Matt Panzer

[font:Arial Black]CameraMatch 2010.0.3 Update Available![/font] New in CameraMatch 2010.0.3: ? Control Lines no longer highlight (with selection highlighting turned on) allowing you to see their color. ? Fixes view calculation issues when the CameraMatch Reference object is on a layer with a non-zero Z height This update is free to all CameraMatch 2010 users Download 2010.0.3 Here Visit PanzerCAD

Version 2010 for Vectorworks 2010 Quickly and accurately align a 3D model view to a photograph! No more wasted time fiddling with 3D view controls that are just not designed for the task. Camera Match quickly finds the view by placing control lines on a photograph and clicking a button. If the view still needs tuning, Camera Match's powerful live tuning controls get the job done fast. After getting the view set, the CameraMatch masking tool magically brings it all together! CameraMatch lets the client visualize a design in the context of the existing site/structure making them more confident in your design. Not only that, it can do this much faster than modeling the existing conditions. Check out our user gallery and see for yourself! Visit Our CameraMatch User Gallery FREE Educational Version Available!

beanus, I see you're using VW 2009. My shortsightedness led me to create this in VW 2010. VW plug-ins are not backward compatible. I recreated it in VW 2008 and replaced the download with this one, so it should now work in VW 2008 and later. Download again from the link and you should have it working. http://panzercad.com/VW%20Freebies/plug-in_menu_commands/snap_toggle/

No sweat Vincent. Glad to help! I'm not sure about the genius comment though... :-)

You're welcome Ray. I'm glad you like it! Ken & Vincent, I goofed the original post with a bum link (also giving me a "panzercad.com" file when I tested). I've since edited my post to fix the link. Here's the link again: http://panzercad.com/VW%20Freebies/plug-in_menu_commands/snap_toggle/ Let me know if you still cannot get it.

Hello All, This is one of those plug-in commands that I've always wanted to write but have been too lazy - until now. This one does it as a true toggle, err, well, sort of... It will toggle the same set of snaps on and off regardless of what the user sets in between toggles. This is how it works, the plug-in menu has a boolean parameter that it toggles between "True" and "False" every time it's run. When the boolean is true, it turns the predefined snaps on and when it's false, it turns them off. The user can define the snaps through the plug-in's strings (using the "Plug-in Editor"). I have it set to use "qwsd", but it can be changed to your needs in the "Plug-in Editor". You can download the plug-in here: http://panzercad.com/VW%20Freebies/plug-in_menu_commands/snap_toggle/

Hi Pat, Use the Offset Insertion Mode. This mode is available for Door, Window, Symbol (and maybe others) insertion. It lets you select a reference point anywhere in the drawing (in this case, where the line and wall intersect), then insert the door into the wall anywhere, then you will be prompted to set the distance from the reference point. Type zero and click "ok" and you got it. This feature has been in VW for quite a few versions. HTH, Matt

I finally got a chance to look at this. Well done Giovanni! I've not played around with resizable dialog, but I'm sure you're aware of the LB widths not sizing correctly. This will be a good command to have on hand. Keep us posted on any updates. :-)

Another option might be to use an alias of the file in the dropbox on each computer's drive and point to the alias. I use aliases often with plug-in development so that my files stay in a project folder and an alias of the folder containing the plug-ins and includes is placed in the VW plug-ins folder. So they should work... Matt

PanzerCAD is proud to announce it's latest Vectorworks Plug-in "ClipPad"! ClipPad is a multiple clipboard utility (and then some) for Vectorworks. Clippings Features: ? Can be created from a reference point. ? Can be placed in place (original location), from a user selected reference point, or centered in the view. ? Selected objects in a drawing can be merged with an existing clipping ? Can be created from contents of the operating system's clipboard ? Can be copied into the operating system's clipboard ? The contents of a clipping can be swapped with the operating system's clipboard Limitations: ? Clippings are symbol based and can only contain objects that symbols can contain. ? You cannot place viewports into clippings ? Clippings are document specific and stay with the document they're created in (we may look into a global clippings feature). Beta Notice: This software is in beta. Please let me know any problems, comments, or suggestions you may have. Download here: ClipPad Beta Page I hope you enjoy it!

No problem Peter. Glad to hear it's now working for you!

bc, You very welcome for the plug-in! I'm glad Peter brought it up to remind me to write it (after all these years). :-) PS: I'm glad you like CameraMatch!

