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Tom G.

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Everything posted by Tom G.

  1. Door openings have an option to show as Opening. In this condition, the hole shows the wall edge opened--there is no line from one side of the wall, through the hole, to the other side. In Plan View this is unnatural and causes one to have to hand-draw lines to cap the opening. I could show a liner set to 1/16" to simulate what I really want, but that doesn't get to my point. Can't/shouldn't an opening set to Opening show a line capping the end walls at the sides of the opening? Tom
  2. Absolutely agree with Peter. Beginners, and those of us who choose to, should have a way to work up to being conversant with Stories. A "None" option (set as default) would help immensely. And by the way, there is no "sticking a toe in" when using Stories. You have to know how to set up and use the system fully otherwise a great deal of frustration can occur. Not good for those without a built-in guru or lots of time to experiment. Tom
  3. Some help with finding a 3D gas log set within the VW resources please. I've looked in Fireplaces, Fireplace fronts, Arch Sampler, Furniture Misc., Furn. Residential, Furn. Res. II. We have lots of fireplaces and decorative fronts but no logs, glass doors or other accessories? Thanks! Tom PS. There is one within 3D Warehouse but it takes quite a lot of work to ungroup many times to fill, texture and scale.
  4. See http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=182940Post182940
  5. Also had this come up yesterday. On starting up today, re-imported the file into a new blank file with no problems. The DXF file format is pretty old, and the line work was an export out of Chief Arch, not AutoCad.
  6. I've filed a bug report but I still wonder--does anyone else using v.2013 in the most current build have this same behavior?? For what it's worth, after a rocky upgrade to 2013 with more crashes than expected, the crashes have gone away and so far I've had smooth sailing pretty much except for the above--and this all on an older file that is good-sized, at least for this office.
  7. Here is an experiment. Set Associative Dimensions set Off. Go to the annotation pane of a top plan floor plan where dimensions have been set to wall corners (end-to-end) OR to a Design Layer where a dimension has be set to a wall, also end-to-end. Select the dimension line and use the nudge key to move the dimension line away from the wall. Note the WALL MOVES TOO. Shorter dimensions along the wall highlighting windows, other walls, etc., can be nudged without creating a movement of the wall. Note also that I've got another bug happening with this phenomenon such that if I grab the end-to-end dimension line and drag, it flips horizontally to the other side of the wall (!). I started a new drawing with new walls to test and the same nudge problem occurred, including the mirror flip. Vectorworks Designer 2013, SP2 (latest build) Mac OS 10.7.5
  8. Good alternative, DWorks. I love that bright colors can be applied to loci but having them always visible would drive me buggy after a while so I toggle visibility off and on, as needed. The other thing I have to mention regarding walls moving, is that I DON'T draw in Layers with Show/Snap/Modify Others as the active setting. In that setting it's easy to reach in and grab something from a layer three of four layers deep and move it. I draw only on Show/Snap Others. Note also that if you are using the Magic Wand tool, you may be selecting objects on other layers that are then selected and moved inadvertently. Another reason to only draw in Show/Snap Others since the Magic Wand won't reach down into multiple active layers in that setting active.
  9. What is your need? Do you wish to design for wood? This topic has come up a number of times with people (me, for one) recommending fuller featured calculators. There a plenty of sources out there beyond established programs like StrucCalc, Forte and BeamChek including free on-line apps and apps for your phone and pad, that the VW beam calculator could probably leave quietly in the night and no one would notice. Tom
  10. Use a series of brightly colored loci at key core locations and place them in a class. Duplicate and send copies up to each story (layer). They will be very visible markers and indicators of alignment. I've turned off associative dimensions after finding walls have moved mysteriously. Tom
  11. All right then! I asked and you explained a feature I've not yet made use of. Thanks for that helpful explanation. I'd still like it to not show on the Screen Plane since, while it is semi-transparent, it doesn't provide any real advantage in that orientation. Tom
  12. In v.2013 there is a grayed image of a protractor that springs up whenever the Rotate tool is invoked. It's big and bold and suggests that it has some built-in power but in fact, unless someone out there can explain otherwise, merely blocks the view of the elements I'm trying to rotate. This was not an advance, in my opinion and should be done away with or made selectable to be disabled (which would be weird in its own way). Please, anyone with an enlightened opinion? I'd love to know what I'm missing, other than the view of what I'm trying to rotate. Tom
  13. Peter: Weird. I show no Solid line as an option among the line styles on my Line Type palette although I can get to a solid line if I click out of the Line Type palette and click on the line palette icon controlling line color and set the icon to Solid. Hugely unintuitive if that's how yours works.
  14. Vwks 2013 has a major change in the way one would select a line type. In v.2012 and back, if I wanted a line diameter and a dash style--or to change a dash style back to solid, I could make both changes directly from one palette using the Attributes palette. Now I have to open, select, then close the thickness palette and enter the Line Type palette to make my dash (or solid) selection. What's weird is that in the Line Type default palette, there is NO simple solid line. The intuitive means for returning to a solid line choice is gone since there is no solid line offered. Who has an efficient scheme to set these two parameters in one go? I'm completely flummoxed by this change, despite being pleased with the new line varieties offered. Tom PS. I don't use classes to draw lines.
