bclydeb
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Posts posted by bclydeb
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Thanks for the replies, Christian and Katie.
I suspected that it was a "not supported yet" problem. I have forwarded the file and screen shots to bugsubmit@ anyway - in case it helps get the MacIntel problem resolved easier for the programmers.
We are waiting with bated breath for that update as we need the laptop for field work and presentations. The old G$ Powerbook is on it's last legs.
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We are experiencing incompatibility with the VW 12.0.1 Window tool between the Macintosh G5 machine and a new Intel Macbook Pro laptop(dual core, 1GB). The window muntins and configuration show fine on the (dual 3.5 8GB ) G5 but have split components and no, nada, zip muntins on the Macbook Pro. What shows as say a single casement with 1 vert and 3 horiz muntins on the G5 in elevation, 3D and Window dialog shows as:
A split window, one above the other at about 8' up and no muntins show. Double casements split into three sections one to left and above, and the third to the right and above the main window. No muntins show.
When the file is sent to the Mac G5, all displays normally!
I am doing a bug submit and can send screen shots (.png or .pdf) of the problem.
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My vote is in for keeping these methods of section cuts. They are very useful for all of the above and also some "slice b y slice" analysis of problem spots.
I would also add that there are a number of tools in the "legacy" category which should be kept - I keep reintalling the "old" callout arrow tool because it is so useful to do two segment add on arrows to callouts, etc.
Keep voting for your favorite legacy tools. They make the program more useful.
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Scorp,
Per your question on getting some demos.
There is a list of pre-qualified trainers by region and area in the Nemetschek area this forum is located. I am sure that one of them wopuld be able to help you with a demo and may be able to tailor training to suit your needs.
B. Clyde Beck
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First of all - I assume you reject using VectorWorks' built in window tag system.
For developing your custom tagging symbols VW has a feature which allows you to either link text in a symbol to an existing database - VW calls them 'Record Format' or create a new database with the fields you need.
The database needs to be built before the symbol containing the text. To make your own go to Resource browser Palette>resources>new resource in yourfilename>record format. develop the needed fields and preload them with example or default information.
Now create the hexagon and the text block which will contain the data. Use tools to align and center the text on the hexagon. Text should be created with the insertion point as Center vertical and Center horizontal. Once all is aligned properly do not group them. instead go to Modify Menu>Create Symbol. Fill out the dialog box correctly for your symbol and click OK.
Now go to The resource Palette>Resources>Symbols and select your new symbol. Click edit, select edit 2D and when you are in the symbol deselect all parts and select only the text. Go to the Modify Menu and find the Link Text To Record? selection. Up comes a dialog to select the correct record format, then select the field you want linked to your text. Click the requisite OK's to finish editing the symbol.
Make sure the new custom window tag symbol is the active symbol and place them on the drawing where you want them. By selecting the Data tab in the PIO you will notice that the record format for the symbol is active and you can enter the data for each symbol instance in the PIO.
I hope this lengthy mini tutorial is helpful to you.
B. Clyde Beck
Architect (and VectorWorks trainer as a sideline)
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We generally use extrudes to form masonry chimneys. Since we render them using brick textures using the RenderWorks this works well. Fancier chimneys - e.g. "Queen Anne", spiraling and twisted chimneys such as abound in the Eastern US and the British Isles we also incorporate various solids modeling techniques and apply a texture. Our chimneys are abutted to a standard wall and use the fireplace plug in at the wall. To get the firebox to show correctly in elevations, renderings and sections we do a solids subtraction in the shape of our firebox.
If we are using a manufactured fireplace in wood framing we model the surrounding walls using the wall tool. We use masonry veneer type walls and render them with a texture if we are simulating a masonry fireplace.
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I found what I takes to resolve the problem.
In the door dialog sets where you input the door thickness - if the thickness for the door is zero (0) the floor "shadow" shows up.
To be sure your door is at a real thickness go to Door Tool>Door preferences>parts>Part:Leaf (drop down) and set the thickness to a positive thickness. Thin doors are possible but not zero thickness.
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As a trainer I get this question from trainee firms which are experiencing it. I had it occur in one of my files as well but I cannot recall how I actually solved it. (mostly by random poking)
Has this issue been resolved?
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I frequently encounter stairwell window problems in my work as well. My "preferred" solution is to create a wall the full height of the stairwell and insert the windows in it as required. I then use classes to show and hide a floor plan view of a 'dummy' or 'stand in' window at each floor.
The stand in dummy class is turned off in elevations and sections which show all the windows. Dimensioning is done on the "real" wall so mistakes are minimized.
I hope this helps also.
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Actually - being able to use the measuring tool and to determine angles in stacked layers would be the greatest help. It would solve many problems of interference checking during design.
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I'd like to hop in on this one too. I am annoyed to have to "work around" by making Style lists for each project on ledger paper. (The kind we used to do bookkeeping with.) Then copying them for each project team member so consistency is achieved. It does do one thing - we tend to brainstorm the style textures and colors to use at the beginning of a project with the obvious advantage that no one accidentally messes up the project Styles.
Named Style assignment would prevent confusion. Period.
