Barry_Williams

if 2d objects are drawn on a working plane as opposed to screen plane then they appear in section viewports. We have come across issues however with text (2d text in a 3d plane) in hybrid symbols not appearing in a hidden line render in section VP. Works fine if it is just an object but not when it is in a hybrid symbol

A couple of years we worked on a project where we exchanged IFC models with the other consultants who were on Revit and there were many issues with the export/import process. We were using VW2009 at the time. The issues come from VW ability to translate to IFC and also Revit's ability (or lack of) to import IFC. I think that IFC as a means of data exchange is still a few years away from being truly useable. It is important that objects are drawn as much as possible using the VW tools, such as wall tool, roof face, Floor etc. It is also important to ensure that all objects to be exported have the appropriate IFC data attached. This can be a laborious process but can be made easier by using the custom selection tool. It is worth downloading the free version of Solibri to check the IFC model before issuing, however we have found that the IFC model that shows up in Solibri isn't necessarily the model that will import into Revit. There were also several random errors from the VW export. We never really manged to get the process working well but finally managed to export a useable IFC model that contained walls, doors, windows, floors & roofs. We gave up trying to import IFC models from other consultants, the files ended up being so large that VW was unuseable.

Quick update. If the text is in a 3d plane in a 3d only symbol then it displays and renders correctly. It seems that it's only when its a hybrid symbol that the problem occurs... Any ideas

In VW2011 you can create text on a 3d plane that when viewed with a hidden line render looks as it should. It even disappears into the distance when the projection is set to perspective view. This is great. However when the same text is included as part of a hybrid symbol (in the 3d component) it doesn't appear when in a hidden line render.I've tried using text along line which almost works but the text is only rendered as an outline. We're trying to create hybrid symbols for services outlets and hardware etc that have a 2 or 3 letter code attached denoting what they are. We wish them to look a certain way in 2d plan view then to look like the real thing in elevation / perspective view. We would also like the codes to still show in the elevation view otherwise they will have to be noted manually in the viewport annotations layer. Am I trying to do something that can't be done or is this a bug?

In 2011 you can do an L-join on two alingned walls. I haven't tested it much but it certainly works well with two identical walls

You could possibly use the roof face tool, haven't tried it but just a thought

In VW 2011 you could draw the membrane using the wall tool with a tile fill. Make the wall thickness approx 3mm depending on the scale the detail is at and create an approriatly scaled tile fill set to rotate in walls.

Planar attributes is unchecked. I just tried importing the wall styles and tile fills into a new file and they behaved as they should with the walls being solid in hidden line render. So i guess there must be something a little funny with the original file.

I haven't yet managed to work out how to do this. I suspect it will involve amending the vectorscript. But I don't have the knowledge to do this (I also think the script is locked)

Ive created a number of tile fills that can be applied to walls to signify different fire ratings which work well in plan. However when taking a 3d view of the walls it only renders as wire frame when a hidden line render is done. This is despite applying a solid background fill to the tile. When rendered in Open GL with textures turned off, the wall renders as solid. Is this a bug or is it meant to behave in this way? Anyone else tried this?

another option would be to create short fat walls perpendicular to the main wall and do a T-join (though this wouldn't work where there is a double step in the wall)

is it possible to change the panel thickness of the cabinets created with the PIO tools from the 13mm standard to 18mm?

I'm currently having a problem creating VW object with IFC compatibility. 1. I have modelled some fixtures (WC pan, Basin, grab rails) that have been saved into a library as hybrid symbols. I would like to attach IFC data to the symbol so that when it is referenced / imported into another file the correct IFC data is already attached. It is possible to attach the data to any selected symbols already inserted into the file, however the IFC data doesn't attach to the symbol definition so isn't applied to any other instances of the symbol that are inserted after this. Seems to be inconsistent with what is documented in the VW help file. 2. Upon testing the symbols with an export to IFC there were some further issues. The symbols were inserted in VW into walls, on edge with no break so that they were attached to a wall. In VW this works fine and all looks good. However when exported to IFC and viewed in Solibri the WC pan makes a cutout in the wall, the grab rail makes a recess in the wall (not full depth) and the basin sits on the wall with no cutouts or recesses (exactly as it is meant to). I would be most grateful if anyone can shed any light on the above. (All done in VW2011 SP3)

Works perfectly, many thanks Jeffrey. It's not really that obvious that you have to do that. I would have been scratching my head for a while

Have been trying to attach IFC data to a 3d object of a hand wash basin. After selecting IFC Data command and selecting the following ifcSanitaryTerminalType Pset_SanitaryTerminalTypeWashHandBasin Then filling in all the possible properties associated with this. I get the message "The following field is mandatory and not set , PredefinedType" Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug. I have already tried attaching this to a simple 3d extrude as an alternative and it still doesn't work. Have also tried attaching ifcBuildingElementPart and this works (however this is the incorrect classification).

We use these a lot in healthcare projects and it would be really useful to have this ability in the door tool PIO. It can be done with Windoor tool but this has other issues of not being recognized by Revit when transferred via IFC (necessary as this is the software typically used by the consultants we work with).

Is it possible to create a double door with different leaf sizes.

On a related subject. I understand that the door leaf & swing are created in the Sills class. But if I don't want them to be in the sills class can this be changed. The Sills class doesn't fit in with our class naming protocol.

We have an issue with a couple of dwg files received from a consultant that keep on causing VW 2009 to crash when importing.Not all the files we have received from them have the same problem, most of them import correctly. We also have autocad in the office and have opened the file and tried re saving it in a number of different formats such as DXF and DWG for all versions down to 2000. I suspect that there is an object contained within the files that is corrupt or incompatible with VW. We have got the consultant to purge the file and clear out any extra information contained within. Short of deleting objects one by one to determine the corrupt element, we're a bit stuck on this one Just wondered if anyone else has come across the same problem and managed to find a work around

I've recently moved to an office where we use VW 11.5 on apple MACs running OSX 10.3 or 10.4 and have noticed this strange behaviour when using viewports. If I have a cropped view port on a sheet layer then duplicate it on the same sheet layer then the line thicknesses of the duplicated viewport are heavier than the original. This is only apparent when the drawing is printed out. I'm not sure if it's printer specific (a fuji Xerox laser printer) or a bug in VW. If it's a bug then I'd like to know if this still happens in VW 12. Thanks