VectorGeek
-
Posts
233 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Articles
Marionette
Store
Posts posted by VectorGeek
-
-
gester:
Final output drawing scale is based on a number of things:
- type of drawing (plan, detail, wall section, site plan)
- size of project (shopping center, SF dwelling)
- desired page size (compact or "bed sheet")
- available printing technology
- bureaucratic requirements
- personal preference
- eyeglass prescription - not kidding
For example, I have done large projects at 3/32" = 1'-0" (roughly 1:120 in metric terms) for floor plans to make them fit on a D size sheet without match lines, which I personally try to avoid.
It all depends.
V-G.
-
This is excellent advice from Vincent. Draw at the predominant scale that your viewports will be set to.
V-G
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
VW2013, VW2014
Mac OSX
NOT accepted for the Mars One project
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Hi Jim,
In their version of AutoCAD (2011 I believe). Happens with all consultants - not just one firm.
Weird.
-
When we export our VW files as DWG files for consultants to use, the text, dimensions, and text within PIOs is reversed and/or upside down if it's inside a flipped symbol.
Anyone know a fix?
V-G
VW2013 SP4
Mac OSX 10.7.4
iMac i7
New Winter Boots
-
So I gather. That's why I added SP2 as an occasional possibility. Let's hope things improve with the next SP.
VG
-
Do I assume from this that your company have bought these 10+ licenses and that you have had no personal financial liability in the purchase of these? Unlike many VW users who personally have to pay for their licenses and therefor have to prioritise their expenditure on software against other necessities, it is easy for those who do not have to justify the cost of upgrading to overlook the fact that some of us have to prioritise a set of hyped up new features against a years caffeine intake and Internet access.[because we have been users (10+ licenses) for 21 years, have beta tested for 15 years, run user groups, worked closely with DG/NNA/NVW and distributors to improve the software, participated in focus groups, online forums, mailing lists, taught MC/VW to countless parties.That's why.
Vectorus Geekus
A man with absolutely nothing against garden design.
Glad you have nothing against garden design.
You could assume that, but you'd be wrong. As a shareholder in our company, I had a vested financial interest in the decision to adopt VSS. As the managing technical director, I continue to have a vested interest in seeing that our team has the latest tools and that those tools work properly.
We too prioritize, and while there are always features in a new release that we don't need and will never use, there are also features which make the upgrade worthwhile. Not to mention, the critical element of technical support (both from NVW and through this valuable group of message board users) is always better when one is using the latest version.
Again, my policy is to wait until SP1 (occasionally SP2) before making the switch. My time to implement the new system is budgeted for at the outset of the year, and it offers a chance to clean up wayward libraries, fix some bugs in our internally developed plug-ins, and call the staff together for a 2-3 hour "what's new" office training seminar. That time is well-spent and generates significant productivity improvements every time.
And you can take all that to the bank. Provided it is not invested in sub-prime mortgages.
V-G.
-
I cannot comment on how VW organise their development. They may well be a complete bunch of disorganised hackers where changing lines of code and reintegrating into other versions is hard, or they may be highly organised professionals like we were at Citi where everything change management is part of the standard process and managing multiple versions and changes was a breeze.
Or they may be highly organized and managed professionals, who work for a company that is forward-looking and doesn't see a huge financial upside to devote the required resources needed to re-code and support versions of their software that are three years old.
As for the adopted business models, that is a much wider topic of discussion. Subscription based models may suit some but not others.Again, the cost of VSS is pretty insignificant as compared to almost every other line item in our company's financials.
V-G.
"Thar's gold in them hills."
-
Vectorworks needs a better support strategy adapted to the new reality of a fast moving OS cycle on the Mac.
My preference would be to make converting/upgrading of files more reliable (converting to v2014 has been a reasonably good experience for us). This, surely, is the ultimate solution as it allows everyone to take advantage of advances straight way and forget about supporting multiple versions of VW within an office. This is particularly the case when you have projects that span over multiple years.
^ This. The main upgrade pain point that users call in with is (more commonly than OS compatibility) issues with file conversion and workspace import/preferences migration to the new version.
