rdrines

Thanks for the ideas. In retrospect I think I was hoping for a magic tool I hadn't found yet, but it seems there is no easy way around this issue. Thanks again.

I need to extrude a bunch of old 2D designs I created as shape profiles. These shapes were created by cutting and trimming a variety of lines, arcs and circles that were later grouped and dimensioned for machining. When I tried to extrude or convert the shapes into an extruded 3D shape so they could be applied to another design none of the designs I tried to convert would lend themselves to a conversion. Has anyone any experience on how these designs might be modified without the effort to recreate them over again using 3D tools?

Placing fences, gates and openings from manually created panels of different sizes seems like the hard way. Are there any Fence tools available from a third-party, or ?

A way to get a dimension onto paper, I've been able to use a clumsy work-around by placing 2D circles and arcs on a view (Top, Side, Front, or whatever you need) so that the dimension line and text will get into the Saved View display. This isn't the best way to solve this, but it get the print moving to the model shop until the dimensioning tools get better. Once the dimension are where they are needed, delete the circles/arcs and the dimensions will remain displayed.

Walter, I didn't see the instructions, but I looked at the popup example and created a peaked cover. Here is how it happened: From a Top/Plan View, create an octagon in 2D. Then move to a front view and create a vertical pole in the center. From a Right Perspective the NURBS curve profile is added. Then the octagon, and the vertical line must be converted to NURBS. Now it is time to move the octagon with the Rotate 3D. My first attempt didn't get the octagon where I wanted it, but moving the view around and then rotating it right put it in the right place. With all that done, use the Revolve Rail command and watch it fill in. Version: 11.51 PC

Another example that might be of use is to look at Example 7 - QuickTime Movie in the same general area that Mike mentions above. Example 7 shows a flowing roof that might easily morph into a tent cover.

To see the version of the program, get VW running and then click on the HELP menu item. When the drop down menu appears, click on the ABOUT item. When the About dialog appears, go to the fourth line on the left. If the update succeeded, you'll see: Application Version: 11.5.1

I found a noticable speed increase in how quickly VW loads after upgrading to version 11.51 from 11.50.

Hello Peter, Your solution worked on the first try. Thanks for jumping in with the information. In your message you mention it is a problem in 11.5. Has that been communicated to VW_Engineering, or should I send them a note?

This one has been a head scratcher. Clearly the process in the Video is working, but when it gets to making it happen in VW 11.51, I run aground. Maybe this is a version change problem. Hopefully, others with earlier versions will try the process and report their results. Thank you Mike. I appreciate the effort and feedback.

After trying for many, many hours to get through Exercise 2, I've come to the conclusion that something is missing in how the lesson is described in the Video and PDF file, or the drawing has an error in its line source for the top of the corkscrew. Problem Description: Working through the NURBS tutorial in Lesson 2 seems straight forward and everything goes fine, until the user is ask to Subtract Solids for the "Corkscrew Top". That part of the lesson begins on Page 6 and continues to the top of Page 7. At that point, the user is asked to align the objects and then to engage the Subtract Solids command. When that action is taken, VW displays this Subtract Solids Error Message. For what it is worth, I've studied and tried this lesson so many times that I was certain I was missing the obvious. At that point I decided to create two other solids, a flat plate and a cylinder. Following the instructions in the PDF, the X, Y & Z centers were aligned and then the Subtract Solids command was executed. Everything worked fine with those two components. Then I tried the Cylinder and the base of the Corkscrew, and again all went fine when the cylinder was subtracted from the base. At that point I reversed the Solid Subtraction and then tried to remove the Cylinder from the Top of the Corkscrew, but this time the same error message appeared. Something in how the top of the Corkscrew is created is stopping the Solid Subtraction. It seems as though the program isn't believing that the base (or the test cylinder component) can remove the area where the base and the top overlap. More than likely an calculation error is the source because if an added instruction is inserted into the lesson telling the user to move the top further into the solid base, then the Subtract Solid command will remove the material leaving a smaller version of the top available for the next step in the corkscrew handle construction. Why moving it lower solves the problem isn't clear because the base already encompasses the entire lower portion of the extruded top. All that is accomplished when the top is moved lower is to increase the margin between the walls of the base and the extruded top. Here is a VW file example (Subtract-Solids-Problem.zip ) that can demonstrate the above problem. Included are the instructions on how to demonstrate the problem. Any ideas on what may be going wrong? Any help will be appreciated.