Ben Beaumont

This is VE-99036 "Class visibility check box required" that @Hugues is looking into.

@DSmith2300you can view and download our 'paper' catalogue here. There are placeholders in our libraries with this same link in the data pane of the RM. We are actively looking to improve the catalog feature in the software. Please contact me via support@vectorworks.net.au, I genuinely would like to work with you on this.

@DSmith2300Thank you for your contribution. You must know that the libraries are provided as a convenience to our users. We are not a nursery and we can't provide detailed and authoritative botanical information. We are a CAD software company. Having said that, I encourage you to use the Vectorworks Plant Database and/or the 'Plant Catalog' feature to sort and find existing records based on various search criteria, including - in some instances - the provenance of a plant. The growers, nurseries and suppliers are definitely the more likely source of the kind of information you're after. There are also excellent resources online if you spend the time. You are welcome to contact the Australian office directly and speak with me, I would be more than happy to point you in the right direction and I am truely open to discussing your thoughts on how we might improve. I work a lot with our Australian users and have spent a lot of time building and extending the content. Our primary challenge is getting high quality images of good specimens that can be used to create Image Props, that can then be distributed by us. Our libraries are a combination of plant images we have inherited from the Northern Hemisphere and other more regional sources. Our users are routinely re-purposing the plants in our libraries as other species (based on form, size and appearance). [Are you aware we have a .pdf catalogue with images of all the plants in the libraries? Users find this incredibly useful.] Our users do their own research, manage and control their own catalogues and build their own libraries of Plant Styles they routinely use. I appreciate your engagement and sentiment but it's entirely up to you to make sure you're specifying the correct plant/s.

All Design Layers should be georeferenced to match the Document's CRS. Use the Geolocate Tool to position the Internal Origin in the vicinity of the site. There is a general 7km soft radius and 10km hard radius that you should work to. Generally the Internal Origin should be very close to the project geometry. [tip: (unless you have a specific project position/known setout point) set the User Origin to match the Georeferencing Coordinate System, then make a 1 km x 1km or 1 Mile x 1 Mile grid visible and snap to a grid intersection. That makes for nice whole figured Eastings and Northings for your Internal Origin position.] The Geolocate Tool will preserve the cartesian location of your geometry by placing a User Origin in the original (distant) location of the Internal Origin. The User Origin is discretionary. Unless an Angle to True North is introduced, it conveniently aligns to the 'hidden' CRS cartesian grid and can assist to display Eastings and Northings by way of the rulers. We don't need a User Origin for georeferencing to work.* When importing a 'geo aware' dwg file, the check box simply aligns the source .dwg origin with the CRS cartesian grid origin (it ignores the User origin entirely). In the case of the original post, the Internal Origin would have still been coincident with the (distant) origin of the 'hidden' CRS grid. Hence the imported geometry appearing a long way from that point. *To export your geometry as a .dwg, you'll need to set the User Origin to match the Georeferencing Coordinate System. This is because the .dwg export will write the location of the geometry relative to the User Origin not the Internal Origin. So the resulting geometry - when opened in a different piece of software - will be distant to the origin, just as the geometry you received in the first place was.

@gloruis please be in touch with me at bbeaumont@vectorworks.net.au. Regards, Ben.

Thank you @Peter Neufeld.. It took some tweaking, but I got it working (mostly) by considering neighbouring spigots as a single post. We just end up with an orphaned spigot at the end of a run, that's all. But that's easily fixed by ungrouping and deleting. The handgate works nicely - with the safety latches and self closing hinges included. @brody98 you'll find the Swimming Pool (glass) Fence Style options in the tool selector under ANZ Swimming Pool AS1926.1 ...

