GeoWH

Yes, PLEASE. I will withhold my temptation to record from other programs, however. Annotating in general could be so much more streamlined. Here is what was posted in another string: And please fix the stand alone leader line so that it is more useful (or maybe one should say actually useful.) There seem to be two options currently. a) get the text and leader lines the way you want them, then copy justify the next one. If you want to change the position or the text box size, you don't get a TEXT PREVIEW of your change. Why? And justifying is a trial and error affair. b) input your text separately from the leader lines. justify that in one text box (often not practical), or align separately. Then add your leader lines. EXCEPT, the leader line is so hard to use as to make this impossible. c) use the keynote tools, which work well. BUT, for certain types of drawings, you don't want a key note / database solution.

Yes, please again! And please fix the stand alone leader line so that it is more useful (or maybe one should say actually useful.) There seem to be two options currently. a) get the text and leader lines the way you want them, then copy justify the next one. If you want to change the position or the text box size, you don't get a TEXT PREVIEW of your change. Why? And justifying is a trial and error affair. b) input your text separately from the leader lines. justify that in one text box (often not practical), or align separately. Then add your leader lines. EXCEPT, the leader line is so hard to use as to make this impossible. c) use the keynote tools, which work well. BUT, for certain types of drawings, you don't want a key note / database solution.

Reducing clicks has been my #1 wish for VW since we started using it 4 years ago. As powerful as VW is, the UI is simply painful in many cases, and I can only think that it is the result of organic growth from the early days of the program. There are certain legacy tools or commands that we have nicknamed the "yes, please, I'd like to completely screw up my model" buttons. A reworked, streamlined interface would be powerful in bringing in and retaining new users and making it easier to train people on - especially those younger, malleable people coming from Sketchup and Rhino that they used in school. If you look at SketchUp, one of the things that makes it so easy to use is that the tools are all modifiable by simple dialogue box inputs. The dialogue box sits statically in the corner (no need to float above your drawing.) You can see the result of a numerical input, insert another value, and see the result - all without doing any clicks. And in a number of cases, you can add another short string to make that same tool do the work of a whole suite of tools. One SketchUp example is how the power of the "move" command interface: you enter a value (let's say 12') in the dialogue box to move an object 12'; THE DIRECTION 99% OF THE TIME is already determined by the mouse, so no tabbing, or negative entry numbers, are needed. If you press the option key to duplicate, and then "4x", you can move-copy 4 objects spaced at 10' at the same time along that line. Don't like 4 copies? insert "6x", and you can see the result: 6 objects spaced at 12'. Want to make 4 equally spaced copies WITHIN the original move distance of 12'? input /4, and you get 4 objects spaced at 3'. In VW I personally still fumble with the move - duplicate - array options, and having to find them up at the top of the page, and decipher the intent and the toolkit options is enough to send me to other programs to do certain sorts of work. The other Sketchup example is that for the "move" command, one can press option once (for a copy) - THEN LET GO, and then use the mouse to indicate the direction or have your hands free to add different modifiers - in other words you don't have to command-D, or hold the option key in a death grip with other keys to get the result you want. And you don't have to double-Return either. Elegant control, and the ability to allow you to dictate the easiest key shortcuts the way you want them are part of reducing clicks. Going deep into the OIP and try to figure out what is a "right" or "left" face to render faces or parts of objects could be done more quickly if there were override options using the 3D model on the screen to select faces and parts of objects. This can be done to support a BIM workflow, and still create unique copies or variations of resources or components that do not require going into the Resource Manager. Hopefully this doesn't come across as being negative, because incredible power lies in simplicity and reduction that is a win on many fronts.