Amy L

Ditto to all above, and be sure to check out the VW demos online.

Its arguable which may require more dexterity?..movements with 2 fingers on a great 2-button mouse with a scroll wheel, or multiple fingers in contorted positions all over both sides of the keyboard with cheat sheets & post-it notes :-)

My wish is that the USA (and UK, NZ, AU, etc.) bashing would cease on this forum. It only seems to be coming from one poster who apparently has misplaced a chip in his computer and put it on his shoulder.

I?m still learning tricks, but I have found that the "command+J" maneuver to be a great timesaver. So, Amy, if you have 2 unconnected perpendicular walls, just select both, hit command J, (or control J for windows), and they?ll cleanly connect. (Same goes for simple lines) You can practice with wall join tool, as Peter suggests to "clean up" extraneous wall extensions.

Yeah, but??. The Indy 500 would be the Indy 804.67 There would also be the Daytona 804.67 A football field would be 91.44 meters long Jules Verne would never have written 96561 kilometers under the sea Peter Piper would have had to pick 7570.8 cubic centimeters of pickled peppers 14515 kilograms and what do your get? Another day older and a deeper in debt. Give him 2.54 centimeters, he'll take 1.6093 Kilometers You'd have to order 236.58 milliliters of coffee

Maybe there should be another category for Vectorworks. You could have ?Fundamentals?, ?Architect?, and the ?Nuts, Bolts & Beyond? version. That way the rest of us mere mortals wouldn?t have to pay for the technology required for such tasks. (not that it?s a bad thing.) ;-)

Not sure about the Mighty Mouse, but my optical Kensington smoothly pans in all directions by pressing and holding down the scroll wheel.

Those that prefer a defined page or boundary in which to work, may not reach a comfort level with Archicad. The output setup/ printing process was particularly cumbersome to me (at least through version 9), as compared to Vectorworks. Getting productive in VW (2D) was a snap compared to Archicad, which is truly a virtual building program and a very good one. At least with VW you can choose which way to work. Price point is something else to consider.

Is there a speedy way to increase or decrease text size (once its been placed) with a keyboard shortcut (Like Word's: shift/command> for example)??

To expand on this, I've also had consistent crashes trying to "convert objects from polyline" in 12.5 regardless of whether its to property line, revision cloud, space, etc. Went back to 12.0 and doing the same maneuvers, everything is fine. Different computer, different system however. 12.5 test run on: Mac PowerBook Laptop 1.67 Ghz PowerPC G4 2GB DDR2 SDRAM version 10.4.8

My wish is that we could raise the dimensioning issues without the metric debate being brought into the equation.

I really do appreciate the latest effort to improve dimensioning in VW. However, losing dimension-to-object associations when manipulating the drawing in certain ways negates these improvements in 12.5 to a large degree. Some of these wishes echo what others have said before, but bear repeating. Dimensioning is so fundamental to CAD, I think addressing it should be a priority. 1.) Improve the chain dimension tool to retain association with vertices when certain objects or groups (and their dimensions) are manipulated, (specifically when grouped then reversed or moved.) 2.) Build-in a vertex in the center of doors and windows, allowing associative changes if the door/window is moved. 3.) Make the dimensions you get when selecting: AEC> ?dimension exterior walls? all associative, with the nifty chain movability you just implemented. (I?d fall at your feet if you can wangle this one.)

One of my long-term contractors actually tried this once. (bought Autocad and had a super who learned it in community college.) It?s America and it was a business decision. I stood back, laughed, and watched the train wreck. It was a short-term experiment that fell flat, and consequently my future fees didn't.

Unless you ever have to revise parts or all of your drawing by moving or flipping (which is all the time, in my case), otherwise it's great.

