Peter Eichel

Tom, while you fixing the Titleblock can you add round, oval and hexagonal windows with the next release, it's much needed. By the way, when is the next release?

Create a roof object, half of which reflects the roof face you need, add your dormer as you normally would to a roof object (let VW's do the work) and then ungroup the roof. Delete the roof face you don't need and you should have it.

Under the FLIGHTS AND PLATFORMS tab in the stair preference window, click the next button until you've selected the platform. Change the default 90 angle to -90.

While we're on the wish list, can you also add a round & oval plug-in window, this is a much needed item.

You dimension section viewports the same as you dimension any other viewport. Make sure the viewport has the dimension class visable. Double click the viewport and choose the annotation option from the pop up window. You are now "inside" the viewport and can begin dimensioning. VW's has what I call three spaces. Design space (model space), sheet space (paper space), both familiar to AutoCAD users and the last I call viewport or annotation space. It allows you to move a viewport and the text will move with it.

Make sure that scaling is enabled in the MODE BAR, pick your text and grab the upper right corner of the text box and drag. This may help, but your text shouldn't separate as you've described, that's very odd!

Rich, OIP is VW's Object Information Palette. It's your dialogue window with objects you use in your drawing. Make sure it's opened and pick anything you've drawn. All the information on that object is in the OIP and can be changed thru the OIP. You can widen a window, lengthen or shorten a line, change the objects layer or class etc. It's one of the many reasons we are endeared to VWs.

Objects usually go missing in VW's because the CLASS has been turned off. When you go to a sheet layer (paper space)from a design layer (model space) the class settings from the design layer remain current (the exception are saved views). For instance, all your drawing sheets are given the NOTES SHEET class, if this class is turned off on your design layer then your sheet will "disappear" when you jump to your sheet layer. Open the ORGANIZATION window, pick the CLASS TAB and press the ALT keyboard button while clicking under the visible column. This will turn all of your classes on and more than not you'll find your lost objects.

Your drawing up plans for a typical 1-1/2 storey home with a full unfinished basement. Whether you opt for 0 or 1 for a basement floor, the ceiling heights are not available for either a foundation or floor B1. VW's provide ceiling heights for "above ground" floors, so why not for these others, unless there's a methodology at work here that escapes me. Also, Katie, is that smiling women in the new V-training ad you? I know, someone had to ask!!!

That would be a nice feature, after duplicating an object I use CTRL+M to move it.

Ruth, when I purchased VW's Designer, it was recommended that, as a new user, I should also purchase the VW's Architect Learning Series CD which I did for $99 Cnd. I think it was a worthwhile investment, however, the VW's forum and good old practice also helped.

It's a good idea when importing or pasting an object to use the same layer scale as where the object is coming from to avoid unexpected results. There are certain parametric objects that will change, a break line for example. I habitually set my design layers at the same scale I intend to use when creating viewports.

The triangle icon is not for layer visibility, it refers to a saved view setting. You must click under the column on the left side to place the black dot under your preference. Being new to VW's you need to come to a good understanding of the class structure in VW's. It can be very frustrating to learn the program otherwise as I've found that most problems are class related. Learn to use saved views and you can jump to various work areas with a mouse click.

Why don't you write a paper on all of you switching to Nemetschek's ALLPLAN. It's superb in workgroups (very flexible), has excellent modules for structural and concrete, great DWG translation, rendering and so on. The latest release has added new functions for renovation projects which are becoming more prevalent in parts of the world. Nemetschek will probably merge it with VW's some time anyway so it won't hurt to take a look.

Why not look at Nemetschek's ALLPLAN. It's the top CAD software in Germany for good reason and their adapting for the North American market. You many be able to get an upgrade price going from VW's and the reviews I've read are very good.

If your talking about having jumped to a design layer from the viewport it represents, there is a button(s) you can use to jump back to the sheet layer from whence you came. It's on the lower left represented by two triangles in the scroll bar display which has to be turned on in the preference options. It's the previous view(s) function and I believe you can set how many are stored in memory.

It sounds like you have a T-wall connection and your using the corner clean-up tool. Use the other tool provided until you become aquainted with them.

What's with this tool? I'm doing a wall detail in plan view and trying to place gypsum board around an inside and outside corner in one continuous operation, but I cannot control the face direction, it has a will of it's own. If I try to stretch one end the face direction reverses. Any ideas?

Alchemilla, open the Autocad drawing and first determine if the object(s) are in model or paper space. If their on paper space them move them to model space if practical. Next change the AutoCAD units to whatever your using in VW's. AutoCAD 2000, look for FORMAT>UNITS in the menu and pick the ARCHITECTUAL option and change the units to your preference. Now, you need to know just one dimension of any object in the drawing, for example, if your looking at a foundation section and you know the wall is 8" thick, then draw a line across the wall and use AutoCAD's object properties to tell you how long the line is. Lets say it's 96" long, now you know the scale, it's 1:12. You can now either scale all of the objects to full scale within AutoCAD or import them at this scale into VW's. I prefer to work with full scale objects.

Assuming you are working with viewports, you need to turn off the class on which the furniture resides. The best way to zoom in on a detail is to crop the viewport. Make a duplicate of your 1:500 viewport and crop it. To become proficient in Vectorworks you need to come to a good understanding of how classes work.

Before you import an AutoCAD drawing, open it and determine what the UNITS are and what is the setting. I find the unit setting in many AutoCAD drawings is the DECIMAL option when a metric or imperial setting is needed. Of course, this assumes the objects were drawn at full scale in model space as they should be!

Changing the scale on a design layer (model space) will not affect the actual size of any objects on the layer. For example, a 20' long wall will remain 20'. Did you have the walls picked and use the SCALE command from the menu or are you confusing a scaled viewport on a sheet layer with a design layer?

Select the object and look to see if the label has a grip (blue dot). Grab your label and move it (you may need your stretch/scale enabled).

Anyone familiar with ALLPLAN? Would anyone switching from Vectorworks to ALLPLAN find it easy going and what are the similarities if any (classes, viewports, setup etc.) It's hard to find current reviews but what I have found sound impressive.

The best way to achieve this is to create four symbols, one for north, south , east and west. Duplicate the symbol in the resource browser and then edit each to reflect want you need. If your talking about a parametric symbol, that's programming and beyond my abilities. Or use what VW's provides and tell the boss to quit messing with you!