jnr

Ugh. same here. Always locks up entering data in a field in the OIP. And its random. Freezes the screen, forced to restart. No indication from Monterey that Vectorworks has stopped running. Just can't get back to its window. If just on a Studio display, you're dead in the water. If second monitor (new LG) in use, that screen is functional and allows me to save the work (still have to restart however). M1 Ultra 64 gb ram. Happens with a bluetooth mouse or hardwired. Tired to reach out to Apple, they won't touch it, blaming Vectorworks for the issue. I'd return the studio display if I could, in the end totally not worth it. In other news, similar behavior with Twinmotion 2022.2 (and .1). Word on the street is that Epic is not supporting Apple silicon. ostensibly, yet. Same behavior--locks up and a restart. Basically Twinmotion is now useless. if Epic and Apple continue to thumb their noses at each other, Enscape here we come... As luck would have it, thanks to Mark Aceto, still have an iMac Pro that runs Twinmotion so I can still work (more slowly). All this dough, and yet abject dysfunction still abounds. Wear me out...

I contacted apple as it smells like a graphics issue. of course since its not their software, won't touch it. Have also learned that Epic is not supporting apple silicon so the lock outs I'm seeing with Twinmotion (same behavior as Vectorworks) are in theory, not the same. So far have discovered if you turn down the resolution in Twinmotion, it appears to run OK. Still have an iMac Pro that may end up as a Twinmotion station until Apple and Epic decide to play nice. All that said, the graphics lockout I'm seeing in Vectorworks has something to do with graphics demand on the chip so in the end, is unified memory a smart move? You would think the lockout would happen if doing a heavy computational move or graphics hog (like rendering), but only happening simply entering data in the OIP.

Unfortunately the stair tool still flat out sucks despite everyone clamoring for a better one. can't customize stairs, the menus are ridiculous and almost impossible to understand. Completely counterintuitive. Custom stair tool will do this stair but because its legacy, prone to fail, or at least that's been my experience. you have to be gentle with it.

Anyone have suggestions to simplify auto hybrid objects? Two examples of extrude along a path, simple profile. editing the hybrid can take several minutes to open and close. not very useful. file has become even more sluggish with them in there. thoughts?

having similar issues with an ultra and studio display with a new LG 27" as a second monitor. In Vectorworks, sometimes entering values in a field in the OIP I get locked out of Vectorworks and the mouse only works on the second display. Happens randomly with Twinmotion as well. wireless mouse, apple mouse, wired mouse, doesn't matter. Able to save the file then no choice but to restart the machine. Seems random but must have something to do with unified memory. Happens with two non-apple monitors as well. When I get time to call Apple will update. perhaps related...

Jeff: Ideas on how to swap out textures at higher resolution for close in views? model is a design layer viewport, the dtm referenced in. existing texture is applied to the DTM before referencing. What's the trick here? -J

J: Interested in seeing examples. I thought I had sized correctly but off slightly. Doesn't help that the reservoir was low in google (below modeled water level!). thanks for weighing in. T: Forgot about the GIS link. Hoping to have time to circle back. Still have to finish the bridge!

Pat: Download google earth image, applied as a texture, gives pretty good results, but man, with a landscape this big, attribute mapping tool does not like playing with textures this big. really hard to get dtm and draped texture to line up (if it would work, gets you out of the auto hybrid/water extrusion game). Auguring in, the landforms look like play dough in closer in perspectives (think the more steep the slope, the worse it gets). Going to have to change gears.

So putting this out there: same cameral linked viewport. rendered shaded, you get a clipcube like cut thru the model. render custom (anything maxon I guess), and it displays properly. Any ideas why? Found threads from version 12 that complained about the same thing. Is this a bug?

Will convert to autohybrid in a bit. So far so good. Image is crude and nasty but you get the idea. Still designing. NNA DC-10 on a strafing run for scale... might drape the dtm with GIS image however this may be a case of the more abstract the better. Thanks for all the help -J

Jeff + Pat: Will try the extrude method. its a lake so all flat. The floor behavior is weird. In plan, displays at scale as advertised. In 3D or side view, it shrinks. Like some sort of scale anomaly. Like the idea of using the last contour at water level to form the extrusion so water not under the mountains. Pat: Using your extrude along a path idea for tunneling. really helps to see how spearing the land reveals how and were to get out the site modifiers. Jeff: never been able to display an extrusion filled in plan view (as pat noted) unless converted to hybrid. I'm all ears if you have a trick up your sleeve. Updates later this afternoon... -J

Thanks everyone. Floor works except oddly, floor in 3D downsizes to a smaller rectangle (first image). In plan its as large as the DTM (second image). that's a new one. the dtm is in as a referenced viewport. All on a design layer at the same scale. Any ideas? Would be nice if this software would just work.

So created a DTM from a 15mb 3d poly dwg file. Translates pretty quickly and not unmanageable. Its mountains and a lake. Model seems to work. Is there a way to lose the smooth green of the water surface? fake it with a floor slightly above the water level contour? Pat?

Pat + Tom: Thanks for the pointers. the idea of faking it sounds even better. modifier to make the entrance and either an extrusion or an image will be quicker. Its for a conference and is really for concept.

Working on a bridge project and need to cut into a DTM for tunnels leading to the bridge. Can bulldoze the path to the bridge with a site modifier and a fence, but then I suppose there's a cap to park on top of the pad to put the contours back on top of the hole. Any ideas how to pull this off? Pat? Do you copy and make a mini DTM using contour info for the part of modified? Seems like it would bloat the file? thoughts?

Hey Mark: Somehow I lucked out and got my hands on the Ultra with 64 gb when they randomly showed up at a nearby Apple store. Lo and behold, all my problems vaporized. zippy, os stable, graphics way faster. Can actually get some work done. Opted for that instead of suffering for another two months waiting for more ram. Drinking the Koolaid and waiting on the studio display. Not sure I could handle a 43"! Now to unload the iMac Pro....

