jwlyon1

Lo! and behold! It was indeed a class visibility issue. What really threw me off was the VIP box saying it was just a 2D symbol when the 3D classes were turned off. That's when I freaked out. Thanks so much for the feedback!

I have a drawing with several 2d/3d symbols. Some of them have all of a sudden lost their 3d elements. Weirdly, when I cut the sections through the space, the 3d info still shows up. But that's in a separate file that references the file with the symbols, so maybe they're not updating in the elevation file. Has anyone else had this happen? Any solutions? I don't want to rebuild all the symbols if possible. Thanks!

Hi there, I have a drawing with a referenced file inserted into it. I did it the "old" way as imported layers. Sometimes (but not everytime) when I update the reference it shifts on me. I haven't changed the origin in either drawing. They should both use the same origin. I also haven't globally moved the geometry in the referenced drawing, but it shifts anyway. Is this just a bug or is there some sort of fix? I've had this happen on a couple different versions of VW now, at two different offices with completely different circumstances. But the strange randomly shifting reference is causing lots of problems now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Sweet! Thanks! It's like magic! AND!!! It even opens the dialog boxes!!!!! I'm so happy! I don't know why I waited so long to ask this question...

Is there a keyboard shortcut to cycle through tool bar options? For example, in the 2d reshape tool, I want to cycle or switch between move vertex, rotate, add, subtract, etc. without having to move the cursor up to the tool bar and picking the button. I've tried the help, but not found anything. It may seem trivial, but I feel like I waste a lot of time switching tool modes! Especially the 2d reshape tool and the move by point tool. Thanks!

I understand that they do not import, and that textures are weird in Sketchup. But again thank you for an explicit and definitive answer. I was hoping for some sort of sneaky work around...

Works in VW2008 too!

I am having the same problem. My section lines are currently shown only in a design layer, and they revert to unfilled/no-line when I update the associated viewport or make a change to the section line. However, after a few minutes of testing just now, it's not consistent. Sometimes they retain attributes, sometimes not.

@ Luis: Yes, I can successfully import SU6 with the installed importer plugin. Thanks for the suggestion. @ Ray: It's only slightly modified to include a couple third party plugins in the tool palette. @ Jeffrey: Thanks! I was hoping that wasn't the case (like maybe there'd been an update to 2008), but it's nice to have a definitive answer no matter if it's not what I was hoping for... Does VW2009 import SU textures? Or is there a way to get 2008 to do it?

Pat-Thank you for that tid bit! It's very helpful!! I had practically sworn off VW hatches, but this opens up new possibilities. Especially notable is the ability to rotate the hatch via the modify-hatch command!

I wish I knew! My best solution is to be fanatical about grouping and components in the sketchup model prior to import. It makes assigning textures a lot easier in VW. But my similar questions have also gone unanswered!

I'm trying to import an object made in Sketchup 7 into Vectorworks 2008 Architect. It doesn't work. And by "doesn't work" I mean, nothing happens. With SU6 files, I would just (in VW) go to File-Import-Import Sketchup and browse to the file I wanted. It would come in on a new design layer. It would not import any sort of texture info, but groups and components would come in as symbols. Now, nothing. Nothing imports. No error message. Nothing. Is this a known issue? I did a quick search here on the forum and didn't see anything. I should add, doing a save as in Sketchup and downsaving as version 6 produces an successful import. But that's an annoying extra step. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Here's what I want to do: Make a Plug-in object that is a rectangle in plan view whose width I want to be variable. I also want two text fields for it. Here's what I know how to do: Create a symbol with a linked text record. But this is a standard "black" object. How do I get the box to be adjustable? Further down the road, I'd like to add a 3d component to this plug-in object. That would be a z-height above elevation 0 and an adjustable object z-height. But that's obviously more complicated!! An answer to the 2d version would be extremely helpful. Unlike the vectorworks help, which doesn't. Oh, I just thought of a good example: the detail cut wood tool is pretty darn close to what I want this PIO to do. I'm using VW2008 Architect. Thanks!

What information is needed to diagnose this problem? I will provide whatever I can! As far as uploading the file, I'll be happy to, but can I upload a humongous (51mb) file? File Manager (the one on this forum) doesn't want to upload my file. It returns an error. Other options?

