Jump to content

JHEarcht

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    349

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by JHEarcht

    Circular Stair symbol overwhelms graphics card

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I just saved a copy of the problematic drawing file (300MB), and I got an <> warning. But my memory monitor says I still have 72% (15GB) memory free. With VW running (10MB), the total memory usage is 22%

    Could VW be having problems accessing the memory???

    If so, what can I do about it?

    Would it help to set the Windows 3GB switch to allocate more memory to VW? Has anyone tried this before?

    Circular Stair symbol overwhelms graphics card

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Ray, I appreciate your response. But you are still focusing on my hardware, instead of the VW stair symbol. No symbol no problem. And I have had similar symbol-related problems in earlier versions of VW.

    My system has a few years on it, but it exceeds all minimum requirements for VW2010. And it has a graphics card specifically recommended by NNA. Other than the modified symbol in question, it's a simple 300mb drawing.

    However, I did notice that VW2010 requires a "high bandwidth interface" between CPU and display. My system has an 800mhz bus clock, is that enough? What did you have in mind when you "bashed" my system. :)

    PS---The drawing is now finished, for the moment, after spending much more time waiting to get control of the system back than actually drawing. What I'm looking for now is a theoretical, under the hood, understanding of how a symbol can corrupt a drawing, and destabilize the video card, and crash the system, and show two instances of VW in the Task Manager. With that knowledge I may be better able to work around the problem. Is that too much to ask? :)

    Circular Stair symbol overwhelms graphics card

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by JHEarcht

    VW2010 SP4 on Windows XP 3.5GB mem

    nVIDIA Quadro FX3000 graphics card 256MB

    In a simple 2D drawing I want to show an elevation of a circular stair. I choose one of the Circular Stairs - Imp from the symbol Library. While making changes to settings, the screen flickers and redraws are slow. I remove all textures, and Rendering is set on Wireframe.

    I place the 2D/3D symbol on the drawing in Top View. Then switch to Front View, and select the symbol. Then Modify / Convert to polygons. This procedure produces a 2D elevation. But the stair object continues to destabilize the video card (motherboard memory never goes above 50%).

    Even with the stair visibility turned off, it still corrupts the whole drawing. Every little change takes 12 forevers to recalculate and redraw. Eventually, VW locks up or crashes abruptly, and without warning. After a lockup, I see two instances of VW in Task Manager---what does that mean?

    I tried two different circular stair symbols, and got the same results. I have used this procedure before with straight stairs, but this is the first time with circular.

    Am I alone in my misery, or has anyone else had problems with circular stair symbols? Is there another way to get a 2D elevation of a spiral stair, other than manually drawing the spiraling curves?

    dimensions moving walls

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Michael

    I had the same unexpected experience with that new feature the first time I used dimensions in VW2010. For my rather simple projects I don't really need the associated dimensions. So I turn-off Auto Associate in File/Document Settings/Document Preferences/Dimensions. You might try the non-automatic association, though.

    Roof Framing Takeoff

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    VW 2010 on Windows XP

    For practice, I have created a small rectangular building with 3D views. Then I used the tools for wall and roof framing. The wall framing has an option to show a material takeoff worksheet. I haven't found that option for the roof framing. Am I missing something?

    2010 flickery mouse

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I had a blinking pointer with my MS Wireless Mouse that was fixed by downloading a new mouse driver. Apparently older drivers had a problem with CAD.

    A quick test : look in the Task Manager (WinXP) Processes for Ipoint.exe. Turn it off and see if the flickering stops. Windows will use the default mouse driver, which will make any special functions inoperative.

    You can go back to the wireless Driver in Control Panel/Mouse. But you will still need to update Ipoint.exe. My current version is 6.31.230.

    Framing Tool vs Classes

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    The Roof Framing tool still has two glitches in my model.

    1. As noted before, the Roof tool didn't create a worksheet automatically. Is there some way to manually create a framing takeoff for the roof?

    2. When I tried several times to add a fascia to the eave it was placed at the zero elevation in the middle of the floor, or on the ground below the eaves. Some attempts resulted in fascia boards in mid-air at odd angles.

    Is the Roof Framing tool broke, or am I missing something?

    Framing Tool vs Classes

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by JHEarcht

    Mar

    Thanks for the reply. I thought the DEFAULT class in the Framing Tool was referring to the standard classes assigned by the Wall tool. After I selected the Wall-Exterior class, the Framing tool worked properly.

    But I still don't understand why the Framing tool would default to the DEFAULT class instead of to the default Wall or Roof tool classes in the selection. What else would "default" class be referring to????

    Is this a bug? Am I the only one to misconstrue the meaning of the term "Default"? Shouldn't the tool automatically work on all standard Wall and Roof classes, unless I specifically wanted to omit something?

    Framing Tool vs Classes

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    VW2009 SP2 on WindowsXP

    I'm using the framing tool for the first time. I created a simple rectangular building. I put a door in one end and a window in the other. The walls were created using a standard wall style, and the class is Wall-Exterior. The roof was created on another layer using the Create Roof tool, and the class is Roof-Main.

