Markus Barrera-Kolb

Hmm, as far as I can tell, the Reference Marker doesn't do automatic sequential numbering, does it? In any event, the documentation sure makes it sound like the ID Label would fit the bill: The ID Label tool labels drawing objects with an identifier so they can be properly referenced on an associated schedule. -- exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. I guess I just need to figure out how to make it work -- I just haven't had the time to tackle the learning curve. Looks like I'll need to study up on creating Custom ID Labels, Tag Schema Records, and what not. At first glance, anyway, it seems like it won't exactly be intiuitive. Has anyone else done this?

The detail bubble isn't part of the Architect package, is it? I've looked through my entire Dims/Notes tool set and haven't found it. I wonder whether the ID Label could be used in a similar manner? It looks like I can only choose between a Door, Window, and Equipment ID, and to be honest, I haven't quite figured out how the thing is supposed to work. After all, it looks like you can only attach an ID to an object that already has a record format attached (per the manual: "...can be applied to specific objects with attached data records..."), but then the ID itself also has a record format with a bunch of fields -- which info is supposed to go where, and why the redundancy?

That's what I'm doing right now, and I've actually done the same thing for my title blocks -- it does make it a lot easier to make sure that the sheet information is correct when you see it all together in one worksheet. But is there a way to let VW simply number the symbol instances automatically and to access that number in such a way as to be able to display it?

I'm making a simple symbol (a label used to identify trees on a site) with an attached record format (species, trunk diameter, retained/removed, etc.). Each tree will be identified by a unique key number, and while I could enter it manually as a separate record field, I'd like to find a way to have this happen automatically (would make it easier to avoid duplicates, for instance). So in theory, if I deleted a symbol or added another, they'd be renumbered automatically. Is this anything that can be done without some fancy vectorscripting?

Spend the money for WinDoor -- it's affordable and offers much greater flexibility than the native VW window & door objects. WinDoor sizes windows & doors by their overall unit dimension, and although I'm in the U.S. and standard sizing for doors here is done by leaf size, I find that there are so many other advantages to WD that it's well worth it... (and no, I'm not getting kickbacks from Julian).

One of the first things I did when setting up VW initially was crank up the undos to 100 (ours goes to 11 !) -- but for one, this time around I couldn't get back to the pre-scale state; for the other, a simple verification dialog prior to scaling the whole friggin' drawing would be really simple. How often does one want to scale everything anyway? And when you do, how much is one extra click on an button going to slow you down? Luckily, this time I had a backup that was made not too long before my mishap, but I think the point is to make tools or commands robust, clear, or perhaps foolproof enough (without making them excessively cumbersome) to minimize the frequency with which you have to use those undos...

It's happened a couple of times now that I've scaled the entire drawing by mistake and not noticed until some time later -- of course late enough so that I don't have enough undos left to reverse my mistake. If you invoke the Scale Objects command and don't have anything selected (when you thought you did), the command will, by default, scale the whole drawing! A dialog box that says "Are you sure you want to scale the entire drawing?" would be extremely simple to implement and have already saved me several headaches!

Conceptually, though, it does make some sense to have a separate "universe" for the 2D representation of the 3D model -- there are certain times when I want to show things a little differently on an architectural floor plan than they would look if the drawing was literally a plan-section of the actual model. But yeah, it's a bit of a brain-twister... I haven't worked with Revit or Archicad, but from what I've heard and read it seems like this is where VW actually has a lot more flexibility, by allowing you to mix 2D and 3D at will or as necessary to achive the most efficient solution to any given drawing/modeling task. By the same token, I'm sure this flexibility can present a pitfall at times.

As a relatively recent VW convert from AutoCad, my experience has been quite similar to Bill's (see above). Most of the different concepts were realtively easy to grasp (VW design layers, for example, can be imagined as multiple AutoCad model spaces), the parametric objects and object-oriented drawing are great once you get used to them, and the different command entry methodology is just a matter of changing your habits. The thing that's taken me the longest to grasp is VW's mysterious relationship between 2D and 3D space: In AutoCad, when you draw 2D geometry, it is drawn in 3D space with Z=0. In VW I've finally come to think of 2D and 3D as separate universes that somehow have a mysterious relationship (thus allowing for hybrid objects). It's this weird thing where 2D objects always relate the same way to each other, but their relationship to 3D space changes as you change your view -- extrude a rectangle in different views, and it'll have a different orientation in 3D space. I've given up on trying to understand it logically and just learn the way it works, and I think I've succeeded...

I've been using a script written by DWorks that works quite nicely -- I assigned a keyboard shortcut to it and can thus update the timestamp and filename stamp with one keystroke. The only thing I still wish I could do is run the script automatically each time I print...

Also, Tobias, if you've got a wall style that includes not only the wood framing (if we're speaking of standard U.S. residential construction), but also any possible furring, masonry veneers, interior finishes, and so forth, you will most likely want these components to fully meet up with the roof element, even if, strictly speaking, the wood top plate is horizontal. I've run into this myself and would also welcome more control over the geometry at the tops of walls.

