billtheia

Am I the only one who isn't drinking the annual subscription model kool-aid? Yes, we all have other recurring expenses that are higher than the cost of VW but SO WHAT? Yes, the software industry as a whole appears to be moving to a subscription model but SO WHAT? Am I supposed to be happy about spending more and getting less? For me, the bottom line is that VSS doesn't seem to be worth the expense and aggravation. I don't think that each annual release makes me any more productive or profitable. In fact, I think that it actually costs me money (in lost time and related hardware upgrade requirements.) Vectorgeek, I'd much rather NVW spent time making the software faster and less buggy and issue releases every 2-3 years. Your suggestion that NVW's only choices are to spend time making older versions compatible or spend time cranking out more annual releases is ridiculous. NVW decided to move to annual releases, I didn't ask them to do it. The fact that they did it without making it easier to transition between versions actually proves my point. They didn't do it for the users, they did it for the revenue. I'm glad that you enjoy spending a day every year messing around with VW for no other reason than to deal with NVW's lack of a clear plan for transition. I don't. That lost day means a loss of $1,000 +/- of billable time (on top of the cost of VSS.) Personally, I'd rather spend that day generating revenue or playing with my kids. Ozzie, I'm starting to wonder the same thing about Macs. When I switched from PCs in 2008, I really felt like they were a better choice. Everything just worked. Now that the folks at Apple have us on the upgrade treadmill, I'm not sure that it's still true. It seems that the annual subscription model isn't any better for users there either. In the end, I think that I'd just like to get off of the treadmill altogether and get some freaking work done. I have a feeling, though, that is not what my future holds.

Vectorgeek, to suggest that "professional" users should upgrade VW every year seems ridiculous to me. As Ian H. noted above, VW's annual releases are hardly major upgrades and, while the cost of the subscription service is "reasonable," upgrading is always wrought with pain. Having to essentially start from scratch every year isn't sustainable. 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. 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. 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 and, ultimately, each version isn't really stable until the last SP (and sometimes not even then.) And don't even get me started with the things that are mysteriously broken with the last SP of any given VW release. 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. As any "professional" can tell you, the true cost in all of this is not in buying the software, it's in the time it takes to get it all working correctly and getting staff up to speed. On that front, I don't think that VW is helping any of us with the transition to an annual release cycle. It has surely helped NVW with an increased revenue stream but NVW hasn't done anything to make it easy for users to transition from one version to the next. Instead, NVW has suggested that users benefit from a reliable release schedule because they are able to budget for an annual software purchase (a claim that I find laughable.) Then NVW just throws up their hands and tells users that it is too difficult for them to maintain more than two versions of software. Pretty funny, right? THEY move to an annual release schedule, provide buggy releases with relatively little to warrant upgrading, make users run a virtual gauntlet to upgrade each year, make it extremely risky to transition existing VW files to new versions, and then tell US that it's too difficult for THEM to maintain multiple versions. Again, I am reminded of the politicians. Yes, the software industry moves quickly but it seems that, rather than stepping up their game, NVW has just shed responsibility to users and cranked up the marketing spin with the hope that no one would notice. A little more than my 2c worth.

Thanks Kevin. When I installed your vsm into my workspace as I had done with my earlier script, it didn't work. I had my toggle script in several places in my workspace. From a top-menu drop-down, in the document-context right-click, and in the object-context right-link. This configuration had worked fine in VW2012 and all the way back to VW2008. If I remove the script from the object-context right-click, everything works fine. For some reason, VW2013 & VW2014 don't like having that script in both right-click locations. Now I can get back to work. Thanks for the help.

Weird. I can't get it to work in VW2014. Same thing happens - works from a drop-down but won't work from right-click menu. Any idea why that would be happening?

Looks like I'm on my own with this issue. Just contacted "Service Select Priority Support" and was told that they can't help because the issue involves the use of vectorscript. Seems to me that the issue is with VW2013, given that the script works just fine from a drop-down menu and worked in VW2012. Also seems to me that vectorscript isn't third-party software so it should be supported by it's creator - NVW. I think that I might have just reached the tipping point with my service select subscription. I was already on the fence because of releases that didn't seem to materially help my productivity and because I'm getting tired of the cumbersome upgrade every year. Now they've decided to provide limited support. On the upside, I just freed up $500/year.

Bump. Am I the only one who has experienced this problem? VW has released several service packs but this problem persists for me. I have several scripts assigned to the Document Context right-click menu and the only one that works is the one for my Demolition class. The script works fine from a drop-down menu, just not from the right-click menu. Any thoughts out there?

No, that's what I'm saying. I have it under right-click but it doesn't work. I also have it as a menu drop down (same exact script) and it works just fine. I have toggle scripts for other classes and those work just fine too. For some reason, it's just the Guides toggle that won't work from a right-click menu.