If we can remove these snags from the upgrade process, the Service Select program and upgrading yearly will become much more appealing.
Agree with you both 100%. It's not practical for us to operate multiple versions (and associated ancillary resources) at the same time, therefore a "full" upgrade is the best. I'd be hugely supportive of any mechanism that allowed simple transition of workspaces and plug-ins for a start.
V-G.
-
About 2 years ago we have upgraded from 12.5.3 to VW2011 and to be honest we had not much joy since. Initially, we struggled migrating one project but gave up and simply only started new projects in VW2011? thinking this would make a difference!
We are mainly working with large residential developments, in the range of 300-600 apartments, which requires a lot of symbols and referencing of multiple files. Note we do not even bother using 3d, we try to keep everything as simple as possible drawing everything in 2d? yes even elevations & sections.
The major problem we are facing is that references are extremely slow to update - the problem as usual occurs randomly thus can not be reproduced easily.
To be honest what is well beyond us is that a software released in 2011 does not seem to be able to handle 2d drawings which are referenced into each other with file sizes of around 80-120MB - btw. why they are that size in the first place is rather questionable as well.
We are told that we are pushing the software, so we thought we ask around on to understand how other offices handle projects of the aforementioned size? surely we are not the only ones working with Vectorworks at that scale?
As 2014 is about to be released and support for VW2011 will be stopped, we are looking down the barrel of once again upgrading in the hope of improvement or switching to another software altogether.
Does anybody have positive experiences with large scale projects and VW - maybe you have figured out the sweetspot beyond which it simply does not work properly?
Hi kdo,
We are doing similar work (large multi-family projects, 2D only). Basically, heavy production-oriented use of the software. We use similar hardware (iMac i7's with 16GB RAM). We do see slow downs when we have multiple design layer viewports referenced from external files (say more than 20 DLVPs). Our staff all work "live" over the server with Gigabit speed. Typical file size is 80 - 120MB. We have numerous custom plug-ins that also reside on the server (accessed using workgroup folders). I would say in general that speed has improved considerably from 2011 to 2014.
Wherever possible, I like to use WG referencing, however I always consider the performance hit when doing so. Sometimes, by shuffling staff resources around, it's possible to eliminate referencing to some degree. You need experienced users to do this, but we commonly have only one person responsible for developing floor plans (even for a 100-200 unit building), with another working up sections/elevations, and another 1-2 staff doing detailing. All of this of course depends on staff experience and project complexity.
Hope this is helpful. It's nice to dialogue with someone who uses the software in similar ways to ourselves.
VectorGeek
Proud Vectorworks user since 1859.
-
That's really an arrogant comment. Why do you think that people who have paid the same amount of money for software as you (assuming you paid for it personally and not the company that you work for) should have less say over things than yourself just because they use it less?As for those that claim hobbyists use, I suggest that you look at some of the areas that VW are heavily marketed. I regularly speak to people who already claim that VW is far too expensive and for the limited use that they would get from VW simply make it uneconomic for them to use compared with traditional drawing methods. Whilst some professions may get to use VW on a daily basic, there are some areas which, as I say are targeted, probably wouldn't use VW for more than 10 days a year and the cost of entry is prohibitive and even more so when their version has obsolescence built in.I don't see much of NVM's marketing these days aimed at hobbyists. IMO, those that get 10 days of use per year should have little or no say about the future direction of the application development.
V-G
Also, garden design is not a hobbyist thing. Its clearly enough of a sector for Vectorworks to be directly marketed at.
Because we have been users (10+ licenses) for 21 years, have beta tested for 15 years, run user groups, worked closely with DG/NNA/NVW and distributors to improve the software, participated in focus groups, online forums, mailing lists, taught MC/VW to countless parties.
That's why.
Vectorus Geekus
A man with absolutely nothing against garden design.
-
The app that I was responsible for = 500 simultaneous users (architecturally unlimited but you can only fit so many staff across two trading floors), processing all input and enquiries in real time (<100ms time is money) whilst simultaneously processing xx real time data and external trade feeds again < 100ms latency processed by >50 application servers, >1500 reports running on x distributed systems spread across 2 continents. All whilst maintaining accuracy for current and 30 year future accuracy of >$40 trillion in cash flows to the cent.
