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willofmaine

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Everything posted by willofmaine

  1. Thanks for your response, Katie, but my question is one of keying, as in indicating where to find drawings from within the set of drawings. For example, a detail sheet with 12 details on A-7, all keyed from other locations, such as the plans, cross section and elevations. A new sheet is added so that A-7 becomes A-8. Is there any way for all of the keying throughout the set to be updated without going through the entire set looking for every place a detail is keyed ('detail marker') and manually changing the A-7 to A-8? I think ArchiCAD does this very easily? Thanks! -Will
  2. Is there an intended way, or a good way, of keying drawings so that as the set develops and sheets are added and drawings are added/relocated all the keys (section lines, detail markers, etc) can be automatically updated?...
  3. Instead of getting into hidden lines and things, why not just take the original Roof Object and ungroup it? This reduces it to its component Roof Faces, which can easily be modified in plan. (of course if desired a copy of the original roof object can be made to preserve it). If you draw a shape, such as a polygon, that overlaps a roof face, you can simply add it to or subtract it from the roof face by selecting the shape and the roof face and using the "Add Surface" or "Subtract Surface" commands. You can also double-click on the roof face to get to its base polygon which can be modified using the 2D reshape tool. Where roofs of different pitches intersect at valleys and hips, the angle of the line in plan that represents the valley or hip can easily be derived from the two pitches: a 7:12 roof intersecting a 9:12 roof will have an intersection that in plan is represented by a 7:9 line, where 7 is the leg running up the 9:12 roof, and 9 is the leg running up the 7:12 roof.
  4. If you're going to have more than one instance of a PIO, there's a lot to be said for making it into a symbol. Once it's a symbol, you can use the "Duplicate Symbol in Wall" tool, which may be what you're looking for. Oddly enough, I just found that I had to add the tool using the Workspace editor, even though I have no recollection of ever having removed it...
  5. Here's where I'm at with Stake Objects and DTMs... Ion, thanks for concurring with me that VECTORworks should not confuse 5' with 4.9999999999'... But, at least to me, it's pretty impressive being able to take three-dimensional objects and so quickly generate contours from them.... I seem to have found that the representative contours of a DTM generated from 3D polygons, including source contours, respect the original source data. For example, assuming your source contours and DTM contours have the same interval, then the contours of both will be exactly the same. However, once a stake object (anywhere) is added, this 'respect' seems to become lost, and the DTM's contours may not match the source contours. This seems to result from flat triangles in the TIN that 'cut corners' and can flatten valleys, for example. It's as thought the DTM engine (or whatever it is) respects the lines of 3D polygons as well as the vertices, but once a stake is added, it only recognizes points and vertices, and triangulation becomes random...(?) Regarding the "Set elev to site model" mode for the stake object, I have found that the solution to getting it to work is simply updating the site model, regardless of whether or not any changes have been made to it... -Will
  6. I've experienced this too, but infrequently. Like 'panthony,' it seems to occur if I delete something too quickly after doing something else. (I have latest software, video drivers, etc.)
  7. It depends. If I'm zoomed way out when I place the locus, then at 0.0 or 0.0000000 the results are the same. (I love that VW adjusts placement precision based on zoom, unlike some other softwares (won't mention any names...) where if you're a mile away and you randomly place something, it may have coordinates of 256ths of an inch! But I digress...). If I'm zoomed way in, then the 0.0 is rounded as expected, even though the number goes for as many digits as given when set to 0.000000000. What's very odd is that the model I've been working on, in having been recreated many times from the source data, is now giving me exact 5' contours (with units set to .001). But to do your experiment I copied the same source data (3d contours) into a brand new file and recreated a new model... with the 105' contour at 104'11.977" and 100' at 99'11.999"!! I had found that stake objects as source data were screwing up the DTM's contours, and I'd removed them all, and so until now I'd thought that that was the reason my 105' contours were now exact. But I guess not... Well, that's where I'm at... Thanks! -Will
  8. Thanks islandmon, but doesn't that simpy hide the problem? The problem being that when VectorWorks sees 5' as 4'11.999" I get a bit uncomfortable...
