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Jeff Prince

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Everything posted by Jeff Prince

  1. When I need to import .gpx (rarely), I use on online converter for .gpx to .dxf. I'm usually doing this for trail design, site observation, or maps... so the accuracy is not critical. Surprisingly, my Garmin cycling computer does a very good job capturing existing trails. When the tracks are overlaid onto a satellite image they are typically right on the money.
  2. You can use 2D illustration tools like polygons in plan and elevation views. They will show in 3D views too like billboards seen in other software like Revit. But that's not an image prop, it's a vector representation.
  3. ....and now you know, and knowing is half the battle. Well, it's actually more like 99% of the battle, but who am I to argue with 1980's cartoon wisdom?
  4. Did you solve this during my banishment? If not... You could use "extract 3D Loci" from the point cloud and then export that to .dwg. Reimporting back to VWX shows the loci stay intact round trip.
  5. It's sad this feature hasn't been added. There are lots of reasons for having a visible, but non-plotting graphics. Feature affecting a design you want to see while placing things. Instructions to staff members you want them to read. etc... Having a visible but non-plotting control alleviates the need for turning things off or setting up viewport styles. This user error prone control of visibility is probably the leading cause of print errors and omissions and has been with many CAD packages for a long time.
  6. Wow, nobody helped you out in over a month on this? You need to change your Vectorworks Preferences for your Default Render Mode to something other than wireframe. I like Shaded personally.
  7. post the model exhibiting the problem and you might get a better response.
  8. Just tested in 2024 Same problem, different day/year 😞 Manual labeling is the only reliable method in Vectorworks. viva la BIM?
  9. That's not true. It is best to model in the software that is able to create the desired form in the most efficient and stable way possible. Sometimes that is Vectorworks, sometimes it's something else. I can't say what software is better at certain things, they like to ban me for that around here.
  10. Have we become so lazy that we have outsourced our regurgitation of others designs to AI too? I spent some time this past semester as a guest juror for a senior landscape studio. It's sad how much time these student spend learning how to prompt AI instead of being able to solve basic design problems. I think we are doomed.
  11. Overlapping data is more likely the culprit. See video. I wonder how long it will take the moderators to approve my message this time... fixed model.mov
  12. It's a data set from a variety of sources and is claimed to be following the USDA. The plant database field is "VW Hardy Zone" and Vectorworks says this about it "1–11 (from USDA zone mapping)" I wouldn't trust any data for hardiness found within Vectorworks as it is common to see values outside this stated range. Most nurseries seem to have fed most data to Vectorworks using the Sunset system, presumably. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zones currently range from 1 to 13, but split the zones in half and use A or B to further describe them making 26 zones effectively. The USDA zones are based on minimum temperatures, hence the mention of "currently" earlier. Sunset actually defines at least 45 different climate zones currently, but you don't usually see anything that high. It is a catalogue system where the number doesn't tie directly to something like minimum temperature like the USDA. As a catalogue, it too could expand past the current numbering system. The American Horticulture Society actually has a heat based system, but it's not typically referenced in gardening or landscape architecture. It ranges from 1 to 12 currently. See the problem here. The best practice is for your office to decide how it wants to curate and maintain hardiness data and stick with a system that makes sense for your area. With the pending abandonment of the Plant Database in favor of Plant Styles, I would maintain this data outside of Vectorworks in an database that can be used in any software rather than having all that data locked up inside a proprietary system like Plant Styles. A database can power publishing software for making cut sheets on plants, spec writing, or custom plant books. Vectorworks can't do that automatically or quickly.
  13. The parking lot tool creates 2D geometry. If you send it to the surface, it moves from the center handle to where it intersects a site model. So, on a site with some topography, some will be above the site model while some will be below. The way around this for 3D visualization is to create parking stripes with geometry projected onto the site model and then moved up a very small amount, say 20mm. If you don't need visualization in 3D, it's probably not worth the hassle.
  14. post the file and someone will take a look at it.
  15. I make very large site models within Vectorworks on occasion. The stability and speed of how a site model performs seems to be directly related to the quality of data the initial site model is built from. The following situations result in problems for 2024 and earlier for sure: If the center of the site model is far from the Internal Origin If your data includes many overlapping elements that have different elevations such as overlapping contours, grade breaks, retaining walls, etc. If you use highly detailed contours instead of point data or coarse contours to build a site. If you include large amounts of data that are not necessary for the intended purpose, like points at 12" or less spacing from a LiDAR scan of very large sites. If you are needing to do engineering for road and earthwork for large sites, you might be better off using more appropriate software with the tools for expediting that type of work. If it's just visualization and non-engineering grade site models, Vectorworks is probably fine. Here are some threads about some of my very large site models: Here's a screenshot from within Vectorworks of the model mentioned above. The distant areas are modeled at a lower resolution than the actual study area. Those house models are highly detailed and had round doorknobs modeled, yet Vectorworks is able to chew on it because it has none of the problem mentioned earlier. The site model for the higher resolution subject area was based on survey points, the low resolution stuff was actually based on coarse contours with a 10' interval IIRC.
  16. It depends on the nature of the model being converted. In the example you posted, I would treat each area contained within what appears to be retaining walls as separate site models OR Keep the 3D polys representing ground plane and then add retaining structures within Vectorworks as part of a single site model. I have found that Vectorworks may ingest data like what you have posted, but it often creates bugs in the site model that can be difficult to diagnose once you begin adding Site Modifiers and such. Best to use the cleanest data you can.
  17. Oh, I got banned shortly after this. I too have had long responses disappear due to the browser or a hiccup in my internet connect. As a result, I have tried to make it a habit to type long responses in a word processor and just copy/paste it here. So frustrating to lose work like that.
  18. I agree, but wouldn't hold my breath... I've posted on this, sent in feedback, and talked to people at Vectorworks about it over the years. Crickets...
  19. Did you get help with this? If not, post the problematic file and I'll take a look at it. There are many things that can cause a site model to break in Vectorworks, looking at the file is the easiest way to figure it out.
  20. I'm hold my peace. It seems saying things doesn't fix things or just gets you banned as I recently found out.
  21. I was banned here over a month ago and just regained my freedom 🙂 I'm able to log in from my computer but not my iPhone for some reason. I cleared my iOs browser data and cache, locked down all the privacy, and turned off autofill, and rebooted the phone. Still, I'm unable to log in from my phone. Has anyone else experienced something like this and know how to fix it? This website seems to load a boatload of stuff that might be causing the problem, but that's not my area of expertise.
  22. Strange, I replied to this topic earlier today and my response has been deleted. I guess my posts must be getting moderated again. Anyhow, this has been a long standing problem with the software and the company seems to have no interest in resolving it. @JussiV, your best bet is to manually label them, perhaps using a data tag to do so in your viewport annotations. I used to link threads like this in my signature hoping it would draw attention to getting the issues fixed. Unfortunately, the list became so long that my signature would no longer work....
  23. so post the rendering so people know what you are dealing with. Sounds like modeling the exterior enclosure might be the easiest solution.
  24. You could do it with Wall Styles or Materials. The attached file shows how to do it with Materials of components. I imagine you could do it with thickness, I'll have to check that out. wall visualization example.vwx
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