mpkeane

I made a model of a wooden arbor in Sketchup that I want to import into VW to do detail construction drawings. I have exported the model from Sketchup as a dwg drawings, and imported it into a new VW file. If I import as 3D only, I get a model that I can rotate and view from different angles. If I import it as 2D and 3D, then the model seems to be frozen in plan view. The flyover tool will not rotate the model and changing views under the Standard Views menu does not change the view ? it remains in plan view. If I import this file as 2D and 3D, how do I switch to the 3D mode? Marc

Tamsin; Thank you, again, for all the time you are spending on this. I'm afraid I still have three problems. 1) I still do not have a clear idea on how to do a cut and fill calculation from start to finish myself. I have been able to create a site model from the existing contours, but I cannot understand how to signify to VW which the proposed contours are. Do they need to be on a separate layer? Is assigning them to the class Site-DTM-Modifier all that is needed? Isn't there a user manual that describes in detail how to do a cut & fill calculation? It really seems to be needed. 2) When I opened the VW file you sent back to me, the Cut and Fill data was just as shown in the Screen-shots you sent: Cut = 37820 cu ft, Fill = 9788 cu ft. When I clicked Update and then Update Cut and Fill Calculations, however, VW comes up with an entirely different set of numbers: Cut = 7994 cu ft and Fill = 7886 cu. ft. Why would the calculations be so wildly different on my computer and yours? 3) If you look at the existing and proposed contours in my drawing, you will see the re-grading design I did is almost entirely Fill. Your calculations showed a net of 28,000 cu ft cut. My show a net of 128 cu ft of cut. Both are obviously very wrong. Is VW 2010 actually dependable for doing cut and fill calculations? I will try making a simple grading plan in a new file and see if (a) I can actually do a cut and fill calculation and (b) if I can get some reliable data. Thanks again for all your help. Marc

Hello Tamsin; Sorry for the late response ? I was away for the weekend. I'm afraid I did not receive your email with the screen-shots. Could I trouble you to send it again? info@mpkeane.com I really do appreciate all the help. Marc

I have been able to get partway through this cut and fill calculation process: ? convert contour lines to 3D polygons ? make a site model from the existing contours What I don't understand is how to identify the proposed contours as such. I put them in the Site-DTM-Modifier class but when I select the site model made from the existing contours and click Update, nothing happens. The OIP reads "No Proposed Site" Is there a user manual for VW 2010 that has a detailed description from start to finish on how to do Cut and Fill calculations? The VW Help system is not very helpful in this regard. Marc

The file is very small. I extracted on the contours from one section of a larger design to do a test run on the cut & fill calculations, so the whole thing is tiny. I'll email it to you. Thanks in advance for your help. Marc

Hi Tamsin; Things have worked about halfway I think. I placed the 2D contours, existing and proposed, onto 2 separate layers I made each contour line (both existing and proposed) into a 3D polygon and assigned a Z value to each I selected all the existing contours and created a site model of those (Landmark > Create Site Model). A model was made with a boundary line. There was no class called Site-DTM-Modifier so I made a new class with that name (hyphens included just as you wrote) and assigned all the proposed contours to that class. The existing contours are in another class and the Site Model of the existing contours is in the class None. I selected the site model of the existing contours and clicked Update in the Object Info palette but nothing happened. I clicked Update Cut and Fill calculations on the OIP but still nothing. No data for cut or fill. In the OIP, there is data for Projected Area (existing) and Surface Area (existing) but the Projected Area (proposed) and Surface Area (proposed) read No Proposed Site. Question, when I made the Site Model, under 2D display settings, should I have chosen Existing Only, Proposed Only, or Existing + Proposed? I think the problem is this "No Proposed Site" but how can I fix that? Thank you. Marc

Thanks so much for the clear explanation Tamsin. I'll give this a try. Marc

Hello; I am hoping to do some cut and fill calculations on a landscape design. I have the existing contours on one layer (2D plan view), and the proposed new contours on another layer (also 2D). Is it possible to add elevation information to the contour lines and have VW do cut and fill calculations automatically? Marc Mac OS 10.6.8 VW 2010

Hello; Using VW 2010 SP4, Mac OS 10.6.8. I downloaded a dwg file that has Japanese script in it. I use Japanese regularly, so I know my computer is Japanese capable, but all the Japanese text is garbled after import into VW, probably because it has been forced into a Western font (Geneva). Also, all of the names of the Japanese fonts in the font list under the Text Menu are garbled. If I open a new text box and type in Japanese script, it shows properly, so it seems VW can use Japanese script. The 2 problems are the import corruption and the garbled font names in the Text Menu. Is there a way to make VW Japanese script capable? Marc

The problem seems to be different than I thought. In fact, every new viewport I make on this VW file (or perhaps I should say every new sheet layer) is extremely sluggish or somehow corrupted. Sometimes viewports just show up as red boxes with and X through them. When I try making a new VW file and drawing a white box, making a viewport and putting it on a new sheet layer, it works fine. When I try that with this one VW file I am having trouble with (even is the viewport is of a single box and no more) the whole thing freezes up. The first three sheet layers I made still work fine. Every sheet layer I make now is messed up. How can I clean up or purge this VW file?

