G_Hannigan

When I try it in your file I get an error. When I copy & paste the profile into a new file it works fine. It's very accurate. After you create the Extrude Along Path object and enter the profile edit mode, the cross hairs are at 0,0 and represent the path axis . You can use the move command to locate the profile relative to the path. George

David, Use: Model>Extrude Along Path Draw a polyline for your door frame - open at bottom. Select both objects, Extrude Along Path, highlight the path, OK. It will probably be wrong on the first try. Double click on the extrude, edit the profile by rotating until it sits properly. The profile follows the path based on the center of the profile. You can adjust the size of the path or by editing the profile & move it relative to cross hairs that appear in the edit window. George

Yes and VW seems to be very sensitive to video card drivers. There are many problems in the forum that have been resolved after updating the video card. It could have something to do with the way VW interacts with Quicktime. In any case, it's worth a try.

David, The flaw wasin your polyline profile. Zoom in very close to the area where the two arcs meet & you'll see that they do not meet. I decomposed, moved the smaller arc so that it meets the larger one, recomposed, deleted the small straight line. it extrudes & renders properly. George

After installing VW 12 last fall, VW would freeze whenever I tried to render with open GL, Autocad was working just fine. This problem was resolved by updating my video driver. It's possible that the driver being used by XP is the one that installed with the XP OS and is out of date. The most recent XP driver for your card is dated 13 Aug,2007. It can be downloaded here: http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/radeonx-xp.html George

The downside to this tool is that your dimensions are converted to a group of 3D polygons. George

Pat beat me to it!

David, Make sure that the ends of the polyline & the trimmed ellipse meet. Zoom in & check. If they don't, you'll get the hollow box. If they meet it will create closed ends in the rendered extrude. George

I think Autocad uses the last saved view for the preview pane when you use File>Open. George

Tom, There is a pdf from Maxon here: ftp://ftp.maxon.net/pub/documentation/manual_vectorworks_e.pdf "Export / Import The goal of the plugins is to transfer the VectorWorks geometry, lights and material assignments to CINEMA 4D for rendering. When preparing a VectorWorks file for exporting to CINEMA 4D, there are no specific rules to follow when modeling in VectorWorks; the important thing is the way in which you group VectorWorks elements for material assignment in CINEMA 4D. You can choose these options when you select the CINEMA 4D export command. All objects with the same criteria for the selected mode will be grouped in CINEMA 4D and will receive the same material. For example, if you choose Class as the criteria, all objects having the same class in VectorWorks will be given the same material in CINEMA 4D. If you choose Fill background color, all objects having the same color in VectorWorks (the color assigned to the fill part in the attribute palette) will be given the same material in CINEMA 4D." Some pre-planning in VW is required to anticipate what happens in C4D. If you export classes, you may have to create additional sub-classes to be able to control the placement of materials. George

Does this only apply to XP Pro 64? I'm using VW on regular XP Pro with 4GB of RAM with no problem. George

U3 Smart Technology allows a program to be run directly from a Flash (thumb) drive. The Viewer could be carried on the drive along with drawing files and used on PC's that don't have the viewer installed. There is a third party version for Autocad. http://software.u3.com/Product_Details.aspx?ProductId=180&Selection=1&Lang=en-US George

I agree. Modeling a 3D blind will add to your file size and may not render as expected. George

Donald, I had to switch to a PC because of software 10 years ago. However, going back means converting existing licenses from PC to Mac. Running Windows on the Mac adds the cost of another OS. My existing peripherals are all compatible with one minor exception. I recently bought a USB flash drive (2GB Sandisk Cruzer $19) that has U3 Smart Technology. This allows you to run programs directly from the flash drive. Currently only on XP/Vista, if you plug it into a Mac it behaves as a standard flash drive. http://www.u3.com/smart/default.aspx "Apple should internalize this process because nobody normal understands it, and it's hard to see the positive effects." I agree this applies to Windows defrag as well. Thanks George

boxjoint & David, Thanks guys. The nice thing about Diskeeper is that it sits in the background, waiting for idle periods to operate, then stops when you resume working. The new Macs are very nice - might be time for a yard sale! George

Katie, Thanks. The defrag program that comes as part of W XP is slow & intrusive. I upgraded to Diskeeper Pro (the provider of the built in version) last fall. It runs in the background, waiting for idle periods to keep my hard drives (4) defragmented. Even a manual defrag only takes a few minutes. My computer has been faster & more stable since I started using it. Your description of the Mac Disc Utility seems to be analogous to Diskeeper Pro. George

Thinking of going back to a Mac. Repairing Permissions seems to appear very frequently to resolve problems with VW on the Mac OS. I'd appreciate some info from Mac users about this subject. Is it just an annoyance? Does it appear in VW more than other apps? What is involved in the repair process? I'm NOT trying to start a PC/Mac debate, just curious about the subject. Thanks. George

OK, thanks.

Thanks for the info Katie. Maybe I'll just wait for the next update. George

Yes, the VW folder is in the Programs folder. I haven't moved, renamed or deleted any of the help files. This problem began after the update to VW 12.5.2. File structure - C:\Program Files\VectorWorks 12 contains : Vectorworks.exe, VWHelp folder, VW Help Resources.qtr Within the VWHelp folder is the index.html. Clicking this will open VW Help in my browser the way it should from the Help menu in VW. The error message appears when I try to open Help directly from the VW menu. George

I have recently updated to VW 12.5.2 (12.5.2.5505) and get the following error message when trying to open the Help file: "An error occurred while opening the help system. Make sure the "VWHelp" folder is in the same folder as the application." The VWHelp folder is in this location. I am able to open the help system directly, but not from within VW. Any suggestions? George

The Loft Surface tool will do this pretty quickly. Create a NURBS curve for the curly bottom edge & a NURBS circle for the top. Raise the circle to the height of the table, use the Loft Surface tool to connect them. If you choose "Create Solid", the top & bottom will be filled. George

Danny, I'd suggest using a single LAYER with the following CLASSES on that layer: 1. real parts 2. to be built parts 3. all seating 4. big cabinets George Edited by G_Hannigan (07/24/07 08:50 AM) _________________________ Dell XPS, WXP Pro, 4GB RAM ATI 512MB Radeon X1650 Pro VW Arch 12.5.1/RW C4D 10

Danny, I'd suggest using a single LAYER with the following CLASSES on that layer: 1. real parts 2. to be built parts 3. all seating 4. big cabinets George

Shaun, Yes, I see what you mean. The export plug-in is from Maxon, so the way it creates the VW "container" is their responsibility. The only work-around that I see is to consider the position of the object in VW prior to export or put the VW Container in a Null Object in C4D. You can then move the Null Object's axis without changing the VW Container. Select the Null Object and the view will rotate around this axis. George