Dean

I've tried numerous combinations of polylines, polygons, nurbs, lines, circles, rectangles, 3D polys, toms, dicks & harrys. Some work, some don't but there doesn't seem to be any fathomable logic to what it deems "valid". A circle can be used as a profile where a rectangle can't. A nurbs curve with bezier vertices will work as a path where one with point vertices won't. I've tried to come up with a work around, but for my situation there's no clean alternative. I hate to alter the design to accommodate the limitations of the software.

I've been having trouble with the Extrude Along Path tool. I consistantly get the deadly "Invalid path or profile (objects)" message when there's no reason I should. Sometimes I can get it to work if I use a circle instead of a rectangle or polygon for the profile or if I change point to beziers on the path, or use a path object with three or fewer vertices, but this gives me a shape I can't use. What am I doing wrong? What counts as a "valid" object? db

Okay, I apologize for the length, but I thought I'd get these off the Post-it on my computer and into the ether: Drafting: ?Custom select by hatch ?Elipse by three points tool ?Create/Adjust arc/curved wall by length ?Adjustable opacity by object, not by layer ?Quick infinite guide lines a la Ashlar Vellum (Years ago I used this program which would allow creation of snapable guides by option clicking a point and flicking the mouse vertically or horizontally; much less cumbersome than the "create guides" command in VW) Modeling: ?Wrap 2D shape onto curve (picture heat-bending an irregularly shaped piece of sheet acrylic) ?Unwrap 3D object feature (Form?Z has this feature which is great for determining 2D shapes from compound curves) Animation: ?Move camera along editable path ?Motion within animation Viewing: ?Viewports on design layers ?Gray other objects while in groups option ?Print all/selected views ?Shift constraint on move through & rotate tool Okay, I'll start a new Post-it now. db

Well, thanks all for the input. I guess I'll just have to continue the translation battle into CD's.

In my ongoing debate with a Form?Z addicted colleague, one argument I can't seem to counter is Form?Z's ability to unwrap a 3D object onto a 2D surface with one command. This is handy for creating a flat elevation of a curving wall of inconsistant height, or determining the shape of a graphic to be applied to a compound curve. Can anyone enlighten me if this something that's possible in VW so I can thumb my nose at my colleague? db

I have a number of items that seem to lose parts when rendered in OpenGL. Parts, but not entire objects, of extrusions, extrusions along paths especially seem to render fine in renderworks & appear in wireframe but vanish in OpenGL. I find RenderWorks cumbersome for what I need (essentially mass modeling) and prefer to use the quicker OpenGL. What can I do to make these items reappear?

Thanks Jonathan, I'll investigate that. That actually might be how I got into trouble in the first place, but it might get me out of it as well. Dean

I've got a project that is spread over several documents that seem to have acquired several different dash styles. Is there a way I can import a standard list of dash styles across all the files or do I need to go into the Set Attribute Defaults and set each style by eyeball for each document?

I'm not trying to be difficult, but I guess I'm not being clear. I have imported the symbol into the new drawing as well as duplicated it within the new file with a new name. None is the only class used. I've not had trouble with other symbols except ones created with objects using the Wall tool. Since I found a workaround, I can deal with it, but I'm certain it's doing something that it's not supposed to. For the record, the symbol in question consists of two small wall elements, class set to None. The layer I'm working (set at Active Only) is not a referenced layer, but uses a DUPLICATE of the referenced symbol created IN THE NEW FILE. I can send a copy if that helps.

I'm not trying to edit the symbols, only select, move and rotate them in the plan. But I think I've found a workaround. They're made up of walls (to utilize the hybrid nature) and I can select and move them when in 3D mode, but not 2D mode. This must be a bug.

I have a file with a number of symbols that are referenced from another file. I can select these referenced symbols by drawing a marquee and even delete them, but cannot move or rotate them. How do I remedy this? Is there a preference that I'm missing? I don't want to have to make duplicates of all of them but haven't figured out how to revise the drawing otherwise. Any suggestions?

I think a big part of the problem was that I was using Fast RenderWorks rather than Final Quality which seems to show me what I'm looking for. Thank you for your suggestions.

I'm looking to render a liquid within a glass or jar such that the thickness of the glass is apparent. When I use a rendered object (say, honey or beer) within a rendered glass container, the interior object, seems to be wrapped around the outside of the glass container rather than inside it. Any suggestions?

How can I import the attribute default settings from one VW document to another. I'd like to set a standard for our office and find the settings do not remain consistant from file to file. This wrecks havoc on symbols especially, changing dashed lines to solid for instance.

Why am I able to extrude a shape with exponential scale along a polyline or polygon drawn with bezier curves but not one with angular corners? And just out of curiosity, what's the difference between a polyline and a polygon?