$40 trillion or -$40 trillion? It was CitiGroup right? ;-)
In all seriousness Ian, this has gone off track. I would contend that you really have no idea as to the comparative complexity of VW versus the CitiGroup banking app, so probably better to not comment.
The fact is, NVM made a conscious decision to adopt a business model that is becoming more and more common in the industry. Like it or not, it's probably here to stay. As users, I think it would be more productive for us to continue to demand better stability in x.00 releases, better transition tools for firms that implement multiple licenses, and increased focus on improving core tools.
V-G.
-
Can I please take this opportunity to blow this myth apart.
Sure, but careful not to try and compare apples to oranges. Is it really fair to compare the technical underpinnings of an application for trading money to a multi-platform 3D modeling and rendering application?
So, failing to support old versions is likely to be a commercial choice rather than a technical one.Well I think you are incorrect Ian, however if it is a commercial choice, then surely that's NVM's prerogative correct? As a long-time user who doesn't really want to switch our firm to anything else, it's in our best interest that NVM stay profitable and continue to develop their software. If a "commercial" choice supports that, I'm all for it.
As for those that claim hobbyists use, I suggest that you look at some of the areas that VW are heavily marketed. I regularly speak to people who already claim that VW is far too expensive and for the limited use that they would get from VW simply make it uneconomic for them to use compared with traditional drawing methods. Whilst some professions may get to use VW on a daily basic, there are some areas which, as I say are targeted, probably wouldn't use VW for more than 10 days a year and the cost of entry is prohibitive and even more so when their version has obsolescence built in.I don't see much of NVM's marketing these days aimed at hobbyists. IMO, those that get 10 days of use per year should have little or no say about the future direction of the application development.
V-G
-
I'm running VW Designer w/Renderworks. Just as a reference, the monthly cost of my VSS is less than my monthly cell phone bill and on par with my monthly internet costs. VW certainly earns me more income than either of those.
KM
Agreed 100% Kevin.
VG
-
Every time I upgrade I have to rebuild my workspace, update all of my template and resource files, put them all in the right places, copy plugins to the new version, and add any customizations I've made. All of this takes time and there are always issues to work through. I have surely lost more hair with each version of VW.
Bill, you have proved my point. Wouldn't you way rather than NNA's technical resources be devoted to a workspace and plug-in transition solution rather than making VW2009 work on Mavericks? I too sympathize with users who are frustrated, but arguing for support 2-3 versions back is ludicrous. As for the upgrade, the +/- one day I spend each year reworking our setup is time lost, but also a chance to tweak, clean-up, and improve our system. I quite enjoy it.
Add to this, the trouble with upgrading existing files. I NEVER move existing files to a new version because EVERY time I've tried, I've had nothing but trouble. So that means that I wind up needing to run two or three versions of VW at a time.
Not our experience at all. We have successfully transitioned files from 2009 to 2010 to 2011 to 2012 to 2013 to 2014 with few issues.
Then there is the lack of stability in the new release. I have found that I really need to wait until at least SP2 before starting to use any version of VW.
We wait until at least SP1 to make the switch, so we are a few months staggered from NVW release dates. As I am sure you do, I regularly monitor this discussion board as well as other resources to help in deciding when to make the switch.
Sometimes I think that VW has looked to politicians for their business model. As soon as they get a new user on board, they start working on getting them to upgrade (essentially starting to run for re-election the moment they take office.) I would venture to say that a typical version of VW isn't reliably usable until 6 months after it's release. That means that a typical user only gets about 6 months of reasonable productivity out of it before the next release is issued.
Nope. The whole industry is moving this way. We pay $50 a month for the complete Adobe suite of products (2 concurrent licenses). $50 a month to always have the newest version, tech support and training resources. I spend $100 a month on coffee.
All the best,
V-G.
-
When new releases were on a 3 to 4 year cycle (sometimes 5) it didn't matter if they only supported one prior release.
That was then, this is now.
I personally don't want NVM to spend any money or use any resources to support older versions of their software simply because people are too cheap to upgrade yearly. Professional businesses need to budget for annual fees (Select Service). Hobbyists get what they get.
