Benson Shaw

There was a thread with similar info and complaint, but I can't find it. Sticky can be a real pain. I think it's mainly related to work in the OIP interrupting functionality of the tools. I find that if I have the Select tool active and an object selected, clicking into any text/numeric field in the OIP causes the "sticky" problem, which I do not remember in past versions. Same result with other tools. 2 clicks required. 1st click deactivates the OIP and reactivates the tool. 2nd click starts the tool action. Here's a blow by blow example: •Several objects exist in the drawing. Selection is tool active. •Click on one object to select it. •Move pointer to OIP. Click into any alphanumeric field. This activates the OIP. •Move pointer to hover over a different object in the drawing area. The object highlights. •Click to select this different object. Fail. •This 1st click deactivates the OIP (and activates the drawing area or the tool?), but does not select the object. •Click the object again. This click deselects the first object and selects the new target object. •Sticky behavior manifests whether or not edit or add a value in the OIP field. •It's not just the Select tool. Same results with other tools. Perhaps someone using and earlier version will report whether this is unique to v2018. -B

@Art V - Wow, ArtV You are so knowledgeable about so many of the different softwares. Many thanks for sharing in this post and in many past posts. Keep it coming! -B

@Ewaryst - Common technique is to replace vwx polylines with arcs. If the original poly is not circular, then trace with the arc tool to compose a series of arcs to approximate. It might be useful to make a copy file for use only as dwg export. It gets a bit dodgy syncing the two files if there are lots of edits or revisions to the project file, but copy/paste can work fairly efficiently if layers and classes are handled well. I think dwg always breaks vwx polylines into segments. I think the vwx preference for 2d conversion controls the segment length. Higer conversion resolution means shorter segments in the export. hth -B

@rDesign - Many Thanks for that rvt file. I can import it in 2018.vwx SP3, MacOS Sierra. As you say, it is possible to import, but the resulting vwx content is strange. Described here for everyone's entertainment: The contents in my imported file appears to be a texture sampler with a matrix for a bunch of materials: ceramic, glass, water, fabric, wood, concrete, flooring, stone, tile, etc, etc. The texture apparently is intended to be applied to spheres, or in the case of the water, to a swimming pool surface. The import process creates a small selection of textures in the file, but not the full range suggested by the matrix (eg, no water, no fabric, no tile, no plaster, etc). The sample objects and their text labels are all identified in OIP as Revit Entity or as symbols containing Revit Entities. Editing any Revit Entity shows the contained objects to be meshes with no color fill, no texture assigned. Although the array of samples is organized as rows of symbols with label text, all of the samples are the same symbol labeled Glass Blue (except Water which has no label). None of the objects have color fill or texture assigned. The array of samples is presented on a sort of tray consisting of a vwx slab with a perimeter wall. And, it's BIG. The spheres are 1m diam, the slab is about 40mx50m. Wasn't that fun? Either the original Revit file is incomplete, or the vwx file lost significant somethings in translation. -B

@zoomer A websearch about depleted application memory indicated that MacOS pauses other open apps and, if that does not save enough memory, it ultimately pauses the active app, VWX in this case. The OS does not seem to automatically resume any of the paused apps, leading to force quit and relaunch or even system restarts. In Terminal, there is a kill/cont command. I think it kills the pause in the active app and then continues the app function, at least until memory is depleted again. I don't quote it here because I have no experience with what can go wrong. Anyway I think I will do the OS upgrade today and test the rvt files again, tomorrow. -B

@zoomer - Here is the link (result of search for AutoDesk Revit Sample Files). It's corrected in the post above, too. https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/getting-started/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Revit-GetStarted/files/GUID-61EF2F22-3A1F-4317-B925-1E85F138BE88-htm.html -B

@rDesign - Thanks for comment and the ref to older thread. I figured the big file would be a slog to import and slow navigation, but I did not expect a crash at start of import. I don’t need the whole model. My plan was to paste needed elements from the import into my project file. “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/Gang aft-gley.” from “To a Mouse”, by Robert Burns @zoomer - Thanks for notice of AutoDesk Sample files! https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/getting-started/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Revit-GetStarted/files/GUID-61EF2F22-3A1F-4317-B925-1E85F138BE88-htm.html I downloaded the Basic (16MB) and the Advanced (14MB) sample files for test import. Get Info/More Info note suggests they are rev2016.rvt so do not address the idea that my problem file is newer version than 2018.vwx can read. Neither one imported. They started to import, a few lines showed up on my screen, but the import "paused" and could not be restarted because "out of application memory". Revit projects must just be too intense for my little laptop. Disappointed, but hoping for better import function in future vwx updates and versions, and improvements to my personal work computer. -B Or perhaps time for me to upgrade to High Sierra per experience of @Seth Thomas reported near end of this thread:

