stmlandplan

Thanks for the reply. How do I direct VW Plant Database to find my referenced files and the referenced photos? Are the photos stored in the USR File or are they just referenced? If referenced why would it have lost the reference and any ideas on how to re-reference them?

Over the years I have painstakingly built up "my favorites" plant lists (i.e. trees, perennials, shrubs, etc.)in VW Plants Database. I have these (.txt) files saved in several locations but when I try to use search>favorite>shrubs in VW Plants...it says it no records match and gives me an option to modify search. This used to be the function I used the most to flip through all my favorite plants with photos. However, if I'm in VW on a design layer and editing a plant (edit definition>get plant data) I can pull up my various favorites lists ok but I don't have the benefit fo the VW Plants>Plant Data with my photos. I don't think I have a very good handle on what files hold the pictures I attached and what folder needs to be referenced. Can anyone help? and please tell me my data isn't lost. Thanks in advance Vector Works 2008 SP3 (Build 88670)ck in touch - Landmark, Renderworks Windows XP Pro - SP3 NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M Intel ® Core 2 Duo CPU 2.53 GHz, 2.99 GB RAM

I juscame across the Eldorado Stone hatches for VW and although it says that they are for v2008 but when I unzip it they appear to only for v2009 and v2011. Can anyone dumb this down for me? We really need these hatches http://www.vectordepot.com/market/vm-020_stone_hatches.html thank you

When I try to export (or print) to a pdf some of my object fills are displaying blank...even though part of the object (polygons) are still showing fill. I've tried reducing file size, copying to new file, replacing class, replacing objects, moving image,....everything I can think of but no luck. It displays fine in the sheet layer & I can export an image fine but loose my transparencies.. see pdf attached....Building W, F, G H, O, P, Q, etc all had complete fills in them. Can anyone tell me what's going on? BTW...My fills are marker color images

Well I think I figured it out. It seems you have to be in 'plane' mode for the tools on the right side (move, rotate, etc.) to work in Edit mapping window. Once I switched to 'plane' my texture image went away but after using the various rotate tools I was able to bring it back into view. From there is was very easy to 'move' the texture to my desired location and orientation on the object. I know this was changed to an interactive function in VW 2010 and having used the trial version found it to be much more user friendly.

In VW 2008 I am trying to edit the alignment of a texture to map it correctly to the wall (nurbs surface) by dragging it. In the Object Info Pallet I click on the Mapping Option and the window Edit Mapping opens. When I try to use the '4-direction move' tool in the upper right (which is discribed as tool to 'move' the texture on the object. It does not work at all. I have a lot of difficulty getting these tools to activate and without it I am left to 'hit and miss' by resetting the vertical and horiz offsets'. Very time consuming and clumsy. I am in perimeter mode with my texture since it doesn't show otherwise. This is a simple exterior wall surface extracted from an extrude. Any advice is appreciated.

I'm glad to know it wasn't just that I wasn't holding my mouth right. I will ask them to do exactly that. Thanks for the quick reply

I don't know if anyone can help me but when I get DWG files from this architect they import into VW as a 3D symbol. Normally all layers are displayed but without vertical separations between floors and without proper alignment (stacking). I really don't know what to do with it or how to specify that they save it so it is displayed correctly in VW. All the info is there and if I edit the 3D symbols I can find the info I need but this is not worth the time it takes. Can anyone give me a hint. If you look on the Sheet layer after exporting you'll see the floor plans are not stacking and I can't seem to control the different layered info. Thanks in advance for any help

Often when I am working on a complex DTM that takes 15 minutes to update I need to be able to abort the update process. Unlike in rendering where I can hit 'esc' (Windows) I can't seem to abort the DTM Update process. Can you add an 'Easy' button? Thanks

Thansk so much. I'll give it a try

Visual does not recognize vwx drawings but it does dwg/dxf.

I am trying to map an aerial photograph on to my DTM as a base to add building objects and display other Texture Beds of proposed Hardscapes. I can't seem to get the aerial photo to display at all. We've tried to create a Mesh of the DTM and Apply a Texture but with no success. It seems our 'aerial photograph' Texture wants to have a small image size (say 4.8') and then be scaled up (1000 times to reflect a 4,800 real world dimension) for it to behave properly. I know this because I can get a proper display on a large extruded rectangle but not on the Mesh or as a Texture Bed Sent To Surface. The Texture Bed just reads white. The Texture Applied ot the Mesh doesn't do squat. I've set the class properly and everything. Any ideas or suggestions?

I'm definately an 'out of the box' user and barely find the time to try and master the basic tools in VW.....so learning to write scripts is probably going to come in my next life. If those of you have written these and don't mind sharing them or offering them on the market then maybe those of us that are have only primitive skills can capture more of the power of the VW GIS functionality. Thanks for the replies from everyone.

