gmm18

It is unfortunate you can't work in a section view in Design Layer mode! Looking forward to that feature! Try keeping it in the same file, just put the kitchen in a different Design Layer from everything else... Then you can turn all other layers to grey and see your kitchen in all different views, side, front, walkthrough, flyover, etc... in OpenGL or wireframe rendering. Set up saved-views to make going from view to view really fast. Still...being able to actually work in section view would be much less schizophrenic.

see here: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=109145#Post109145

And quite a bummer it is... seems like many users will simply not be upgrading to the newest version of VW for many years to come...

you can also use a space instead of a zero.

edit the design layers to adjust the Z-height of each layer. then stack-layers, or as peter suggests, use dlvp's...

but pa, how do you get a heavy outline around the outermost edge using classes alone?

You can just grab the one you want. Find the library file where the door hardware objects are stored here: /Applications/Vectorworks 2009/Libraries/Defaults/Door - Hardware/Door Hardware.vwx Just find the one you are want in that file and drop the symbol into your working file. Place it where it should go in relation to the door, class it separately so you can turn it off in top/plan view if you want. This is also a good method for double doors, since the auto door hardware settings fail horribly on double doors. If you want the hardware to be included in your door schedule I would just use one of the user fields (door.userfld1) and type in the hardware spec in that column of the worksheet, which will link directly to that door's record.

now if you just want to be able to measure using lines & rectangles while working in stacked layer mode, you can go to View>StackLayerOptions> Display 2D Objects in Active Layer.

i love rants. you might think i am being sarcastic...but i'm not its like all of the time i spend cussing at my computer, and i come on here and find i am not alone...

I suggest that VW is way more appropriate for completing construction drawings, including detailed shop drawings. However, I really encourage using SketchUp along side VW. You can use SketchUp to do conceptual design very fluidly, much more naturally (push/pull, spin about, instant feedback). It is really fun and easy to use. It is not an either-or kind of thing, you can have both and use them for what they are really good at. And the client may really enjoy being able to take your SketchUp model for a spin. I have tried to show a client how to "drive" around in VW using the walkthrough mode, but man it is really tough for most people to get going. SketchUp is much quicker to learn the basics, so if it is a client that really wants to take the controls and spin about I recommend going SketchUp. There comes a point in every design, however, when you are better off making the transition into VW. Not messing around with importing SketchUp, I mean just starting a fresh VW file. It you keep it simple and dirty in SketchUp you realize that you havn't wasted any time. From there on out you might do a quick study in SketchUp, but pretty much in VW through completion.

This Menu Command plug-in does what you want. When you change the attributes of an object using the attribute palette, then you think it looks good and you want to use those attributes for that entire class, you can select this command "Assign attributes to class." Put it in your User/Library/ApplicationSupport/Vectorworks/2009/PlugIns Folder, then restart VW, then edit your workspace to add the command to one of your menu lists. I didn't make this, nor do I see a copyright tag on it when I opened it using text edit, but it is credited to panta rhei

You can find the library file here: /Applications/Vectorworks 2009/Libraries/Defaults/Door - Hardware/Door Hardware.vwx Just find the one you are working with, edit 3D component, set to "front" view, and move it over to the left about a foot and a half or so. Or you can just insert that library symbol into your drawing and place it where it should go in relation to the door, class it separately so you can turn it off in top/plan view. The latter is a good method for when you have double doors, since the auto door hardware settings fail horribly on double doors.

is that an extrude? try a floor. not that i know what the problem is...

but you can still rate topics, so here are 5 stars just for you...

ahhhhh.... Thanks Again!

Hey Pat, I have used this script on a file that was started by someone else, very helpful in the cleaning-up process. But now all of the crop objects have a solid line, and I have been trying to figure out how to modify your script to change the pen attributes to 'none' for all viewport crops, but, of course I am not getting it. Any recommendations? Thanks...

Often I use the Create Roof command, to get the major forms, then UnGroup it. It will ask you "Are you sure you want to ungroup high level objects?" Hit yes and then you are given a bunch of Roof Faces, which can easily be edited to get your final product. I think that strategy would work well for you in this case.

Thanks Dave!

It is unfortunate that walls cannot be angled, however, using a roof face might be the way to go to get the affect you desire. Otherwise you can go to a "front" or "side" view in 3D and then draw a polygon in the shape of the wall in cross section, then extrude it out the required length of the wall. Lastly you will need to see what you want it to look like in Top/Plan view. Both a roof face and an extrude will look a little funny. You might draw a regular wall in the location that you want the cut to occur, and use classes to control the visibility and turn this wall off when in 3D view, and turn the roof face or extrude on when in 3D view.

Hey I took a look, and must Congratulate you for digging into the "roof element" dormers. I say this because although it is nice that there is such a tool, it seems to me that it is easier to simply build the roof manually with roof objects and/or roof faces. One of the issues you are having is that "Create Gable End Walls" is checked ON, Click on the roof and in the Object Info Palette at the bottom you will see this option. Turn it off and fit your own gable wall to the roof profile. The Other issue is that you want to have three windows in your dormer, which is causing some weirdness in the dormer model. I would just build the roof with roof faces and then insert the three windows in a regular wall. Much cleaner. Let us know how it goes.

yes use classes. then in your attributes palette keep them all by "class style" then set your class definitions to "use at creation" also you can have dimensions auto-classed, which is how it is set-up by default to be assigned to the "dimension" class even if it is not currently the active class. i have seen on here that some people use scripts to set line weight and colors, but that is not the standard practice.

...and turn off stack layers.

And in section view, while we are at it.

I always hit save before running that command. But usually it works just fine, the key is to first turn off all extraneous classes such as floors, furniture, millwork, etc. (The Visibility Tool works well for this) Then run the fit walls to roof command.

Peter's description is very concise, and you can end up with very nice animations. But it is sad that it takes this much work, especially compared to the speed and simplicity of Sketchup. (turn on shadows, adjust sliders to change season/time). I am sure that NNA is seeing this as something to work on. But perhaps we are getting somewhere with the ability to have shadows with OpenGL rendering, which might lead to the rendering to be fast enough to enable sun/shadows to be controlled with a slider in real-time. Currently I notice that the OpenGL shadows are not accurate, but hopefully it will continue to improve.