islandmon

There may be an 'automatic' way around alignment issues but I haven't discovered it. The best I can do is work within the system(s) of page scale, layer scale and sheet views. However, there's one little trick that really helps. I place 2D loci in critical places as a way of verification and realignment. It works splendly.

Dude, you've probably got an artifact lurking somewhere. Most likely a Bitmap render or Image.

As a User of both platforms , I note that very often there are hidden artifacts which Autocad seems to ignore but which VW recognizes with alacrity. A single little test Bitmap render left lying around can cause redraw issues... same for 'invisibles'. Some CAD programs emphasis screen redraw at the expense of accuracy. One reason I enjoy VW is ... accuracy at virtually unlimited scales. Always do a Select All and look for artifacts ... you may be surprised at what you find. Or even better PURGE !

Think in terms of TIN surfaces ( Triangular networks ) which straight forward to 'vertex' edit. Then convert to NURBS Surfaces which are more efficient to render. Working from complex NURBS is a pain. I use the DTM functions to achieve amazing shapes and surfaces ... modify exsiting or proposed. Of course, combining and extracting , clipping and cutting are all part of it as well. But the easiest thing to do is place a bunch of 3D Loci then connect the dots with 3D triangles then convert to NURBS. The possiblities are endless....

Actually, this issue was report last year and again with reference to the ViewPort corruptions. There is a 'major' problem within the code related to a symbol with groups of symbols. ViewPorts will not tolerate them. You will also discover that this problem is randomly linked to 'class style' attributes and destroys the vectorscript export. Just when you thing that you are rid of it by recomplying ( recreating ) , it strikes and tweeks the file. I spent months tracking down the culprit ! On the G5 the problem can become severe when the processor calls out pace the writes to file. Experienced Users can get way ahead of the curve... not realizing that the file structure is getting trashed as they zip along merrily.

Oops! One other thing. GIMP Drivers are included as an option in the Panther Install.

OSX PDF quality is determined by the selected printer driver. If in doubt I use the Open Source GIMP Print Drivers from www.sourceforge.net. This means that I have virtually every driver ever written including the Postscript Drivers. Recall that there are native Quickdraw , Quartz, and Postscript resources. The OS will default to the low end unless told to go for the high end PS. For example use the HP5000PS for high quality color on large format plotters ... although I don't actually have one !

I downloaded then tried to install 11.5 but VISE quit 1/2 way with error > "Single_line_modes.jpg" failure 1008;17,-4 Then the installer quit ! G5, 10.3.8

Reading this session leads me to remark on the learning curve. It's never ending and that's all there is to it. Also, it's impossible for one app to do all things for all people. VW integrates seamlessly with my arsenal. Many of the Client email issues are as simple as Grabbing the Screen image and pasting it into Safari ... then click send. I do everything in 3D all the time ... even Civil. There's no end to the magic. The important thing is to develop your own system... never getting too far ahead of the I/O of the database. Textures & Image Props allow a tremendous range of easy to use possiblities. And if the Rendering is a little messed up with artifacts, it can be easily fixed in Photoshop. Output to PDF is the only way to go and is the very best way to archive drawings. GUI is never perfect and always changing. The Workspace Editor is customizable as well. Just Go For It... islandmon

Another method is to make evenly spaced cross sections from 2D Polys(with equal number of vertices) then convert to nurbs >loft>ruled>closed. 1) make one Poly with adequate controls 2) dup as 2D or 3D modify and align 3) convert to Nurbs 4) Loft all into unifrom solid

There's an easy work around for 'flip'symbols. I place a red line on the outside of the 2D hybrid for windows. This way I can tell instantly from Plan View whether or not the window is configured properly in 3D. For doors the 2D swing is all that's required.

May I suggest Applescript ! Open ..run..quit..open..run..quit...

Hear , hear , the lack of orientation is a nightmare. Acad programmers just place object helterskelter all over the place. Also, there is a common mistake in the scaling Acad defaults to modulo ten , ie. 1:50 instead of modulo 12 1:48. So check the scaling before doing anything !

