[Numbering other than Lighting in Spotlight]

23 minutes ago, JBenghiat said:

Shameless plug for Savvy Sequencer. You can number any data field in a symbol or plug-in, as well as data tags or just plain text blocks, the latter which can be optionally grouped with the objects they number.

@JBenghiatHave no shame whatsoever. Savvy Sequencer is hands-down the single best most used plugin I have ever purchased. 

[Vectorworks abandoning perpetual licences]

Here's the thing: I spent, what? probably ten minutes easy, trying figure out why a glow texture suddenly stopped glowing…was it something I did? Backtrack, fiddle, fix, all to no joy,  no warning.

Okay start the app, there's another two-ish minutes.

Yup, first render right upon opening, there're my glow textures, back again. This kind of stuff (and other rando issues, this forum full of the sightings) happens all the time and sucks the very lifeblood (much less the joy) out of designing. I don't design to fight with software, I design to literally help someone achieve their dreams. And for this experience, for a professional product, I'm just not feeling the "ultimate software" experience.

Not trying to bring all you hard-working VW folks down, because I believe that in the trenches y'all are working hard as heck, but hey - charging for the 'ultimate' and not delivering, feels plain wrong. 

[Vectorworks abandoning perpetual licences]

12 hours ago, unearthed said:

This is NOT the way to go, I already have sketchup on forced subscription, and yesterday it refused to allow me to log in, and was a hassle to get sorted. Meanwhile the NZ Vectorworks agent seems to be in turmoil as well which gives me no confidence as they are sometimes essential. Meanwhile vw keeps adding bells and whistles but not fixing or maintaining earlier tools that just work.

 

I'll accept it with my accounting package but everything else is just a parasitic rentier system.

 

pardon me for jumping-in here, but to me, your accounting software is equally as parasitic

[Magic Wand- select similar tool]

On 9/7/2022 at 11:53 PM, diskoper said:

And, the option "symbol name" doesn´t work on Light Instruments, or stage decks generated by Spotlight.

 

/per 

Neither the Stage Decks nor Spotlight Lighting Fixtures are symbols when placed with their respective tools, they're parametric objects, designed to be operated on with the OIP.

[Learning to love Activity Monitor…]

1 minute ago, mjm said:

@Dave Donley Wow, fast response Dave. Thanks so much. Uh, which version or both 2022 & 2023? I have to strip the file/s of client info first.

Also, thanks for your images which show the same issues. your 2023 version feels a bit dark but more accurate to the scene, while the 2022 version looks blown out, but there's greater sense of the light in the air which might be truer in that brightly sunlit model. 

 

[Learning to love Activity Monitor…]

1 hour ago, Dave Donley said:

Hello @mjm Good to hear it is getting faster.  Redshift will allocate as much graphics memory as it can when it starts rendering, something like 90% of the available VRAM is the default.

 

2022 Redshift renderings showed a glowing effect with reflective textures, which was remedied in 2023.  And we tuned some things like light brightness.  Ideally there would be no adjustments necessary between Shaded, Renderworks, and Redshift render modes.  For now each render mode has different response - and 2023 Redshift is different than 2022 in some respects as you've noticed.

 

Could you share this model with me?

  

 

2022 Redshift kind of glowy, 2023 more grounded-looking

@Dave Donley Wow, fast response Dave. Thanks so much. Uh, which version or both 2022 & 2023? I have to strip the file/s of client info first.

[PDF issues: how is this possible?]

So, after battling the Static Accessory gremlin for the past week, I finally have a printable 2022 file. I first publish it: see pdf v3a.

Oops.

Hadda try that a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

Well then, I'll simply export the pdf…see pdf 3b.

Sigh

Oh, hey, export as EPSF! see pdf v3d. Victory. A hollow one however.

 

You're asking about the page set up and printer dialogs, yes I checked em & I think the proof of that pudding is the almost excellent eps export. & I say almost because well, the EPSF converter does not respect transparency, I have added a screen shot of the sheet layer so the difference can be noted.

 

I'm roughly guessing the whole printing debacle took 30 -45 minutes to  -well solve wouldn't be true, nor would fix- work around the issue after trying so many other options. Oh, hey, this project has twenty eight publishable Sheet Layers. 

After rebooting, the issue seems to have subsided, so, only about 45 mins + this forum comment = time lost.

 

 

 

2022-10 OBT MSND+HUSH Light Plot v3a.pdf2022-10 OBT MSND+HUSH Light Plot v3b.pdf2022-10 OBT MSND+HUSH Light Plot v3d.pdf

[Strange Shaded Mode Artifacts]

1 hour ago, Dave Donley said:

Hello @zoomer The interior geometry for the wall components is being used to determine where wall edges should be shown, and in these cases it is unhelpful and causing the artifacts.  We will need to change the algorithm for draw edges to get rid of these wall artifacts; we will make this a priority item for the team.

 

Huge happy news @Dave Donley. Looking forward to the fix.

