RickBern

Tom! Good to see you're still having problems. Don't see any way to format it. Seems a shame. Hope all's well, Rick

Any feature in VW architect that I've missed similar to pack 'n go in Autocad? BTW It would quickly "bind" all the workgroup ref's into a package to allow you to quickly take a file with you if you leave the folder structure (for instance, want to work on it on a laptop). I know all about manually doing this, just wondering if there's an auto routine. TIA Rick

Wonder if anyone can help? We use an Adobe Font, Helvetica Condensed which has both a roman and a bold version. If a user bolds the roman version of the font and then goes back into edit the text string, on exiting the edit operation the font changes to HelvCondensedBold and the "bold" flag remains on, in effect double bolding the font. Any ideas how to prevent this (other than eliminating user error?) TIA Rick

Jeffrey I'd like to comment on your file setup methodology. I think there's an alternative way to deal with the layers you're calling "Mod-Slab-#" that's (a) easier to conceive and (b) easier to get useful information out of and © more usable to make changes to. As an added benefit it may make some of the performance issues a little simpler to deal with as there's not so much need to go into the same file for multiple uses. In all the projects that we work on that are anywhere near this scope we have a file that we call "core and shell". In your flow chart it would sit to the left of your level files and feed information into all of them. This yields a "diamond" shape workflow <> with one core_shell pushing layers out to many level files and one integrated building model file pulling (a) many layers from one core and shell file and (b) one layer from many floor files. In our working method that file contains the kind of info that your mod-slab layers have, but all the levels of the building are together in one file. That means that when a change has to be made to either a perimeter object or a stair or a shaft has to be located in the building, the change is made in one file and the user can easily see the context of the change and it's effect on other levels of the building or the interaction between a change in one core element and what's going on in the floor above/below without ever having to go anywhere near our equivalent of your "Building Model" file . Typically, we suffix the layers "_cs" to clearly show they are coming from a core/shell file. We are not using an integrated bim workflow but this file feeds into the various files that are equivalent to your "Level-X_nnn.vwx" files through WGR and does the exact same thing as the "mod-slab". Annotations that are universal and need to be understood in the context of other levels such as slab edge dimension and slab penetration dimensioning, structural grid notation and property bounds dimensions are about the only notation that's done in the core_shell file. Note that our class setup is a little more comprehensive than yours when it comes to putting various annotations in separate classes. Typically, the following layers are in a core_shell: Floor_#_cs Stair_#_cs StructuralGrid_cs PropertyLine_cs ElevationMarkers_cs (holds a symbol that contains elevation markers so we keep that consistent) If we're looking to do a visualization of the exterior building we can reference the core and shell file into the 3d model file. Even more importantly to our workflow we can easily reference the core_shell into a seperate RCP and Construction files so 2 people can work on them at the same time. If I wanted to do an integrated BIM project I'd obviously be well setup to do this by simply making my existing core and shell file contain the 3d data (which it already does to a pretty great extent). And I think I'd be in better shape for visualizing what a change on the exterior of the building looked like without having to go into the entire integrated model to see it. Rick

Jeffrey/Robert Excellent effort--kudos to all involved. This sort of thing has been missing for a long time and I hope to get some people involved in comment. I've begun poring over the white paper of the Ellicot Heights project and am intriuged. The white paper is well organized and well conceived. Good, clear explanation of what you're doing and some good info I didn't know about, particularly in new applications of resource management. Haven't watched the videos; I'm from the school of processing info through words. I looked at some of the intermediate files and definitely have some comment, but I spent several minutes waiting for the building model file to load and didn't suceed. I left and will check on it later. (btw-quad mac g5 2.5 with lot's of ram probably let it go for 10 minutes and left. I opened it on an Intel iMac after 6 minutes. VW upgraded to latest service pack. That file is tough to deal with. I think if it got a more detailed set of annotations it might really clog up. Not sure if this is a practical approach to printing/viewing files) Having said all that, keep it coming Rick

Thanks Katie I was doing it by default on all vw 11 files. Trying to plan migration/anticipate problems. Guess I can skip a step. Rick

Robert et al I'm planning on converting a whole bunch of files from 11.5 to 12.5.1 soon. When we run the "batch convert" command is it automatic that the utility "Update Plug-In Objects" is run? Or do I have to do that manually on each drawing? If it's manual: If I continue to reference files without updating plug-ins am I running any risks? TIA Rick

It would be a great help if in the document preferences you could have the ability to view a preview of DWG export. This would work just like use layer colors or black and white only but it would wipe out all fills and force line weights to colors. There could be a sub preference type button that let you turn on and off export fills or export hatches or view line weights as colors. I think it would really help users visualize what they were exporting.

