Dieter @ DWorks

Ow, that's new. Maybe they should change the name of it into something like host insertion mode?

Use design layer viewports. If your file is open, and a drawing is changed, which you have referenced, then you need to manually update that reference. On opening the drawing, VW will try to ge the latest version of the references.

It must be a 3D symbol, so no 2D parts?

You can also use saved views and only save the class settings....

You could try running a virtual machine, although I'm not sure if that will work very good for software like VW. But you could try...

It's the cloud section that is getting bigger, clouds come and go you now...

A closed polygon can also be open, if one line is set to hidden. I think this is something misleading and confusing, even with polygons converting to polylines...

- Make sure the 2D polygon is closed. - Make sure that everything is set by class and that you have a texture applied to the class. - Make sure that the extrude has a solid fill.

I use BIM objects. So I use slabs for the floors with multiple components. You can have each component in their own class with a section fill and texture for in section viewports and 3D views, and the slab itself can be classed with a front view fill for in 2D views, so it's in that class I have set the tile fills to go. I rarely draw 2D objects for the final model. I mostly use 2D objects as guides or a base to create the BIM objects.

Why would you setup VW to reopen a certain file? Maybe it's this causing the problems?

As for your question on the different slab heights: Create a story and the elevation types of the main heights (choose one of the heights as your main one.), and draw all how you would draw them normally. Then you just have to offset the objects where they are lower/higher. You also can add elevation types instead of offsetting, this will let you change the height of the parts and the objects will follow, but you will get extra layers which can make the organization of your drawing a bit more difficult. You can choose, but either method has one story.

??? All my examples are done only with VW. I never use other programs for my plans. I Always search for solutions VW can give me and that can be done without time consuming workarounds. As a programmer, I want everything more or less automatic. VW is very powerfull for presentations and you don't need other programs for that. You only have to setup everything correctly to get the result you want. It comes down to a good library and setup, which is for every cad program. VW out of the box creates very ugly plans, for my taste, but you can create your own library and setup and have very beautiful things come out of it.

I have put the floor finish tile resources as a download on my site: www.dworks.be . I added some color variations too.

Ow, I don't remember that and I have never seen this happening as far as I can remember.

I think the bug is that you see it after reinserting....

Like Mike said. You can't see the 3D part. I do think it should be added to the wish list, because it would make things so much easier...

We now have resources in our files, and if we want to share them, you need to send the file, and the other user needs to place them in their own library etc... It's a lot of work. Also maintaining your resources can be a lot of work due to this system. This all could be better if resources could be stored as separate files in their own format. We can then just store these files in our library to let them show up in VW and be able to better organize them through folders. It will also be easier to share them as you only need to share that one resource file and the other just have to put in into his library folder. Of course, once you create a real drawing (VW file), the resources you import/reference/use needs to be in the drawing itself like we have now, but resources in the library should not be in a drawing file. It will also be easier for the programmers to get a better resource palette. Maybe there are other ideas about this? It's just that I was thinking about this because I need to find a way to better and easier organize my libraries and to share them with other people.

Make sure the option for automatic annotation is on in the document preferences...

What exactly do you want to do? As far as I know of, you can't cutomiste the oip. Some tools let you through their preferences like the space object, but further then that, there is no customization I know of, unless you are talking about custom plug-ins...

Now I see, you can't set the lines of a hidden line render transparent, but why would you want to do that? You can gray out the classes or override the color to have a less defined look. Still can't see in which situation you should use it. Can you post an example? The opacity in pdf export I was talking about is for grayed out classes and layers. It's there, but it seems only to work for 2D/plan viewports.

Do you mean just the date field of the title block? Then you can use DUpdateTitleBlocks which you can find on my website: www.dworks.be. You don't want to use a record, but each title block symbol has a record? Or am I missing something here?

I think it is working like designed, but I do agree this is wrong. If you add a nose, then you actually have a depth of 425 for each tread, but the last one is still 400. But it should not be a big problem. You can use the option to have a last tread inserted at a self chosen depth.

@Taoist: Is VW in 90 years any better? (LOL: your signature says you have VW 2103!)

thx. The last plan is a combination of 2 viewports in RW and 2D plan view, just for showing that opacity is exported to pdf. If I was not using the opacity, the plan would look like this: (So the tiles or actually showing above all the stuff.) I use a tile resource for the floor finish so I can put in some nuances in colors. This is why I love the tile resources. If interested, I can put some online. I even have nice brickwork tile resources. The furniture are symbols and custom made plug-ins, all created myself. If enough interest, I am happy to finish the plug-ins/symbols and set them all online for a small fee. As CAD Manager, I mostly have to make my own symbols/plug-ins because of the details. Most symbols are too detailed than needed and this slows down VW and rendering, so I create the stuff with just enough details as needed. Also, you have to create them in a certain way to make sure you have no unwanted lines in HL renders. There are so many things that are forgotten by many people when making symbols/plug-ins.

Maybe they better reform the 3 packages into 1? With a good transition plan for the users, it can be a good thing.