James Dawson Design

Hi Dave, OK, i picked a dodgy plant and inserted it into a new file...same problem. Looking at the render all looks OK. Now, I have been looking at the 2D symbols and when I use the same IP with a different 2D symbol all is OK. Next I started looking at the 2D symbol library I am using and there are all sorts of inconsistancies. - different colour nodes - some nodes are set to class colour, some are not - some 3D components already have IP's attached to them - some symbols dont have a 3D component to edit (BIG WORRY HERE) FYI, this is the Plants Objects library file that comes with VW2008 and I have NOT opened it until today. FYI, the symbol called Fern 01 is the one that I have been playing with. cheers james

Hi Dave, I have had a look at transparency, classes, etc and spent some time this morning playing with the rendering types and settings. The outcome is that the problem was only fixed by duplicating an existing plant that displays OK and then making changes to the 2D and 3D images. Then again I need to spend more time on this project to be convinced I have found a workaround. FYI, it doest matter if the plants are groups or individuals. regards james

hi again, i now understand CRW!!! however explain the faces bit please. I have been playing with all the settings and there is no change thanks james

thanks, can you tell what is CRW? i looked at the custom RW settings and it is not obvious to me regards james

Hi, I am working on a project that contains around 200 plant objects divided into around 20 plant types. I am using image props as the 3D component. Not all image props are being displayed when viewing the perspective. There is no outline, just invisible. In addition some of the image props when viewed in wireframe are showing a RED outline...what does this mean? thanks james

thanks for the updates, lets all hope mr. filemaker is proactive

Filemaker 9, I only wish. maybe NNA could use my upgrade cash to pickup a version ;-) FYI, I can open and edit the Aus Plant DB that Ozcad distributes. It is version 8. If this problem stems from Aus OS set leopard, then I think I need to retract some of my comments poo, pooing NNA software testing ability. Maybe a beta testing program would be useful, aimed at international registered users. I know of one devco who make a specialist CAD program that do this. The result is that they end up picking up most localisation issues. Specialist users can be the best testers.

thanks katie, looks like I got the filemaker version wrong regardless, it is pretty dissapointing to see this major problem go undocumented as part of the release i would have held off my upgrade until the filemaker patch arrived QUESTION: any chance of someone building me a filemaker 8 version of the plant db as an interim solution???

great idea, although these forums are fantastic, an independant group may make users less inhibited to share their wares. all i can add is...google groups??? it would save me signing up :-) ...just a small point

I have just discovered that the plant database built with Filemaker 9 does not work on Leopard. This is a known Filemaker issue as the following link will take you to their announcement of a "leopard Compatability Update". http://www.filemaker.com/support/leopard.html I have spoken with OZCAD in australia who is guessing that this update may be the solution and to resolve the problem, i.e. the plant database will need to be built with the updated filemaker. I have submitted a bug report and am posting it this information here to raise the profile of the issue and make other users aware. NOTE: it is frustrating to see that a core change has not been tested in a current OS. I would be curios to hear from those controlling software change management regarding this issue. Sackable offence I think! Seriously, if anyone at NNA picks this up and can help getting it resolved ASAP it would be appreciated.

hi katie, where are these posts? cheers james

I am having trouble with 3D plant symbols becoming invisible. I set up a plant to use in a 3D render and more often that not when I render the perspective the plant does not appear. Going straight into the Edit Plant Definition dialog shows the symbol as blank (as well as numerous others when I expand the 3D Symbol selection box). This has been occurring for a while now and I have spent some time trying to work out why, but to no avail (it all seems very random). The symbol(s) eventually come back and I dont know why. - The problem does not distinguish between image props and symbols. - The symbols appear and dissapear randomly within a single session. - They seem to all return if I close down VW and reopen, then after a short while it starts up again. FYI, I am running VW 12.5.2(71041) on a MacBookPro. I can also report that this was occurring on my old 17" Powerbook. I am still productive with producing working drawings, but my presentations are dictated by rolling a dice, i.e. playing with the symbols until I get a perspective with some plant symbols on it.

problem solved...thanks julian carr from ozcad solution...select the objects using the bounding box, dont worry if they are not highlighted as selected... then select the menu command Edit/Clear

Hi I have a file that contains a stipple and 4 plants (of one type) just above the area that I am working on. These items were not intentionally created and I need to remove them, particularly the plants as they are appearing in the worksheet. The trouble is I cannot select them to delete them. I have had this occur before and as a (not ideal) workaround was able to copy all ?other? items and paste them into a new drawing. In this case VW crashes during the paste process. Any help would be greatly appreciated. james

How do I control the Colour of a Plant Label? This question comes from an issue I am having with my current drawing. All my plants are on the same layer and tags are showing as 'black' text, however I have just placed a couple of plants (on the same layer) and the plant tags are showing as a shade of grey and I cant for the life of me work out how to resolve this. A (maybe) related behaviour is that some of the lines in the plant symbols are showing as this same shade of grey. Any help would be appreciated. cheers james

Thanks, I assume that once the extents outline is drawn and I update the DTM the contours will adjust to stop at that boundary? regards james

Hi, How do I control the extents of a DTM? I have an irregular shaped building site that is covered in 3D DATA. The shape includes boundaries that are concave and when I create a model, triangles and contours are created across the concave portion. thanks james

juet remove default.php from the link and you should see it

many thanks

Hi, How do I add a personal avatar to my profile, I have an image I would like to use but am unable to work out how to path to it. cheers james

katie, Great offer, I think there would be merit in documenting the process to do this for the knowledge base. I imagine there would me many users interested in wrestling with it. cheers james

the content may not be suitable to all, but so what...just add a plant. as for those moaning about functionality, sorry but this co. delivers exactly what they state. like it or lump it. I think they respond well to users. this forum demonstrates that. show me similar co.s that offer the same user interacrion. there are none.

thanks for the help...i actually worked it out...eventually my info is also updated cheers james

Why are all my fills semi transparent? I am guessing it is a simple setting but have no idea where it is. Can you help? Sorry to be a bother. james