@John MoeThere is an issue with some of the (strappy leaf/ succulent type) 2d plant graphics not displaying correctly as a group when 'Apply fill across plant group' is checked. It is fixed for 2024. You can fix it yourself by rebuilding and/or inserting the filled polyline/polygon that appears at the back of the stack on Class 'Plants-Component-Color Fill'. That's the object that is unified to create the silhouette graphic. Tip: To quickly create the silhouette poly, use the polygon in 'outer boundary mode' and mouse around the folliage graphic. [CD-3937]

@Benson ShawI'll need to come back to you on how the Property Line behaves. If one draws a Property Line at the meridian of a CRS (so it's true and square) and change the longitude of the Internal Origin, we might expect the Property to become distorted on transformation - but it doesn't behave that way. The insertion of the object is shifted, but the regular shape and rotation is preserved. The Property Line tool may not be Geo aware - it may not show convergence. It's a question for the engineers. The Rotate Plan feature is a bit like picking up your monitor and turning it like a steering wheel so you don't need to crank your head. It's of transient help only. I think a better way to 'hard wire' your project to a "project north" would be to use the key-in Angle to True North and/or the Geolocate compass tool (yes, your option B). That way you could 'set and forget' the dominant geometry of your project to the regular internal Vectorworks cartesian grid AND preserve the geolocation.

@Benson ShawI think you're asking about grid convergence. In the State of Victoria in Australia, the meridian of the CRS is line of longitude 147deg East. This has a grid convergence of zero. In Metro Melbourne, at long 145 E, the grid convergence is -1.226deg. [I established that from an online geodetic calculator.] That means the True North point is slightly anticlockwise (East) from Grid North directly up the screen. So yes, technically, we could take that into consideration when displaying a North point on our drawings. As you've pointed out, the CRS is a projection of the earth at a given point and will inevitably be a distortion of the true geometry at a granular scale. The values are generally small enough to ignore. However I believe - if you're working in a CRS - Vectorworks already knows the grid convergence value at the location you've nominated. In other words, Vectorworks knows (quietly in the background) where True North is at that point. So a value you may place in that field will be in relation to True North. That would be useful if you wanted to rotate your plan to establish a convenient 'project north' - ie; pivot the World underneath your project a convenient amount to make your building square with the internal cartesian grid of Vectorworks. Your project can still be geolocated... but conveniently displayed orthogonally to your computer screen. For your Lat/Long above I get a grid convergence of -0.46 using the Geoscience Australia calculator. But you'll need to do your own due dilligence on that. I'm not a GIS professional - I'm self-taught (teaching) in GIS... so hopefully I'm on the money with my explanation here.

@c.markusThey have a number of options. They are building image prop Vectorworks Symbols, you can also access their content as Enscape assets. Plus a wide range of other formats. Their mesh .obj files can import into directly into Vectorworks - but watch the performance hit. For plant models, Enscape is probably the best pathway (Win only at the moment). Contact them directly.

Keep an eye on Globe Plants. They are doing great stuff, with Vectorworks content also.

@Dan Esthercan you upload a sample file here please and describe clearly where the issue can be seen and reproduced.

Hi Nat, if you're wanting to use images, then .png supports alpha channels (transparent background) which you'll need for Image Props. If you're wanting to use the mesh objects in Vectorworks (Caution!*) then Globe Plants will provide low poly .obj files. Are you aware there are sample files in our (Australian and New Zealand) libraries? In 2023 you will find them in the RM via: Vectorworks Libraries > Plants > _Plant (styles) > ANZ Globe Plants Sample Pack (mesh).vwx and Vectorworks Libraries > Plants > _Plant (styles) > ANZ Globe Plants Sample Pack (Props).vwx There are also Image Prop symbols in both formats for Architects. For Enscape, contact Globe Plants. They will set you up with the Enscape Assets that you'll need to install into Enscape. From memory the assets will be revealed in the Vectorworks Enscape Plug-in widget. I have seen a User successfully associate these assets with the 3D components of Plant Styles. However I haven't tested this. [*As @jeff prince intimates, the mesh objects tend to be heavy and you'll take a performance hit. Use with caution.] You can contact us directly for Support.

There are a couple of ways to use Globe Plants. 1. Globe Plants will sell you image files for which you can create Image Props. [Very quick and effective.] 2. Use Enscape and place the Enscape Asset in Vectorworks and render in Enscape. [Amazing results.]

@Samuel Derenboim please find attached the Scripts and Worksheets. You first need an extrude per Texture in the Design Layer (for each you want to create into a Material). Then run the "Create Materials From Textures" script. Then update the "Edit Materials" Worksheet. In that Worksheet, you can copy/paste values down the column/s and/or write specific values. It's a pleasure to use. It will get heavy with a lot of entries. But still infinitely easier than doing it long-hand. All thanks to @Julian Carr for developing this. Edit Materials Worksheet and Scripts v1.1 Vw2022.zip