Yup. My world as well. IMO 2022 is a dog. Unstable, SP3 did nothing to stop the memory blood letting. Sorry to see 2021 having similar issues. Question remains, why is this not fixed? Zeno wins the hemorrhaging memory prize. Wear me out...

I'd throw in there that it would be really helpful to be able to hyperlink text in the worksheets (maybe I'm missing something). I use worksheets for outline specs. Its really helpful for clients and subs to be able to click on a link in a pdf. right now I have to add icons in the annotations of a viewport of the spreadsheet then makes those links. Edit the specs, and one has to move the icons in the annotations. It's a PIA. Anyone have another idea how to do this?

L-W: Happens on non apple chips but 2022. Eats 32gb of memory, then I get an entire OS lockup and crash. Usually its on a graphic move (like a pan) but not always. As you mention, just closing the file doesn't help (if I can catch it before it crashes). 2021 was very stable for me. Should have never upgraded but too late now. SP3 next week? (middle of the month fellas).

I drink the service select koolaid and have barked about the complete instability of 2022, sent crash info, and so on to no avail. Maybe I need to continue barking. Seems all the guys who were great at support have moved on (Wilson!!!). Hate to do it but may follow your advice and do a full uninstall but will reach out to tech support. And here's to Epic solving the path tracer for Mac. Lot of chatter in Twinmotion world about the lack of that option. Studio clearly after the trash can market. People like me who can't justify a cheese grater, but now with 27" iMac DOA, need that step above consumer level computing power. We're back to separates. At least the overpriced monitor will last thru a couple of cpu iterations. Apple will give me $1300 for the iMac Pro on trade in. And since I'm already swimming in the Big Sur pond, in the interim perhaps forced to upgrade to Monterey. Fingers crossed that 2022 issues with it were solved with latest 12 version. thanks for listening and the advice.

M: yeah the iMac Pro ran 2021 and earlier without incident. stable. 2022 reminds me of 2009 which was also a crash-o-matic. Twinmotion has only crashed on me, maybe three times in the last 6 months whereas 2022 has already lock up the machine twice today. Am convinced Apple is still pissed at Unreal for the whole fiasco, what 6 months ago? Guessing they won't lift a finger to open the path tracer window. I'm stuck in an apple universe but the lack of AR and no path tracing does give me pause to consider a dedicated windows workstation. All of this makes my head spin. Too bad I can't use the iMac Pro as just a display and save on the overpriced monitor. Thanks for taking time to summarize all this.

So Mark: Interesting conversation. As noted by several (and experience over the years) it seems the central issue is the inability of the software to keep up with advancements in hardware (remember the days when it was the other way around?). NNA was slow to exploiting advancements in GPU processing. I agree that it appears to users that the Semens kernel is a leaking CPU hog. Reading a lot of threads and based on my daily Vectorworks crashing the entire OS, 2022 is an unmitigated graphics disaster. Apparently 32gb of ram, 10 cores, and 16GB of gpu ain't enough. I've stopped rendering in Vectorworks now that the hare that is twinmotion beats the pants off the Vectorworks turtle. But I digress. Not sure 2022 would take full advantage of a $ 6,000 AMD processor. But I drink the Apple kool-aid. So to your point, to Ultra or not. Clearly 64gb ram or the highway, but is the extra $1K for 64 core gpu worth it when renderworks uses what, 8 cores? Can't remember, do I have that right? How many banks am I robbing? My vintage 2017 iMac Pro xeon 3 ghz, 10 core benches out at 11,463 while the M1 max 10 core 3.2 rolls in at 12,402. Pretty much no difference. Ultra on the other hand, doubles the score along with the price. The trade-in however helps soften the blow or at least covers the cost of the fancy dancy $1500 monitor. Thoughts? -J

Dave: Just to weigh in, revising Mac 11.6.4 Vectorworks 2022 files, sending to TM via datasmith link, overrides TM textures every time. Tied the your tricks above. no affect. Limping by, but as a long haul solution, this is untenable. Frustrating loss of revenue. Collapse by hierarchy spits a list 8 miles long. Is there some other means or export in the works that TM will recognize? for example every wall type, PIO etc is broken down into generic solids and other sub components. One does not have time to collapse objects by hierarchy (god forbid you accidentally click on some other component of the heiarchy (aka start over). Maybe I'm missing something but it would appear the issue is the way by which Vectorworks files are interpreted.

inilegnam: Tried the same user folder trick as well. No affect. Having the same issue on an iMac Pro vintage 2017. Large file no problem in 2021. 2022,2.1 an unmitigated disaster for me. Same behavior except its on a simple pan. Crashes the entire OS. 32gb 2.6 ghz. Makes me wonder why drink the service select koolaid. tech support is stumped, reports go to engineering (black hole). No other software on the machine crashes. Costing me thousands in un-billable time. My unsubstantiated theory is 2022 is complied for M1 chips, intel be damned. Somewhere in there it does not want to play with AMD graphics. Perhaps SP 3 will address this, but not holding my breath. ugh.

B: Right there with you. 2022 is a graphics card trainwreck. Freeze, beach ball, Crashes my entire OS. On Big Sur but terrified of moving to Monterey as it sounds like that's a whole host of other problems. Despite multiple submissions, no resolution from NNA engineers. Have tried reseting preferences, non customized workspaces. etc. Locks up. Wild guess is this is compiled for M1 chips, Intel be damned. meanwhile no desktop M1 option from the mothership. 2021 did not have this issue. How many hours of unbillable time does one have to incur? Makes me wonder why pay for service select when the software is broken?