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Kaare Baekgaard

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Everything posted by Kaare Baekgaard

  1. If he claims them, sure. Can't run away from a word with witnesses and all. Don't know about the Tuborgs, though. I'm mostly a Carlsberg man.
  2. That is great news BiplabNNA! I feel love again. I may be a drama queen, but for some days there, my future looked bleak and scarry. And thank you for the feedback to Robert as well. It is a bit disheartening to be refered to the local dealer for 'further support'.
  3. I used to do interiors for which VW is well suited. When I moved into product design, I stuck with the program, though most designers use Rhino or Solidworks. I found workable ways to model a lot of stuff, that most users don't even realize can be done in Vectorworks. Crucial to this is the ability to manipulate nurbs surfaces accurately. To do this, I have to be able to snap lines, objects or 3D locuses to the individual vertices in nurbs surfaces. Somewhere between VW2008, which was my last version, and the present VW2011, this ability was lost. Most users haven't realized this, because they never need to use this feature, but I do - all the time. I have tried to explain the problem in the thread: http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=146675#Post146675 But I guess noone really cares and Tech Support doesn't answer my mail. So I want all the new cool features of VW20011, but I can no longer model my stuff - and I already invested more than 1200$ in the upgrade. Bummer. So here is a deal: If anyone can provide a fix, I'll give them a 500$ reward. It may not be much for the work involved, but I am not rich and this is what I can spare. I don't know much about programming, but the points are clearly there - defined in 3D space, so it should be possible to build some kind of snap function or alternative solution. Workable fixes include: 1. The ability simply to snap to these vertices (prefered) 2. The ability to extract the position of all vertices in a surface and automatically place a group of 3D locuses at their exact position (using a script or an addon to the extract tool) 3. The ability to create a mesh object based on the position of the vertices in a nurbs surface (shaped like the rubberbands, that appear, when you use 3D reshape on a surface) These are the vertices, that I am talking about (represented by blue, square dots): and this is how a group of 3D locuses placed in the position of the vertices would look like: At least 10 objects involved in creating the model below (made in VW2008) could not have been done in VW2011, so I hope, I get some sense of importance across. I hope someone will meet this challenge.
  4. I liked Katie - she even had a sense of humor. In my latest contact with tech support I got a clean brushoff. Not cool. So I'm in too.
  5. Just updated from 2008 to 2011 on a Macbook. I get a sligth lag, when I select an object. If I click on an object to move it, often the object is left behind. Although I consider myself a rational person, I find, that I am inadvertently pressing the mouse button harder - like that would make any difference. Is this a RAM problem, a processor speed problem, a graphics card problem or some kind of bug? Is there any single setting, that is particularly demanding and could be turned off?
  6. Nope. If it is an outside corner of a complex object, the fastest way to make a cutting tool is usually be to make a chamfer with the smallest value, obtain the relevant curve with the extract tool, then change the value of the chamfer to the largest value and extract the second curve. Ungroup the chamfer, then create a loft between the two extracted curves and use the section tool to cut a new chamfer with the lofted surface.
  7. Thanks for the input mmyoung. If I turn on the 'Nearest Point on Edge' option in smartcursor settings, I can get the snap, you are looking for. Well it does seem, that I fail to explain the issue. I just got the 'its not my job' brush off from Jim at tech support. If he represents policy at NNA regarding customers concerns it would read something like: 1. Ask an irrelevant question 2. Give an answer to a question, that was not asked 3. Refer the complaint to the local dealer 4. Ignore any follow-up mail Being a customer since MiniCad 2, its quite frustrating to be handled like a newbie, who cannot find the ins and outs of the program. If there is a moderator here, please give Jim a shake from me. Sorry for the rant. The dillemma is, that there are only two ways to accurately position nurbs points in VW. One is to manually enter the position of each vertex in the object info palette (which is very slow work), the other is - or was in VW 2008 - to snap the vertexes to 'help objects' like the endpoints of lines. In order to create a help object, I need to snap it to one or two of the nurbs vertexes involved, which I can no longer do. I use this in 3 separate workflows: 1. To mirror nurbspoints over an axis in a symmetric nurbs surface (can't always use two half surfaces) 2. To acurately control a smooth transition between adjoining surfaces (can't always use the connect/Combine tool with acuracy) 3. To make nurbs surface corner vertexes form part of a curve (can't always use trimmed surfaces) So I need to snap to the vertex points of surfaces - not just the edges and corner points and not of nurbs curves, but of surfaces. I still have not found out, if anybody else can do this - or if it is just a problem with my installation. Can anyone make a line snap to the point represented by a blue square dot in this setup:? If so or if not, please let me know. It's kinda important
  8. It is my experience, that it is almost impossible to get a fair hull from lofting. Too many vertices makes for unintended bumps and crevices. Also the stem is very hard to get just right. The fewer control points, the better. The hull of the boat underneath is made from just 16 nurbs vertices for each side - some of which are weigted other than 1. It is easy to model and almost impossible to get wrong. [img:right]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_M3rjGHuD-UM/TLoxWygjNsI/AAAAAAAAABM/O8nfPv1t5FQ/s640/boathull.JPG[/img]
  9. I had the same bug in OpenGL. Had to revert to saved.
  10. I can see how this would be a problem for the programmers: It is possible to change the underlying objects in a manner, that would render the fillet impossible. This could perhaps be overcome by a graphic dialogue, that showed how the fillet was done before the change in the model tree and asking for a new input, if the program cannot figure out, how it should be done after the change.
