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Mickey

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Posts posted by Mickey

    Replace a truss symbol in a configuration

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    I saw the part about replacing a run of truss with a not just a different brand but a different type.

    Yeah that could be a thing, but maybe out of bounds.

    One my main goals would be to replace a same length with a different brand.

    Essentially I want to replace a Tomcat with a Thomas, or XSF and  they have the same bolt pattern.

    Or a black with a silver.

    Replacing a 10' with 2 5'. OK that's a feature I'd like.

    There has to be a way to do this.

    Back in the day I used to draw all my truss with the "Truss tool" Drag a line, get a 40' truss.

    good for a quick rough drawing.

    Then when the design would settle I's used "Spotlight/Object Conversion / Replace with Stock symbols"

    That worked pretty well.

     

    • Like 1

    Objects in a referenced viewport snapping to my trusses

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    I had a long exchange with tech support about this.

    First a phone call where I explained the problem, and shared the files with the tech support and finally got a point where they said " oh, that's not supposed to happen"

    A thread I had going about this topic with a different person got a vague response about this kind of supposed to happen, but then gave me something about cropping might break this.

    It ruined my renderings for this particular project.

    I did submit as a bug.

    Dreaded truss cross objects

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    On 3/14/2023 at 11:53 AM, SketchyJed33 said:

    Here is the easy answer without having to do any crazy programming

     

    File > Document settings > Spotlight Prefs > Loads and Rigging tab, check box on the bottom , then go into your drawing and turn off that class. 

     

     

     

    For a bit VW23 seemed to be better. I was getting a little better results with 5 way corners, but still ran into the limitations of BW but then the truss turds came back.

    I couldn't remember how I got rid of them and came back to  this thread to find the script.

    I see your solution, and that must be an addition to 23  which is great.

    But I think they should have followed @stayathomedad and called them "Truss Cross Turds" because that's what they are.

     

    Objects in a referenced viewport snapping to my trusses

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    On 4/11/2023 at 3:16 AM, TomWhiteLight said:

    Is your viewport referenced as a DVLP? or by Layer?

    If its by layer then I would expect the load to attach to the truss, if its by DVLP then I agree this shouldn't happen.

    Let us know.

    Do you mean Design Layer Viewport?

    I think that's what it is.

    Create Viewport / Select Source / External / Select File / Choose Layers and Classes visible / OK

     

     

     

    Objects in a referenced viewport snapping to my trusses

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    I found a whole new way to hate Braceworks.

    I have my lighting file.

    In that file I draw trusses, and lights.

    In order to see the event layout I do layer with a viewport reference to the Master file that has the event layouts, set, venue, etc ... on it.

    One of the points of this is so I don't mess up the master file with lights, and classes, and I can have my own drawing blah blah blah.

    The referenced information is a viewport.

    You can't modify a viewport. You can only turn classes, and layers on, off, and grey.

     

    But in this new version of VW the video wall in the viewport has snapped to my truss, and is no longer on the stage floor.

    I called the TD and asked why he'd moved the video wall, and what they were going to put under it.

    And in his drawing it's on the stage floor.

    In mine it's floating.

    Because in the viewport it moved, and snapped to the bottom of my truss.

    WTF >>>???

    That's not supposed to be possible.

    Or is this a new "feature" that no one asked for.

    Anyone else seen this?

    And of course I can't show you the pictures I screen shotted because the forum still won't let me upload jpgs.

    Thanks Nemetchek.

     

    Realistic Strip lights

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    I found this thread to try to once again teach myself how to make a strip light look correct, and after reading through the thread all I get is facepalm

    ugh

     

    So back to putting multiple emitters in the light.

    Of course when I tried that it didn't work.

    more facepalm.

     

     

    • Like 1

    Controlling the position of a 5 way truss cube

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    So the short answer is no.

    You can not control the direction of a truss cube. 😢

    I figured it had something to do with the direction a truss the cube is connected to is inserted.

    @markdd No I haven't and I was trying to avoid having to make custom symbols just to control the direction of the open side, but I think until this is fixed that is the only answer.

    On 4/5/2023 at 1:15 AM, markdd said:

    The other way I have found to get more reliable results is to drag a truss object using the locus that is closest to the connection I want to make.