There's a weird rendering issue when I combine an OpenGL background render with a hidden line foreground render: anything that's not assigned a texture by object, that is anything with renderworks texture set to "none" or "by class" is rendered in the fill color of the active class. See attached screenshots. And it happens 95% of the time, which makes it even more frustrating. If I render in Open GL first (no foreground render) and then once it's done, go back and add the Hidden Line Foreground, it works. But if I update the viewport, it goes wonky again. So if I want this result, I have to render each viewport twice. And that isn't acceptable! Cause it wastes time! Screen Shot 1: OpenGL+Hidden Line w/ Blue fill on Active Class Screen Shot 2: OpenGL+Hidden Line w/ Nasty Green Fill on Active Class Screen Shot 3: OpenGL w/no Foreground Render: Screen Shot 4: OpenGL Rendered First, then Hidden Line added (this is what I want) Thanks!

How do I fix this? My sheet layer is already at 72dpi. The viewport isn't that big. I can't render it at anything higher than Open GL. I have a bunch of image mapped textures in the file, but I believe I have reduced them all to 72dpi before mapping, which leaves some of them crappy looking. The total file size is 51mb. I've got plenty of (5 gigs) RAM and 8 friggin' cores, so whats the issue? VW2008 SP2 Build 83388. (Strange. I thought I'd updated with SP3? Doing that now.) Thanks!

Continuing on this: anyone know how to keep the Sketchup textures when the models are imported into VW?

Hey thanks for the answers. I did eventually find the fasteners under workspaces. But that Vector Depot plugin is nice.

I was looking for a screw tool similar to the bolt tool in the detailing tool set. I asked a friend who uses VW2008 on a PC, and his detailing tool palette: Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch Has a machine screw option. Mine, VW2008 Architect on the Mac, has this detailing palette: Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch And it does not have the machine screw option. I tried looking it up in help and looking through the Workspace editor, I can't find it! Anybody know if I can get this tool on a Mac w/ Architect? And yes, I did a search here on the forum too, and found a great plugin for wood screws. But I'm want to know if I have the same machine screw tool that VW2008 (Fundementals) PC has. Thanks!

That's fabulous! So, you're saying then, VW is smart enough to keep 2d stuff in the 2d version, and 3d stuff in the 3d? Wow.

I don't know if it's the best way, but I solve this by making the objects into hybrid symbol objects. I draw the 2d shape I want, with color, linetype, etc. all set. Then I make it a symbol, set insert, break options, etc. Then I double click it to activate the dialog box, and choose edit 2d. I copy the geometry from the 2d. Then I exit 2d edit and enter 3d edit, paste the 2d geometry in place (so it's at the same 0,0,0 as the 2d) then model the 3d from there. This is where I then assign a z coord to the geometry, and render properties and other 3d sorts of tasks. I know it's convoluted, but it has the added benefit of giving me lots of symbols, which helps me organize the drawing. And it makes editing the object easier, because the 3d geometry is isolated and doesn't end up snapping to random things or getting lost in a complex drawing. Works pretty good so far!

I also moved from the AutoCAD beast to VW about a year ago. Let me tell you, VW may have a few tools missing that ACAD had, but overall, I find that VW actually works like it is supposed to. I can actually work in 3d and successfully create my sheet views and details from the model. ACAD always broke or just looked horrid. And workgroup referencing, while it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of xrefs, I've found to be much more stable and useful. The interface for controlling visible layers and classes per viewport is so much easier than the same highly cumbersome method in ACAD. VW is much more a what-you-see-is-what-you-get app than ACAD. All I'm saying, stick with it!

Sure... But the scale gets all whacked out, and with notes, the text doesn't scale. So if moving from sheet layer to a 1/2"=1'-0" annotation layer, the text is all 1/24th the right size. Scaling up by 24 doesn't work on the text either. I would need to adjust the font size, so instead of 10pt, I would have to adjust it to 240pt. But the relationships between leaders and the text get all messed up with that process. So, copy and paste by itself doesn't really work very well. I'm looking for something as easy as the change space command/tool. I don't want to retype all my notes!

This is another silly "I know how to do it in Autocad" question. I accidentally typed all my annotations in the sheet layer, not the annotation layer. I know, silly right? So how can I push them from the sheet layer into the annotation layer? Again, in ACAD, there is a tool, change space, that will take geometry from either model space and push it into paper space or vice versa. Thank you!

I think move by points is the answer here. It's new to 2008 (I think!) and it's stuck down on the bottom of the basic tools palette. Shift+m is the hot key. To use it to copy, open the little settings for the tool and select "retain original." It works almost exactly like AutoCAD's move and copy.