mmyoung

I'm starting to find it difficult to manage complex assemblies, because I put the whole 3D model on one layer. If I put the different bits on separate layers, using Flyover or the standard views to examine it causes the model to appear to break up (it doesn't, of course, but it looks like it is). Managing all the parts as Classes isn't very satisfying... How do you do this? I'd like to be able to lock several layers together so in Flyover everything stayed together. And I could make some of the layers invisible from time to time ? this would really help with the modeling. thanks ? Michael Young v2008 SP3 Machine Design & RW

I think it would speed up my work if the Zoom tool could be toggled from the Marquee to the Interactive state with the Alt key. (I realize the U key works as a toggle) ? but what I mean is, for instance, you could be in Marquee mode (where I usually am), and then for a moment while you hold down the Alt key, you'd be in Interactive. It would make navigation really precise and fast.

Welll... (kaff kaff) if you don't mind, I'll answer my own request: I find it very helpful in other applications when I can "select connected," triple clicking in SketchUp or choosing Select Chain in CSi. Ha! VW has a better mousetrap, which I just discovered under my nose ? Create Polygon From Inner Boundary (or Outer Boundary), in the Polygon Tool. Brilliant. It's what I usually use it for. It doesn't answer for selecting a WHOLE CHAIN OF CONNECTED LINES OR CURVES, which I would like, but it's still a beautiful thing.

Good point; I use "working views" of something I am developing, and I change them frequently as the design evolves. I can end up with a long list of saved views, and I actually forget what they all mean. So, I "update" an existing view by pulling down the Saved Views dropdown, choosing "Save..."; I type the name of the view I am updating, then I'm warned there is an existing view of the same name, I click on OK ? and I have an updated version of that view. If I mistype the name, then I have to delete the old view, and so on. I thought it would be nice to click "Update," choose the view to Update, and keep working. ?Michael

I think there ought to be a tool, or perhaps just an option for the Selection Tool, that would allow us to select all connected lines or curves. Sometimes with a complicated polygon, it's tedious to find all the stray parts, and a Select Connected command would clear that up.

That does allow you to edit the view, but it's a bit of digging if you do it a lot. I'd like simply to have an Update button.

When I want to update a Saved View, so far as I can tell, the only option is to select Save... from the views dropdown and then type in the name of an existing view. I'd like to be able to choose to *update* a view. Maybe you'd choose "Update..." from the same part of the dropdown where you select "Edit" or "Save," and you'd get the list of existing views to update. Or ? maybe there would be an Update button in the Organization pane that opens up when you select Edit... I know... these choices could be a little dangerous, in terms of wiping out a saved view by accident, but I think at least having the option would be nice. I'm constantly changing and updating my saved views. thanks

Could it be possible for the axis labels to be made just a bit more easy to read? They are there, but awfully faint. An option to display them in black or dark grey? many thanks

Hello Islandmon, What is "WGR?" (I'll probably figure this out the second I press Submit... but just in case, could you tell me what it is?) many thanks

Tom, In response to your query about what we'd love to see in Machine Design, yes, teeth on the bevel gears would very important now, and I agree *heartily* with clb's list, emphasizing the option to keep the intersected piece. The sheet metal tools would be wonderful to have and go a long way to making this a complete package.

It *should* be aligned. hm. You draw a rectangle, press [Cmd E], enter an extrusion value, and press Return; when you hit the keys on the numeric keypad, the base of the extruded rectangle ought to be on the ground plane in all of the views. This is not happening? ...maybe restarting it is in order.

Perfect. thankyou

When I click on a line, the OIP reports x/y deltas, but not the length. That would be awfully handy. Am I missing a goodie in here somewhere that would reveal this? ?Michael

Hi Katie, Here is the other instance I referred to, the case in which the Fillet Tool executes on a polyline, but does not succeed unless the chosen segments are consecutive. It makes "sense" that this occurs, but it isn't right for the program.

Hi Katie, Here is an example of what I was talking about joining and filleting NURBS. You'll see the details when you look at the file. The existing Join And Fillet command won't operate on them, as far as I can tell. Thanks for having a look at this. Maybe there is a way to join and fillet NURBS that I am not seeing ? I'd be grateful to find out. thanks I'm on 10.4.10, Intel iMac, v13.0.0(78970) SP1

Constrain Concentric ought to associate with fillets in polyline objects. That center point is there: You can highlight it by hovering over it with the Line Tool or other drawing tools. That means VW can see it: Constrain Concentric should be able to locate it and lock to it. thanks ?M

By this I mean it would be helpful for me in one case particularly: When CNC machining a cavity or cam surface with an end mill, two curving NURBS may meet at a "point", where the end mill will create an interior fillet.

Really! wow... I didn't know I needed hyperspace navigation... my gods, where are the seatbelts on this thing?! thanks

Thanks everybody... I don't know why I failed to find this myself, but of course if I knew that I wouldn't have gotten to know everyone.

Does anyone know what this little gizmo does? It's new in v2008. It's the little box in the attributes palette between the marker arrows.

I'm new to VW and I'm noticing a lot of inconsistencies in fillet operations. VW does well in simple situations but won't fillet between NURBS (every other drafting application in its class will do this), and if you convert the NURB splines to polygons (not a good idea if you plan to machine them), VW won't fillet the polygons properly. I submitted this a few times to tech support in an effort to find out if I was not understanding something, and I got no reply ? but I think this is an important issue to others like myself who would like to use the Machine Design package for mechanical design and find ourselves having to port back and forth to other apps so we can do simple drafting operations. I've attached a couple files... ? Michael

I know nna is aware of bugs in the Call-out Tool, but just for the record, here is what I find on OS 10.4.10: - The Max Text Width fields won't accept numerical input. - When you originally create a call-out, the text in the editing window is clear and the right size. But when you double-click a call-out to edit the text, the text in the editing window becomes vanishingly small. - The Call-out Tool doesn't retain its settings from session to session as many of the other tools will now do.

Does anyone know what these odd artifacts are? Do they contain useful information that I don't understand? The only thing that should be there is the lofted NURBS surface. These things show up when I am using the 3D selection and Flyover tools. thanks ?Michael

VW should have the ability to fillet between planar NURBS curves. Every other program in its class has this capability, and it's very important to those of us who want to use VW for mechanical design. The power is already there: VW will already make and trim fillet surfaces between NURBS surfaces; you can extract the edge curves, giving you a filleted planar NURBS. But that is an awfully long way 'round. You ought to be able to do it simply with the fillet tool.

Yes, I'd like this as well, very much. I agree that it's necessary. It's one of those things you keep working around, wishing you didn't have to have this moment of doubt.