Also - an expanded ability to add to the style list and have it show where styles are assigned in the various VW parametrics and features. I too often run out of Styles to assign colors & textures to on a project.
Maybe style naming could do some preassigning for us. Say we start the style name with "Wall-" then add "Clapboard 8-" for the desired texture type and then we could end with "White" and VW would automatically make that texture available under the styles/texture assignments for walls only.
Similarly window and door parts etc. Drop down lists get shorter to wade through and we add another complication to using VW!
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It would be great to have an option to use hatches or line groups much he same as we can do with photographic textures.
I would like a plain old line work type of graphic indication for various sidings which would appear in hidden line render mode. There are many reasons for this:
Plotting color renderings for building permits is a no-no in my sphere of "influence". The building departments reject them out of hand. Plotting using gray scale consumes too much ink and the reprographics folk cannot print them useably in black and white. Again gray scale is rejected by building departments because they do not scan/microfiche correctly into the records system.
So I am currently laboriously making 2D polys and hatching them in my viewports and using the old partial rendering technique of days of yore to convey where siding is, where exterior materials change, etc. on the construction document drawings.
For all the automation we have gained - some things need to be "laboriously done by hand" still.
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I am experimenting with this. I too would like a plain old line work type of graphic indication for various sidings in hidden line render mode. There are many reasons for this:
Plotting color renderings for building permits is a no-no in my sphere of influence. The building departments reject them out of hand. Plotting using gray scale consumes too much ink and the reprographics folk cannot print them useably in black and white. Again gray scale is rejected by building departments because they do not scan/microfiche correctly into the records system.
So I am making 2D polys and hatching them in my viewports and using the old partial rendering technique of days of yore to convey where siding is, where exterior materials change, etc. on the construction document drawings.
It would be great to have an option to use hatches or line groups much he same as we can do with photographic textures.
I suggest we put this item in the "wish List" and hope it makes it into the next release.
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Oh - right! I forgot - this Space Planning feature is in Architect and the Design series and in Landmark too (I think).
and yes Architect or Land mark or Design does terrain models. With lots of features to make 3D terrain models.
We use the Design series and Architect in my office.
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I use the built in Spreadsheet & Space Planning features of vectorworks all the time to develop smaller project data (e.g. a mixed use parcel development) similar to what you are desiring to do. What islandmon is showing you is the command path to export such data from the Space Planning built in function spreadsheet.
My advice - buy Vectorworks - it is the only CAD program I am aware of with this space planning feature! This feature allows you to do just what you want.
To elaborate:
The VectorWorks space planning tool allows you to define the entities you mention as areas with specific properties and identities. e.g. Area, perimeter, Length-Width-Height, volume, name (say "Retail"), and even occupancy type among other information. This is automatically related to a space planning matrix spreadsheet within Vectorworks. You can further develop other VW spreadsheets which access that data from the SF-Useage-Floor Level space objects to make the calculations you desire within vectorworks. For presentation purposes these spreadsheets can be displayed on the drawing sheets and printed out. Or they can be sent to a regular size printer from within the spreadsheet edit feature or exported to Excel for more sophisticated analysis than is built into VectorWorks.
Again my advice - buy Vectorworks - it is the only CAD program I am aware of with this space planning feature!
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If section marks are your concern - VW has a number of Parametric section, detail and elevation marks built in. They scale between any number of scale settings for the layer or viewports to always the same size. To say it another way - regardless of the drawing scale the Section Ref. marker always displays at approx. 1/2"?. A caveat though - if the marker is placed in a layer which is at say 1/8" scale then viewed on a sheet viewport set to say 1/2" scale, the marker is scaled up (or down) with the layer it is on.
They are called Reference Markers and are found in VW Architect. In version 11 the Reference Marker tool is in the Architect Palette. In VW 12.x.x it is in the Dims/Notes toolset palette.
If you want to create your own scaleable symbol - I have no knowledge to help you - but you may have to learn VectorScript.
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I would also look at your settings for layer ambient light. The default setting is about 35. Depending on your light source intensities and object colors this could be too dark. In that case you may want to increase this slightly until you get what you want.
If you have an overexposed (too bright) you may find it is set way up toward 100. If this is the case decrease the brightness by small increments until you get what you want.
One mistake my CAD students make is that they set the ambient brightness in more than one layer. This causes some linked layer setups to show varying brightness to disadvantage. I would stick to setting ambient brightness to only the layer your objects display on.
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brvitorino
What version of VW are you using? I am getting isometric views of my object dimensions (at least in plan) in viewports in version 12.0.1.
Grant - good insight PanzerCad has some good stuff.
George - For getting vertical dimensions your vectordepot link is probably the best we have.
Everybody post to the wish list!
Clyde
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Thanks Katie,
Maybe I didn't load it at upgrade to VW12.0.1 time, but I did not have it in my Vectorworks? files. Anywhere.
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Nice - but how do you import SKP files into V12? - is there a plug in?
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Bonose,
Much of your problem may be due to the settings in the Standard Naming setup. There is a checkbox which, when set, uses a feature called 'Auto-classing'. This assigns some defaults to various symbols and parametric tools. e.g. Select the door tool and whatever door you make will be automatically put into the class 'Door-Main'.
