jeff prince

Based on your responses, its clear you have not gone thru the exercise of exploring this specific issue. It’s not a twin motion issues, it is a Vectorworks problem with how it exports. Datasmith and videos on the internet don’t fix it either.

@JazzLX appreciate your interest in the problem, but that's not the issue. Your video shows how to make a PNG with a transparent background. I already have those, 1000s of those and do not use the black and white opacity map 🙂 Twin Motion is not using the black and white opacity map either, you can delete them from the C4D export and it has no effect on the Twinmotion import. The problem is Vectorworks is adding a black background to my carefully crafted PNG textures during the export via C4D. Interestingly enough, Vectorworks does not vandalize the textures that shipped with the software, just user created ones, even when they are built exactly the same as the stock textures. Perhaps the software is just being vindictive for having the audacity to use my own textures? I did post a laborious work around in this thread, but I have yet to hear a reason why Vectorworks treats user textures differently than default textures provided with the software. Any ideas on that?

You would think this would have been resolved by now, but it hasn’t...

@JazzLX you should post some examples of what is happening and how large the error actually is. I’m guessing it’s not the coordinate system and something else, but we are all just guessing at this point based on the information provided.

@edwardus the fat lines are likely AutoCAD polylines with a polyline thickness set to something very large. Simply edit the Vectorworks symbol or object and set the line weight to by class. A CTB file is an AutoCAD file that tells AutoCAD which lineweight to print a particular color. Whom ever made the dwg is using the antiquated color based system instead of the modern style based method. That’s actually pretty good for you though, as color = lineweight for that file. The person who sent the file didn’t do anything wrong, the problem is on your end. You just need to set your dwg import up to handle the colors to your liking, or change them after the fact.

Contact the person who made the file and ask them for 3D points 🙂

@Melanie Sparks that's how those library items are setup, the cars are 2D/3D hybrid objects. It's one of the core features making Vectorworks great. If you don't like the 2D behavior, you must edit it accordingly. From left to right, viewed in 2D Top/Plan view... the default behavior, a manually colored version, and using a screen shot of the rendered view in the 2D symbol, all of which are 2D/3D symbols. Files attached. car methods.vwx car methods v2020.vwx

@BenG just double click the EAP and select Edit Profile. Once you are in the profile, simply mirror it and it should face the correct way. Maybe this will help too:

While the vectorworks fill attribute sure is nice, changing the lineweight of complex hatches in Vectorworks compared to AutoCAD is the tradeoff. ...and a time consuming one at that 😞

Yes, you have to filter the points a bit, they oftentimes include building eves, tops of wall, tops of paving, etc that we usually want to model with the appropriate tools. Probably a good time to take the Vectorworks University class on site design. Plant objects will "send to surface" and have a 3D representation, so that part is easy, just use plant objects Plant Areas and Hardscapes in the Texture Bed configuration are easy too, as they will conform to your site model surface. More advanced work is using 3d slabs, walls, and hardscapes to depict those features as they are actually constructed. Take that class and a lot of the "how" is covered.

@Rossford if you need a little inspiration, here's how to use grasshopper in Rhino to do slope analysis. Perhaps this could be achieved in Marionette. I just haven't looked into the functions available.

@Rossford I think you might have better luck by commissioning someone to write you a custom plugin for displaying such fine information within Vectorworks. I've seen similar done in Rhino3D. Maybe someone has created slope analysis in Bryce3D.

@Rossford So you are trying to get something like this: https://www.strackaline.com I think it will be difficult to achieve that look within Vectorworks. Splitting your analysis across two models as you suggest and editing the outputs in Photoshop will likely be your best route.

@Rossford So why does the client want it to have so many categories?

@Rossford I'm curious as to why they want that. Perhaps that will inspire an easier way to address the problem.