  9. I just figured out why the stake objects worked for a bit. I had accidently updated the DTM, after which they were working. But in updating the DTM, the contours changed, and my 5' interval went from 105' to 104'11.999" !! When I revived an older model with the original site, the stake objects stopped working. So I deleted the DTM and re-created it from the original data. Now everything seems to work as expected, with the exception that the contours are different than before. Any thoughts would be appreciated... thanks.
  10. Until today, I've never been able to get a stake object to tell me the elevation of a given point on the DTM. Today it worked!... for a while. Now it doesn't work again. Even though in the Object Properties dialogue box I've selected "Set elev to site model," after the stake is placed, in the Object Info palette its mode is "Include as site model data." Any thoughts, anyone??! Thanks! -Will
  11. Hi Pete & Mike, Thanks for your suggestions, both useful approaches depending on the situation. -Will
  12. Once a viewport has been created using a renderworks camera, is there any way to relocate/adjust the camera and update the viewport accordingly? Or is it necessary to re-create the viewport (and re-establish all of the class settings, viewport scale, etc)? (I did just discover that the eyedropper tool can be used to at least make the new viewport's classes match those of the original...). Thanks!
  13. Is there any way to control the color and/or texture of the undersides of Floor and Roof/Roof Face objects so that they can also double as ceilings, such as cathedral ceilings and ceilings in houses where there is rarely a separate suspended ceiling? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
  14. A few times now when I have created a hybrid symbol, it has moved from its original location (using "Leave Instance In-Place" and "Use Plan Projection Center.") Has anyone else experienced this? Also, possibly related, one of my door symbols completely vanished from the file. I noticed the doors were gone, and found that the symbol was no longer in the resource browser. I went to the previous, older file, and it was missing there too! So, I re-created it and found that I could not use it's original name as "That Name is already being used...". Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Will
  15. "Also, I find it difficult that the custom door gives the door components a different color that apparently can't be edited - the class assignments for various parts don't seem to have any effect. Has anyone found a way around this?" Have you tried editing the custom door slab symbol itself? Maybe you could set its various components to your desired style classes. PS - How does one quote previous posts?
  16. Islandmon: the 2D plan view of the hybrid symbol (in particular the sill) is always consistent with the 3D physical representation of the window (which, in the case of a doulbe hung, can of course be confirmed by the relationship of the upper and lower sash as well as the direction of the sill). Pete: I haven't worked with splayed windows, but I think you are correct in that this is simply a matter of "interior" and "exterior" getting mixed up, and the mix up doesn't seem to occur (at least in the case of trim, jamb & sash styles) until the window's settings, within its symbol, are altered. I tend to save all my windows as symbols, so now whenever I create a new window, I simply invert how I read "Exterior" and "Interior" in the Settings tab. I actually need to return a call to Tech Support regarding my original issue with the windows flying out of the walls. Even though it's no longer an issue for me, in the back of my mind I'm wondering what other symbol type might behave in such a fashion. So, I'll pursue it further and keep you posted. Thanks! -Will
  17. I have the same problem with that tool. Islandmon, are you suggesting using the wall tool for creating gypsum board, etc., even in a section detail drawing too? Maybe it's height can be set to '0'. Oh, I see that in a viewport, it doesn't matter as you can't do anything but Top/Plan view. Interesting...
  18. Have you looked into "Create Standard Viewports?" This may be what you're looking for. Sheets themselves don't have much information and so maybe aren't worth copying file to file? And evidently viewports can not be copied from one document to another... Hmm... I think the answer to your question may be "no." So, creating and using a template file or using "Create Standard Viewports" may be the way to go. I'm fairly new to VW too, so I can only hope this will be helpful...
  19. I have also had this problem. Unfortunately, manually defining the height of the stairs I think means that it has no representation at the upper level. In a couple of conversations with Tech Support I have been told that this is a known problem, to be fixed with the next release... Also, after I insert a stair floor-to-floor, I always have to re-set it at least once to be floor-to-floor (rather than manual).