I suggest you go>File>Document Setup>Standard Naming and see if the Auto-classing box is checked.
Also some of the canned symbol libraries are pre-classed. Check out the Help menu and search for Auto-classing for more info.
I hope this helps you out somewhat.
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Irving,
Simple is better. I like to use all the tricks of drawing to make my drawing clear to the clients and builders. I too find that my consultants prefer a "clean" background to overlay their stuff.
To this end I try to limit my fills to Hatches when differentiating wall types. I also turn off all unecessary classes and layers to show only the bare essntials.
Finally I export the mod(el) layer set, not the sheet view. For the output I make sure I select the ACAD version of DWG tha consultant has. I check the option for lineweight as colors for those who still see color as line weight. Other settings include the options to not include invisible layers and classes as part of the file.
If I need to send elevations or sections along - I do a converrt copy to lines and make an export layer to store them on. Then convert that 2d only layer as the drawing for their reference.
Generally my consultants think in their own eharts that I work with ACAD. They are amazed when they see an actual set of my drawings and ask how I do that, especially 3D views, details with classical use of line weights to make them clear, etc.
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Mechanix,
Offhand I would suggest that you are creating the pieces out of sequence.
I would try to make a polyline with the ramp (stairs, etc.) shown in a 3D elevation mode. All at the correct slopes and heights.
Then draw the circle and use extrude along path. The poly should convert to a nurbs in the process and end up being the profile you want. This may require modeling the rail in segments per each elevation view and then from top/plan view doing moves to register the railings with said ramp.
Another way to try. Make 3D loci at each point on your ramp, change their height to the desired railing height above that point. then snap a 3D polyline (unfilled 3D polygon) betwixt the 3D points. Finally draw the circle. Select the circle and 3D polyline. Use the extrude along path and get your railing model.
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I have attempted to convert Sheets to DWGs for transwmittal to co-consultants, e.g. engineers. I find that the DWG produced of teh live sections and viewport elevations are all wire frames in the resultant DWG file. I typically proof all my exports on a PC running ACAD LT 2004.
I use the viewport method to compose exterior elevations and now, with live sections.
I expected that updated, hidden line viewports would export as a 2D representation of the elevations and sections. Not so.
I find that I get the "line drawing" results by doing a "work Around". I select the viewports & update them to make all rendered hidden line. Then I convert copy to lines, Hide the viewports in an invisible class and then export to .DWG.
Is there a better way to do this? My supporting cast of consultants do not deal with 3D wireframe in ACAD very well.
big projects and notes tool
in Architecture
Posted
Mechanix, et. al.
From 31 years with a license to "practice" and 45 years in the construction field I would like to say that there are several things which get you into trouble on construction documents. Note blocks and duplicate callouts are among them.
? Note blocks which are on one sheet and referred to by several sheets via keynotes. The rule for construction drawings is say it once and where it should be expected to be. On sheet 'A-ExtElev-1' (however your firm numbers them) If you call out what the gutter is or the fascia there it does not have to be repeated through the rest of the elevation drawings. In the detail showing the gutter, call the gutter out as "See exterior elevation A on sheet 'A-ExtElev-1'".
Make your notation system convenient to the construction guy - he makes more per hour than you do - and always complains. I have one contractor who tells me he hates to read notes. Use simple notation and industry standard. There is of course no completely universal industry standard. What he considers industry standard are the way that unlicensed residential designers and now retired architects who mentored him used. However he says that to annoy me. My notes have bailed him out of sticky supplier and subcontractor situations. Because my notes are:
1. As simple and complete as possible.
2. Always occur on the same page as the areas they address. e.g. electrical circuit notes on electrical, Elevation notes on the Key elevation where all materials are labeled. (Yes there are other note blocks on other elevation sheets because materials change - not a perfect world.)
3. Point or refer unambiguously to the item they describe.
4. Are only given once and located where I have found by years of experience that a contractor, estimator, building inspector, plan checker, etc. will expect them to be. - Why the once rule - read the literature put out by the professional liability insurers and researched studies put out by Guidelines Publications (Fred Stitt). Lawyers drive big settlements through ambiguous and/or conflicting notes on the drawings.
How you do it? - Keynotes are not bad if they are close to the area of the drawing the actual key symbols are used. 1/8" plans are hard to annotate without keynotes. No matter who grumbles in the field - consistent systems of notations on the same sheet are readily understood by construction people.
One liner callouts should only occur where they are expected to be. Certainly one line callouts are preferred by construction people in the field. (Users of CONDOC System take note: Go into the construction trailer and see how the General C has noted up your cool number system. If only you could see the notes on the copy in their lawyers office!)
One final note - some of the notes/callouts we put on construction documents are nuisances to both us and the constructors. That is the wordy notations we often add to drawings which quote verbatim sections of the building code or are "required" on the drawings by the plan checker's comments. My friend the Contractor and I agree that I need to invent a consistent way of placing these notes so that the inspector/plan checker is happy and the constructors realize that they better pay attention and read it. No matter how much it hurts their eyes.