One of the right-click items that I have added to my workspace won't work. It works just fine in VW2012 and the script works from a drop-down menu but I can't get it to work with right-click. I've tried removing the script from my workspace & adding it back in but to no avail. Here's the script (it toggles Guides class on and off:) {12/3/2009} {Bill Engelhardt} {Toggles GUIDES classes off and on} PROCEDURE ToggleClass; VAR x:STRING; BEGIN x:='Guides'; IF ((GetCVis(x)) = 0) THEN HideClass(x) ELSE ShowClass(x); END; RUN(ToggleClass); Anyone out there have an idea why it won't work from a right-click menu? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If I copy a callout that is in the screen plane and paste it, the resulting callout winds up in the 3d plane even though the active plane is set to screen. Can someone out there tell me why this happens and how to fix it? I'm using VW2012 because I found VW2013 too buggy and unstable to use. Thanks.

I'm looking at the possibility of using "Stories" in VW 2012 & 2013. I think that I have a general handle on it but can't figure out what "Level Types" do. I see that there are default level types for slabs, floors, ceilings, etc. but I can also add my own or use "None." I need to create some additional layers (for MEP, RCP, etc.) Should I create new "Level Types" for those things? If so, why? If not, why not? Thanks.

Hi all. Can someone out there tell me how to change the order of the default layers in the Stories dialog box? The existing sort doesn't create them in the stacking order that I need. See attached screen shot. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, M5d. I'll look into that. I did find that if I turned off show 2d boundary from the OIP, the spaces would disappear but if I turned it off from inside the settings dialog, they wouldn't. Yet another VW tool that manages to negate it's productivity benefits with time-wasting bugs.

In VW2012, creating new space objects with "show 2d boundary" turned on. When I turn it off, the entire space object disappears. Also can't create a space object with "show 2d boundary" turned off. Anyone else out there have this problem? Any suggested solutions?

Found it! There is an option in Unified View to Center View on Activated Layer. Need to turn that off. What a freakin' pain in the behind.

I just did a little more experimenting and the saved views are definitely moving the view (not zoom) so that the origin is at the center of the screen. HELP!

Bump. Is this happening to ANYONE out there? It's driving me crazy. I use saved views to control layer and class visibility and switch views often. I have separate views for demolition plan and construction plan. Neither are set to save view orientation, zoom, or page location. If I double-click on a saved view, it jumps to one side so I have to pan back to the location where I was just working. If I don't pan between changing views, it doesn't jump. It only appears to be happening in one of my drawings. I've tried re-creating the views. Didn't fix it. I tried resetting the origin. That didn't fix it either. ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

When using saved views in VW2012 SP5, the view jumps to one side. None of the saved views in question are set to save view orientation, zoom, or page location so that's not the problem. It even happens when I create a new saved view. It only jumps to the side, zoom is not effected. Has anyone out there had this problem? If so, how did you solve it? Thanks.

It would be great if VW symbols were NCS compliant. Window symbols should be diamond shaped (square at 45 degrees.) Callouts should be able to be a true hexagon with no intrusion of the leader so that they can be used as keynotes. Callouts should also be able to be a true square so that they can be used as wall types. Need an oblong hexagon for equipment tags. Ideally there would be dedicated tools for keynotes, wall types, and equipment tags. Seems like this wouldn't be too difficult to do and it would go a long way to helping the architecture side of the product.

What kind of a machine do you have Jonathan? I have a relatively fast iMac with 8M of RAM. When I try to use Dragon Dictate vector works becomes slow and jerky.

Has anyone out there trying to use Dragon dictate or other voice recognition software with VW? I recently broke my hand and am now beginning to use Dragon Dictate 3 - Mac. Using dictate in word processing and other applications seems to work quite well and is surprisingly snappy. When trying to use it with VW, though, VW runs slowly when Dragon Dictate is just running in the background and attempts at dictation into text fields results in extremely slow text entry. I have plenty of RAM and a reasonably fast machine but for some reason vector works and Dragon Dictate are not playing well together. Does anyone out there have any recommendations for improving this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I, too, noticed that VW2013 required VP updates for no apparent reason. That, coupled with too many crashes and general bugginess, has pushed me back to VW2012.

I found the problem. I had "soft shadows" checked. Apparently, custom lights don't work with soft shadows.

I'm trying to use an IES file to create a custom light but it just won't work. Spot and directional lights work just fine but custom lights don't I get no light at all out of them. I have tried a couple of different IES files from a couple of different manufacturers to no avail. It appears to be specific to my template file. I can get them to work in a new blank file but not in the template file that I use to create every drawing that I do. Unfortunately, starting with a blank file every time isn't an option. I'm wondering if there is a setting somewhere that I am missing or if there is something that I can do to fix my template file. Does anyone out there have any ideas? Have any of you run into this problem before? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Christiaan, have you tried playing with the Image Exposure setting in Custom Renderworks?

Hmmm... The sheet that I used was full of hidden-line-rendered interior elevations. They were all made from section viewports. I wonder if that is why they weren't any faster.