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?

I was using 11.1 but just updated to 11.5 but that seemed to make no difference.

A colleague of mine would like to create symbols within which text would remain upright when the symbol is rotated. The Adjust Flipped Text preference has no apparent effect. Is there a way to accomplish this?

Thanks, that helped. One more question: how can I indicate a rear-projected image so it shows on the opposite face of a "screen" object?

I seem to remember at one point seeing somewhere a technique to project an image onto a surface in a slide-projector fashion. I can't find anything in light objects or textures that helps me figure how how to do this. I'm trying to work out video projection lines and want to check for obstructions. Am I mis-remembering?

I figured it out, thanks. I used the wrong window plug-in. When I changed to the simple window, it seemed to work. The were all drawn with the None class and no assigned glazing style, so that wasn't the problem.

I have a wall with a textured surface and several windows created with the plug-in tool. When rendered, the windows show up in wireframe, or when given a solid fill render as blocks. How do I show the windows with solid frames & transparent panes?

Along the same line, it would be nice to be able to edit the base line on the drawing reference marker. I can increase the thickness of the circle from the default 1 mil, but the line remains to thin to print on some printers.

I'm trying to create a plug-in to make adjustable symbols. For instance, for a project I may have many artifact cases with similar details but various sizes. I'd like to use a symbol where I can type in different dimensions for each instance. It seems like code-writing skills are essential and despite the reams of material Nemetscheck provides regarding VectorScript, everything they describe is either painfully obvious or completely Greek to a non-tech guy like myself. I couldn't find any step by step instructions. Can anyone briefly describe the process in plain English?