Jeff Prince

"Well, how did I get here?" 🙂

Shape files are usually found at government agencies/ministries. When I did some work in South Sudan, it we cobbled together data from various ministries and NGOs. Admittedly, this search for information is easier in other parts of the world 😞 You need data to create the buildings. This could be from a shape file as previously discussed. If you have the buildings in IFC format, you can import those into Vectorworks and then orientate them to your base map. Finally, you might just have to make them yourself if the data does not exist. That could be as easy as tracing footprints on the aerial and extruding them manually. I recommend doing some independent study on Vectorworks University to get a handle on all of this, there are a lot of moving pieces to learn. The software doesn't magically convert image files to buildings 🙂 You can also search the forum on many of these topics to see previous discussions.

you should post a file with your problem wall in it for the best help. Screen shots only do so much.

Highly detailed 3D trees will kill your file size every time, use sparingly and always as symbols. You can make a decent symbol from image props. Do one photo for the elevation, one photo for the plan, and put them on separate classes. The, turn the collection into a symbol. This will give you the ability to turn off the unneeded view as required and within viewports 🙂

some places do not have high resolution photography available. What are the coordinates of your project? I can take a look at the area if you want.

Couldn't that be scripted by using the tree id number as an identifier of the object and then mapping the data from the tree report to the custom record? What about connecting to the tree inventory as an outside database to populate records? I don't know how to that, but it seems like something a computer should be able to do 🙂

I don't recall this feature ever working as expected. Perhaps others will weigh in with their experiences.

@lisagravy have you tried creating a custom record and attaching that to your existing tree objects? I have not tried that with connecting to GIS, but it might be worth testing and a possible solution.

I haven't tried this one yet, but it was in a discussion on the same topic a while back...

That seems a bit excessive for documenting a house. The hospital projects I have worked on just use 3D lines for medical gasses and plumbing 😉 that being said, @digitalcarbon shared a bunch of their modeled PVC and ABS fittings here on the forum. I remember them being very high quality and detailed. Maybe that would help you with your endeavor?

While in AutoCAD, try purging and auditing the .dwg and see what is reported. Perhaps the file contains something that the importer is hanging in. looking at the DWG, could you break it up into separate pieces, perhaps by layer? This would allow you to import the DWG in pieces to see if a particular portion is handing the importer. I have seen this happen with DWG and SHP files where there were significant numbers of poly lines with excessive verticies. Also, lots of polylines with overlapping lapping segments seems to hang the importer. items very far from the origin and not having georeferencing within the dwg may also cause problems, this happens in old DWGs a lot.

see my previous response and change it in GraphicProperties > Site Model. It’s the same menu you screenshot, just the other tab.

Hmm... That's interesting. I used Publish to make a PDF of the file you sent and it did not display the white boxes. I wonder if it has to do with the operating system particular computers are using. I'm using a Mac on Monterey.

I'm not sure what GIS data you have based on your description other than Google, which would shape the approach. There are several classes on Vectorworks University which detail how to use GIS, the "modify by record" command, and data visualizations that you may find helpful. Here are a couple to get you started: COFFEE BREAK - GIS TOOLS SITE PLANNING AND MODELING FOR ARCHITECTS

When I opened you file, I did not observe the "white box issue". There is a class called "PWL Colour-Photorealistic Tree Graphic" with a fill set to None. When I change that to white, I get the "white box issue". That white box is actually part of the image. So, if the class is fill is sent to none, your problem should go away. If you create new image based assets, it's best to import them as PNGs with their alpha channels intact. This prevents the "white box" issue from occurring.

My pleasure. I'm not sure what you mean on your second question. Do you want to change the colors of that cut and fill depiction? If so, Vectorworks has made it confusing. You don't change it in Graphic Properties > Site Analysis, even though it sure seems that way. Instead, go to Graphic Properties > Site Model and change the attributes for "3D Cut Volume" and "3D Fill Volume" at the bottom of the screen. You can also control this and all other attributes by class if desired. I really should customized my site models into a class based workflow instead of specifying them in the Site Model Attributes because it is way faster that way.

I went from sp3 to sp6 on the Mac. I think it might be related to Marissa's idea It seems as if I must have somehow, which is weird because I only use the stock workspaces and just position my pallets. The Landmark workspace said "user", reverting it fixed the problem. Thank you both for the help.

That is a 2d view characteristic. Change to Top view. Does the cut and fill appear correctly now? If not, select your site model and make sure its fill is set to solid in the attributes panel. If that doesn’t fix it, post the file and someone will take a look at it. if you want the cut and fill coloring to map to the actual site model for 3D depiction, you can make a texture from the Top view and assign it to the site model. I do that with sketch concepts and other 2D data.

You can import shape files and manipulate them. Example: if you have a GIS layer for building footprints that have their elevation and height data as part of their definition, Vectorworks can use that data to build massing models automatically. The tool is called Modify by Record. Similarly, if other features are present like street lights, utility poles, street signage, trees, etc…. This can all be automated in terms of creating Vectorworks objects from the data. if you have contours, you can build a Site model from them and the resulting surface can be textured automatically with a geoimage. hope it helps, Jeff

Your data is dirty and has overlapping errors. Also, you need to turn the contours into 3D Polys, they are currently 2D Polys sitting on different 3D Planes. Once you fix those things, you might consider running Simplification on those contours, they have way too many points for what they are depicting. Finish it off with a nice crop to get rid of the "dams" & locations without data, you will have a good site model. Just remember, garbage in/garbage out. Try to avoid it, especially when site modeling 🙂 Also, don't fall for the 'ol "if my contours are highly detailed it will make my site model better". It won't. Use points instead, if you can get them. Before... After....

1. Those white boxes look like an issue with transparency. If you upload a VWX file with the symbol in it, someone can tell you for sure. 2. Where to source 2D trees? As a landscape architect mainly practicing in the arid regions of the world, I usually have to make them myself from photographs or hand drawings. I like to cut them out using Affinity Photo on my iPad Pro with the Pencil. It's a relaxing filler task when I have nothing important going on or need to forget about something stressful 🙂 If you are not picky about how they look or work in temperate to alpine areas, there are tons of photos available via google or by purchasing. For the google image search, just select transparent for the color and use the "Genus + species" for the search. 9/10 times you will get something fair to good on the first page. Might it be most efficient to fix the library your company created 10 years ago than to cobble something together new? I would be most concerned that the graphics are all of a similar quality from symbol to symbol, something difficult to achieve with google or purchasing.

I can drag and drop a USDZ into VWX, but the feature seems to be missing from my menu. I do not use a customized workspace.

I saw they have the 24" wide model on sale for $2800 at HP. That seems like a very good deal considering what it include. I have used the 36" wide unit.

I've never seen that message and it seems like something is broken. Sounds like you need to contact Vectorworks Technical Support.

Check and see what AutoCAD layer (= vectorworks class) they are on. If that AutoCAD layer is current, you can't turn it off (just like Vectorworks). Make a different layer active and you should be able to turn them off.