DWrightLocal80

So… I recently upgraded to 2024, and upgraded to a MacBook Pro M3 Max. I do a lot of drawing over other people’s PDFs. The pdf imports fine and is clear as a bell in Top/Plan, but when I switch to any 3d view (even Top) the pdf fuzzes out. It’s still vaguely legible, but is very blurry and get worse as I zoom in. I’ve looked through all the preference menus, but I don’t see any settings that can be changed. I followed a suggestion from another user in a Spotlight group on FB and tried changing the Shaded Options to high, but that did nothing either. I've had VWX since 2020 and never had this problem with a pdf until upgrading to 2024. Anyone know what I’m missing, or is this just a thing now with 2024? Thanks.

That could not have been easier! Thanks Tom!

Ok, I'm trying to create a plan that shows all the individual walls of a set in overhead and 3d. How can I do this using the Wall Tool since the walls automatically connect themselves and become one continuous object? I'd extrude rectangles and convert them to walls, but that doesn't work either. I want the functionality of being able to insert doors and windows into walls, so I can't simply drop an extrude everywhere I want a wall. Thanks

Thanks guys, this was even more good information than I had hoped to get! I'm quite new to vwx, so its all a big puzzle right now. I pulled a STEP file into a new project file and was pleasantly surprised with the positive results, up to and including that the STEP file even works as a good wireframe model for 2D work. Thanks again!

I'd like to download and use McMaster Carr drawings for a project. Out of all the file types (3D: EDRW, IGES, PDF, SAT, Solidworks, STEP), (2D: DWG, DXF, PDF, Solidworks) what would be the correct type to download and where would I put it to utilize it? I'm assuming I'd import to a new project and save in the Library>Favorites folder? Thanks for any insights...

You're both right, thanks. I completely spaced on the workspace concept. Thanks for the replies

I'm working on a demo version of Designer right now, and I'll be buying in with Spotlight very soon. What are the Tool Sets I should expect with Spotlight? Basically, how much am I losing when I downgrade from Designer to Spotlight only? I'm assuming it comes with Lighting, Rigging, Event Design, 3D modeling, Visualization, Dims and Notes- but what about Building Shell? Thanks

Thanks, Pat. I'm going to give this a try tonight or tomorrow morning.

Here you go Pat... BO2_Stage1_SpottingPlan_071315.pdf

Its possible that the drawing I have wasn't printed to scale or scanned at scale since I'm working with a pdf, but once I measure a dimension of say 16'-0" and tell vectorworks that that (say) 8'-7.565" measurement is equal to 16'-0", shouldn't vectorworks calibrate everything to that? I just remeasured the line that I told vectorworks is 16'-0", and the length of the line I just drew is 8'-11.144" The tape measure tool tells me the same thing, but in the dialogue box that follows along, its telling me the scale is 1/96. I can't remember how to get back to the settings, but I know I set the new document to 1/8"=1' when I opened it

Thanks for the response, Pat. My discrepancy was several feet on a drawing of a space about 200' x80', so it was really obvious. Is the method I followed above the correct method to calibrate scale between an imported drawing and the vectorworks scaling system? Or is there another better way to do it?

Ok, I'm new here, so this may be an easy/obvious fix but... When I import a drawn plan at a particular scale, how do I communicate to Vectorworks what the reference is for the scale? I know I set the new document to the same scale as the drawing, but how do I sync the new document with the pdf? In other programs I've been able to scale the drawing by going into a mode where I measure a known dimension on the drawing so the program has a size reference for the drawing. I followed the directions in someone else's question which said to go into Modify> Scale Objects... I drew a line on a known dimension and entered the resulting number into Current Distance in Symmetric by Distance, then I entered the correct measurement from the drawing. I hit OK, scaled the whole thing, but the measurements are still off by several feet in my document. Thanks in advance