    Can you eleborate on this a bit more?

    I'm not sure what you are talking about when you drag.

     

     

    This is an example of why I hate Braceworks so much.

    It kinda works sometimes.

    As long as you are working the way the people that designed it to then it's golden.

    For anyone else it's all sad trombone.

    https://sadtrombone.com/

     

     

     

     

    Controlling the position of a 5 way truss cube

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    This is one of the primary reasons Braceworks makes me hate it.

    There are so many things about BW that makes me scream but one thing at a time.

    It has gotten better.

    Now in 2023 there's a little red indicator that gives you some sense of the direction the cube is going so this is getting better.

    5 way truss cubes are really common for vendors that use Tomcat or Tomcat clones which is a lot of lighting shops in the US.

    I have to build dumb things out of truss all the time so fighting with this is all too frequent.

    It would be tolerable if I could just flip a cube and have it be correct, but Tomcat 5 way corners aren't symmetrical, nor are they a true 12" (Why Tomcat ...?) so rotating them causes other issues.

    The Braceworks tool of clicking trusses together is really useful (if only it would allow me to exchange trusses, or click trusses of a same bolt pattern but different manufacturer) but I can't get control of this 5 way cube thing.

    I have a few tricks that work sometimes, but not others.

    The direction of the open side is inconsistent so I can't find a regular way to trick it.

    So hive mind.

    How do you control the direction of a 5 way truss cube?

    Attached is a a simple example of the pieces I'm using.

     

     

    131880777_whyVWwhy.vwx

    International Theatrical Truss also known as ITT, or ITTC

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    Vectorworks doesn't have this brand in its library.

    https://www.ittcusa.com/index.html

    Probably because the manufacturer doesn't release info or something stupid like that.

    But said manufacturer also doesn't have any downloads on their website.

    And yet they've been around for a long time.

    Does anyone have any details on this truss?

    I'm working with a vendor that has this in house, and prefer to draw with the correct symbols in an attempt to get cords accurate.

    Note attempt.

     

     

     

    First time Using VW23 - It crashed

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Mickey

    I downloaded 23 back in September.

    It was SP1 and I didn't trust an early build so I shelved it until my schedule opened up and I could dig in.

    I have a small project starting from scratch so I thought it would be a good time to give it shot.

    When I opened it I got the update notice which I expected.

    I downloaded SP3 and updated libraries etc.

    I started a simple drawing, and it lasted about 30 maybe 45 minutes before it froze, and I had to end task.

    Nothing fancy.

    Some walls, a stage, some drape.

    It's when I started to insert some text.

    Down it went.

     

    Thanks Nemetschek for living up to expectations.

     

     

     

    Still can not post images to forum

    in Forum Feedback

    Posted

    I'd post a picture of the error message, BUT I CAN'T POST PICTURES.

    It's been over a year since I first reported this.

    I've submitted support requests, and sent messages to forum mods.

    I can submit VWX files, but not jpegs.

    I find this extremely annoying, and it makes the forum less useful.

    For example I'd like to post a picture of a dialog box where I have a question about a setting, but I can't.

    Please Please Please fix this .

     

    Error code as scene on my screen

    "Sorry, and unknown server error occurred when uploading this file (error code: -200)"

     

    I've tried this on multiple browsers with different security settings.

     

     

     

    Plexi Podium?

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    Zombie thread for the win!

    I'm replying here because apparently I was the thread starter 14 years ago.

    That's a nice very Tap Plastic plexi lectern.

    Man how many times have I lit those!

    @mjm What are the BeamViz objects you are using to create the light?

    Me likey.

     

     

     

     

    Replace a truss symbol in a configuration

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    Picking this back up.

    I started the process. Wow talk about painful and time consuming. Good thing I don't bill by the hour.

    But before I get too deep.

    Oh wait I can't upload a jpeg still so no visual aids

    Please fix this. Am I the only person that can't upload files to the message board?

    Here's a link to the jpeg https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjZcVRFAOa0nhOcTjqHuqslM4zVyNA?e=hzNM9g (expires June 1st)

     

    So in the jpeg you can't see. There's a "Type" "Name" and "connectable with" fields.

