Kevin

I have had the problem with the dimension lines every since I began with MiniCad 7. I am on a Mac. For me the dimension lines go crazy when I create them in a detail and save them as a symbol. When I insert the saved symbol with dimensions into a detail sheet, the lines extend and make a mess. The only solution I have found is to one by one move the position of the text which then redraws the dimension line properly. Tech support suggested that I open the Class Menu and choose Dimension and then click Edit. They said this would force a redraw of all dimensions. (It did not work for me).

Katie;I created a new document and everything worked fine. As far as I know, I did not make any modification to the default none class. I have tried different approaches. I have deleted all of the offending classes and tried to create new ones. I have both allowed VW to assign a name and I have tried to assign a name myself. Each time when I go to use the new class it appears in the menu bar for a split-second and then dissappears. Only the pull-down arrow is visible. If I draw in that state, the object takes on the NONE class attributes. The already established classes work fine. It has the appearance of having reached a limit of where it will not accept any more new classes. I have 114 classes in this document. You said the document might be corrupted. If so, what do I do? Thank you in advance.

Under VW 8.5.2 there was a file in the toolkit under Symbols > "Graphic Elements" that was labeled "People". It contained outline profiles of people. Does this still exist in VW 9.5.2? If not, how do I get them from 8.5.2 into 9.5.2?

VW 9.5.2 on a Mac G4. I just created some new classes. When I make them active and draw something, the class assigned is "NONE". The "Use at Creation" box is checked "Yes". I was using the rectangle tool drawing polygons. This has nothing to do with auto-classing PIO's. I also noted that when this happens there is no class showing in the menu bar. The other classes already created work fine. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong? [ 08-20-2002: Message edited by: Kevin ]

X-Rip now has a version 1.1 that supports more printers. (I have not tried this product).

Matthew:I too would like to know how you do that. On a separate topic. How do you include the graphic in your posting to this forum? In a separate posting, I was trying to desrcribe various elements of a framing plan. It would have been so much clearer to simply draw it and show the drawing instead of describing it in words.

On the subject of framing plans; Does anyone have suggestions on how to draw the schematic beams and joists? Normally a line is drawn to show the direction and extent of the joists. At the end of that line is an arrowhead. I use different types of arrowheads to denote whether the joist is a roof rafter, floor joist, ceiling joist. Then I have to manually insert text above the line to show what the line is, ie: "2x8 Floor Joists @ 16" O.C." This is very time intensive. What I need is a tool like the dimensioning tool that will draw a line with attached text and that can have various options of end markers such as broad solid arrow, open broad arrow, narrow solid arrow, etc. The same applies to beams although with beams I show them as thick dotted lines with text above showing the beam size. A similar need is to show slope of paving. There I need a line with a single arrowhead showing direction with attached text to show slope, ie: "Slope to Drain @ 1/4" per foot". Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Matthew; Thank you for your quick reply. I followed your instructions and the results were favorable. The reduced image size problem has disappeared and the image now prints normal size. I do not know which item was causing the problem. I spent hours on this problem and you fixed it in minutes. Thank you.

I am having the same problem. A reduced image prints in the lower left of a 36" x24" sheet. This has made VW 9.5.2 unusable for me. I have a presentation tomorrow and no way to present it!!! Mac G4, VW 9.5.2, HP 455CA using HP RIP. Everything used to work fine under VW 8.5.2. Katie, can you please address this.

Matthew: Does the video card play any role here? Or is the speed solely dependent upon the computer CPU type and clock speed?

RobertThank you, thank you. I wish I had known about this years ago. It explains so much of the odd behaviour that I have just come to expect from the program. Your expert advice is much appreciated. [ 06-25-2002: Message edited by: Kevin ]

Giovanni;Thank you for your in depth tutorial. I have always wondered what workgroup referencing was, but was afraid to ask. Thanks to your help, I will now venture into this new uncharted territory. Since you obviously know how to use this feature, what do you use it for?

I am using VW8.5.2 Architect on OS9.2. I used the Grid Method Entry to input the elevation data. When I view the 3d mesh, there are multiple lines that extend to infinity below my mesh model. In a side view, there is the model and then these vertical lines that run down to infinity off of the screen. I went back and checked the elevations of the loci to see if there were any negative numbers but all the data seems to be in order. The model is a relatively flat site with elevation data ranging from 7 feet to 12 feet. Any ideas on what is wrong?

Robert:Thank you for your quick reply. The "Snap to Loci" was not originally checked. After your suggestion I checked it to make it active and there was no change. I then un-checked it to make it inactive again and once again, no change. Any more ideas?

