Wood

Is there a summary of all the best practices to follow to maintain an efficient drawing? From simple stuff like which curve type is better on down to which render settings and textures work better. Things like 'don't make a bunch of groups' seem to be tribal knowledge, that I've never seen in a FAQ. I work with a ton of drafters of various skill levels, and some of their drawings are extremely bloated due to well-meaning errors like grouping 1,000 chair symbols and grouping every truss line. It would be great if the VW staff could give us a little 'tricks' sheet. Anything exist like that out there?

I helped myself here. For others, the key when using Layer Reference(the old way) is to open your reference file first and set the user origin to a known location that matches your master drawing user origin- in my case the centerline/plasterline intersection, or perhaps a piece of architecture that is identifiable in both documents. Deselect the 'ignore user origin' tick box in the import layer dialog, and now everything will line up and stay lined up. Smart to lock your ref layers so you don't accidentally move something as well. I gotta say, DLVPs are useless with current functionality. I might as well just import a PDF if I can't get any of the key data out of the document.

Since this isn't generating any discussion, let me ask two direct questions that would solve my woes. A) Is there a way to interact with items contained within a viewport, such as seeing their OIP data, or making them participate in braceworks calculations on other native layers? B) Is there a way to configure an offset origin on just one layer, so that when I update an old style layer reference, it doesn't move to the source document's datum? That really is the main headache for me with the current (old) workflow. Thanks!

Thank you for the breakdown Stefan! I'll press forward with making a distributor and see how I end up.

It seems like the only missing piece for riggers to use the cable tool to cable hoists is having Motor controller distribution objects. Does VW have a library of these? I've attempted making one from scratch, but it's beyond my current ability. Putting my cable lengths in the notes section and manually finding their lengths is getting old. Did I overlook some functionality somewhere? If nobody has these objects, can somebody point me in the direction of a basic tutorial to make my own? I have 3D symbols of my distros already, it's just a matter of making them follow the cable tool rules. Thanks!

I work with the entertainment suite. I'm attempting to use the viewport functionality to make file version updates simple, but with a DLVP I can't get any info off of objects contained in the viewport. Specifically, I need objects to work with my braceworks and worksheets. For example, in my master file I reference the Venue as an individual layer with DLVP referencing the venue VWX. I then receive a lighting plot as a VWX, so I reference in the layers I need and align them with the venue, and so on with the audio, scenic and other departments. Typically I'll have 6 or more references. Visually, this is all fine and dandy, but because the viewports are just 'pictures' of the other VWX, the OIP is useless. In an ideal world, the lighting fixtures/symbols from the DLVP would associate with the braceworks truss that exists on a separate layer in my master drawing, and display load calcs. This used to not be an issue with old style referencing, but I don't think I'm setting up my viewports correctly with the new style. What am I doing wrong? The key goal is to make department revisions a simple update. If I use the old 'layer import' setting, I always have to drag the layer objects back into their correct locations if the various departments don't share the same origin. Can somebody please correct my workflow?

Hmmm, seems like a plausible source, but I the hoist inserting at 0", and high hook height at 0".

Hi, I use a modified hoist symbol to represent our End of Truss locations to export for our layout X/Y information. I also use a similar symbol to represent other points of interest that we want to mark on the floor. I have removed all of the load data, and put them in a separate layer so they don't actually connect to the truss. (So braceworks doesn't try to calculate them). I then have a worksheet that pulls all hoist symbols and exports their X, Y etc for output to my label and layout system. In 2023, they've started autogenerating Bridles. I can't seem to find a setting to disable this. Unadulterated hoist symbols do not generate the bridle. What am I missing? While we're on the topic, is there a better way to do this?

Thanks for the thorough explanation Jesse!

Hi @TomWhiteLight, Can you take a moment to explain your workflow here? I'm a rigger, dealing with submitted light plots that rarely conform to any sort of braceworks or vectorworks standards. This pipe out situation is classic, and annoys me during load calculations. Currently, I just drag the light onboard the truss and add a point load for the pipe. This is inefficient and makes the drawing inaccurate. I use truss as truss, and have never converted to a lighting position. Specific questions are: How did you quickly make the point load use the two clamp symbol? Did you custom build the symbol or is that in a library somewhere? What should that point load represent? The load of the pipe and light? Or is that handled via the lighting position tool? How does the lighting pipe interact with this point load? Does the fixture placed on the lighting pipe automagically incorporate itself into the overall load calculation? Is there an easier way? I find the braceworks documentation to be lacking, is there a direction you can point me in? I feel like I'm bashing my way through the program. Many thanks

Thanks for the tip on making separate rows, that may be a solution. I'll play around! I hadn't tried summarizing both system AND Length together before for some reason, but I tried again and I now get a row for each stick length as desired. Perhaps using a Cell reference to those together I can get a total length in addition. I'll post a simplified file once I get this show out the door. Thanks Pat!

Two part question: Part one. I have a worksheet that summarizes each truss system's type, overall length etc. Using the ='TrussItem'.'Length' input I get a row for each piece of the truss line, and then summarizing items by ='TrussItem'.'TrussSystem' gives me the overall length, and =COUNT gets me total number of pieces. What's missing is the summarize items groups ALL of the truss pieces together, regardless of individual stick length. I need it to display a break down of each piece size, eg. a 57' system would break down as one row each for 5@10', 1@5', and one@2'. The second part of the question is integrating this output into a data tag, that would autofill based on the truss line it was attached to. I wasn't able to find the 'TrussItem' field in my data tag field options. What am I missing? In an ideal world I would drop the tag onto a truss system, and it would display Truss type, number of pieces (per piece length), Overall length, and trim. Example of a tag attached, but this is just a symbol referenced to a worksheet that I manually enter the data into. Thanks!

That worked a treat, and is very simple! Thanks for your prompt response!

I'm looking to generate a worksheet from hoist data that includes 4 columns for my X Y coordinates in both Feet inches (eg. 32' 2 1/8") AND in Decimal feet (eg. 32.082'). In an ideal world these values would be unaffected by document unit settings. Is this possible? Thanks!