gmm18

Yeah, this should be available in Architect. What version of VW are you on? Section VP's are available starting with VW12, before that there were the "Cut 2D, and 3D Section" commands. Those were not Viewports though, just snapshots of the current design, and they were placed on a Design Layer as a group. You can add these "legacy" menu items into your workspace if you want. (I have done so as you can see in the pic below). Here is where I find the Create Section VP menu command:

Yes I copy-paste multiple cells just column by column, or row by row, not across both rows & columns all at once as Pat warns not to do. Also, for fields that have drop-downs, instead of number entries (such as "exterior trim" you can pick True or False), you can select/highlight the entire column that you want to change, then right-click, and at the bottom of that context menu you can pick the value you want to change to.

Since 2008 uses 2-way worksheets, that is a great way to make batch changes. I used Pat's WS_of_PIO_FIelds menu command ( here). Then used the field and record formulas that it provides to create a "Mega" Door Schedule Worksheet... This is separate from your regular Door Schedule, instead of showing just the items you actually want to show on your plans, it has everything. That way, to edit a batch of door settings, you can just select, copy, and paste cells. You can do this on multiple cells at once...It isn't a snap of the mouse, but it is pretty quick. I was thinking that I would recommend the Tools>Custom Modification menu command, but it doesn't actually work very well for PIO's like doors & windows.

There are grass textures that come with VW...why not give those a try...

I am really interested to hear about the Stair Tool being fixed... or is that not until 2010? Does anyone know?

But one of the things I love about VW is that you can do your rendering right in the app...no exporting, swtiching, just hit "render." I get pretty great results this way, if I wanted better sure I could export to C4D, Artlantis, or something, but what a pain, I never do this. I prefer to keep it all together to keep the work fluid. Perhaps your vision of a "separate, but highly integrated" would do the trick, but we'll see.

Yeah this is the right forum. As long as people have their specs in their signatures it makes sense to just have one forum for all versions...

I'd call tech-support, http://www.nemetschek.net/support/index.php

Thanks Robert

I thought of suggesting the box object tool, but didn't want to get into editing the workspace...but yes Teresa that is another option.

Just right-click an object, there you can set Active Class & Layer to that object's.

Core a Cube: 1. Draw your first cube using 2D Rectangle, then Extrude. 2. Draw another cube, or duplicate your first one and edit its geometry. 3. Select Both, then Model>Subtract Solids. Roof Type: Yeah, it is always a "Hip" roof to begin with. It might technically be possible to change the default, but I would not worry about it. Once the roof is created, click on one of the handles if you want to change it to a gable. If you are doing "Shed" roofs, with just a single roof slope, then try the Roof Face tool rather than using Create Roof.

Make sure in your Wall Style that the Exterior Ply and Siding is in a separate component class, such as Wall-Component-ExtFinish, Turn off the class "Wall-Component-ExtFinish," Then run AEC>Dimension Exterior Walls, or run your dimensions by hand, easily snapping to face of framing, then you can turn your ExtFinish back on and you are good.

This has been discussed quite a bit. But there was a script posted here: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=105242 I haven't used it, but maybe it would do the trick for you. My way of dealing with this is I just place a date stamp on a sheet, Modify>Create Symbol. Now I place that symbol on each Sheet. Before printing I just double click any one of those symbol instances, then select the date stamp and toggle off/on the fields I want to update, and that will update the stamp for all sheets. It is just a few clicks, although it would be nice if there was an option to have it automatically update on its own before printing an similar operations. We'll see if it gets implemented, but not as critical as many other features I'd like to see improved. EDIT: I just looked back at an old post on this topic...and found this script: (Posted by Islandmon, whom said he got it when someone else posted it long ago) Here it is: ForEachObject(resetobject,(R IN ['Data Stamp'])); Yes, that single line above is the entire script. I just added this as a tool. Tools>Scripts>Vectorscripts Plug-in Editor, then New, and make it a tool, then add it to your workspace. It works really well: Click on the tool, then click on a Data Stamp object and it instantly updates all of the Data Stamps in the entire drawing. Reduces my process I described above to just two clicks rather than five, woo hoo!

And, be sure to thank NNA for your free, fully functional Educational VW 2008. It does add a watermark, but this is a small price to pay for this privilege provided to students. If you ever want to remove the watermark, for a final presentation or something: Set-up your sheets with an extra one-inch page-size on top and bottom, (So for an 11x17 landscape, create a custom paper size of 13x17), then export PDF, then crop the PDF top and bottom by 1" using Acrobat.

To make a floor: 1.Make "Floors" class active, 2.a. Draw a rectangle or polygon in the shape of your floor, or 2.b. Another way to get your polygon is to select all of your exterior walls, then go to AEC->Create Polys from Walls, 3. With polygon selected, AEC->Floor, Set bottom (say -12") and thickness (say 12").

No solutions here (Don't read this post if you don't enjoy good-hearted rants). Yes, I know and I usually play defense for VW, rather than the other way around. I defend VW here in the forums, and I defend it and promote it every chance I get at work and on campus. In fact some people have asked if VW pays me to do so. I have taught workshops for dozens of students out there and have been working on Professors to get it as an actual course. Many people see VW as the odd one on the sidelines, so when I speak in defense of the Mother Ship, I am sometimes frustrated by limitations and seemingly obvious lack of features, such as having lines on your HL elevations... people ask those questions all the time, sometimes within the first few minutes of a demo and it is difficult when you have to start explaining tedious work-arounds right off the bat. And yes we have discussed that particular issue in the Wish List forum extensively, so that is documented. In terms of providing immediate solutions, you should see my posts, 99% of them are exactly that, not rants, such as this one. It is funny that I get a spanking by an NNA moderator, especially considering the fact that I have almost as many posts as you and I have been here for only a year, also never been 'thanked' by an NNA moderator for any of my contributions to the VW community... Now, back to the drawing board and I apologize to those who might have read this despite my warning.

Frank, suggesting that we use the Hatch command to create siding lines for our Hidden Line rendered elevations is a work-around, not a solution. It may be very useful for some, in the mean-time, but ultimately creating lines or hatches on walls that work with Hidden-Line should be integral with the wall-tool.

When you are in edit mode of the symbol, first select all objects and group (key short-cut: Command-G) Then use the Scale Objects command. OIP: Object Info Palette

If you don't care about them still being "Symbols," then I recommend selecting the symbols you already placed on your Design Layer, then go to Modify>Convert>Convert to Group. Now they are no-longer symbols, but objects on the drawing. You can now group each light and scale it by grabbing a corner and stretching.

I don't understand how you can call this "Best" practice Jeffrey. It is a "Workaround" practice at best...really.

Is there a Class called "sills" in your drawing? If so turn that on and see what happens...

sfatelier, my guess is still something is going on with your polygons. But to help narrow this down (maybe you have already done this): I suggest drawing up a handful of polygons. To be quick you can just draw 5 concentric circles using the circle tool, then Modify>Convert to Polygons Then run the AEC>SurveyInput>2D Polys to 3D Contours... If you get this to work, then the problem you are experiencing is likely still your source polygons. Maybe try re-generating them from scratch in a new file. If this test doesn't work, then something else is at play...

Can't do it. I think it is already in the Wish List...

So, if you have 2D polygons, I first suggest being sure they are actually polygons. Select all -> Modify -> Convert -> Convert to Polygons. Now go to AEC -> Survey Input -> 2D Polys to 3D Contours -> Set Start Height and Interval ->Now one of the poly's should appear highlighted so you can set it's height... Also, be SURE that your polygons are not overlapping each other.