[Learning to love Activity Monitor…]

Just for fun, I started up both 2022 & 2023 with no files open, first screenshot

Then opened the same file in each app, see second screen shot.

Following that, I ran the same slightly modified redshift render on each. Oh my, some very interesting things occurred, first and foremost to me was the radical improvement in red shift render speed: 0:45 for 2023 & 1:26 for 2022. Mind you this was extremely unscientifically done, but good to see that particular result.

Also ran this scenario several times, closing the apps and opening the same file each time.

however, looking like every file brought forward to '23 will need every render re-tweaked, because the one does not look like the other…

Memory-wise, it was interesting to watch 2023 immediately hit +17 GB max during the render.

The final screenshot shows how much memory was apparently released.

 

 

[Drawing a curtain/backdrop without fullness]

2 hours ago, VenusD said:

Hello!

I'm looking to insert a backdrop with no fullness, essentially creating a cyc upstage. Also, adding in legs and borders with no fullness, just flat velour. The curtain tool is very unhappy when I attempt to change pleats, etc. value to zero or even ".1"

 

What's the best way to do this? 

 

Thanks!

Try clicking the Simple 2D & Simple 3D options in the PIO, pretty far down the way, I remember correctly.

Also, lol, I attempted to make a pleat of 0", no joy. Then I tried 0.0001. VWX 2023 has frozen. No skinny rainbow ball, nothing. Not even showing as "not responding" in th e Force Quit pane.

 

[2023 is out for Service Select Members]

FYI:

 

No idea why that difference is so extreme…

[2023 is out for Service Select Members]

36 minutes ago, designedAF said:

Keeps hanging for me.  Especially when I go into a redshift render.  Love the new shading options in 3D though.  

@designedAFI'm guessing you've restarted your machine at least once? Seems to be the universal panacea…

On my first render pass on a recent 2022 file, the same modified Redshift Style was employed as in 2022. Render took slightly longer, used about the same overall amt of memory as before, tho this time instead of the task being split between Cineware and Vectorworks, it appears, as mentioned by @Dave Donley (I seem to recall) that it all takes place under the Vectorworks 2023 app. fifty Clay PAky Mini-Bs, eight VL 2600s and four Solaspot 2000 out of sight behind the prosc.

I will say the redshift render in it's preview modality is faster & with better results than the Spotlight Styles in 2022 or 2023.

I =basiclly haven't needed to turn on denoising in redshift in either 20922  or yet in 2023.

[2023 is out for Service Select Members]

downloading as I type...

[Audio Schematic Symbol Library?]

41 minutes ago, jeff prince said:

 

Have each student draw a couple of symbols and share with the class.  You’ll have a library of your specification in no time.

@jeff prince I actually love this idea. 

[Auto-Numbering by position…how effective is it?]

2 hours ago, klinzey said:

The Spotlight numbering tool numbers the cells in the same order they appear in the OIP. This is determined by the stacking order of the cells inside of the symbol.
If your cells are not numbering in the correct order edit the symbol, overlap the cells slightly so you can see the stacking order and then use send forward  or send backward to get them in the correct order then align them again.
If you are using one of the symbols shipped with Vectorworks please let us know which symbol so we can correct it for everyone.

@klinzeyYes, I'd already forgotten that. The prompt is much appreciated. Rendering a different project atm, but can't wait to dive in.

[Saving to PDF to page size larger than printer size]

56 minutes ago, Pat Stanford said:

It SHOULD work for Publish also. I have published numerous sets using different page sizes each based on the Sheet Layer setting.

 

If you are trying to Publish multiple sheets all from design layers then you will get the problem you describe as all Design Layers share a single Page Setup so one page size, one orientation, one resolution. Each Sheet Layer has its own Page Setup to avoid that problem.

@Pat StanfordThank you as ever for your input Pat.

I don't however understand what you are driving at with "If you are trying to Publish multiple sheets all from design layers…"

Each design layer uses the same page layout and size.There are three same-dimension SLs; two Portrait, one Landscape. The Portrait sheets get published to pdf as a landscape sheet, ie; the portrait-based layout appears vertically in a Landscape sheet. This does not happen in a new file where the SL layout appears to be respected. Wonder why that is…

 

And, when I choose to create a new blank document (say in order to rebuild the file in a clean document) import my layers with layer objects, why do the Position Names change to what appears to be some default numbering system 1, 2, 3, 4 etc?

I find this is reproducible across the first two existing files I try this import with, see screenshots attached.

 

Created a new file, did the DL & SL + objects import, went through and renamed all positions & in happy (?) news, the new file does appear to publish sheets correctly, so I'm loosely guessing the originating file is corrupt in some way.

[Auto-Numbering by position…how effective is it?]

50 minutes ago, MrTemplate said:

Hi mjm;

I only see the movie of Josh's Savvy Sequencer?

Hi @MrTemplate—I guess the Autonumbering part, which is first, goes by too quickly. My apologies. The very first action which occurs is the cursor sliding frame R to the Spotlight Auto Numbering tool, the cursor clicks & if you watch closely, you will see the deeply incorrect numbering executed by that tool. That is followed by the menu choice of Savvy sequencer, etc.