Greetings Thomas. It would help to know what you need as an end product. If you are needing to model roadways interactively there are tools in VW to do it that I have not mastered yet. I'll be interested in hearing what others have to say on this aspect. If however you need a visual representation for presentation and study then creating a DTM in VW and using texture beds to represent roadways, curb & Gutter, hardscapes, etc. is quite effective and offers a lot of control. You would send these texture beds to the surface of your model and you can get as intricate as you'd like. It takes a little practice but the control is there once you learn how to use it all. Most of my work is done in conjunction with and preceeding our Civil Engineers' work. Translations to DWG formats are no problem. I'll try to attach a simple model that I am working on to show you an example but I've seen a lot of users take the detail to far greater detail. This project was for quick study and communication of the vision with others. I hope this is of some help.

I was trying to find some dialogue on the functionality of the GIS in VW 2010 but my search of the Forum turned up nothing. Are there any users out there that can speak to how it works for them as a substitute for ESRI ARC... software?

My version 6 does have the perspective option. I'll have to practice with that one. Thanks

Hello PanzerCAD, Thanks for the suggestion. My PS 6 has a 'skew' tool that pretty much lets me torture any photo and should work for this task ok. I've had no luck capturing 3D Sketch-up models since all that I get when importing is the 3D polygon with no textures. Any ideas?

Thanks for the great ideas. I will definately check out Animationworks. Does it crunch the scenes any faster or is that a limitation of my hardware? I am also intrigued by the possiblility of capturing the 3D models off of GoogleEarth. That would seem to provide a huge source of quick building blocks to use. I checked the 3D Building Repository and the files are .kmz or .dae ??? Does anyone know more about how it might be possible to capture these buildings? As far as the Photochop tricks go I will have to practice the keystoning tool and wallpapering my massing models. I suspect my Photoshop 6 won't have that tool. Thanks to all replys.

I had also thought about creating various building modules and tileing them to create various 'building composites' since most conventional builings are easily represented by 20' width modules with 12' & 16' heights. This would let me control the lighting better but I'm afraid my file sizes would grow quickly.

[font:Arial]I am looking for some guidance on how best to approach the modeling of numerous 4-10 story buildings in a the context of an urban planning model. Specifically, I want to create 'drive-by' animations of a site that has 10-15 different buildings along a 2,000 ft streatch of roadway. I would like the buildings to be more detailed than the Massing Model tool allows but when I try to create each building with walls, windows and awnings I quickly get very large objects (memory wise) that take forever to animate (not to mention create). My questions are: 1 - are there any sources for building models that others have created that I could easily adapt and if so what are some good sources? 2 - has anyone applied images to solids to create photorealistic buildngs for this purpose 3 - are image props the way to go I have done a fair amount modeling of the building masses sufficient to illustrate in 3D the various land uses by color but before I embark on a strategy to add the visual detail for the animations I wanted to see what others are doing. Any guidance is appreciated. Vector Works 2008 SP3 (Build 88670)ck in touch - Landmark, Renderworks Windows XP Pro - SP3 NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M Intel ® Core 2 Duo CPU 2.53 GHz, 2.99 GB RAM[/font][/font]

In top/plan view with objects showing you must set the perspective. Use the camera tool under visualization to set the angle and viewer heights (perspective). Then use the walk through tool

silly me ...you must have the window insertion tool selected.

When I insert a window in a wall it doesn't punchout the wall solid like the door insertion tool does. I end up having to offset the window to see the glazing and this looks wierd. What am I doing wrong? Vector Works 2008 SP3 Landmark, Renderworks Windows XP Pro - SP3 NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M Intel ® Core 2 Duo CPU 2.53 GHz, 2.99 GB RAM

I am trying to use the walkthrough tool but my object disappears when I click on the tool. I've tried it with a group of massing models and then with a simple obnject created with the wall tool. I've tried it with it rendered, withwireframe and for some reason it simply disappears. I can select all and it shows the objects selected(walls or massing models) but I can't find them by zooming and in fact am at the eact coordinates where they are located. My flyover tool works fine. Can anyone help me? Vector Works 2008 SP3 - Landmark, Renderworks Windows XP Pro - SP3 NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M Intel ® Core 2 Duo CPU 2.53 GHz, 2.99 GB RAM

I've answered my own question. With the help of Frank B. at VW it appears that VW Spotlight is capable of producing Light Density plots. My problem however is that the upgrade to 2010 is cost prohibitive at this time. I have finally come across a $100 lighting design software that does exactly what I need. www.visuallightingsoftware.com Its not a robust drafting package but once you get the hang of it you can pretty much control the essentials. Hey for $100 for the professional edition this is the best value I have seen in a long long time. It's even set for LEED credit analysis.