gmm18

I like to keep Z=0 to be the finish floor level of the ground floor. (As Pat described I typically make the floors with a negative Bot-Z, so that the top is at the "0" for that design layer. And like you described, I use negative Z for basements, etc. But the Layer Z-height is a positive number. It is all relative though, so as long as your relationships between floor levels are right, then you are fine. Also notice that if you go into a front or other elevation view, the ruler on the side of the screen will so "0" to be at the Z-height of the Active Layer. So you can within levels.

Ah. good to know.

It is super easy. YOU DON'T NEED TO CREATE YOUR OWN FLOOR AREA RECORD. Create a worksheet, make a row into a Database. Set Criteria to "Type is Floor" The formula you need for the floor area is simply "=Area/144" don't type the quotes. The 144 is because by default it will give you square inches and I wanted S.F. (Those in metric can figure out what you are getting to determine if you need to add a division)

Are these walls assigned to a "Wall Style?" If so, then the wall will use the attributes of that Wall Style, ignoring what is in the attributes palette and class setting. So you can make the walls "Unstyled," or Edit the wall style definition...which you will find that you can set to "Use Class Attributes," in which case you can again control the wall by the class settings. Make sense? It will when you play with it for a minute.

Not only do they frown upon it, it is against the terms of use. Remember this! Since pulling stuff from old drawings is such a common practice you need to be very cautious with this EDU file. You don't want to get other files infected!

Just a thought, I think I have seen this in the wish forums before:

Check to be sure "Stack Layers" is on.

And remember that if you are in Wireframe rendering mode, then an extrude does appear in wireframe, If you want it to have solid fills on all 6 sides then you must use another rendering mode such as OpenGL, HiddenLine, etc. That is just how extrudes work, it is not different from VW12 to VW2009. Some Plug-in-Objects, such as a Floor Object for example, will display its fill properties in Top/Plan view, but a simple extruded shape will appear with no fill in Top/Plan view. Simple questions are good, keep posting them as you are surely not alone.

Have you tried the "Selected Objects" mode? Hit "N" on your keyboard to enter Dimension Tool. Then click the object, drag out and click to finish. This only works in constrained horizontal or vertical dimensions. If the object is angled, for example a line at 45?, you could still use this tool, but first you would have to set "Rotate Plan" to 45?.

Many other applications have this. I think it would be great to have the ability to manage text styles. Similar to class graphic attributes, one could define the font, size, style, spacing, capitalization, etc. Give it a specific title and save it. As you are working you could set text boxes to "Use Text Style:" such as 'General Notes' or 'Space Names' or 'Drawing Title', etc... It would just make changing text attributes a little faster and more organized. Thanks.

What version of VW? (Suggest you create a signature with your 'junk') Why the red face? Attach an image if you want better assistance. The wall top plates are not ending up on top of your walls? If you are using a Roof that was created with the Create Roof command, then the plates should be located in the proper place based on your overhang settings. Check your overhangs. Otherwise just make your top plates manually, it should be about 4 clicks.

I don't use the Visualization Palette, I tested it out on a project and just decided I prefer using classes to control lights. In response to Ian's discussion of multiple sunlight positions, I thought I would share my method: In my Template File, I created 15 sun lights using the "Set Sun Position" menu command. Each light is set at a specific time (8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, & 4pm) on three different days (Summer Solstice, Equinox, & Winter Solstice). These light objects live together in their own "Sunlight" Design Layer. They are each classed with a "z" in front so they drop to the bottom of my class list, just to keep them out of the way. This took a few minutes to set-up, and it is not the most technically advanced method, but it is super easy to use and I don't have to re-create sun-positions for each project anymore (although I would need to do some edits to Lat&Long if I were going outside my local region).

I am not a professional "trainer." Although as I have mentioned, I have taught many students at my university.

Stairs generally work fine for me. I am lucky that my bldgs generally do not have a lot of stair runs, as I make a new stair each time fresh from the stair tool (rather than duplicating an existing stair that is already on the drawing). What service pack are you on? You should be on SP3. You can also use the "Fix Stair Associations" script. Worked for me when I needed it. http://www.vectorwiki.org/index.php?title=Fixing_Stairs_with_Upper/Lower_Component_Problems

Signed my life away without even reading the fine print...

Thanks Dave. Your posts are always very useful. It also comes to my mind a wish I posted once, It would be great if we could create a Gradient with "None," or "No-Fill" being an option. That way we could have a color on one end, and none on the other. It would create a gradient that is solid on one end and transparent on the other. Using the radius option one could then create a simplified 2D "lens effect," or many other useful and wonderful things. Here is a visual of what I am talking about...

makes sense...i would not enjoy using class codes like that.

If the contour map is a PDF that was originally drawn in a vector-based program, then you can Import it to Adobe Illustrator, then save as a .dwg, then import into VW. A few steps, but gets you there quick and without having to use the trace bitmap thing.

Great, thanks.

I made a charity donation, nice excuse for some holiday giving. And Petri's menu command works perfect. Thanks. For some reason Anti-Matter, these tools are not working for me. Perhaps just because I am on '08 and these were made for '09... Anyway, I tend to agree that this makes more sense as a Menu Command than a Tool, but that is just me.

You do not need to change anything in the Object Info Palette (OIP). Perhaps you are trying to rotate a drawing border? Well that only changes the drawing border itself, not the other objects or borders on the sheet, and it does not control the page setup. Okay, check again...your Page Setup should look like this: You might need to post an image to get the final answer you need. Use a screenshot, Command-Shift-4 is the keyboard shortcut, then drag over what you want to capture. It will put a .png on your desktop. Switch to "Full Reply" and "File Manager" to attach an image.

Go to Page Setup Make sure it looks like this. But if you are on Windows it might be different. You should post your system info in your signature.

Try drawing on a single, but separate Design Layer within the actual drawing file. Control visibility as needed in each viewport.

I would love this. Another variation would be to: Update properties of an existing class, based on attributes of a selected object. That way if you change one instance in the drawing, and you like it, you can instantly update the class properties to match.

SketchUp is a must. Everyone seems to use it at least a little. However at my school drafting software was not taught as a required course. AutoCad was taught as an optional course. Many students when to the local Community College to take Revit. Vectorworks was taught only informally by other students (yours truly).