Eoin R

Tried that approach but it did not work. If I copy the part of the drawing affected into a new file this seems to solve the problem but is unsatisfactory as all the saved views, references have to be fixed which takes a lot of time.

I am having a problem with a drawing where suddenly thousands of arrows are appearing at the end of drawing elements. Particularly with stipples and ceiling grids but also simple lines. Has this happened to anybody else before and does anybody have any suggestions on how to get rid of them?

Thanks for that but my issue is being able to export to Sketchup via 3DS. Following my post I submitted this as a bug to NNA and it was confirmed that this is a bug and is not working for VW2010 & 2011. It was working in earlier versions so is something that needs to be fixed.

Manfredi You should check out Windoor from Ozcad. This will do what you are looking for you. We use Windoor for all our doors and windows in Vectorworks as it is a far superior and more flexible than the standard PIO tools. It should pay for itself very quickly in saving a lot of time.

Can anyone help me. I am trying to export a 3D model of a building to Sketchup. We used to do this previously at ease in earlier versions of Vectorworks generally exporting as a 3DS file which could then be imported into Sketchup. Problem we are having now is that only a single layer is exporting and as the model is made up of several layers covering different parts of the building this is hopeless. I have tried creating layer links and Design Layer Viewports to combine different parts of the model but neither of these approaches seem to work. Anybody have any advice on this. Many Thanks

We are having a problem with the cursor in VW (on one computer only) With a black background the cursor colour used to be white but is now black. This means that we cannot see where the cursor is on the screen other than where it picks up smart cursor hints. If we switch the background to white the cursor remains black and is visible. But our drawings are all set up to work in a black background so this is not a an option. We can also activate the full screen cursor mode but not a fan of this when we used Autocad Anybody have similar experiences or solutions to the problem?

I'm with you on this one. The callout bubble shadow worked well before VW2008. Can anyone confirm if VW2010 has got this working properly again. It's a small point but the ability of VW to produce good graphics is important.

We use a combination of Vectorworks, Sketchup and Artlantis (for final rendering) What we have found is that in Vectorworks you can relatively quickly generate the geometry for building elements particularly doors and windows that you could model in Sketchup but would take far longer. So our workflow goes: 1. Create base model in Vectorworks 2. Export to Sketchup to apply colours and materials. We are not fans of Renderworks and find the images that we get from Sketchup are preferable. We also finish off some of the modelling in Sketchup as it can be quicker and easier to do this. 3. If the occcasion and project demands we then export the sketchup model into Artlantis and/or Piransi for adding lights and high quality rendering. 4. Finally we export to Photoshop for formatting the finished images. Sounds cumbersome but we find the above process is an quick and efficient workflow

Petri. You are right. We use Saved Views all the time to navigate quickly around our drawings moving from different levels and areas of the design. They are a key productivity tool in getting in our work out. Viewports in sheet layers are completely different and you need to look before you print off to make sure that relevant classes/layers are on or off as needs be.

Check out the survey on the link below from a UK based company Revelation Research on the CAD market. Vectorworks comes in as No.5 on the table of most used software.

OK Image attached shows what currently happens with the 'Fit Walls to Roof' Tool. What I want to see is that the top face of the wall slopes in section to match the roof surface.

Apologies but I cannot attach an image as I do not have a website that I can download an image to. To clarify my problem and wish. The problem with Vectorworks Walls is that although they can slope along the length of a wall the top face cannot slope across the wall section. This results in the flat top of wall being unable to properly meet a sloping surface. It also tends to create a complete mess at junctions You can set the meeting point to the centre line of the wall or the inner or outer face but this does not work well and especially where the roof profile and shape changes along the length of a wall. The current 'Fit Walls to Roof' command at first sight is a work of genius but the mess created by the inability of the wall element to engage properly with the roof surface is very limiting.