Hi Peter, I just looked at the PIO closer in VW 2009 and there are some issues. One is a bug that is mine (in the PIO), the other seems to be a limitation in VW 2009. The one bug (that I don't think you experienced) is when editing the PIO within a symbol. The pio uses "page" units in it's parameters (ie: 1/8" means 1/8" in printed output no matter the layer's scale). When edited within a symbol, the PIO didn't know where to look for the appropriate scale. Now, it looks at the active layer's scale which is consistent to how other NNA objects work. I now fixed this problem. The other problem seems to be a bug (or limitation) with VW 2009's path PIO's. In VW 2009, In my testing, the 2D reshape tool (in toggle visibility mode) doesn't work when editing path objects. The workaround is to edit the PIO's path object (by double-clicking on the PIO) and use use the 2D reshape tool on the source poly. Get the updated (version 1.0.1) PIO here: http://panzercad.com/VW%20Freebies/plug-in_objects/break_poly_pio/ Let me know if this solves your problem.

Good point Islandmon, I typically put the assembly into a symbol.

Another method I've used is to place a Door PIO with no jamb thickness and everything else (related to the opening) turned off. I actually use this for windows as well because the door gives you more options than shutters do. Another reason I avoid the Window's built in shutter is because it won't let you set the width. Around here, it's very rare to see a home using (real) shutters that are half the width of the window opening.

You're welcome Peter. Yes, the hide segment feature comes in handy for this sort of task. I'm glad you like the PIO! It's certainly one I'll be using from now on. :-) Sooner or later I'll add the other break types to match the VW break line types...

Hi Peter, Yes. It's a VW version issue. I rebuilt the PIO as a VW 2009 version (which should run on both VW 2009 and 2010). BTW: In the Workspace Editor, Look under the PanzerCAD Category for the PIO. http://panzercad.com/VW%20Freebies/plug-in_objects/break_poly_pio/

I played around a bit with creating a PIO and it's working pretty well. Download it from this link, add it to your VW plug-ins folder, and add it to your workspace: http://panzercad.com/VW%20Freebies/plug-in_objects/break_poly_pio/ Only the straight break symbol option is available at this time. The PIO lets you create any polygon shape (it doesn't do curves) and shows breaks on any visible segments. It also has a Maximum segment length (without breaks) setting. The PIO will add multiple breaks along each segment as needed to keep the length between break less than this setting. You could create typical configurations with this object and save them as "Red Symbols" in the Resource Browser. Let me know what you think. :-)

You're welcome! I hope it does the trick for you.

Whoops, I missed your post Pat and replied too soon...

Michael's example looks to be what Peter's method is. If you take only the masking polygon, make the line color black, and hide the two segments that connect the two break lines, you'll have my method. I use this most often with wall section details where I may draw the full wall section from footing to roof, but make the walls much shorter to get the details closer together. Then I plop these break line polys over the wall to show a break and it masks out what's beneath.

The only way I can think of to have the bitmap part display would be to: Convert the original pdf file to a PNG or JPEG Import the image file as a texture. Draw a rectangle the desired size & proportion of the image Create a floor (from the rectangle) of 0 thickness and set the desired Z height. Apply the texture and map it as needed.

Peter, I use a similar idea as you but end up with just one polyline. The method I use is like this: Create one breakline. Option-drag a copy a desired distance away. Ungroup both breakline objects so that they are now polygons. While it may not be necessary, I then "Decompose" to turn them into lines. Draw a line from the end of one breakline to the closest end of the other. Select them all and "Compose" to turn them all into one polygon. Give it a solid fill and hide the one segment visually connecting them. While this method (and yours) does the trick, I like the idea of a PIO. BTW: A PIO is a Plug-in Object. The breakline object is a good example of a linear (defined by 2 points) plug-in object. A path PIO is defined by a polyline (3 or more points). Using a path PIO for this could allow any segment to have a break and could also allow any segments to be hidden. I could look into creating this PIO when I have some time.

Hi Per Ruben, If the PDF has vector data, then you can select it and use the "Convert to Group" command. Then edit the group and delete the bitmap part and you will be left with the vector data. Exit the group and make sure the group is set to the "Layer Plane" (in the Obj Info palette). Then you'll see the vector data as 3D laying flat at it's parent layer's Z height. HTH

Hi Peter, Yes. A script could be written to do this. I think the best solution might be to make it a path PIO that only shows a line with a break on visible line segments. This would allow the user to hide any segments you like by using the 2d reshape tool. It could also be saved (in common configurations) as red symbols.