Keep in mind that the DXF 3D probably will not match the scaliing or orientation of the VW11 page. So considerable readjusting may be necessary to get all the parts to fit. This is especially true of 'symbols'. However, if the DXF is clean & well mannered then the import is usually smooth and conversion a snap. As for setting up the rendering ..well that requires textures, props, images, lighting , etc. Then of course the rendering needs to be exported to suit your end user.

Thankfully DTM is very sensitive to 'garbage in' issues. If you can create the 3D Loci in VW then there's usually no issues. My experience is that many Acad files are rittled with artifacts and code errors. When using Text Files always 'show invisibles' and you will often as not discover 'tabs to infinity' or added spaces or mulitple tabs & carriage returns, etc. All it takes is one lousy space to compromise the 'record>field' import. I use Excel for import of thousands of DTM records with no issues as long as all the protocols are respected. Use can use any spreadsheet to streamline code writing by combining fields into syntax. Then output the result as text and use it in Vectorscript. With this simple process you don't even need DTM !

Excuse me ... but it's really easy to create windows & openings of any shape: just create a 3D poly or nurbs of the desired shape then place 3D loci around the perimeter of the thing. make sure that the Loci are on both faces of the wall thickness. Save as s Symbol ... bingo it pops in & cuts out ... I've created some very realistic historical windows using this simple technique. There's no end to what you can do with it.

Avoid using 'reserved' names and phrase. Normally VW will notify if such is the case from entered from a dialog but not from the standard menus unless a duplicate exists. Strings are reserved like 'window', 'door', 'wall' ...goto organize>custom selection>select>type =is= then look at the list of options. These are the reserved strings used by PIO.

As far as I'm concerned this is NOT a bug but standard protocol. All new objects based on modifications like the DTM >exist>proposed and the Roof > new layer. Should always be placed on a new layer just in case. using the 'Undo' command can result in chaos if you happen to go one click too far back. Always create 'new' never modify 'existing'....

Printing requires a 'temp file' . You can't write to CD therefore no temp file =no print. Copy the file to a directory on your harddrive. Then open it and print it .

Do you happen to be on an enet server? Or do you have File Vault active? Normally, the first time you access the images directory is slow but from then on it's instantaneous. Perhaps its time to run a cron script ( Cocktail ) and update the 'whatis' and 'lookup' and maybe just maybe your permissions are corrupted somewhere. VW11 simply searches via the user/app/vectorworks/images/ ... path . If this path is corrupted in anyway then ... it breaks. Check on the path names and make sure there are no spaces at the beginning of any of the names.

There are many versions of Java include java3D. Your code is requesting a java class that is not in your library. Therefore, the JV eng is programmed to recursively search your entire directory...taking about 13 minutes onyour disk. I recommend upgrading your Java and including the 3D package.

The 'Sleep' function is usually based on I/O from key/mouse. When using Batch Render the G5 will sleep unless told not to. Batch Render is disk/processor intensive and requires user inputs. Such is life ... now here's the rub. The render engine requires access to the video stream for color&pixel resolutions. If the video is off the stream is null and the rendering stops while it waits for the video bit info stored in Vram. This has less to do with the Velocity engine and a lot to do with the Quartz OpenGL code. On a G5 Renderworks uses the GForce Videoprocessor and the PPC97 processor(s) together which results in very rapid display renderings. One cannot function without the other.

Apple now offers Xgrid 'free' to developers. This little gem allows for unlimited parallel processors via enet ! It provides for instant super-computer processing of non-serial commands. The published results are staggering. How about trillions +++ of instructions per sec ! And it's a snap to set-up . 1) Ident the server 2) declare the clients. 3) Go for it Xgrid essentially terminates the need to have multi- processors in one box. Every thing with a processor can now be linked including the Treo.

Re; 2D & 3D Loci visibility. Simple, just Menu . Organize> create a show / hide script by 'TYPE=2d or 3d loci' then click on the script to hide all or show all loci .