I'd like to be able to hold down the option key when I open a file and force the file not to look up the WorkGroup Referenced layers but instead read from the layer embedded in the file. VW 12.5/OS10.4.x Rick

NNA/Chuck Just to make this clear the ir2230 is a digital combo copier/printer. It uses the following a proprietary Canon print controller called UFR II From the spec sheet: Print Drivers UFR II: Windows 2000/XP; Windows Server 2003, Citrix MetaFrame, Macintosh OS X (OS 10.1.5 or Later) PCL 5e/6: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Windows NT 4.0/Server 2003 Citrix MetaFrame From http://www.canon.com/technology/canon_tech/explanation/hspeed_processing.html Canon developed a new printing algorithm, called Ultra Fast Rendering (UFR), that increases print speeds by shifting much of the printdata processing work to a PC. With this bold new approach, most of the printing functions are taken care of by the CPU in the iR controller, which is mounted onto a purpose-built IC. // back to rick I'm not sure how this all fits together but I know the two models Chuck and I are talking about use the same internal architecture from Canon.

NNA We're having a similar problem at one of my clients that only shows up on intel Macs. They have a canon ir2230 and when we print to it the patterns are reversed-what was a 25% halftone turns into a 75% halftone and vice versa. Haven't tried to turn off quartz imaging but I'll give that a try and see what happens The setup that's the problem: imac intel os 10.4.8 vw 12.5 The setup that works imac G5 os 10.4.8 vw 12.5

Yeah, but I still think it was a lot less troublesome than it could have been. Rick

NNA- From what I can see the 12.5 upgrade sounds like it was handled pretty smoothly and without anyone reporting that much in the way of major problems. I know that on the Mac side this was a pretty big technology shift for you. Congrats to all. I guess that's what happens when you choose to have an engineer as the CEO of the company! Rick

Look at the Duplicate on Path tool (option-p) Look into the help files, it's got a lot of options and should do whatever you want. Rick

I do a lot of interior rendering in formZ which uses the same underlying rendering engine as VectorWorks. I've found that the best lighting scheme for interiors is to use linear lights. You may have to crank up the output further than logic would dictate. This image was done using the lightworks raytracing engine: http://www.threedt.com/projects/proj_qbg_1.html For a pretty complete discussion of this you could take a look at the formz forum. This is the link to this topic. You'll have to wade through a bit of discussion that's a little specific to formz but about 2/3rds of the way down it gets a little more general http://www.formz.com/forum2/messages/16/13407.html The idea of cranking up the ambient light or adding a heavy dose of constant reflection to the ceiling will not ultimately give you the effect you're looking for. To go back to the original question, once the whites are reading properly in properly in the raytraced rendering they should work out ok in artistic modes as well. Rick

I'd like to be able to specify a path for autosave files in the prefs dialog. That way I could have all my users write a local backup to their machine rather than putting the backups on the network file server. Besides saving space on the file server it would add an extra layer of redundancy to the backup scheme thanks for considering this Rick

Tom You're right. It doesn't work. It works out on lines, polygons and polylines. But it doesn't put the last object down on an arc. Even if you start with an arc and convert it to a polygon it doesn't work. But it does work a little. If you draw an arc and a rect and go into the tool and set the start distance to 0 and choose 6 copies you will get five perfectly spaced copies tangent to the path but the 6th copy is mia. To work around it you could draw the chord and mirror the 1st rect perp to the chord. I never understand these topics that NNA just doesn't respond to. It would seem to scare off potential purchasers of the program. Rick

Yup

Cross posted this from the 12.0.1 updated installer thread: Paul Thanks for the heads up A couple of requests for the upgrade process 1 PLEASE allow me to paste the serial number into the updater's dialog box. I have 40 machines to update and this is tedious to type in over and over. 2 Along those lines-can I download the updater files once and access them locally. The web based updater is OK for a 10 user office but gets impractical at a larger firm. 3 If you have to revise a release can it have a different version number. 12.0.2 or 12.0.1a would be easier to identify than going through the install process twice to find out you have the correct version. Thanx in advance Rick

Paul Thanks for the heads up A couple of requests for the upgrade process 1 PLEASE allow me to paste the serial number into the updater's dialog box. I have 40 machines to update and this is tedious to type in over and over. 2 Along those lines-can I download the updater files once and access them locally. The web based updater is OK for a 10 user office but gets impractical at a larger firm. 3 If you have to revise a release can it have a different version number. 12.0.2 or 12.0.1a would be easier to identify than going through the install process twice to find out you have the correct version. Thanx in advance Rick

John you said: Support for automatic binding is high on our priority list, so you should expect to see it in a future version of VectorWorks. Demand Demand Demand Demand Demand Demand Is this sufficient demand? Love to see anything to boost xref import Thanx Rick

Christaan Are you running VW under OS X server? My impression is that the server version is actually slower and the main advantage is that more than 10 users can simultaneously connect. I'm not sure I have my facts straight but if you get a new box you may want to consider standard OS X. Rick

Christiaan Take a look at the architosh website http://architosh.com/news/2005-10/2005c1021_quad-modo.html there's a link to a Moto discussion that is the only real facts I've seen about the new machines. The speedup for the quad looks to be amazing if you put in the time doing ray traced renderings Rick

That fpat by class thing happens to me all the time. I've emailed files with this issue to tech and never got even an acknowledgement they would be looked at. I completely agree. This has to be chased down and addressed. Rick

quinn Good idea As a workaround: Put the object you want transparent on a seperate layer and change the layer transfer mode to overlay. Make sure you go to the print dialog and choose "rasterize (very slow)" from the vectorworks dropdown. It's kludgy but it works Rick