  11. The new layer plane option for 2D objects is a real treat. It is quite striking, how much 2D objects in layer plane now resembles 3D nurbs objects. They can be moved and rotated in a 3D universe - amazing. I have tried to convert layer plane 2D objects into nurbs curves and presto! - they seamlessly translate into nurbs in the very same position and orientation. But if I try to convert planar nurbs objects back into 2D, this cannot be done without loosing information. Why not in future releases? Would'nt it be great if I could do 3D lofts etc. directly from 2D curves positioned in layer plane? And would'nt it be even greater, if I could convert nurbs curves back into 2D bezier curves - complete with weighted bezier points and no loss of information? It would seem, that the option is almost at hand with this latest release.
  12. I have submitted this as a bug - although it might just have been an oversight. I sure hope, that the guys in NNA will fix it. For those, who does not see the problem, here is an image, that should explain it. Other than that, I am very pleased with the new features in VW20011.
  13. I just updated from VW2008 to 2011. While fooling around with new functions, I discover - oh horror! - that I can no longer make 2D lines snap to the control points of a nurbs surface. Hopefully it is just because I have not yet discovered how... This function is absolutely crucial to my work with nurbs surfaces, so I hope it did not fall out of the program. Can anyone please help me? I include an image to illustrate the problem:
  14. "I love the idea of each vertex on a nurbs curve having its own weigh": Actually it does today, michaelk. You can do things with 3D nurbs curves, that you cannot do with 2D bezier curves (which seems a but strange). The interface for working with them, however, is not good. You have to click around in the Object Info palette a lot and you can only select and change one point at a time.
  15. Thanks for the feedback, guys. I actually learned something new about that extrude with one rail. That's great!
  16. I am currently using VW 2008 Architect. Actually I am a product designer, but there is, alas, no industry version, that targets my profession. After starting my own design company, I have to pay for updates myself. So I take a more critical look at the benefits and as far as I can see, there are only two minor new features since 2008, which are actually useful to me. One is a 'Fillet Edge' improvement, the other is an 'Unfold Nurbs Surface' feature. Thats it... What's the deal with the new parasolids modeling core? I have tested it and it seems to work exactly as well as the former. So now, that I have money to burn, I wish for a better reason to update. And it would have to do with better modelling features: - A better interface for working with the weight of vertices on nurbs surfaces. Selecting and changing the weight of multible vertices would be extremely welcome. - A better interface for working with nurbs curves. I want to be able to select and move multible points. Or even (dare I think it?) get bezier type handles on each point. - A true nurbs-type Multible Extrude and Multible Extrude Along Path feature. - A parametric 'Bend' function. Do you know how hard it is to model a simple bend in a plate, that is not square? - A loft With 3 Rails feature - so that the profile can change height as well as width along the loft. - A 'twist' control with 'Extrude Along Path'. You know, what I mean. - A Stich And Trim, that leaves the original surfaces intact and editable. Put at least some of these features in the Designer Industry version and take away all the useless stuff from the other versions ? and I will buy it. Please. Thank you.
  17. This is new to me, gmm18, but potentially quite useful. I tried pasting different functions into a worksheet cell in order to extract a plugin parameter, but failed. Would you give an example on how to extract a numeric value into a worksheet from one of the parameter fields generated from Pat Stanfords script? =XXX(Hardscape.Slab Thick) for instance - what should replace the XXX?
  18. Make a floor object out of the 2D property lines.
  19. Not that I would know the difference, but doesn't http://www.nemetschek.net/ThermoRender do at least some of the job? Perhaps a show of interest would provide an international version of this software.
  20. If you work systematically with classes, it is fairly easy to turn off the visibility of distracting objects, by rendering their classes insvisible. Another way is to group items, that are necessary for positioning the object and then enter that group.
  21. http://archive3d.net is absolutely free, has more than 13.000 objects and requires no registration. I never ever register for anything unless I know exactly what I am getting.
  22. Bob - would you share it via the vectorscript forum?
  23. http://www.vectorplugins.com/ has the magic wand tools, that does just that based on object type, class or attributes.
  24. Nope. However there are ways to make navigation faster: Add the 3D polygons, so that they are in fact a mesh - not a group of 3D polygons. Making the mesh into a symbol will also speed up navigation.
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