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Benson Shaw

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Everything posted by Benson Shaw

  1. Had a post with wrong info, removed it. Sorry.
  2. Thx! I have a Fat Max table top laser level which helps a lot with racking and heights, but always with a tape. I'll check out the TLM instruments. -B
  3. Thanks, Taoist - Not quite what I'm after, but it's a cute system. Appears to be Window's OS only. Those using VW and other CAD with measuring tools need not purchase. To mimic that system, place a known size object, capture the image, then import and scale the bitmap. I imagine keystone correction would raise the accuracy. It's only good on one plane, but that's usually a great start. -B
  4. Very nice. Just curious about measuring. Do you walk around with laptop and tape, constantly setting down one or the other? A rangefinding device? I'm ready for some kind of electronic measuring device which wirelessly records Vectorworks data on the laptop/pad(app)/phone(app). Looks like the walls are straight, and the corners are all pretty square? Old buildings I see can be significantly out of square and/or racked. A cracked or settled foundation may result in a bowed floor. Do you measure some angles in there, too? -B
  5. Hey, Eric - I suggest creating some DL objects and a few viewports in a new file, then trying some of the options and features just to see what they can do. I did not see the need for VPs when they were introduced many versions ago, because I used your method of drawing scale and page indicator to create printouts. Now I find VPs essential. Here are some startup comments. Hopefully you discovered all this already, but just in case: 1. In a VW file with several or many layers, possibly at different scales, changing location of the page indicator can cause all kinds of organizational and printing problems. It is often difficult to back out of these page location changes. It's usually best to avoid changes to location of the page indicator. 2. Use a crop object to create the VP (often a rectangle, but any 2d shape may be used). This helps plan how the VP, and subsequent copies of the VP will be used. Size and attributes of the crop object can be edited later as needed in each copy of the VP. 3. At creation, a VP will appear in its assigned sheet layer at same x/y distance from origin as the crop object on the design layer. This VP location is not necessarily inside the sheet layer page boundary. To move the VP into the page boundary, select the VP and adjust its OIP location coordinates, or drag it, or cut/paste. Then rescale the VP if necessary in the OIP via the VP scale pulldown (or via Modify>Scale Objects). Post again with specific requests or problems. Good luck. -B
  6. HI, Christiaan et al reviving a waaaay old thread. OK, I give up for now. Sorry to report that I have not been able to recreate the scenario reported by Ken Follett regarding a self clearing lime plaster drawing surface. I think the modern materials I used are just too refined or pure. Or maybe there is some new material to find or trick yet to learn. Anyway, I think the condition is more related to the plaster changing in response to atmosphere rather than some reaction with the metal stylus. Two analogies make this seem likely: Avacado dip - Turns brownish on surface layer. Swipe a chip through it and reveal the bright layer below. Wait an hour, and that turns brown, too. Peruvian Land Drawings, or Nazca Lines - Eons of exposure oxidized the mineral surface. Push away the top layer of rock to reveal the unexposed, bright material beneath (or drive your ATV through it - grrrrr). Wait a few eons, and the new lines oxidize to uniform color. (oh, great. Now he's blathering about Avacado Dip on the forum) -B
  7. I am not so excited by Apple's or others' clouds. Archiving, syncing and updates for work groups are fine. Protection from disaster is good. But local storage is well understood, inexpensive, and always accessible. I think we need both. Cloud might be convenient (or might not be), but depends entirely on the internet connection. Local storage has problems, too, but is very reliable. Others may be willing to assume constant connection, but I have experienced unavailable, failed and sporadic connection. What happens when you miss a payment or two? Giant cloud server farm is likely vulnerable to hacks and you would never even know you were hacked - witness personal data accessed during hacks to social networks, banks, etc. Proprietary data on servers is always at risk of exposure, alteration, or theft. Your proposal for a multi million $ job? On a remote server accessed by many others? and tended by a profit motivated administration looking for short cuts and cost savings?? Does that sound dependable? If THEY hack my stuff, I might lose something, and they gain only a little. But others have higher value for THEM and THEY will be hunting for it. end rant -B
  8. I have always had good exports for water jet in all the versions mentioned by M700. I don't think I ever had a problem with snapped endpoints. There were occasional export errors some curves but we caught those in the reviews. Extra vertices solved the problem. -B
  9. If controlling vertex count becomes a big problem, one can create & keep the orig 2d poly in a separate layer. Paste a copy into the site modifier layer and convert it to 3d poly. If mods are needed, head back to the orig 2d object and modify it (or a copy), and send a copy of the new one to the site mod layer. If a history of changes is required, line colors or classes can be used to differentiate the 2d polys in their creation layer. Also, Convert to NURBS instead of 3d poly - same vertex count as 2d poly. Just a workaround, but might be helpful. -B