Thanks Peter, CW, & Chad -- indeed, the first image was of a wireframe render, and the 'winglets' do show up in hidden line. Splitting the wall between the window and the low side does seem to resolve the problem, as does removing the window(s) from the wall, and adding a peak point between the window and the low end works too, so I guess I have a couple of workarounds to choose from (haven't had a chance to try Brudger's approach yet)...

Upon reshaping the wall in these pictures I was left with these little "wings" that are sticking up -- they don't show up in the hidden line render, but they do in open GL. Has anyone else run into this and know how to deal with it? Also -- is there a way to angle the top of the end wall to match the slope of the side walls? Thanks!

Well, based on your advice, here's what I came up with: instead of increasing the wall height to include the thickness of the floor above, I've drawn a wall of the same height around the floor object perimeter using a wall style representing only the wall sheathing and cladding. (I'm drawing the floor object to represent the dimensions of the framed floor: joists, rim, & subfloor.) And, as you indicated, in elevation this short "wall" segment blends seamlessly with the wall above/below. This way I can still use a worksheet to extract data on the walls as they would be actually framed, for instance for material take-offs, and can choose whether to include the portion of the wall at the floor thickness or not. Thanks again for your help!

Thanks for the responses Peter & Bill -- so if I still want to have a separate slab layer and keep my walls the same height as the actual stud walls (in platform-frame construction), I could draw walls on the slab layer the same height as the slab -- as long as they align perfectly with the walls above & below. Is that right? Bill, I also made a script that allows me to toggle between, in my case, no line-thickness, black background, and zoom-line-thickness, white blackground, black & white only (kind of like a preview mode) -- use it all the time. Let's hope that this aspect of VW keeps improving, especially for those of us who would like to implement BIM...

When generating elevations from a building model, how can you aviod seeing lines between, say, floor slab elements and the walls above and/or below (or between abutting wall sytles)? I'm using elevation viewports with an Open GL background render and a hidden line foreground render.

I've used the Create Roof command to build a roof with a soffit and cut out part of the roof for a partial upper floor. Now I need to extend the soffit in to accommodate an oddly shaped footprint under part of the roof. The soffit seems to be comprised of NURBS surfaces, and so far I have been unable to modify them successfully -- what I would like to be able to do is draw the outline of the additional soffit area that needs to be included, but I can't figure out a way of adding that to the existing NURBS surfaces. Unfortunately so far I feel quite inept at VW 3D stuff... Any help is appreciated! p.s. Speaking of which: can anyone recommend good learning materials specifically for 3D modelling techniques?

I've searched the manual, the forum, and Google for information on how to use the Custom Tool/Attribute command, but haven't been able to figure it out (perhaps I'm just dumb). How do you specify a tool to be selected with the script, and how does the script know which settings to use for attributes that you select in the dialog box? I've been trying to make a script that would allow me to set an object's attributes to "By Class": With nothing selected, I set all of the items in the Attribute Palette to "By Class", then I run the command and select all of the items in the left column. However, when I run the script, the Attribute Palette changes so that none of the items are By Class anymore. Moreover, at no time while running the Custom Tool/Attribute command does there seem to be an option for specifying a tool to use with the custom attribute settings (in my case I'd love to be able to use the eyedropper tool). What am I missing?

Unless you override the pen style for text within the title block symbol, all text will take on the text formatting assigned to the drawing border as a whole. So, edit your title block symbol, select all of your text, and in the attribute pallette set the pen style to solid. Then update the title block in your drawing border and the text should appear correctly...

Thanks Ian, you're right, I forgot about non-associative hatches!

Having fairly recently made the same switch myself, I'd advise you to take a fresh look at your (2D) drafting technique -- if you take the same approach to generating drawing geometry in VW that you used in AutoCAD you definitely won't be using VW to its full advantage. Two main points in this vein: don't draw using individual lines, use objects instead and make ample use of add/clip/intersect surface; also, take advantage of VW's ability (much better than AutoCAD's) to have objects in the foreground hide objects in the background -- for example, windows can be drawn right over a siding hatch since they can cover it, rather than having to hatch around them...

Thants Gytis, you're right, somehow the file didn't load -- but you're also right about Intersect Surface: it does exactly what I'm looking for! I didn't expect that it would work on lines as well as surfaces...

Is there a way that I can trim or clip multiple lines in one operation with a polyline or polygon? In the attached example, I'd like to trim the horizontal lines so that they're confined to the interior of the polygon. As far as I can tell, both the trim and split tool will require multiple operations to accomplish this. Is there a way to do it in one step? By the way, this wouldn't be an issue if it was possible to set an origin for the hatch pattern assigned to a specific object -- here I'm trying to display a specific siding pattern that needs to start at a particular height...

Here's another plug for WinDoor: It's much nore flexible than the native window & door PIOs, especially if you want to mull together multiple units in one rough opening, and Julian is highly responsive to user feedback. For architectural use I think it's a bargain. WinDoor also allows you to specify whether the lines indicating swing converge on the hinge or the latch side, and with the new version Julian added the ability to display loci at the rough opening so that you can dimension to the RO in plan...

Has anyone who has already upgraded to '09 noticed whether multiple object modification functionality has been improved over '08? Multiple selected objects modified via the OIP or the Custom Modification command: viewports, PIOs, etc... ?