The tops (and bottoms) of walls need to slope to properly meet a roof or other sloping surface. The current condition where a flat top meets a roof creates a complete mess in Section Viewports and in 3D modeling and seriously undermines the principle of using 3D models to create 2D drawings and accurate three dimensional models. Eoin R (Dublin) VW2008 Max OSX 10.4.11

Yes The way we do it to export to 3ds file format and then import this into Sketchup. For best results you should have all the relevant layers on in Stack layers mode and then hit the export button. You should also set all elements that you want export to a solid fill. Hope that helps. Eoin R VW 2008 Mac OSX10.4

We use saved views constantly to flip between and work on our drawings in different scale. It would be very useful if the saved view could also save the active text size and font in the saved view as this would save resetting this everytime we are working at a different scale. Eoin R - Dublin VW 2008 Mac OSX10.4

I used Microstation over 15 years ago on computers with the fraction of the power of current machines and it had no problem opening several windows showing multiple and different views. We have started in the past a year of so doing more and more of our design work in Vectorworks 3D but the further we go with this the more apparent the limitations of the software become. Without the ability to have multiple live windows we are wasting huge amounts of time flipping between different views checking the impact of a change in plan with the elevation. This feature has been requested many times but would be at the top of our wishlist . Eoin R Architect Dublin VW 2008 Mac OSX 10.4.11

Thanks Mike That did work but oddly I also get duplicate layers set off from the main form of the model. I should be able to get around this in Photoshop. Eoin R

Christiaan Have tried having Stack Layers both on and off during export but it makes no difference to the Artlantis file. It still ends up with all layers merged together sitting on the same level. Eoin

We are having a problem exporting from Vectorworks (2008) to Artlantis R (1.2.6) What we get is that all the export layers end up meshed together at the same level. The attached image in Artlantis of a two storey house shows the result. Can anyone advise how to avoid this. Many thanks Eoin R

Michael I think that you are being way too negative. It all comes down to productivity. We will definitely be upgrading soon as a number of the new features (rotation, croppable viewports on the design layer) will pay the upgrade cost back with a couple of weeks. I am sure we will also find other things in the upgrade that we have not even thought about that will be worth the investment. We might be in a small minority here but to us VW is almost too good value. For one I would be prepared to pay a bit more if we could really see the software make further advances and also have niggly but important issues like the door and window PIO sorted out and improved.

We have the found the best way to import into Skethup is as follows: Set the model up in Stack Layers view with all layers visible and with OpenGL render setting. Then export 3DS file. You can then import the 3DS file into sketchup. Hope that helps. John Ryan - CPR Architects VW12.5.1 OSX 10.4.8

Our problem was eventually sorted out by the age old method of switching both computer and printer off a number of times. Eventually it came back on and appears to be working OK. John Ryan Camilleri-Preziosi Ryan Architects - Dublin VW 12.5 Mac OSX 10.4.8

We are grappling with and gradually succeeding in modelling our buildings in 3D in Vectoroworks. What would be really really useful would be able to have a number of windows of the model that would update automatically. As it stands we are manipulating walls. PIO etc in 2D then we have to switch to a viewport or saved view to see the result. If we could have a separate window showing the model in 3D updating in real time to the changes being made in the 2D plan view this would speed up the whole process. John Ryan Camilleri-Preziosi Ryan Architects - Dublin VW12.5 Mac OSX 10.4.8

Pete Thanks for your advice. I managed to sort the problem out with the help of Gunther Miller in NNA. The key to it is having the window in a horizontal orientation before creating the symbol and to make sure that X,Y & Z co-ordinates in the object info pallette are all set to 0. John Ryan Camilleri-Preziosi Ryan Architects - Dublin VW 12.5 Mac OSX 10.4.8

Thanks for the help The solution of editing the symbol and rotating it 90 degrees partially worked. The windows did end up in the same plane as the wall but they don't fit properly into the wall. ie the symbol has lost the ability of the basic PIO to recognise that the external sill projects out beyond the face of the wall and the inner lining lines up with the inner face. I am going to report it as a bug and would appreciate if someone in NNA can confirm this is the case, John Ryan Camilleri-Preziosi Ryan Architects - Dublin VW12.5 MacOSX 10.4.8 G5 2Ghz