Thank you bcd I tried turning off the Project Screen Objects. Unfortunately, the result was that the images themselves disappeared, to be replaced by an empty box with a red cross through it. I cannot do a sheet layer layout without without seeing the actual drawing. Also, even with the PSO switched off, the sheet layers associated with my 1:4 detail design layer remained sluggish. Marc

Mac OS10.6.8 VW2010 SP4 I am having trouble with certain viewports being extremely sluggish. I am working on a landscape plan. The plan view layers are all set at 1:48 scale and when I make a viewport from these and lay it out on a new sheet layer, these work very quickly no matter how detailed or complex the view is. The details of this design are being done on another layer that is set at 1:4. When I make a viewport of these and lay them out on a new sheet, they are extremely sluggish, taking as much as a minute to load each time I try to manipulate them. The only difference I can see between the sheet layers that handle quickly and those that are sluggish, is that the sluggish ones are associated with a design layer that is in a different scale. Any idea what might be going wrong? Thanks Marc

Working on a mac OS10.6.8 with VW 2010 SP4 The Resource Browser is so finicky. If I open it and open the symbols folder for the file I am working on it freezes. The window goes blank and I need to quit and restart the program to get it working again. Any ideas what is going wrong? Marc

Working with a mac OS 10.6.8 and VW 2010 SP4. Is it not possible to resize a 2D plant symbol individually? The "Spread" window in the Object Info palette is grey and cannot be adjusted. Does one need to create a separate symbol for every possible size of every possible plant? Marc

I am trying to add Hatch patterns to my system (Mac OS 10.6.8 ? VW 2010). I downloaded some Hatches patterns that are in .pat file format. Where does one place these in order to make them accessible? Thanks Marc

Thank you Mike and Tamsin for your help. A few questions: 1) I followed your instructions and put the 2 files in my resource browser. They are there but the tree symbols are not in the Place Plant Tool where I really need them. How can I link the Resource Browser and Place Plant Tool? 2) How can I clean up the resource browser? There are hundreds of little symbols that I never use in there. Even with tree symbols, there must be a hundred and I only need a dozen or so. How can I limit the symbols? 3) My plant symbols are 'disintegrating.' When I choose a 2D plant and place it, I get only the central vector marks. When I double click it, I see only the inner lines, not the whole symbol. Each time I use a 2D plant symbol, it gets corrupted and I can't use it again. Any idea how to fix this? Thank you. Marc

I am working with VW 2010. It comes with a very limited set of about 15 plan-view 2D trees. They are somewhat clumsy-looking graphics. Does anyone know where additional 2D plan graphics can be downloaded in dwg format? Marc

I tried importing as 2D only but that didn't help. In the end I used a manual solution. I separated out each of the locked symbols, clicked them to get in Edit mode, copied all the data, closed the symbol, and pasted the data back into a 'normal' situation. There were four separate symbols but eventually I got all the data back into a usable state. Thanks for the tips. Marc

Hi Benson; Of course I am using the Show/Snap/Modify Others properly, but thanks for asking. I think you hit the nail on the head when you wrote "someACAD files have everything in a layer composed into a single symbol." Large blocks of the drawing seem to be locked up in three or four symbols. When I click on those to edit them (symbol editor), they cannot be edited in the 2D mode, only in the 3D mode (the contour lines must have 3D info embedded in them) so my guess is this is a problem of VW not sorting out the 2D and 3D info correctly. I will see if my colleague can save their file as 2D only. Thank you. Marc

Hello; I imported a single DXG of a landscape plan. It imports as one design layer with about forty separate classes for contours, plants, architecture, etc. Unfortunately, although the separate classes are apparently there, they also seem to be grouped into a general class that is locked. When I put the cursor over an element (for instance a contour line), it responds, and if I turn off the visibility of that class, it disappears, and yet I cannot click it and modify it, and no data shows up in the Object Info palette. All these elements are bound together in one group class. Is there a way to separate out these classes? Marc

Hello Farookey I followed your instructions but when I tried to set up a sheet and border on a blank page, I got the following error message: "A VectorScript error has occurred on this locked plug-in. Refer to the file "Error Output" for a further explanation." Any idea why this happened? Marc

Thank you M700. I see now where to do it. Marc

Is it possible to modify the dimensions of a 2D wood screw inserted from the Details palette? I see in the Options one can set the length, but what about the width etc? Marc

Thank you Farookey and Michaelk Another question in this area. Do you know how to change the default settings for the Sheet Border Settings? I want the "Dimensions Shown Are:" to always be Outside Dimensions, and also want to set specific margin dimensions. Thank you, Marc

Hello Michaelk; I was able to find the symbol in the resource browser and, from there, could drag it into a new file to insert it. However, I could not figure out how to open it and edit it from the browser. I went to the original file (Libraries > Defaults> Sheet Border - Title Blocks > Standard Title Blocks.vwx) and by double-clicking the symbol in that file could bring up the edit menu and correct the symbol alignement. I could not figure out how to edit a symbol from the resource browser. Can you tell me how to do that? Marc