jfmarch

to change the font simply highlight the dimension string, go to the text pull down menu, and go to 'fonts'. it works fine for me. i still don't quite get why you are exploding dimensions- the then become non-objects...

its all very easy in both examples. as with any art form, there are certain organizing principles for communications. in architecture, many people consider the plan as the driving force behind any structure. so if you consider the plans as a graphic device, there are many basic drafting techniques to get you started. for me, its always boils down to either grid lines or area polygons (or both), to organize the plan. for the barn, i would draw a rectangle on the floor layer and size it according to your dimensions. that rectangle can now be used as an area poly and a guide for snapping your walls to. once the walls are drawn adding a roof is simple. i would again draw rectangles on the roof layer, use the roof face command, and adjust accordingly. for the redraw of the residence, again i would use polygons as floor areas and guides to draw walls, and maybe layout some grid lines too. use the overall dimensions to get you building footprint, and the clip surface or add surface tools for any irregularities in the plan. once thats down, simply start drawing walls by snapping to the poly. you can then use either the move tool, the x-y coordinate input windows and you snaps to place walls on the interior. its a mighty big effort to redraw existing bluieprints and i would suggest that you have someone scan them to save time and still gain an electronic version. we use scannned drawings all the time as a faciloty management tool. but, if you are planning to reissue this house to a new client, than it does make sense to redraw. hope this helps...

this happens to me with most of the drawing marker objects. tgm, did you know you can edit dimensions without ungrouping them? you can change the font by simply selecting the string (or strings), and going to the font list under the text menu. you can also edit them in the object info palette where you can change the fractions, numbers and even add text to a string. hope this helps...

i don't know if i would choose a CAD program based on its 'popularity', but more a comparison of its function, cost and operating system platform. you might want to limit your request to a certian country, or region of a country. i know that VW is used in europe (especially the UK), new zealand and south america, for example. perhaps you can try a web search for VW user groups to start to get a handle on support. They could also give you purchasing tips. we are a mac based office and find VW is the best value for the cost, and we've been using it since its 'minicad' days. as for you favorite drawing tools, both offset and fillet are available in VW.

try it and see if you can in the object info pallette...

i have not experienced that problem, but have something similar. whenever i select an object, the readout in the object info palette takes a second or 2 to change to the selected object. for example, if i have a rectangle selected and then go touch on a circle, the info pallette will still readout for the rectangle, and then slowly update itslef to the circle. it is not significant but it is a small irritant... It have been this way since the initial release of VW 11.

how about the saved view command? you can save several views using multiple class and layer settings and go to them quickly...

i have tried spacers too, but the glass really works! We sit the PB on the glass on our wood tables- we have not had a heat problem in the 3 years using this solution. i am not familiar with the coolpad, but it sounds interesting. for us, though, the glass is free...

if your PB gets too hot, it will burn out the mother board, which is not a good thing (we know of folks who have burned their legs while working sitting down with the PB on their lap!) we experience hot powerbooks all the time (we all have one in this office- 4 total). what we have discovered is that if the powerbook sits on a piece of glass, the glass will act as an extension of the heat sink and will reduce the heat buildup of the computer significantly. since we are an architectural office, we have access to alot of glass samples that fit nicely right under the PB. i do know that some Renderworks renderings do take a long time, but we have never had to let one spin overnight, even using 'Final Quality Renderworks', so i can't guess what you are rendering. Hope this helps... [ 09-07-2004, 04:17 PM: Message edited by: jfmarch ]

i don't think that is possible, and i am not sure why you would wnat to use it. there are, however, keyboard commands for showing all layers visible, greying all except the active one, or showing only the active layer. you can also scroll through the layer stack with the command-arrow keys, which is a useful tool. there are plugins available (i think from www.vectordepot.com) which allow you to scroll though all active layers and or classes. we have created our own plug-ins that do similar things, that are great drawing tools. i hope this helps...

create a hybrid symbol where you make the window look correct in plan with rectangles. in 3D mode, though, i would approach it by using extrudes to the shape and size you want the window to be. one extrude would be the frame, another would be the sash, etc. i suppose you could make a 3D poly for the glazing and assign a 'style-' class to it, but that would take some experimenting. hope this helps...

it appears that this is only for PC's...

how about using walls for these elements? they will look like gutters and can easily be controlled by class...

if you mean a 'Cape Cod' style dwelling, than you can simply create a floor over the area that would correspond to the 'attic' level. draw a polygon or rectnagle, go to the AEC menu and create a floor. what i do also, is draw this floor on a layer that is above the roof layer in the stack and then draw a blockout polygon that will cover over the roof and allow the upper floor to show when both those layers are visible. hope this helps...

i have noticed this as well, but not in every file i am working in. in the file where it occurs (and it occurs with text blocks and dimensions), was created in version 9.5. i find that is i zoom out the text appears. i also notice that old drawing marker objects are uneditable...

you could try the 'reselect' button on the workgroup reference dialog box...

all right!

i would certainly upgrade to one level for all computers. we don't use windows, but have successfully used wg references since they were introduced by VW. we, though, have never had difereing operatinbg systems for out stations (we have up to 6 at a time), they are always the same.

does anyone out there have any suggestions for drawing a jet of water that shoots straight up from a pool of water? it does not have to be super realistic, but just to give the effect. any help would be appreciated.

under the 'page' menu. go to 'normal scale'.

i recall that happening to me when i was on VW 9. i could not figure out what was happeing. and the circle took on the fill of the wall. i recall thouigh that it didn't effect the model views, only the 2D plans. i think the way i handled it was to use 2 round walls instead of one complet one. i haven't tried it in version 10 or 11 yet, maybe it was fixed...

that is a nightmare! your files would be destroyed in no time! you NEVER want that to happen, as it did when OS X was first introduced. a workaround is using the 'work group reference' tool, and break up your project accordingly.

boy, this sounds very similar to what i have been experiencing: http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=001103 it must have to do with old files being updated...

this has happened to me before. it has to do with the scale settings on the import dialog box. you need to set the scale to either 1:1 or the primamry scale of the drawing that you will be using (1/4" for example). what you can do now is turn on all the classes/layers, select all, and scale the selections by .0833333. make sure you check the scale text box. that should fix the door widths, and everything else. hope this helps...

this is still a problem even after we have updated to version 11.0.1. since most of our files were created in version 10, this might be the problem. what i do notice thought is that if i insert the drawing label object with the right sizes, font and descriptions PRIOR to placing in the drawing, and with the right font set under the text menu, the label will look as we want it. but the font size info in the info pallette will indicate the wrong sizes. it is very puzzling and annoying. i hope someone can give us some guidance. thanks...