  20. I'm having greater success with window symbols now. The trick seems to be, when saving the symbol a second time (after editing), that it is simply necessary to invert Interior & Exterior in the View tab. (If I want the exterior trim controlled by a Style classe's color, I set the interior trim to use that Style class). While Tech Suppot insists that this is not a bug but rather the nature of the difference between a Window in a Wall and a window as a Symbol in a wall, the fact that the problem doesn't start until the symbol is edited, and the fact that (so far) the solution, with complete consistency, seems to be inverting interior & exterior, really makes me think it's either a bug or, maybe, a problem with my software or computer... (Note: this is all based on NOT converting the symbols to PIO's for editing, but rather editing the windows within the symbols, thus avoiding the whole "Flying out of Walls" problem). Anyway, that's the latest... Will PS - I've also found that inserting window symbols as "Full Break WITHOUT Caps" prevents funny hatching patterns at the jambs in 3D views... (or maybe this is common knowledge...)
  21. Hi Pete, Thanks for your suggestion. I had tried that before and tried it again now. While the trim colors are retained, and the windows remain in the wall, their locations along the wall change. I did notice while editing the symbol that its rotation was a negative 180 degrees (not 0 as when it was originally created). Unfortunately, resetting it to 0 flips it (so that exterior trim, sill & upper sash are inside). I have been in touch with Tech Support... As I understand it: a Window in a Wall, as a PIO, determines which side is its exterior based on the wall itself. Once it is saved as a symbol, however, it both loses it's ability to distinquish which way is exterior (because it no longer interacts with the wall as the original Window PIO did) and, also, evidently, it "forgets" which way was exterior. So, when editing the symbol and the window's settings there, the 'Int.' and 'Ext.' designations in the View tab are, I guess, potentially meaningless. Thus, when editing a window symbol it may be necessary to play around with all the View settings to get them correct. Indeed, I'd recently found that editing the symbol (without converting it to a PIO at all) and inverting the Int. and Ext. View settings seems to work (for example, under the View tab I set "Int. Trim" to Style-1 to get my exterior trim to use the Style-1 color...). It was explained that the other option is to use the eyedropper tool, rather than symbols, to change all of your windows... (but that can get tedious with even just a few windows, so I'll probably keep wrestling with symbols). And because of what seems like a bug, as discussed above, I'll of course avoid converting window symbols into PIO's for editing. If it is a bug, hopefully the e-mail & files I sent to Tech Support will generate a bug submit. Phew!.... well, I guess that's where I'm at... Thanks again, Will
  22. Pete, thank you for your response, and especially for confirming that I'm not the only one experiencing this! It's been driving me crazy. Your suggestion of just editing the 3d portion of the symbol makes all the sense in the world, and is consistent with how so many other things in VW function (just double-click, make changes, exit, and you're done! Easy.). But unfortunately, when I do it this way, my symbols don't seem to update properly. For example, the exterior trim loses its color, even though in the View tab of the PIO's Settings it's still set to use the Style-2 color. Months ago Tech Support actually told me to convert the symbol to a PIO and re-save it as a symbol in order to avoid such issues, which worked OK until now and this corrupted origin issue.... I've sent a series of files to Tech Support showing this problem, and will keep you posted regarding their response. Again, thanks. -Will
  23. Originally (maybe pre 12.5) I could put a window in a wall, save it as a symbol, and place it as many times as I wanted. I could then convert it back to a window (PIO), make changes, and re-save it with the original symbol name, thus globally updating all of its instances. Now, when I go to modify and re-save a window as its original symbol, all of its instances end up outside of the wall. I have finally realized that their distance and orientation outside of the wall equals the distance and orientation between their insertion points (in the wall) and absolute 0,0. In creating the symbols I have always used "Plan Projection Center" as the insertion point. I can still update existing window symbols in older files without a problem... unless I place another instance of a particular symbol, in which case the above described problems start. Has anyone else experienced any of this, or have any thoughts? Thanks! -Will
  24. Robert, thank you! I think that (creating a file with Model Setup and Create Standard Viewports) was the missing link; I had all the pieces, just wasn't quite putting them together. I'll create a file and then a template as you suggest and see how it goes; thanks. -Will
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