My 1st ever attempt to import Revit file causes a vwx to crash completely. It's a big file at 345MB and probably the most recent version, but I can't tell. I'm importing into a new blank vwx file set to 1:1 layer scale. Import starts with lengthy Initialization. Progress bar is blank for 2 or 3 minutes, then fills completely in about 1 second. The Initialization box vanishes, and the import options dialog appears. I tried Active View, Model View and the 2d/3d Views. I disabled texture import and vwx native objects. I tried mesh and poly groups options. Instant crash each time as soon as I OK the options dialog. File too big for laptop system? Revit version too new? Change vwx file to other layer scale? Crash generates a dialog with choice to send report to Apple. Report pasted into a txt doc and attached here. Any tips or experience welcome. Thanks -B CrashReport to Apple.txt

@ford519- Is this what you are looking for? There is a vwx pref for "Show other objects in Edit Modes" and this pref can be added as a mode bar pref shortcut. See images. Adding the mode bar icon is great because you can click it as needed to show/hide other objects during edits. When "outside" objects are shown, they are also snappable. -B

VWX needs a Conform to Surface command or tool. A thing that would push any planar geometry onto any surface without changing the dimension - ie, conformed shape has arcs of same lengths as the earlier planar lengths. The real world equivalent is placing a rubber or fabric stencil, or a decal on an uneven surface. I know, these distort a little bit, but not noticeably. The workarounds described above are great, but only apply well to cylinders, spheres and other regular surfaces. If the surface is pear shaped, or undulating or otherwise complex, the exercise requires a lot more work. The initial workflow I imagine is with planar geometry flowing onto a surface: •Select the geometry and the surface. •Run the command - The geometry (or a copy of it) transfers to the surface as a Group of NURBS. •Shell if thickness is needed. •Add/Subtract solids as necessary. -B

@Grethe Connerth There is a very similar feature already built in: A cropped VP can be created by setting the view, then drawing a rectangle (or other 2d shape) surrounding the design layer area of the desired VP. If the desired view is 3d, use a screen plane rectangle. With the rectangle selected, proceed with Create VP in your usual manner. A dialog appears asking whether to use the rectangle as the VP crop. The dialog will not appear if the Always Do option was checked in the past. The dialog can be reset to appear via Vectorworks Prefs>Session>Reset Saved Settings. -B

something to test: If your sheet layer viewport is rendered in OpenGL (background), the render options for OGL need to have Textures enabled. This is in the viewport OIP>Background Render Options. Hidden line will ignore the textures and just provide the linework. Yes, you can add hatch as annotation to the VP. But, better way is to try OGL background render plus Hidden Line foreground render. HTH -B

I always assume duplicate will be top of stack. Can't point to happening other ways. -B

OK, nothing definitive here. Just some ideas. Duplicate the file and try some of this in the duplicate file: 1. Center everything (user origin, page boundary, all geometry) on the internal origin. I see a page boundary, so you are probably not far from origin, unless you moved the page boundary. Worth a try on such a large site. 2. I see lots of lights. Switch them all off and add a Heliodon instead for general lighting, shadows. 3. Check your display graphics setting in VWX Prefs Display - switch to Best compatibility if not already there. 4. Take the OGL setting down a notch just to see. 5. Simplify polys on your contours, exist and prop. Or other strategy to reduce point count. If any of or all of this helps, use the dupe file for presentation, and continue working out the bugs in the main file. Or, possible corruption in the main file, so, Port all geometry, layer by layer into a new file. See if the new one works better. NO clue why you can't edit 2017 proposed contours. Should work. -B

Sorry I didn't see this sooner. I had same needs and came up with "Unit Roofs". These are symbols, one for each type of roof I needed. The symbols measure 1'x1'x1'. The insertion point can be a corner or center or center of an edge - depends on how you like to work. EG for a massing model of a simple 25'x30' building and 8' tall gables: •Draw/extrude the building footprint up to height •Place a Gable Roof symbol (or copy paste an existing one), place it at a corner (depending on how you set up your symbol insertion) of the extrude. •In OIP, choose asymmetric scaling and adjust the values - eg x=25, y=30, z= 8. •If, 2' eves on sides, adjust x factor to 27'. Now you have a gable roof sitting on an extrude. •Need some roof dormers? Add smaller gable roofs sticking out at appropriate locations. I do this with tree symbols, too. 1'tall, 1'wide, 1'wide. Rescale as to match known height and canopy. Here is file (v2018) with my little roof symbols and screen shot of the neighborhood shadow study I was working on. Very quick to make all the massing models although I had to estimate the z values. I used GIS data and aerial photos for curbs, walks and building outlines on a separate base layers, then traced the outlines on my building layer and extruded. Then added the roofs. HTH -B Unit Massing Model.vwx