Wood

I just want to bump this. Once again the rigging team is left behind in functionality.

I'm sure this has been covered extensively, but not sure what search terms to use. I'd like to present symbols/3D geometry in alternate positions. Is there a way to create 'scenes' without duplicating all the geometry? I've seen this done with a bunch of different classes turned on and off, but that seems cumbersome. Can anybody point me in a direction to search and learn? Thank you!

Not optimal. My manufacturer does not want this data distributed, and we avoid that by not sharing custom truss symbols outside of firms we have NDAs and agreements with. I've inquired about connecting them with Vectorworks and having you guys standardize their symbols, but they do not want geometry of their proprietary designs in the worldwide library, and rightfully so. Ultimately the task of not breaking things is the responsibility of the rigger, not software protections. Silly that there is yet another software handicap against the expensive braceworks module, while the spotlight folks get all their functionality included. Plenty of other pitfalls in the software that could let an unskilled person blindly trust the software and cause an accident. Having a symbol that can be verified accurate by an internal team and distributed to team members is FAR safer than entering that engineering data manually each time I want to use a symbol in a file. Your team should reconsider the lockout. Thanks for the information on functionality.

You're saying that if I make a truss library as a VWX file, any custom cross section set in that file wouldn't transmit through when I import those symbols into a working drawing?

@Chris J Clarke Thanks for the post. I know how to change it, I just don't know how to derive the correct entries from real-world data. I have custom manufactured truss for which a cross section does not exist. Basically, wondering if anybody here can tell me how to derive the moment of inertia from the data I have, and if there is specific info I should know about each field in that dialogue. Thanks Again!

I feel like this must have been covered, but search revealed nothing. I have every piece of info possibly available for my truss. How can I get the inputs required for the Cross Section Data dialogue? I know what it's made of, exact wall thicknesses, member angle, load charts etc. Any guidance? Thanks!

Basic functionality that is still somehow missing.........

This is great, thanks for sharing! Nice truss wrap too! Do you have more varieties you'd share? That doesn't look like an included version...

Pat, I have a custom record that I attach to each hoist that contains cable length and accessory count (pickups, etc), wrap type etc. Thanks for the discussion, I’ve been offline loading in. LM let’s talk soon.

Pat- Thanks for being my personal tech support here 🙂 The goal is to click a hoist, type the keyboard shortcut, have a dialog pop up that I can manipulate with the arrow keys to select the specified motor cable length, and then store that selection to a custom record that I have previously attached to the hoist. Main goal here is eliminating the mouse travel to the oip and additional mouse clicks. They really add up on large shows so even tiny efficiencies are huge. Thanks again!

I'm sure that this has been covered, but my searchFu is weak. I'm looking to develop a script or some other method that will activate a specific field in a record attached to the currently selected item. I spend a lot of time adding data to elements by hand, and having to mouse over to the OIP every time gets old on item 300... If you need specifics, my main use is on a hoist plugin object, and a custom record I've added that has a pop-up field menu. Thanks for any guidance!

Thanks Pat!

Hello, When I drag a worksheet to my external monitor that doesn't have a vectorworks window on it, the contextual menus (Both File, Edit Etc. and dropdowns for cells) don't display. If the worksheet is on my laptop monitor it's fine. If it's on a monitor with a primary vectorworks workspace it's also fine. This seems to be a new behavior. Mac OS 14.2.1 (23C71) VW 2024 SP4 While we're at it- is there a way to make worksheets remain visible when shifting focus to a different app? Super annoying trying to enter data into Excel when the worksheet disappears... Thanks!

Look into data tags, they're very powerful and is the solution you're looking for. I made my own, it's not terribly difficult if you reverse engineer one of the existing ones. They will show any data that is available in the hoist record, or custom records attached to the symbol, depending on how you're set up.

Is there a way to color a specific portion of an object? For example, the stock VW Hoist geometry has a class "rigging-Hoist-Hoist Color-Lodestar" which is the only colored portion of the 2D symbol. I want ONLY those small portions of the hoist symbol to change, not the entire 2D object.