DDDesign

In my "plain" VW I have one leader line tool. However I'm a bit curious, Kevin, as to why you don't use the callout toll in VW11 as it provides a lot more functionality.

I don't know if this applies to a plotter, but when printing to my Epson 1290 inkjet I find that printing from a pdf using a driver with an inbuilt margin will affect scaling. The best solution in this case is to select a "no margin" driver both at the time of conversion to pdf (on a Mac) and when printing the pdf.

This would be useful for me too

quote: Originally posted by mmhasse: With that there wouldn't even be a need anymore for the "move" and "duplicate" menu commands which incomprehensibly by default are located in two different menus. (Imho they should both be under the "tools" menu.) Personally, I like the move tool the way it is. I prefer it as as a command rather than a tool. It seems easier if you want to set move parameters via keyboard - which I nearly always do. If I want to duplicate and move it's just option + drag, or cmd D +cmd M. I can't see what the fuss is about - although I've never used ACAD (and hope not to have to!) Move and duplicate are entirely different functions, whereas duplicate is really just a copy and paste-in place (or with an offset) - logic says that it belongs in the edit menu along with copy and paste. This is also consistent with all Mac application protocols.

I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to do. If each VP has a boarder and title block, does this mean that each VP prints out on a separate page? If this is the case why not use the set print area... comand to create several pages on the one sheet and place a boarder on each page. When I do this I make my boarder and title block contain as a symbol all common elements including a date/time stamp. An update of the symbol will then update common title block details throught the drawing. If you wanted to use (what I think) is your original approach you could still use a similar concept and place it inside each VP as an annotation.

Like Jan15 I'd prefer to use Add and Clip surface. To add a few point to her method: 1. To offset the second arc I like to duplicate in place (my duplicate offset pref =0) then offset the second arc radius by subtracting the amount in the OIP. 2. I don't see to have a problem with no fill in the arcs when clipping. 3. I'd prefer to straight segment with the rectangle tool, then convert it to a polygon. 4. At the end of the first method, the curved end will still be missing the end cap. This can be added by clipping the (overlength) arcs with a temporary rectagle or line. Or - 4. Select and decompose the whole object. Add a line segement for the cap. Select all elements and compose.

Rather than change the VW prefs, if you change the printer output settings to print black and white, doesn't this have the same effect?

Thanks for the info Paul, its very useful to have some objective test results.

quote: Originally posted by Christiaan: Is this PC-only? All I get is "0167" for MAC ? is option+shift "=" ? is option "k" ? is option+shift "O" these work the same on all fonts.

Does the blending of adjoining walls also apply to other solids? If so, I see this as a disadvantage for me. I often want to be able to show the interface between two aligned, but separate components in HLR. I don't want to make my drawings less accurate to be able to do this. If this really is the case, coupled with the lack of polygon intersects, HLR in V12 will be a great annoyance.

You're probably right, as I checked, and the dimension class-sheet visibility was turned off, and on in the viewport. However, a re-boot has also seemed to have fixed the problem. Strange...

When editing viewport annotations, I find I can't use the select all command, or even select all annotations (in this case dimensions) within a marquee. Is this a bug?

I'm referring to polygon intersections. Wireframe lines are OK, although some lines are often there that shouldn't be. I've heard that the implementation of polygon intersections hasn't been included in V12, as it is a difficult task. Notwithstanding, I'd still put my request for it - I work completely from 3D models, and HLR is the chief tool in presenting construction drawings (or in my case "production" drawings). The second thing I'd add as far as working in the way I do is the apparent lack of accuracy in snapping in 3D compared 2D. Often I've snapped something together with the appropriate cue, only to find it's out with a zoom in inspection.

I'm not sure if you were doing a dynamic presentation (making changes to the model in front of the client), but if you were just presenting previouly prepared drawings this may help. In VW 11.5 check the "save viewport cache" box in document preferences. Viewports will then retain the rendering even after re-launching the application. Your wish for a more powerful system may be fulfilled when Apple releases its Intel based powerbooks - if you can wait that long....

I use a similar system, but with several sheet layers each for a particular aspect of the design, each with several pages. An additional convenience is that several pages can be seen on the screen at one time; viewports can more easlily be arranged and dragged from one page to another.

quote: Originally posted by scottwojda: but when you use translucency, can't you see through the sheet? which shader are you using? To get a luninous frosted acrylic effect I'm using color= obj attribute (object fill=white), reflectivity=translucent plastic, transparency=plain transparency @60%. You may need to experiment a bit with these settings, and the strength of the light. I have it in a box with reflective back &/or sides. Yes, the VW12 area lights will be good...

Sheets have their own specific page set-ups - as you've discovered. However, in MacOS you can print to pdf - and the pdf page will follow what the overall document settings are. Then, print from Preview - if you wish you can make further modifications to your page set-up. I think that this is all still relevant for 10.3 (I'm on 10.4)

Wow, that must be the fastest response to a wish request! Thanks Vectorworks!

I'm using the technique to produce an object that appears luninous and also lights it's suuroundings. I put a point source or an array of point sources behing a thin translucent sheet. This diffuses the appearance of the point source - like pearl or frosted glass. I'm not sure why it isn't working for you.

I would like to have a linear light source. At the moment I emulate fluorescent lights with a line of point sources, however this greatly increases rendering time

If you want to back-light something, my experience is that you can't do this by reflection, you actually need to put a light (point source) behind. If you have a large area you can even out the lighting using an array of lights. Unfortunately this does increase rendering time considerably.

Great tip, Grant - and it works for 3D too!

HLR is pretty flakey - annoying at the best of times. It is particularly poor at internal corners and edges of fillets. If you're working with a viewport add the missing lines in annotations, and delete unwanted lines by drawing over them with a white line.

All the keyboard shortcuts can be edited in the workspace editor

quote: Originally posted by jan15: But one needs to remember the distinction. That's the point - one needs to remember it. I sometimes don't - and I'd prefer VW to remind me at the time I select the preference - not have to remember before I can find the preference in the first place.