    When I select the walls on the Wall layer only, and use the Wall Framer tool, it first asks for a model layer name. I select wall options, then click OK to create both 2D and 3D models. The Worksheets appear, but a Note pops up saying :

    << No walls framed. All walls on the selected layers exist in classes that have not been selected for framing.>>

    All of the classes in the model are default classes. What is the note talking about??? What am I doing wrong?

    Transparent Image Background

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by JHEarcht

    I finally gave up on VW and used a Desktop Publishing app as my graphics editor. Apparently the transparency code produced by my el cheapo PhotoShop substitute (PaintShopProX2) does not mesh with VW's requirements. My el cheapo DTP did the job very well. But for manipulating multiple objects VW is my preferred graphics editor.

    Transparency has always been hit or miss in my experience though. Maybe that's because I'm too cheap to buy the world standard software like PhotoShop and AutoCAD.

    Transparent Image Background

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Thanks for the suggestions. Converting to a GIF file would lose most of the detail in the earth image.

    The original white background was removed in a photoshop application before it was imported into VW. The problem with my first attempt is that VW automatically added a WHITE background to any bitmaps without background pixels. I fail to see the logic in that, but I suppose it must be a technical limitation.

    What puzzles me now is why VW would add a BLACK background instead of the normal white??? The answer to that might suggest a solution to my current problem.

    Transparent Image Background

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by JHEarcht

    I have tried repeatedly to import a PNG file with no background. But VW always puts a black background in the image. In the past, when the added background was white I could usually just turn off the object fill. But that is not the case here. I normally keep GDI imaging turned off, but even with it on, I get a background.

    I removed the original black background in an image editor. Then I saved the file as a PNG. I used the PNG optimizer to save with Alpha Channel transparency. I import with PNG compression.

    VW2009 not only opens the image with a black background, but it also replaces some of the white highlights with black drop-outs.

    Any suggestions to import the file without a background will be appreciated.

    world%20grid%20mask2%20bright200.png

    Uninstall VW

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by JHEarcht

    Pat

    Thanks for the explanation. Obviously I haven't tried to remove VW files in several years. But I don't remember ever manually deleting MiniCAD or VW apps before.

    For what it's worth, I am not comfortable doing a manual uninstall (although I just did it). I mess around with the Registry all the time. But only when I'm forced to by mysterious problems with unruly apps. Windows users have been taught to be paranoid about touching the Registry. Apparently Mac users have one less thing to worry about.

    I'd prefer that VW condescend to their wimpy Windozers, and add a little Uninstall folder to their program files, just like almost all other Windows apps in recent years. Is that too much to ask?

    I used to have a utility program to track an install and allow an automatic uninstall. But in recent years almost all Windows apps have their own uninstall folder. I thought the Revo Uninstall application would find and remove those few oddball apps that don't show up in the Remove Programs list. But now I see it naively assumes that every app will have an Uninstall folder. Revo is a free download, and worth every penny!

    Uninstall VW

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I have several generations of VW on my computer : VW12. VW08, VW09. I need to make room on my hard drive for some new programs. So I want to uninstall VW12 and VW08.

    But when I run Windows XP Add/Remove Programs, none of the VW programs show up in the list. All other major apps are on the list.

    When I run Revo Uninstaller, none of the VW programs are found. Sometimes Revo can find minor apps that don't showup in Add/Remove Programs.

    When I run the Revo Hunter and click on the VW icon, it says no Install file found.

    Apparently I am missing something here. How can I uninstall VectorWorks if there is no Install file, or Uninstall file?

    Edit Text in Context

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    In VW2009 SP2, when I begin to edit text all other objects disappear. I don't like that. I'd prefer to edit text in context as in VW2008. In Preferences/Display I have checked SHOW OTHER OBJECTS WHILE IN EDITING MODE. That works for editing objects and groups, but not when editing text.

    Is there a way to change the text editing behavior, so I can see other objects as I edit?

    Cursor and Pointer not aligned

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    If it's any consolation, I also experienced the misaligned cursor and pointer when I first started using VW2009. I don't know what I did to fix it, but after a couple of days the problem went away.

    I just noticed that VW2009 does not have a Display Preferences option for Hardware Accelerated 2D drawing. Although my video card is intended to provide acceleration, I got in the habit of turning that option off whenever I had display problems. Is HA no longer allowed by VW2009, or is it just handled automatically? The Help file has no entry for HA.

    VW2009 while editing text other objects disappear

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    In VW2009 SP2 when I click on text to add or edit---sometimes after a brief hesitation---the surrounding objects disappear. Is this a glitch or a new feature? Under Display Preferences I have checked SHOW OTHERS WHILE IN EDITING MODE.

    If this is an intended feature, I'd like the option to go back to the old arrangement, so you can see the context for the text.

    Architectural Fonts for VW

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Some of my older Technical fonts didn't export to PDF, presumably because they lacked a copyright "release" in the code. A few years ago I bought the 2005 Tekton font from Linotype, and the internal description says "Tekton" is a trademark of Adobe, makers of Acrobat PDF. Tekton exports to PDF, but it lacks some of the almost invisible inflections that give Technical a more realistic hand-lettered look.

    I just tried my old 1993 version of Technical in Acrobat 8, and it exported fine from VW. I can't explain why it didn't work in the past. Since I use PDF to coordinate with consultants, I had to give-up using Technical until I finally found Tekton.

×
×
  • Create New...