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kgroob

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Posts posted by kgroob

  1. It is helpful to have a layer for each story / floor in one file to see how they stack, and sometimes each story needs multiple layers.  It would be great if we could group layers so that, for instance, all the first floor-related layers could be turned on / off at the same time, or at least found more easily, particularly in complicated projects that may have multiple options that want to be their own layers within a single floor.  Photoshop has the ability to group layers.

    • Like 3
  2. What happened to the "batch print" command? I used to be able to print several sheets within a file in Vectorworks 2013 without individually clicking print for each one. Did the command change names? It doesn't show up when I type it in under "help" either.

  3. On the subject of line types, why can't we have a "pattern" line with a dashed style? The pattern line setting allows for gray lines while the document preferences are set to "black and white only". And/or, enable white solid lines in the black & white only mode; white is useful for drawing on top of photos.

  4. It would be very helpful to have a "zig zag" tool that requires only two clicks (like a line) to get a zig zag line. It should have options similar to the revcloud tool--zig zag size/variability, straight vs. curved (similar to the breakline), etc. It could also have the option to work as a polyline (multiple clicks to change the overall direction of the zigzag).

    My office is a restoration architecture firm. We often survey buildings and use VectorWorks to record the conditions in order to indicate a scope of work for repair. This tool could be used to indicate cracks.

    This tool could also be useful for doing details to indicate a rough surface--ie: showing a detail section of a marble floor, the mortar bed could be illustrated as having a rough surface on top with the zig zag line.

  5. Also, you could try using the artistic renderworks and set it to "Tapered Lines". Turn the wobble down. Not sure if the extra lines of the model would show up, but it could work.

    I have used this rendering method before, then brought the final quality & line renderings into photoshop and superimposed them. You can tone down the color in the final quality image with a translucent white mask, then put the black lines on top. It gives a nice effect for a presentation.

  6. I would rather not export as PDF every time I need to print; that just adds an unnecessary step that will add time to my work.

    I will try disabling quartz, but I just tried creating an entirely new VW 2009 file of our titleblock without copying any text from an older file, and I'm still getting the error 79.00 FE message. Any other ideas?

    *UPDATE*

    Another potentially helpful clue:

    When I select "print" within VectorWorks 2009, and open the pull-down menu where copies & pages is, there is one option that is crossed out: "AdobePDFPDE" and when I select it, this explanation comes up:

    "This panel is not compatible with your computer. Contact the printer manufacturer for the latest version of your printer software."

    and below that:

    "Adobe PDF 6.0.0 Copyright 2003 Adobe Systems Inc. All rights reserved."

    That menu was not available in VectorWorks 11.5. I'm not sure what it means.

    I just updated our printer driver via the link provided in an email from an HP person a few days ago.

    *UPDATE#2*

    When I change all of the Helvetica from bold to regular, the file prints fine. In fact, any bold font causes the printer to show "Error 79.00FE", and when I have no bold font, the file prints. In my fontbook application, it says that my Helvetica bold works fine. So, what's going on?

  7. My office had Vectorworks 11.5 and recently (finally) decided to upgrade. We had no problems printing directly from VW 11.5 to our HP Laserjet 5000N (approx. 10 years old). Now we cannot print VW 2009 files to the printer. We can, however, print to our plotter. I just finished updating our driver, and I still cannot print from VW 2009. Every time I try, the printer shows:

    ERROR 79.00FE

    The VW file size is 3.9 MB.

    Any solutions or suggestions?

  8. In my preferences (Vectorworks 11.5.1), the only option where you can choose "only in wireframe" is for showing light objects. Also, the lines are not the loci; the loci are just the little boxes on the extents of the object.

    I ended up turning the door into a group rather than a plug-in object, and that solved the problem for now. It's just a pain because I can't edit the object as you would edit the door plug-in. But is this a bug? Lines should not be showing up when the drawing is rendered. Anyone else have any ideas?

  9. Not sure if this helps, but if you try to split a 2D object while working in 3D, you may inadvertantly split a 3D object; this results in a plane where the cut was made. If you click on the objects in your symbol and find that one is a split based on what it's called in the Object Info Palette, I think you can double click on the object, delete the splitting plane, and everything will be better.

    If that doesn't work, I'm not really sure what the problem is. Good luck!

  10. I know that directional lighting uses parallel beams of light, but do these beams then exist throughout the entire design layer, or does the location of the light source make a difference? For instance, would something be lit by the directional light source that is behind the arrow of the beam?

    If I put four directional light sources 20'-0" apart from one another in a plane, does that just make the brightness increase four-fold?

  11. I don't have much experience rendering roads, but I had a similar problem with certain extruded objects and sweeps. This worked for me:

    In the Objects Info Palette:

    Click the "render" tab.

    Where it says "map type" right under the preview of the texture, change it to cylinder. See if that works. If not, try different mapping options. Perhaps perimeter, if cylinder doesn't work.

    • Like 1
  12. I have built a wall and textured it with vertical beadboard. For some reason, the doors in the wall have the beadboard going horizontal, and I can't figure out how to change the texture mapping on them. When I select the "door in wall" and change to the render tab in the object info palette, it doesn't give me the option to play with the mapping. please help!

  13. The design layer is set at 1/8=1'-0". The page boundary is set as tabloid, 125%, so it hugs the image.

    I'll try a viewport. Thanks.

    Also, in doing some research, I noticed a lot of people have recommended using Artlantis. Any experience with that software?

  14. I have a 24 mb size 3d renderworks file that I can't print. It doesn't do me much good to make this detailed model if I can't print it. I tried reducing the resolution to 72 dpi, changing 3d conversion to medium, rendering in open GL, and that didn't work. Then I tried printing to a PDF first, and that didn't work. Then I tried rendering a portion of the model as a bitmap in Open GL at 72 dpi, and that didn't work. Finally I had to resort to a screen shot, which worked.

    The model uses extrudes, extrude along paths, sweeps, and symbols.

    My Mac has 1 GB of memory, which I'm guessing is not enough. How much memory is needed on the computer and/or plotter in order to print a file like mine? Is it as simple as buying more memory and plopping it into the hard drive?

  15. I figured it out...sort of. I changed the texture mapping to cylinder from perimeter. Now it shows up. I would like to know, though, why perimeter mapping didn't work for a sweep, particularly when it worked for another sweep in the same symbol.

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