Geoff Briggs

For those who frequent this discussion area, I hope you are also subscribed to the VectorScript Mailing List. Lots of answers. Lots of code being traded. Check out <www.nemetschek.net/support/mailinglists.html> for details. Hope to see you there. Cheers, Geoff Briggs

For those of you who enjoy an ongoing discussion of all things VectorWorks and the opportunity to ask questions of experienced users please consider subscribing to the VW Mailing List. Check out <www.nemetschek.net/support/mailinglists.html> for details. Hope to see you there. Cheers, Geoff Briggs

quote: Originally posted by Archken: I plot 180d using the printer driver whenever I can because it pushes the printable image towards the right, leaving natural space for the binding strip.[ This is exactly why we want to do it. With Microspot Raster if you set the page size narrower than the max printable width the plot gets pushed to one side. The reduced size we want is equal to twice the printable area for an 11x17 sheet printed on our Epson 1280. With this set up we can print half size sets by simply setting the print dialog to 50%. Unfortunately as it is all the extra margin appears on the title side of the page when plotted full size. Thus the desire to rotate. It does not appear that Microspot Raster has this capability, or the ability to adjust margins, both of which are commonplace among printer drivers. A real disappointment considering the cost. Geoff Briggs [This message has been edited by Geoff Briggs (edited 09-25-2001).]

Hi, We plot from our Macs to a HP DesignJet 488CA via MicroSpot Raster v5.1. Currently D size plots come out top first. We would like to rotate the plot so it comes out bottom first. Anyone out there know how to do this? Regards and thanks, Geoff Briggs Latini-Kirkendall Architecture

You might try using symbols instead. Make the whole set of objects that you were layer linking into a symbol. Then it can be placed repeatedly, rotated, displayed at different scales, globally edited. And the symbol can contain other symbols. ------------------ Geoff Briggs I & I Design iandidesign@home.com

I'd like to second this request. I just finished looking at something called CADViewer which allows DWF files to viewed in any web browser. The pro version of this software allows mark ups and redlining over the web. It's a smooth, multi-platform Java implementation. Another product that performs similar functions is the Windows only WHIP web browser plug in. In short, viewing is good, incorporating web sharing is better. As for plotting, one solution might be to include direct saving to PDF. If this could automatically paginate saved sheets...this is a wish list after all. ------------------ Geoff Briggs I & I Design iandidesign@home.com

Follow up: as has been noted elsewhere in this forum there is a problem using Print-to-PDF with VW9. A file is created but it's empty. Hope this gets fixed by one side or another as I really liked the simplicity of PtPDF. Too bad. ------------------ Geoff Briggs I & I Design iandidesign@home.com

Yes there is a way although it probably wont offer as much flexibility as you might want. You'll probably need to create a linked layer for both the plan view and the RCP so you can move both links around without disturbing the source objects. You'll need to check the Project 2D Object option for the top/plan view to display correctly. For the RCP create a second link to the same source layer but set the view to top rather than top/plan. Your next step depends on the complexity of your symbols. Old VW8 toolkit symbols have no trim so all you're left with is a line in wireframe. Render your walls solid and the lines are gone too. If you use PIOs for doors and windows you can use the Style classes to make the trim invisible. The top view (or any 3D view) will not recognize dashed lines or wall cavities, but will display line weights. Remember, the walls have to have height for this to work (there needs to be a header) so set your delta-Z even if your only doing 2D. Email if you have more questions. ------------------ Geoff Briggs I & I Design iandidesign@home.com

If you don't want to invest in the full Acrobat package take a look at PrintToPDF, a shareware Mac PDF print driver by James W Walker <www.jwwalker.com> It's not Acrobat but it's inexpensive, easy and works well. ------------------ Geoff Briggs I & I Design iandidesign@home.com

Carl, most WGR alignment errors are caused by different origins between the two files, something supposedly fixed in VW9. Because symbols are involved there may be issues of where the origin was located at the time the symbol was created. Geoff Briggs I & I Design iandidesign@home.com

Howdy all, I'm happy to hear people are doing this kind of work with VW. After reading these posts I just wanted to add that getting comfortable with VW Working Planes (Set Working Planes tool, Align Plane tool, Working Planes palette) will greatly facilitate this kind of work. With these tools you can alternately extrude members precisely where you need them without a lot of adjustment, or model parts "on the floor" and then move them into prefect alignment in one step. There are a few undocumented "features" associated with Working Planes, once you get past that working with them is fun. Geoff Briggs I & I Design iandidesign@home.com

Hi, well that's not necessarily true. A wall peak can be added to either the top or bottom of a wall, at least that's the case in VW 9. Walls need to be drawn in top/plan view. Once placed in plan switch to 3D, probably an elevation view like front, then use the 3D Reshape tool to add peaks (vertices) to either the top or bottom. To simply slant the top or bottom the tool can be used to drag the corners. Email me if you need help. Have fun. Geoff Briggs I & I Design iandidesign@home.com