  15. For years the process of having a Renderworks HDRI background reliably render via the controls on the OIP or the Background Render Settings palette > Lighting Options is very hit or miss. My request is to simplify the input process at the least. Why, for instance, are there two* places to input the same information, with neither updating the other when a primary choice is made? When I select an HDRI sky in the Lighting settings, why doesn't this transfer automatically to the setting on the OIP? Am I expected to choose the sky settings twice? Once? Which one? Which order? A single setting box would be much preferred to two. *Actually, there are three places if we include the Lighting choices under View > Renderworks Background.
  16. Much agreed with DWorks. A tool not clearly and simply designed will not be used.
  17. Since my use of the Select Similar tool is quite varied, I find it a hassle and not intuitive to have to then select the Preferences palette to make my selection(s). Better to have this palette appear automatically when the Select Similar tool is invoked. For those who want to take two steps where one would do, please provide a checkbox on the palette to keep it from appearing automatically.
  18. When drawing an angled rectangle, the third dimension box for setting the depth of the diagonal object should automatically open. I may have only X and Y set for my floating palette as preferences but when I create a diagonal rectangle, the third setting governing depth as measured on a slope should open automatically. I shouldn't have three places over to get to it.
  19. I'm having real problems with V2013, SP2, regarding behavior of windows and doors which is a bug of some sort. My file is off to the engineers. But I'm also having problems getting my muntins to show up in a "glass" type door leaf and I notice there is no positive check box for muntins either in the main palette or on the OIP. This needs to be provided.
  20. I endorse the workflow described by atari2600. As for layers and object heights, think of layers as boxes that are all the same at their boundaries, which is to say, essentially infinite. They all inhabit the same space. It is the things you put inside them that have elevation, not the layers themselves. The layer is simply a holder of things. The layer doesn't set the height of the object*, the object itself contains the height information. In this way, "layers" is actually misnamed and might have been better called "shells" since this term doesn't denote a spacial change like layers (of a cake) typically does. Tom *Note there are settings within the Organization Palette that can automatically confer height to objects such as walls, for instance but while the OP seems to suggest that a Layer can be given a fixed elevation in space, it isn't true. Jon Pickup makes the same point, I think, in noting that roofs have controls for height found in the Roof Dialog box, but not via any setting specific to layers.
  21. When I learned Vwks I needed to keep producing drawings so the standard "best practices" described in the literature at the time was irrelevant to my needs since those came from the idea that you mostly already knew how to use the program. As a beginner, that, of course, is impossible. Begin by using just enough of Vwks to create just enough CAD drawing to get by, then add tools and processes as time allows. You'll want to use the 2D tools to their fullest and that is all for the good but will not advance you on the goal to 3D modeling and the benefits therein if you don't embrace deriving your 2D from the 3D. To get the biggest bang for your buck, draw your walls using the wall tool and install (3D) doors and windows. Add a roof and work it in 3D as far as you can. At this stage, you'll be able to derive from your model: a 2D plan (Plan View), all of your elevations, and most of your sections plus line-work you can duplicate and transfer to your site plan. As time allows, add 3D extras like a floor volume, other misc. 3D elements (columns, beams, fixtures, etc.). Draw just enough 3D to solve your most pressing needs, then bail out of your model and finish in 2D. An important realization to come is that you are solving many structural problems via 3D and via that process, nesting within the model all of the decisions you've made. A 3D element represents (holds) many design decisions whereas a series of 2D lines do not. The first (3D) has much of the info within itself, the other (2D) has info spread throughout other places such as folders, on margins of plans, in your head, etc. and so, over time, 2D is much less efficient at returning accurate information than 3D. I can find my floor-to-floor heights and all stair sizing info by looking at my model in cross section (as I've just done today on a project that has been in limbo for 6 weeks). And of course, modeling in 3D is a joy when making aesthetic decisions. There's lots more to say about how learning materials should be structured and the bottleneck when adding 2D lines to a (partial) representation of the 3D model and all of the BIM hoopla but those topics can wait for another day. Best of luck. Tom
  22. I also was less than bowled over by the Sonder videos (watched 1,2 & 3) except to say that he did a good job with what he presented and I'd love to see a similar series from a Vwks guru on Youtube. Rush to abandon Vectorworks? Nah. I do envy having objects galore (Trimble 3D Warehouse). And as an observation, I must say Mr. Sonder's habit shadowing of everything is distracting and not particularly helpful at imparting information to builders or plan reviewers--in my opinion. Tom
  23. With respect, the roof can be on whatever layer you want it on, as well as on any class you want it on. Make sure the visibility of said class and layer is turned on. Sometimes 3D elements on their own layer might be provided, either automatically in error, or by operator error, with a height that places the element out of view, out in space. Select All, click on Fit to Objects, and see if you can locate the missing item that way or zoom out to check. Of course, make sure your Layer Options* is set to Show/Snap Others or Show/Snap/ Modify Others. *Found on the top of the Navigation Palette. Tom
  24. Clip Cube works really fast for me in Open GL. I have a year old MacBook Pro, 2.2 GHz i7, 4 GB memory. With Open GL set to default, the sectioning was like a hot knife through butter. When I loaded up the options, it slowed slightly but I was not impeded in my viewing. My highest settings attempted: Detail: High Anti-Aliasing: On Use Textures: On Shadows: On Quality: High Use Planar Attributes: On My model is a three story residence with garage, atop a land mass. 102 MB file size.
  25. Windoor is now only available, as an upgrade, if you own a license. Can't buy new, interestingly. Tom
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