    I changed the name, but not type yet.

    If I changed type to for example "TC1212" to "TC1212B", and change the connectable with "TC1212B" and I right to assume that it now won't connect with "TC1212"

    Can the Connect with field have multiple vallues?

    It seems like it should since the black truss can bolt to the silver truss.

    Not to mention that the Tomcat has the same bolt pattern as Thomas, XSF etc ...

     

    So now I'm back to the "I want to swap between a black truss and silver truss"

    I just re read this thread from the start.

    So if I understand this correctly if I want to be able to swap between these trusses I need to create a file that has them.

    Let's call it Tomcat 12"

    Download the symbols from the library

    insert each individual symbol on the design layer

    right click on each symbol and "Customize Data"

    Then save that file into the application folder

    And somehow the file I'm currently working in will know to look at the the newly named file I've saved in the application folder?

     

    First before I spend any more time on this did I correctly list the line of actions?

     

    Second THIS IS BLINDINGLY ABSURD

     

    I just want to swap a truss. We can do it with light fixtures. There's a nifty little button "Replace Lighting Device"

    Give me that please.

     

    Braceworks is a disaster. I'd like to see it spun off as a separate module that people can upgrade to, and give the rest of us simple truss tools so we can design systems.

    Let the riggers have the advanced weight calcs.

     

     

     

     

    • Like 1

    Replace a truss symbol in a configuration

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    On 2/21/2022 at 3:30 AM, jcogdell said:


     

    I think I know why this is happening, but I'm not 100% certain
    It sounds like you are using custom truss symbols, for the black truss section (and possibly for the regular silver versions as well).
    As far as I can tell the truss inventory uses the 'Type' from the truss object properties (not from the older truss record) combined with the symbol name to define whether a section should be included in the Change Truss Configuration dialogue, this means that if there are multiple truss symbols with different symbol names (and colors) but the using the same type and length, they will each be displayed as individual options in the dialogue.
    After a bit of testing I found that if I changed the symbol name, and the 'Type' and 'Name' fields in the truss object properties to include the color I could get them to display as separate truss types in the inventory and avoid having them display wrongly in the Change Truss Configuration dialogue. I also had to update the 'Connectable with' field in the truss object properties to include the new black version of the symbol so that Autoconnect keeps working.

    I will add an enhancement request to find a better solution for this and to have the documentation in our help updated to better explain how this works

    Yes-ish

    To try and reduce the issues I imported the whole file of Tomcat 12" straight.

    I renamed all the symbols to something less annoying.

    I then duplicated all of those symbols and added "black" to the end of the name.

    I edited the symbols giving them all a dark fill so they sort of render correctly.

    I use worksheets to count my symbols, and this allows me to count silver from black.

    Could you post a picture of where you changed the type name so I know how to do this?

     

    Find and Modify

    in Wishlist - Feature and Content Requests

    Posted

    On 12/17/2021 at 11:24 AM, Todd Stokes said:

    That works! I feel the phrasing is misleading as "add to current selection" implies something different to me - but i'll take it. Thanks!

     

    Why did this need to change?

    Is this another example of NNA making "updates" to justify the expense of a subscription?

    At least someone had the same problem and I was able to find a quick fix.

     

    Replace a truss symbol in a configuration

    in Entertainment

    Posted

    AAAGGGHHH

    Not only is this process stupid I can't even upload a photo of what I'm trying to describe.

    Until it gets fixed here's a link to a photo

    https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjZcVRFAOa0nhOF3lF-qd6r6AR5ouw

     

    So I went into the inventory and entered 50 of each piece so now there's a fictional amount.

    I want to swap between a black tomcat, and a silver.

    But when I do I see 3 different entries for 10'

    No names, just 10'

    How do I know which one is the black, and silver?

    Further In the inventory I see all the names of the stock Tomcat with ALL of their increments.

    How many of you are using the Tomcat 11'6" pieces?

    I want to get rid of all of that, everything, and just have what I'm using for this show as inventory.

    I've tried exporting, editing in excel, and reimporting.

    That didn't work.

     

    What a waste of my time.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    • Like 2
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