Yikes! You're kidding me. This completely negates any advantages delivered by having the chains moveable as a unit, doesn't it? Associative by definition means that dimensions remain "attached" to the object's vertex regardless of editing. Reversing drawings or parts of drawings is editing. This feature, while on the face of it seems quite handy, doesn't improve productivity if re-dimensioning is always required. 12.5 test run on: Mac PowerBook Laptop 1.67 Ghz PowerPC G4 2GB DDR2 SDRAM version 10.4.8

For what it's worth, this is one of the first things I noticed about the12.5 upgraded floor plans (created in 12.0) while zooming. Mostly everything was as it should be, but occasionally, while zooming in and out, things get pixelated. (This is with quartz imaging selected.) It corrects itself quickly, but is definitely different from 12.0. I'm also test driving on a laptop that is not my work-horse, which could explain the difference. 12.5 test run on: Mac PowerBook Laptop 1.67 Ghz PowerPC G4 2GB DDR2 SDRAM version 10.4.8

Has anyone else had trouble with crashing when using the "convert objects from polyline" in 12.5? So far, after a dozen attempts, I've yet been able to carry out the task. I repaired permissions and it still happens. Steps: 1. Create series of overlapping rectangles. 2. Select all>Modify>add surface. 3. Change new polygon to walls....Modify>convert>objects from polyline>walls. 4.Crash Note: Crash also occurs with simple polylines (omitting steps 1 & 2.) 12.5 test run on: Mac PowerBook Laptop 1.67 Ghz PowerPC G4 2GB DDR2 SDRAM version 10.4.8

I?ve noticed that the new 12.5 chain dimensions don?t retain their associative feature if you reverse your drawing. Is there a way to retain the association between walls and dimensions after flipping? Please tell me I'm missing something. 12.5 test run on: Mac PowerBook Laptop 1.67 Ghz PowerPC G4 2GB DDR2 SDRAM version 10.4.8

Naw, the old crab is just glad I'm not using pencil and paper. heh, heh.

I'm a freak, David. For 20 years I've been pumping out floor plans on my various Macs, never drawing a wall (or line/shape) with the keyboard. I?m completely ?uncorrupted? by experience with AC. I do use the keyboard consistently for shortcuts, however. Admittedly, I?m under-utilizing some of what VW has to offer. For now, I use the join commands, trim tool, split tool, nudge, and the OIP constantly (here I do enter values from time to time) to get results. The modify>convert is supremely handy. Dimensioning is pretty good since I was advised on how to avoid the totals not adding up occasionally. Designing in schematic diagrams with rectangles (or polygons), ?adding surface?, converting to walls, and bam, you?ve got a floor plan?..not using one numerical entry in the data bar, and with right-brain firmly engaged.

That's a big help. Thanks Katie.

Is there a shortcut for rotating an object/symbol 45? without going through the modify/rotate or opt (alt) -= routine??..(similar to the control-L to rotate 90?)???

The accepted method in my area is to dimension to the outside of exterior walls and on the edges of interior walls. When dimensioning angles I concern myself with making sure the right angles are whole (inch) dimensions (you?re right, builders hate fractions). This usually results in the hypotenuse being a weird fraction, but it is rarely dimensioned on most exterior walls anyway. In Vectorworks, you can adjust preferences to ?no fractions? if you need to dimension any wall on the angle. Framers are perfectly OK with dropping that 1/16th of an inch. In an earlier posting, I mentioned having a little trouble with keeping dimension strings adding up properly. When it did occur, an angled wall was the culprit. That problem has to do with constraints competing with the grid, as well as by using ?auto-joining? (which I love). I have the greatest success avoiding errors by deselecting most of the constraints, with the grid snap ?on? when first drawing exterior walls. I have all my settings on ?no fractions?. This works for me. Others prefer to type in exact values with grid snap ?off?. That makes my head hurt. As the drawing progresses, I begin to select more constraints.

The 20-20-20 rule should also apply to the rest of the body, but maybe slightly modified. The bod needs a break from repetative movement, too. A physical therapist reminds me to get up at every hour for at least 5 minutes and move around. A commom malady is shoulder impingement (frozen shoulder). If you aren't there yet, just give it time. I'm getting my first pair of computer glasses this week. Progressive lenses work well if your prescription is current, but neck strain is immediately evident as soon as you need to get stronger lenses. Single lens computer glasses are much cheaper. I'm waiting for the treadmill workstation to become commercially available. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-06-07-office-fit_x.htm?csp=34

David, As I work on several projects this week, I'll be experimenting with the constraints palette and data entry. I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for the help. Amy