rcarch

just to throw my 2 cents in here - Archken is dead on right. I would like to suggest to NNA that they sit down with a copy of Revit and take a good hard look at what that program offers. I would be working on it right now, if only Revit was available on the Mac. That program actually uses 3d for everything! you can cut a dynamic section (sim to archicad) modify elements of the building and have it update in real time in every plan, section, elevation, schedule and so forth. and it does not stop there. granted revit costs a bit more that VW, but then again minicad cost me less than $500 when I first started using it and now look at it. I would gladly pay a bit more to have something that utilized a fully dynamic model and did not force you to create static snapshots. i guess that is a bit more than 2 cents, but now i feel better!

ronald - to create a layer link, you first go to your target layer where you want the data to appear, then > VIEW >Create Layer Link the next dialog box will ask you which layers you want to link into the target layer, and whether or not to project 2D info. after you select whichever layers you want, click ok, and those selected layers should appear in your target layer, at whatever scale you have it set at. to unlock the layer link, you simply select it, go to EDIT>Unlock, and the link will be unlocked and movable and/or rotateable. (that is about all you can do with it) to delete the link, you simply select it and hit the delete key. the info in the linked layer will have all its 3D characteristics, as well as 2D (if you selected the check box initially). hope this helps. good luck ------------------ rich carrroll carrollarchitects

Does anyone have a way to rotate walls off of the ground plane, or to have walls without a flat base? I have tried it in groups and symbols, but to no avail. We are trying to accomplish a rather intricate building model where the some walls are rotated 6 degrees off of ground plane. Your help is much appreciated.

If you are using VW Architect, you should try using the VA Project Setup Assistant. It will automatically set up all the sheets that you tell it to set up. Good Luck

I came to VW from Autocad about 6 yrs. ago and I will never go back. Once you grasp the differences between the two, the learning curve flattens out quickly. It is very easy to use, especially for what you are looking for it to do. I run it on a Mac, and use it in both Photoshop and Illustrator on a regular basis. Hope this helps.

check the layer and class settings for the walls you are drawing. then you should edit the sheet setup for the foundation sheet to show those classes and layers that you just changed as full and not as grayed. there are a few inconsistencies in the way VWA setup runs, so you may find this in some other sheets as well (such as RCP plans and lighting plans). good luck

i have tried this on several ocassions while i was modelling prototype candlestick holders for one of my clients. unfortunately there is no easy way to do it within VW that i have been able to find. i wont even go into the methosd that i used since i will never do it again. if you have access to form z or some other modelling programs, they will do it automatically. sorry for the lack of help. good luck.

i have been trying to re-create a similar situation on both my desktop and powerbook, and am not able to get a crash. i am running full extension sets with tech tool pro, virex 6, and just about everything else you can imagine. what i am finding when i am zoomed in tight (over 50000%) is that the refresh takes very long - over 2 minutes on a heavily noted and detailed floorplan and 1.5 minutes on a similar wall section sheet that is workgroup referenced. but again, i am not finding that the zoom or pan tools are causing a crash. it seems to me that this is a problem, based on the posts, that is occurring on larger networks. my network is 3 machines and 2 printers. could this be a conflict between open transport and VW? are these networks using appletalk or TCP/IP? my last question for those having this problem: are you sure you are frozen? try letting the machine sit for 5 minutes or so on time and see if it comes back around. if you still have control over the mouse, you are not frozen yet, but if you try a hard quit, then you almost certainly will be. good luck

how about an area on the message boards that will allow those of us who are employers to find 'qualified' VW users? if there is already someplace out there that does this, would you let me know? thanks

i dont think that you can control that in Vw, with the exception of changing the preferences. You will probalay have more luck using your plotter drivers to print to B/W only. I use a Calcomp with Microspot drivers, which allow me to do that. If I remember correctly, HPs may do that to. Good Luck.

i have to strongly agree with all of the above posts. i brought the up to mr. andersen last year at the aia convention, and the response that i got was to cover over the undesirable elements with patches! that is ok in theory only until you need to edit the area, then forget about. this should be a top priority for NNA.

I have been using Architect for around a year now, and I basically scrapped whatever standards that I had developed over the previous years so that I could see how it works. I find that if you stick with using the Task Manager for everything, it is set up pretty well. But it does come up short if you try to customize the class colors, attributes, etc. What NNA needs to do is provide an interface like Overlay Editor that allows you to setup your own standards and integrates with Task Manager automatically, so that everytime you setup a new file, it is the way you want it. The draw back here is that all the Objects and parametric tools will still default to factory settings, so you would need to go in and modify those things separately. Once they are done though, that is it. And I would strongly urge you not to tinker inside the code for VWA Setup, unless you are very well versed in VectorScript. It is one of the more complex pieces of scripting that I have seen in VW/MC. Good luck.

I would like to see the Complex window objects changed a little so that windows with stacked units can be created more easily. the current setup is close, but it shoul allow you to control the upper sashes more (ie: having a 2'x4' awning unit below a 4'x4' fixed unit above)

yes - and easy to do which is always nice - when you are prompted during the VA Setup, it will ask you if you want to use one of the pre made title blocks/borders. it will also give you the option to use no title block. that is the one that you want. after the file is setup, just switch your active layer to sheet-common and insert your title block. i use a worksheet for my titleblock, so i import it into each file and then place it where i want it. good luck.

this could also be a wish list item, but i think it goes better here. would someone @ nemetschek please go thru the various task manager scripts and make sure that they put the user in the appropriate layers and classes? i spent the better part of the day today in electrical, power, and rc plans editting the scripts so that things consistently go to the correct places. for instance, when i flipped to the rc plan to draw light fixtures, there were the power outlets showing up, since the scripts were set incorrectly. i have found this regularly when using the task manager in larger scale multifloor commercial projects. sorry for the rant, but it made today rather long and unproductive. ------------------ rich carrroll carrollarchitects

Dane- I have had a similar problem since I updated to the latest version of VW. I find that it is not consistent, and rebuilding the desktop and/or PRAM zaps do not seem to fix the problem. I dont think its a problem with the G4 since I use a PowerComputing PC132 w/ a G3 upgrade card. Try to open a file in the app, then save it and then try to open it from the desktop. I find that this may corrects the problem occassionally. rich carroll carrollarchitects

geoff- if you are using artlantis, you can export to artlantis using the VW classes. If you set up your model so that all your exterior walls, no matter what layer they are on, have the same class, then when it goes into artlantis, you just apply the texture to that class, and it will render the entire surface. if you want to have several types of exterior surfaces, just set up as many classes for exterior walls as you may need. this will work for the latest version (3.5) of artlantis. version 3.0 does not support this. as for renderwork, i would not know, since i have used artlantis since before rw was around.

what does the location field in the VWA door and window records represent? In the record editor, it says that data is supplied by the program, but I never get anything filled in .

how about classes for existing conditions, such as Wall-Ext-ExCon or Wall-Int-ExCon, that are added into VA Project Setup, so that I dont have to modify almost all the saved sheets every time I do a renovation job?