  10. OH, that was good, Andi! And makes (AGAIN) a really good point. The screen/layer/working plane mostly works for me, but it's difficult to explain to self or others because of matrix of variances/choices/options - when this or that happens and what to do to make it happen or not happen. Almost needs a little manual (tip o' the hat to Mike M Oz and others): . . . draw a 2d object and extrude it in Front view, but make sure you are not in Layer mode, or if you are in layer mode, make sure to choose Screen mode in the OIP . . . Which brings up my old gripe with (many) manuals. They are full of how to do things, but really lacking on why to choose a particular function, and how to undo or back track or troubleshoot when the prescribed function does not act as user intended. -B
  11. Oh, sorry about the abbreviation: Dupe = Duplicate Plates - just a thought: Might be help converting to NURBS. Make a master plate with fillets, solid subtractions etc, then convert a copy of it to NURBS, then symbol, then place symbol instances. -B
  12. Did you try a render with 3/4 of the lights off? then half? etc Does Open GL render without crash? Another troubleshoot is to save & close your file then dupe it, and do the following with the dupe: Open the dupe, and open a new blank file. Cut half (or a big portion of) the objects from Dupe and Paste them into New. Render New. If OK, Render Dupe. If New crashes, Make New2 & Cut/Paste half from New to New2, then render. Even if Dupe Renders OK, Cut/Paste another half & re-render. Repeat until render fails or all objects & resources transferred . . . This could identify a corrupt object or texture or other resource (often from old VW or import from some other software) or a system problem ( maybe RAM if the halves render OK? Defrag? Restart?). Are those chairs complex with nubby textures or PIO intelligence? It might be worth converting one to group, making a nest symbol of the components, then replacing all the smart chairs with instances of the new dumb one. Best of luck! -B
  13. Move by Points tool does that for a selection, but it's not a grab 'n move. -B
  14. This is print to pdf of your DL with Show Snap Modify visibility. Seems to be the whole page. Sorry, no large format printer here, but this might help test print on your rig. I used to get cropped prints and pdf saves in VW and other software. It was not app specific, and had to do with the print settings. -B
  15. If you did not already, rely heavily on symbols. Change every repeating object into a symbol. Each type of plate, a napkin, a napkin ring, a place mat, a chair, a table leg, a table cloth, etc. When convenient, convert a few symbols into nested symbols: 4 legs +table top + table cloth + ctr plate = table symbol Dinner plate + side plate + napkin + napkin band + place mat = place setting Arrange 12 instances of the place settings, 12 chair symbol instances and a table symbol, and nest them into a new symbol. Then place as many instances as needed of these units in your dining area. This kind of strategy will reduce geometry and render requirements. -B
  16. A minor exception: VP Advanced Setting for Black & White Only does not reduce an object with color image fill to BW or gray scale. The object retains its image fill colors. -B
  17. I have seen this behavior in old and new versions. I think it is hardware related - graphics card and mouse. My graphics card seems to have a zoom limit above which the screen is just blank. Scroll wheel zooms occasionally white out above a certain zoom level, until zoomed back a notch or two. Key zooms seem to work fine (until the limit). -B
  18. Welcome to the forum. Sorry no earlier responses. Lots of Theatre folks write in the Spotlight forum, so they may chime in with more specific experience. There are VW framing tools and wall styles which may work for you and have powerful record keeping/materials schedule abilities. I don't use them, so others will have to explain them. But, here are some things to get you started with basic 3d shapes and modeling. Also click the Vectorworks Home link near top and follow to Free Resources Getting Started and Video Library. It's a bit unclear if your base drawing is a scene floor plan from which a 3d model rises, or a rectangle and lines representing eg a plywood sheet with cutting lines. Try some of this in a new blank file until you get the hang of it. 1. Extrudes are great for modeling lumber or metal angle or tubes. Set drawing view to Top/Plan. Draw a rectangle to represent the cross section (eg .75" x 3.5") then extrude it to required length via extrude command: Model>Extrude (or key Cmd E). A dialog opens asking for a length. Key in 8' (or your standard plywood length) and press OK. Switch to Front view or use the Flyover tool to see your new 3d stick rising from the stage floor. Give it a fill and line color. (fill is only visible when scene is rendered). Extrudes always rise from the active plane -eg Front or Side View in screen plane mode produces extrudes parallel to the stage floor. Draw a new rectangle when/where needed and extrude to length. Or duplicate as many as you want. Use Edit>Duplicate Array to make a bunch in one go. If creating wall framing or similar layout, draw/distribute all the rectangles in Top/Plan, select them all, then extrude the bunch in one go. They will rise out of the layer plane (stage floor) as a group. Ungroup (Cmd U) or dbl click to get into the group to work with the individual extrudes. Select an extrude and use the Split Tool in Line mode to cut to length (any angle for bevels) and save the rem. Hold the option key during split to prevent cutting other objects. OIP (Object Info Palette) can be used to resize an extrude for straight cuts, but you lose the rem if that's important. Switch to side view to cut a miter. Beveled miters are a bit tricker. Also, in OIP, bottom Z value gives numeric control of height above the stage (layer plane). Splitting converts the extrude to a Solid Section. Dbl click to see/edit the extrude and cutting line (called the object history). 