Hi, I cant speak to number two but try the new split tool in place of the trim command. And yes the leader line is available in the workspace editor along with a whole bunch of plug ins required to make all the stuff in the Object Browser work. Geoff Briggs

Hi, I'm a VectorWorks trainer in Seattle. I attended the advance day of the Professional Learning Series when they came to town and found the instructor, Peter Huggins, to be very good. I'd take his seminars if possible. Email me for more info. Good luck. Geoff Briggs

Howdy, two wish list items: 1) better 3D snapping. Take a look at newcomer BOA for excellent snapping to edges, midpoints of edges, center of faces, etc. 2) fix quirks in Working Planes. Currently when you use the Set Working Plane tool's hand picker on any of the vertical faces of a cube the new WP will be oriented with the I axis up and the J axis left. Then if you invoke the Perpendicular View button on the WP palette (necessary if you want to draw 2D object on the WP), the view will be rotated. Please make it so that however the view is currently set, the working plane will be oriented with the J up and the I to the right. This logical orientation leaves the drawn objects as they were without having to perform the additional step of rotating the WP. Thanks. ------------------ Regards, Geoff Briggs

Hi, I'd like to see an easy way to select multiple symbols in walls. Currently the only way short of VectorScripting is to shift select them one by one. Custom selection doesn't work on symbols in walls. This makes changing the class or replacing a group of symbols very tedious. Thanks. ------------------ Regards, Geoff Briggs

Hi, I'm a VectorWorks trainer in Seattle. I've worked through many of the Working Plane oddities and would be happy to assist. Email me as this is a lengthy subject. svug@home.com ------------------ Regards, Geoff Briggs

As far as I know you cannot link a linked layer.

I have ten window symbols ready to insert in a floor plan. I have the standard window record attached to each. I'd like to pre-enter that info that is common for a given symbol but varies from symbol to symbol before I place the symbols in my drawing. For example, I'd like to enter the height and width for my 2-0x5-0 windows ahead of time so when I place them I wont have to enter that info manually for each window. But that's info that I wouldn't want to make the default entry since it only applies to one of the symbols that this record is attached to. Is this possible? Thanks, Geoff

I'd like to take a look at how those programs handle this very useful feature. I would like to use this fuctionality to enlarge a portion of a model. The method of layer linking then masking a model with invisible polygons is cumbersome at best and wreaks havoc when rasterizing since the entire layer is covered with white pixels. Having the enlarged view linked to the original model is key however, so some implementation similar to a layer link is in order. This would be killer feature. GB

Howdy, If I model a multi story structure using typical platform framing ie. I have each floor on a layer and build the model with a layer link, how do I express exterior siding that is continuous from top to bottom? I use both RenderWorks and Art?lantis. Thanks a lot for any help. GB

Hello all, I'm in the fortunate position of having both RenderWorks and Art?lantis. They both have their strong points. RW strength is convenience. Working directly within the VectorWorks drawing is so easy and navigating around with the familiar VW tools is a time saver. When it comes to applying textures however the fun is over. I use it almost exclusively with VW's built in attributes. Texturing is where Art?lantis shines. Drag & drop interactive texturing simply blows RW cumbersome importing and editing away. Try rotating a wood grain in RW. Or tightening the grain pattern. Or adjusting the colors. In Art?lantis you manipulate a few sliders while you watch the preview update in real time. Lighting is frankly a pain with either program, but the results in Art?lantis are superior. My least favorite aspect of Art?lantis is it's camera based approach as compared to VW/RW object based approach. To get a new view in Art?lantis you need to move or establish a new camera. With RW you just rotate the drawing as usual. All in all Art?lantis is the superior choice for final output. It renders directly into useful file formats, it's faster than RW, animations and QuickTime VRs are relatively easy, and did I mention texturing. My $0.02, Geoff Briggs

Howdy, does anyone know how to create a hatch with curved lines? I want a typical wood end grain fill. But the Edit Hatch dialog only recognizes straight lines. Thanks.

Clearly something needs to be done here. I prefer the palette idea to the scroll menu. Via the former you could change the visibility of many layers and classes quickly. Via the latter you would need to keep returning to the pull down over and over. The key is to make it fast and easy and keep the palette small. (All the more involved management activities are already covered by the layer and class dialogs.) I would suggest a tall skinny palette with just the names of layers and classes along with the visibility columns as per the classes or sheets dialogs. A way to multiple select would be helpful. Double clicking on the name itself could designate it as the active layer or class. Such a palette could be positioned down the right side of the screen with out eating too much real estate.

Perhaps even better would be a pull down in the edit sheets dialog that listed all the saved sheets. Then all the editing could be done within that one dialog. Add to this a modifier key so that changes to one sheet would implement the same changes on all sheets. These would be great improvements.