look quite ok, but when converting a lot of drawings into DWG-files, the extra image folder is a nuicance. ? And the 3D PW package is also a bit too expensive, I could do with fewer objects. (DWG format of the downloadable objects would be no problem.)

Ok, I checked the pallettes from the workspaces again, and noticed a new group called "Tekenen" ? there were the missing Insulations tools! Thanks to all :-)

I don't know either. Good to know, though, that it *should* work!

So, unfortunately the Insulation Tools by Frank Schnater seem not to be VW 11.5 compatible? if I understood right ?and I couldn't add them to my tools, anyway. Let's hope though, that they'll get updated one day! ? I put the Curved Insulation and Insulation/Isolation PIOs by Francesco Bellasecca to plug-ins folder, and they showed up all right in the Workspace Editor's toolbox.

is there any alternative patterns for insulation? Around here the default batt insulation "pattern" represents an insulation made of soft material, and hard material is represented with a zig-zag line. Any suggestions? Regards, Kira

Have you tried to reduce the resolution when printing? (Print dialog > VectorWorks). Helps at least for other memory problems / mac (pages print partially or blank)

Thanks! I thought that I checked the preferances *carefully*, but somehow I missed the "fixed lenght" choise anyway! Hope you a nice weekend, Kira

Hello, I would like to have very short witness lines, as short as the slash lines. Still I want the dimension line to be to quite much offset from the object. Now I have to shorten every witness line by dragging them manually?I lose the reference points? also the line lenghts are not equal. Any suggestions? Kira

Perfect! Got to upgrade soon. Thanks, - C -

Forgot to mention: I use VW Architect 9.5. -C-

How to adjust line thickness/style of window and door objects? Is the only way to ungroup them? Thanks, Christa

Very strange: I have all kinds of new paper sizes in the pop up menu of the Epson printer by default - only my custom ones don't show up. This might mean that your installation of the Gimp-print driver wasn't 100% successful. (I don't know, what the Ghost Script does, but propably it hasn't anything to do with paper sizes When you choose your custom size paper, does the bounding box change to a corresponding one in the first place? It just should keep the same when you change the printer. Only the name of the paper should change to "Other", dimensions remain the customized ones. Should remain.

Another solution is to download a Gimp Print driver: http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/MacOSX.php3 Remember install Ghostscript, too. There's also some mess with the paper sizes - I had to make custom sized A2-paper relative to the printable area of Epson 1520. At the moment it shows show only in the Page Setup menu of "Any Printer"... so first I choose it there and then change the printer to Epson 1520. Now the paper is also changed to "Other", but the mesures are the customized ones.

Katie, thanks for hints; drawing polygons is just what I'm used to do. The only problem is, that now there're about 75 apts in my project, and many curvy walls... In this sketchy state it's really a time consuming way to work.

Ok. I thought it would have been one of the basic features for a long time... Well, suppose I have one more reason to upgrade (to VW Architect) soon. Thanks for a quick reply! Christa

Dear VectorWorks Community Worldwide, I have a plan of a house made with wall tools. Is there a "stamp tool" (as in Archicad) or some other way to calculate individual floor areas within wall boundaries? At the moment I'm using VectorWorks 8.5 / mac. Sincerely yours, Christa