2. Cutting curvy shapes from plywood sheets? Top/Plan view, draw a 4'x8' rectangle and the cutting line - eg a wavy polyline or arc which divides the rectangle into two or more closed shapes. Select the rectangle and cutting line, then Modify>Clip surface. Delete or move the unnecessary shapes. Extrude the required parts to use in your 3d model. Or you can learn working planes and draw/extrude the shapes in place on the model, but then you loose how they fit on a plywood sheet. 3. Rotate & move elements on the model. Use the Selection Tool to snap objects together. Switch among the top, front, side views as necessary. Or, rotate view off axis (Flyover tool) to see things better. Up in the mode bar - in Layer or Working plane mode, things snap in 3 space. In Screen plane mode things seem to snap, but stay parallel to screen. Test with Flyover Tool. Learn the Set Working Plane tool (basically hover over edges and click when the plane you want is highlighted) and use the Rotate tool (basic 2d toolset). Sorry, no 3d free rotate tool in the package. Post back with successes or more detail on what you are trying to do. -B
  19. Welcome to the forums! Please make yourself a profile with a signature in this forum's My Stuff tab near top of the forum window. Show your VW version and a bit about your OS and hardware. That helps with troubleshooting. Several things could be happening. Some graphics cards kind of blank out - they have a limit as to how close a zoom is supported. Doesn't sound like your issue. VW prefs>Display might have enabled "Center on objects after view change". Toggle that, and see if it helps. Your mouse may have some driver/software conflict or even some hardware problems. Eg, sometimes my scroll zoom backs up a notch or two after the zoom. Maybe it's just a problem with one file. Open new blank drawing and create just a few objects, then try your zoom. I a couple drawings which insist on keeping the view centered during scroll pan - I can't use the scroll/shift or scroll/option keys to pan the view. I never found a reason or a fix. There may be a similar thing with the scroll zoom in one of your drawings. There are probably other things, too. Others will add comments. -B
  20. For quick, rasterized output, a screen shot is a handy "print" to marquee. Also, at least on a Mac, if you select some items and copy/paste them into a Mail message, the result is a pdf attachment showing selected items. Or paste from clipboard into other software. Hold down the Alt key while dragging, and everything touched by the marquee is selected. -B
  21. Anthony - Would a Viewport work for you? Works with either Design Layer VP or Sheet Layer VP. Crop can be adjusted in the VP edits, too. -B
  22. All the above, plus: Earlier threads on this topic suggest using Custom Renderworks with options adjusted - start with low settings, no bounce, etc. Employ a series of trial renders increase relevant settings until desired quality is achieved or available render time is surpassed. -B
  23. Could those instruments contain a mix of layer plane and screen plane objects? I just made a group with one object in layer plane and another object in screen plane. The object boundary/extent size & shape is dependent on view and plane mode - sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller. -B
  24. Depends on final use. Sometimes you just have to wait it out to get the scene you need. But many things can help, here are a few: What did you add to your drawing in the last few hours? Can the render scene be copied to and rendered in a new blank (and therefore smaller) file? That might speed things up. Use a strategy - Render overnight? If saving as image file, start the render then hit escape key, then save as image - the render will start again, but only to make the new image file. Or if you get a render, use screen shot rather than Save As. When you save to image or pdf, VW has to render again. Try Open GL render. At least for some trials. Reduce the resolution and conversion settings (sacrifice image quality). Make trial with lowest settings to check shadows, light levels, etc. Then increase for final render. Simplify objects- fewer vertices in profiles of sweeps, extrudes along path, etc (eg use a hexagon or square instead of a circle for cable rail extrudes). Use symbol instances instead of duplicate objects (eg make chair or baluster into a symbol and dupe that instead of dupes of chair or baluster). Use NURBS instead of other complex solids (eg multi loft instead of multi extrude) Reduce number of lights. Reduce number and complexity of textures and shaders. Others will have more ideas. -B
  25. Welcome to the forum! Good wish. This is about same wish as DigitalMechanic's Detail Cube concept (check out the YouTube). http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=153237&Searchpage=1&Main=30828&Words=digitalmechanics&Search=true#Post153237 -B
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