C Mansell

Hi Guys, Sorry if this is a really silly question but is there a simple way within Vectorworks (2008 on Mac) to print a drawing which is presented on an A1 or A2 viewport reduced down to fit on on an individual sheet of A4 paper? The reason I want to be able to do this is to be able to include A4 size representations of larger drawings within a job file so I have a simple manageable record of which drawings were sent out with any given letter to a client as the larger drawings quickly fill up the file. Sorry if this is a daft question or is covered elsewhere but I don't seem to be able to find an easy way to do this. Cheers CM

Hi guys. I'm thinking about buying a new mac shortly, mainly to run vectorworks. I'm currently running version 12.5.2 but am thinking about upgrading to 2008 next year. I currently have a 24" 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo Imac with 2Gb RAM which is generally ok but is very sluggish when looking at some sheet layers, particularly if I have viewports with sketch rendering. So my question is this - will I see a noticeable performance improvement if I upgrade to the 24" 2.8Ghz extreme Imac with 4Gb RAM or would I be much better off buying a fairly low to mid spec Mac Pro with the same memory? Alternatively, is the sluggish sheet layer performance just one of those things in the Mac version of vectorworks that will happen to some degree on any machine so I should just stick with my current machine? Any thoughts / advice would be much appreciated before I hand over the cash to our friends at Apple! Cheers CM

Thanks for the advice guys. You have both really just confirmed what I was thinking so I'll stick with the current setup for the time being and see how things pan out as I really don't have time to deal with more crashes and lockups. Better the devil you know................ Cheers CM

Hi Guys, Could someone advise which set up will give the greatest stability and/or performance (least crashes, lockups etc) out of these two: Vectorworks 12.5.x on OSX 10.4 (current setup) or Vectorworks 2008 on OSX 10.5 (upgrade being considered based mainly on wanting 10.5 on my machine) I understand that the new tools on VW2008 should help productivity in program use but putting that to one side, does anyone have any advice on either of the two scenarios above? I understand that if upgrading to 10.5 there will be an automatic need to upgrade to VW2008 but I want to know if I will be sacrificing stability by doing so. Hope that makes sense. Cheers CM

Thanks Christiaan, I I thought that someone was going to come back with a response like yours as I assumed that if it wasn't immediately obvious as an option in Vectorworks then it would mean difficulties. Have you/anyone used the WinDoor plugin? Thanks again for your quick response. Cheers CM

Hi Guys, Sorry if the answer to this is staggeringly simple or if the answer has been posted somewhere else but: How do you draw corner windows joined by a corner post in Vectorworks Architect 12.5? I am trying to join two windows at the corner of a bay with a 100mm x 100mm corner post to support the roof over and seem to be tying myself in knots using the normal window symbols. I am dealing with UK construction so the wall in 300mm o/a cavity masonry with the windows sat in the center of the cavity. Anyone got any good advice? Cheers in advance. CM

Petri, What are the "automatic/semiautomatic photogrammetric programs" you refer to? CM

Thank you all for your advice. I knew someone in this forum would have the answer. From what I can see it looks like double take combined with photo match in Sketchup 6 could be the answer I am looking for. When I get a chance over the next couple of days I'll download the demos and see how they work together. I'll let you know how I get on! Thanks again CM

Hi Guys, I know it's not directly to do with Vectorworks but I'm trying to find a piece of (hopefully cheap) software (preferably mac) to allow me to "straighten up" elevation photographs so I can import them into Vectorworks and then simply draw over them to create accurate as existing elevation drawings. I don't need absolute pin point accuracy as I would always site measure key dimensions but if I could fix a photograph so it could sit within an accurately drawn outline frame in Vectorworks so I could trace over, say, second floor windows that I can't physically measure on site, that would be excellent. I have seen that accurate drawing over photographs can be done in a program called Highdesign but from what I can see you need to actually draft in the program, rather than just fix the image and export it elsewhere. I have also seen that sketchup has a sort of photo trace ability but I don't really want a 3d model, just a flat 2d elevation image. Anyone got any suggestions for a suitable companion to Vectorworks to make this possible? Cheers CM

I'm based in West Cumbria where the builders are a bit slow on the uptake. It was only a couple of years ago that I mentioned CDM regulations to a fairly well known local builder who replied "we don't have them around here mate" with genuine honesty. I despair sometimes...........