V-G
WAS ONCE:
MiniCad+ 4
Macintosh LC3
System 7.01
Compuserve
AT ONE TIME FLIRTED WITH:
MiniCad 7-ish
Power Computing Power Tower Pro 250
System 8, on 22 freaking floppy disks
IS NOW:
VW2014 SP1
iMac i7 quad-core, gobs of RAM
Mavericks baby!
WILL BE NEXT YEAR:
Vectorworks 2015
iWatch (CAD production model)
OSX 10.10 "Bacon"
-
Have you looked at "Link Text to Record"?
V-G.
-
Well the answer is because they don't have architects on the development team
Not true anymore.
This has long been a frustration for us. There is a difference between an architect (someone with the qualification), and a practicing architect. Since the early days (we go back to MC+4), there has been a demonstrated lack of understanding of what really happens in architectural drawing and drafting. This carries through now to supposedly useful PIOs that are not intuitive, cater to a particular geographic region, and lack a cohesive design specification, or......flat out don't work.
My short term radar has a blip where VW2014 lies. The long term scan is starting to point to alternatives.
I fear if NVW doesn't hit a home run this time, the trail of rats leaving the ship will be significant.
V-G
Holding out hope.
-
#1 thing Georg Nemetschek doesn't do when he wakes up in the morning:
Read this forum.
V-G
-
Imagine working up to the last minute to make some changes to a project, then just posting your Vectorworks file to the cloud, and when you get to your client's office to make the presentation, everything is ready and you just present on your iPad (or Android tablet.)
Well I don't know too much about clouds or nomads, but I do know that the absolutely last way I would present anything to a client is on an iPad (or Android tablet).
V-G
VW2013
iMac i7 27"
1978 AMC Gremlin (V8 sucka!)
-
Just started to see a weird bug in 2013. When we double-click on a resource (usually to open a folder, or apply the resource to an object), instead of the expected result, the dialog box opens to create a new resource (as if the double click was NOT over an existing resource, but in white space).
Anyone else seen this?
VectorGeek
-----------------------------------
VW 2013 SP3 183378
Mac OSX 10.7.4
iMac i7
1978 AMC Gremlin
-
Hi, Doug: I am not sure if it is Java. However, it seems something from iMac's system or could be some other application installed triggering it. Specially when you have the same permission getting corrupted repeatedly. Do you recall installing any application before having this crash issue? It is one possible way to isolate the problem--as it is only happening on this iMac.
Have tou tried booting the iMac on the "safe boot" mode and run the "fsck -fy" disk repair routine?
If that doesn't solve it, you might want to contact Apple regarding the repeatedly corrupt permissions.
Or perhaps try disabling Java (there is a system preference in which you can do that) for a couple of weeks to see if things improve.
V-G
Vector "doesn't works sometimes" Works 2013
Mac OS X 10.7.4
Coleco Vision Pong 1.0
-
Vectorworks Preferences > Session Tab >
Click "Add?"
V-G.
-
Make sure you restart VW 3 times a day: one before noon, at noon and one time in the afternoon. This can help avoiding crashes. Also make it a habit working at one document at once and between switching documents, restart VW. Since I do this, I have little to no more crashes.
I concur with DWorks that multiple open files do cause problems, especially when switching from one to another. Since we have avoided this, we've had way fewer crashes in VW2012. Our iMac i7's have 16GB of RAM and our files are typically 80MB - 120MB in size.
V-G, eh.
-
Dear will 'o maine,
We use walls (and wall styles) for drawing linear materials such as plywood, mdf, gwb etc. in our architectural details. We have a server-side library of every thickness, and material, with hatches in most. Hatches can be setup to rotate in walls so it works great. You also have the flexibility of end conditions such as closed joins, open joins etc.
Works great, less filling.
V-G.
UNDO HISTORY
in General Discussion
Posted
I bought a brand new Plymouth Valiant in 1963. Left it at the dealership instead of taking delivery. It's still there, so technically I believe it still has the original warranty which kicks in once I pick it up.
;-)
V-G
Sochi Olympics Greeter
VW2013 VW2013
Mac OS X