Locis

Ok thanks i will try that. Sorry i am not able to take in and test all the advice. Yes it is complaining, yes it is frustration. Just tired of the software companies thinking they are beyond reproach and placing all the effort on the users. It could be better if the only advice in this forum came from the company. Then there could be a true users only group for nuance and applications of the methods after the fundamentals are taught in a consistent way. Same frustration with SketchUp. They think the users are better at solving the problems than the authors. lee

Thanks again but unfortunately most of what you say does not work on my machine. That is why it is annoying. The solutions i hear do not work. I have all my settings in the configurations you give and i do not get the results you have. It is really hard to get excited about a program with so many oddities. Ex. I need to open any file at least twice before i can see the objects. Inevitably the first time i open a file i see nothing. If i close it and then reopen it sometimes i see it most of the time i need a 3d opening to finally see the file and this is a brand new iMac. That is indicative of most of the ways the program fails. Just odd behavior with no cause or good solution. It was the hope of all those advanced function that encouraged me to try the program. Now I am crushed by the reality of it and doubt i will ever get to a see any of that good stuff. Also why does it randomly (sometimes) put a temporary string at the end of my files when i go to print to .pdf. and why is there no direct to .pdf function? I noticed with the data bar that if i do not tab into the bar is when it goes crazy. Why do i need to activate the bar when i am using a tool with only one parameter? Which brings up another question why is there no simple single function move tool? Why do i need to click into the field parameter for say offset, to enter a distance that works? I am snapped to a vector to move or lengthen something and instead of taking my direction it chooses something else. Now i understand that it is defaulting to an x or y which i will never use. I use the snapping vector not a coordinate. The default should be the vector i have put it on. I thought Unified made everything active? If it is for 3d i have no need of it. Can it be locked on or off? Why do you like the height parameter of a layer? What does that even do? That makes no sense to me. Just something else i would want to turn off. I will avoid the marionette stuff entirely. If it will not even give me basic functions there is no way i am going to start trying to script things. How would you set up a 30 sheet construction set? I have seen nothing that makes me think this program can handle that. Even my small 10 sheet files are slow and this is a brand new iMac. Putting internally referenced layouts in the design space might work but could end up being confusing to collaborators seeing the same objects in two places and those files would be huge. Referencing the design into sheet files is slow and cumbersome to need to manage so many files. If all the sheets (referenced viewports) are in one file at least then i can create a publish routine to generate prints. How do you manage collaboration between designers. Only one person can work on a reference file at a time, right? Is there not a way to force all of it into a 2d plane and disallow any 3d actions, kill the 3d plane, deny all screen plane objects. At least then i could learn one dimension at a time. Is there not a way to use the key pad for numbers. Just another bother to need to click into a field to enter the obvious and only parameter. Instead i try to enter a distance and it takes me to a 3d view i have no need for. Some tools do that others don't. At least be consistent. We tried a project in 3d and again the learning curve was way too steep be considered. For now if i need 3d i will use SketchUp. And how about an automatic update for referenced files? Super wasteful to need to refresh the print view every time i make a change. Sorry you can feel my frustration but that how it feels to me. You are very kind and clearly very skilled. Would you come to Santa Fe for a week or two and teach my firm what you know?

Thanks for the strong reply. I don't use Revit. It is horrible and destroys creativity. It does not let me snap to all others all the time. There are (at least) several deep flaws in the program. I constantly need to force select ever thing that is not on the active layer, i have even have situations where an object on the active layer needs to be forced. Not being able to clear all commands and return to the standard cursor with 1 keystroke is something i will never be able to forgive. The only way to clear some commands is to pick another tool! The unified view does nothing except turn off all the other layers and when the layers are on they still don't snap how is that unified? That part about 13 years definitely rings true. The GUI is positively archaic. Glad to hear they killed the useless screen plane. My firm is still stuck on v2019 so i wouldn't know. That export method is admirable but i would switch programs before i accepted that as a solution. I have also been a stage lighting designer and a VJ so that side of VW would be very interesting to me, if I still did that work. The group-mind diagnosis fits the symptoms very well. It is an uncoordinated mess of a program. It is like they shut the doors and windows to the other developers, what the world needs and how the world designs things and just came up with random untested stuff (15 years ago and never thought about it again). On another topic why are the live input fields so dysfunctional? Half the time i enter a specific "move distance' or other distance parameter it just takes off and puts in in a completely different place. Most of the parameter fields in the bar make no sense, some are just duplicates of other fields and others have no logic or use to them. I have been doing this a long time and it is completely discouraging to see that it is still all up to me to make my own methods to make the program work. No evolution, no refinement, no integration just strange methodologies to slowly, very slowly, pick apart until it make sense. I could probably write my own program or go back to drawing on paper and it would take less time. Thanks again, at least i get paid to suffer through it. Lee

Does VW have a text format language? I want to place a paragraph break in a text or dimension override. Normally i use the universal text codes ex. ('/p' for a paragraph) This is fundamental stuff and i am amazed and very disappointed it is not part of the program. Does anyone know how to use code to format text in VW?

The text tools in VW are definitely part of the problem. They all seem very basic and without much function. Also Dims will not force select, (which is a whole other problem that really needs to be fixed). Whoever came up with the non-functional focus limits must be a very strange person. Why does a double clic not change the focus. I want everything in focus all the time. If i want it locked i will lock it.

Can i not set the text direction in a dimension? I can flip it which sometimes is useful but what i really need is to be able to choose the direction of the text not just flip it. It flips the notes to be above the dim and that is not what i want.

I have not found a pattern. Sometimes it snaps other times it will not. My snaps are alway always always, set to Show/Snap/Modify others This is version 19 so there could be issues because of that. I am also prevented from updating my OS because 19 will not run on the current OS. More odd problems that could have been solved.

Is it really true that VW will not snap to objects in groups? WTF. How do you work around that?

Thanks but the answer is in the OS. Number lock is Shft + Backspace "Delete" not the real delete (next) key. Stupid Macs. If i want shortcuts I will make them. Lee

Why does my number pad not make numbers? I hate how Mac puts these useless functions on top of basic tools. How can i turn number lock on? I search and i get different solutions for different O.S. Mac is useless and unreliable.

Really? They drop the support for a version after 3 years? I am just starting with a new company and new to VW. I am not impressed with the fundamental kinematics of getting things done. The advanced functions are enticing but if you cant even do basic work i will loose interest. This may not last very long.

I am running version 2019 on a new iMac and i need to flutter the zoom to see every change. Also why is there no shortcut for Force select? I need to force select everything. That is unacceptable.

Ok thanks. I will try those today. If i use the grid can i realign it to objects or points? I did just see the make guide option. Seems ok but i really want a ray not a line. I will read up on the smart cursor functions too. Just starting in VW and wondering where the tools are.

Where are the guide lines or construction rays?