Hi Christiaan, thanks for the advice. Cavity returns are just a bit of a local standard detail where I work from and trying to get the majority of local builders adopt anything different to what they are used to can be a bit problematic. The builders are happy with the returned cavity detail, Building Control are happy with the returned cavity detail so who am I to upset the apple cart!!!! Cheers

Thank you very much Orso - it's all beginning to make sense at last. Is the 2400mm I mentioned in my previous post correct as the Z height on the roof layer to make the roof sit correctly for a first floor ceiling height of 2400mm. Why is it not 5300mm which seems to me to be the logical height as it is related to the imaginary ground level. Are the Z values relative to each layer or the absolute? Is this just a thing with roofs in Vectorworks? Cheers

Thank you for that Orso. Using what seems logical to me, on the model I am now looking at the Z value for the roof layer should be 150mm + 2750mm + 2400mm = 5300mm to have the bearing of the roof sat directly on top of the first floor walls but if I input that figure the roof is placed well above the top of the walls. If I change the Z value to 2400mm the roof appears to be too low with the top of the first floor walls (set up as cavity walls) project through the roof. Does this mean that the roof is at the right height with the ceiling of the first floor at a height of 2400mm above finished first floor level and the walls need to be somehow cut down, as would be the case in real world construction whereby the top of the internal leaf is higher than the top of the external leaf due to the pitch of the roof? I just don't get why the Z of 5300mm is incorrect as it should be the height of the wallplate if everything relates to Z at zero being the imaginary ground level. I think this is the basis of the problems I am having with models in Vectorworks. I really appreciate your help.

Orso, thank you very much for your detailed walkthrough, however, I have done exactly as you instruct twice now and both times I have a model with the roof appearing to sit between the first and second floors, about half way up the building height, not on top of it. All was well until I created the roof. I set the roof pitch to 30 degrees and set new layer and indeed a roof appeared on new layer. But at the wrong height. When I created the roof, the only value I set was the roof pitch. I did not change anything else so the default values for bearing height and eave height were left at 2750mm. Is this correct as it does not make sense to me unless Vectorworks only uses the pitch box to design the roof and ignores the others. Looking at the set up of the new layer which was created automatically by the roof design tool it shows the Z and deltaZ values to be 0 with the stacking order being 1. I would have thought if the Z value was 0 the roof would be sitting at the bottom of the model, not half way up it. If this Z value is incorrect, what should it be? This is the typical type of problem I have every time I try a model in Vectorworks and I'm now sure it is mainly to do with Z and deltaZ values. I'm almost there (I think) but just not quite. Filling in the last few blanks would be very much appreciated. Knowing how to place the floors and external ground at the right level would also be marvelous. Thank you all so much for your help.

Cheers Bill, thanks for the advice. I've had a look at the sample chapter in the Archoncad Architect book and it looks really good - if I had the next couple of pages after the sample chapter finishes I think my questions could be answered. I'm picking up lots of good snippets but for some reason (operator error!) I just can't put them all together and make the thing work. My problem is, though, I'm in a chicken and egg situation at the moment - I am not a Vectorworks user as yet so I don't really want to have to buy any manuals etc for a program that I may not adopt, however, unless I can learn the basics of model creation so I understand the way the program works and then see if modeling is the way for me to work in the future. If you see what I mean. That's why I'm trying to get some free advice here before committing to the expense of new software and training for a program that may not quite do what I hope it does. If I can crack this current model "blindspot" I am having and using models will do what I think it will do for me (I want to physically try one - hence the need to know exactly how to do it) I will definitely purchase the training material, starting with the Archoncad stuff as it looks really impressive. I promise I'm not a halfwit for which there is no hope, I'm normally very good at picking up CAD related stuff, I just can't put the pieces together to make a simple model in Vectorworks. Someone please take pity and give me the idiots list I so desperately need to remove the fog from my view................