[Auto-Numbering by position…how effective is it?]

Why does SL Auto Numbering seem so uh iffy? AutoNumbering seems to fail regularly with multicell fixture numbering.

I have attached a video demonstrating both the SL AutoNumber fail as well as the current workaround— Savvy Sequencer, developed by @JBenghiat. 

 

[Rendering Entertainment moving lights]

12 hours ago, mhersland said:

Hello all 

 

I am trying to do some renderings with Entertainment fixtures, moving lights. 

However I am struggling a bit on getting the right workflow. 

 

Is there a way to get different positions, zoom / fokus / color / gobos? 

I am looking into scenes, but they don't seem to change the positions of the fixtures. 

 

How do you work with moving lights, and renderings? 

All is very appreciated

 

Best from Mathias 

@mhersland Pretty much think Nemetschek wants you to do this type of work in Vision…

[Saving to PDF to page size larger than printer size]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:02 PM, Pat Stanford said:

First, in Page Setup check the box for Choose size unavailable in printer setup. Either choose from the list or just type in the Width and Height you want. If you don't want to see the page break lines, uncheck the Show page breaks check box.

 

 

 

 

Then in Publish, select the item(s) and choose Options. From the Export PDF Options dialog box make sure the Export Whole Document as One Page is selected.

 

@Pat Stanford @JuanP Pat- thanks for the info above, which works perfectly for exporting a sheet. Unfortunately, publishing the same sheet/s results in Pages not respecting the P/L layout, ie; all pages published seem to be oriented only Landscape, no matter what the Sheet sized and layout is.

I note there's no switch in the Publish pane to set the exact parameter you show, by the individual sheet, some may be Landscape, others may be Portrait. Having to go through and export each one individually is a carbuncle.

To my recollection, this began after I got the MBP M1 and found no way to install or even locate DesignJet PPDs to set up a fake printer.

I'd be thrilled if the issue here is that I am simply missing a tiny toggle somewhere.

**couple more notes:

• A new file does not exhibit this behavior, it produces correctly both in publish mode and export mode, no matter how the design layer is set up.
• In that new file, the Export Range holds it's toggle on "Export the whole printable area as one page", and even when I change that toggle to"All Pages" in the Export PDF Settings pane, when I publish to PDF, all pages export correctly according to their SL layout dims.
• whereas in my working file, that value is not held. Super irritating.

[Custom Lighting Type]

21 hours ago, Jesse Cogswell said:

Good morning.  I am trying to do some realistic rendering using some LED linear lighting fixtures and have a question regarding IES distribution files in Vectorworks.

 

A standard IES file contains data for the luminous area dimensions (in my case, 3"x6'0"), but does Vectorworks actually use that data?  Or do I need to distribute Custom Light Objects along the body of the fixture to get accurate output?  If so, with what spacing?

 

As an example, here is a screenshot from VW with the a symbol containing a custom Light at 2'-0" with a loaded IES file:

 

 

You'll notice that the beamspread looks pretty circular, even though it wouldn't be in real life.

 

Here is a screenshot from AGi32 (lighting calculation software) with the same fixture/IES file at the same height:

 

This distribution looks much more like what I would suspect.  I can mimic this somewhat by copying the custom light and spacing them out, but I would love to know the proper spacing to do this with so I don't mislead the client.

 

Here's the custom light distributed every 2'0":

 

Big thank you to anyone who knows the answer to this question.

Same Question here. Been hand building strips for a while now with IES files but having to duplicate multiple sources to make something resembling RL output.

[Whinging...again]

Just now, mjm said:

@JBenghiatStellar. Thanks man. It appears there may be other stranger things going on too. the attached screenshot shows two symbols direct from the VWX base resource mgr files from the Select line. One handles everything almost everything correctly (except for the backwards cell numbering), one doesn't show the unit number at all (Which of course is the exact fixture I need. Haven't found a solution to that yet.

But your suggestion about stacking works a treat. 

 

[Whinging...again]

56 minutes ago, JBenghiat said:

Yes — and if you've numbers with Savvy, you should immediately see the numbers in the correct order.

I'm also going be memory here — I believe cells order is front to back, but there's always a chance I have that backwards.

@JBenghiatStellar. Thanks man.

[Whinging...again]

24 minutes ago, JBenghiat said:

Yes — just edit the symbol and use Send Forward/Send back until the cells are in the right order. Usually, I select cells in order (starting with 1) and Send to Back.

@JBenghiatSuper. Thanks ever so. Assuming I can do that to the symbol in current use

 

[Whinging...again]

14 hours ago, mjm said:

@JBenghiatfunny you mention that… I have attached a vwx demonstrating a couple of the numbering issues

Another couple problems.vwx 747.75 kB · 0 downloads

@JBenghiat, @klinzey I added the MR-16 Altman Z-Strips to my plot today. Numbering issues there as well. Is it possible for me to somehow re-build the multicell fixtures myself so they number correctly?