The Architosh website has an article regarding someone who has hacked an Epson driver to operate a 1520 under OSX. I do not have a 1520 and have not tried this, but I know some people have expressed an interest in getting this to work. Good Luck. http://www.architosh.com/news/2002-06/2002c-0605-1520epson.phtml

Yesterday I attended the A/E/C Systems 2002 trade show in Anaheim California. This is an annual show for computer software and hardware in the architecture and construction industry. There were large showy booths for Autodesk, Bently, FormZ out in the center of the convention floor. Off in the corner in a tiny booth was Nemetschek. At the Nemetschek booth there was NO mention of Vectorworks! There were no signs and no sales material. They were only showing Allplan. This show comes to the West Coast about once every four years. Imagine my surprise when the software that I use every day, Vectorworks, is not represented. I felt like the kid at his high school graduation whos own parents did not show up. I was very confused and disappointed. Why would Nemetschek have a booth at this industry trade show and not represent Vectorworks? I think it would have been better if Nemetschek did not attend the show at all. At least I could explain that as a decision to not spend the money. But to have the booth with the Nemetschek name and not refer to Vectorworks is just plain bizzare. It was no different than if Autodesk had only shown Revit at their booth and not shown Autocad. Do you think people would have been confused to show up at the Autodesk booth and not seen Autocad? Of course! If Nemetschek has an explanation, I would love to hear it. P.S. I was looking forward to meeting the faces behind the names. I thought I would at least get to meet Robert Anderson.

JoeTake a look at the Vectorworks Printing/Plotting section on this message board. You will probably find all the info you need. Personally I use VW 8.5.2 on a G3 and G4 running OS9.2 with a HP 455CA plotter. I have had it new since 1998 and it works fine. I use the supplied HP RIP. It took many hours to work out the software installation and usage issues, but since then I rarely have problems. Tech support from HP is free for the price of a phone call. They are helpful, but I sense that they are also frustrated with the software. It works but is not great.

John; Am I correct that layer links do not export. I have had times went the receiving party says that my exported file is empty. The cuprit seemed to be trying to export a sheet whos images were not on that sheet but linked to other sheets. When I exported the "master" sheet, everything worked fine.

Matthew:Could you elaborate on this please. I think it would be very helpful to VW users to understand how various hardware components affect our daily use of these products. Here are some items that I have wondered about. I am using VW Architect 8.5.2 with Renderworks on a Mac G4/466 with OS9.2/ 1. Page scrolling speed. What component affects this and how can I speed up scrolling. If I have an imported PICT image, the speed really slows down. 2. Rendering a wireframe. Is this strictly governed by CPU speed? Do the different modes use different methods, Lightworks vs. Quickdraw 3d vs. Final Shaded Solid, etc. 3. What exactly is OpenGL rendering? 4. What will speed up rendered animations? If I try to do a 360 rotated view around a house model it can take 24 hours or more. For this reason I do not do these or walkthroughs. I have a second computer that I could use for rendering only, but VW will not allow two computers to run with one serial number. 5. PIO speed. In the window PIO for example, there is a lag time for it to open. If I make any changes in the Object Info Pallete there is a lag time for the change to take effect. What can speed this up. If we as users can understand the effect of CPU speed, bus speed, amount of memory, graphic card type and speed and memory on card; then we can make more informed purchasing decisions. Thank you for your imput

Are you aware that in the Object Info Palette there is a setting for dormer wall thickness and roof thickness?

Katie; Thanks for your help. After your reply, I had the reprographics house do the scan and send me the Tiff file and it opened just fine.

I am looking at converting paper drawings into electronic format for importing into VW 8.5. The local reprographics house saves these paper scans in Tiff Group 4. Can I import this file format into VW 8.5. If not can I import it into VW 9.5?

Katie;Exactly what is a polyline? I see a line tool. I see a polygon tool. In your example, am I correct in this understanding: 1. Scan document.2. Import document.3. In a separate layer, trace the contours with "polylines", (whatever those are).4. Select all and choose the "Convert to 3d Poly" command.5. One, by one, select each 3d poly and in the Info Palette set the "Z" height. Thanks for your help.

Kurt;As a follow-up. I read a post of yours in a different topic where you explained how you set up your two computers. I followed those instructions, but still got the -8993 error code. I think I need to check for font corruption before I can try this set up again. In your set up, how does the laserwriter on Computer #2 know where the RIP on Computer #1 is, since they are on separate computers. Is this automatic or do you need to identify this some how?

Does anyone know if it is possible to increase the number of "last used" documents in the File menu. When I click on the File menu I am presented with the last 4 documents that I used.