GWS

I was hoping that 3D filleting would be part of the edit history of an object in 2012....but it appears it is still not. ...or am I missing a setting?

Here, here Chris

Same problem here. Had the same problem last year. I had hoped it was teething problems. They have taken the money from my account of course but still no software!!!! This is another reason why I am opting out next year. Would have done it this year but I didn't realise there was a 3 month notification period.

That pretty much sums up why I have moved to another program, not because I wanted to but because VW is falling too far behind. The promises of improvements are wearing thin, there is too little, too late. A real shame as I have been using VW for a long time and have always liked it.

I tried to opt out this year but unfortunately I discovered there was a 90 day clause; so I'm now finding that I'm going to have to pay for software I wont be using! VSS has offered nothing other than a very slightly reduced upgrade fee.

What happens if you have 100+ parts in a design. You'd have to have 3 dimension classes for each part so you could show the Technical Drawing clearly, otherwise other part dimensions would show up in the viewport. Not having associative 3D dimensions is clearly leaving VW behind the competition. Walls have it why not other 3D objects. It seems to me that VW is progressing at an unexpectedly slow speed.

Does anyone know if the 3D dimensions are associative, and if the 3D filleting is part of the history in 2012

I'm afraid VW doesn't really have proper 3D dimensioning yet. But if you set the working plane to the top of the cylinder, and the layer selection to working plane, you can use the linear dimension tool to dimension the cylinder. I would consider this to be a work around but it does give what you want. Unfortunately this type of dimension is not associative, so it will not update if you change the design.

Anyone know what's in the next version. Are there any beta testers willing to share upcoming morsels!!

I have filed a bug about STL export just a couple of months ago so you may have better luck if NV have fixed the STL export in SP4. You may find that if you export the file as IGES, the printers can translate it to STL.

I used to try and use VW to print 3D models but it is too unreliable and the files often fail so I switched to 'Solidworks' and now it works every time.

I have been using a program that uses 3D PDF export and can be viewed using Adobe Reader, a program that most users can and do use. Really simple to use and shows the full 3D flyover capability. Perhaps VW could utilise this common export facility. (VW is slipping further behind the competition)

Try exporting as version 14/LT/98. It's really old but seems to work better. I have had this problem recently and ended up having to copy and paste to a new file, but R14 seems to be OK. Ever since the implication of layer planes the export stuff is erratic

The best options I have found for exporting to other 3D software is either Parasolid or IGES both seem reliable and often if the VW file has bad geometry i.e. gaps in faces etc these file formats can be fixed relatively easily.

Are you using 'Unified View'? It will make all the layers have the same view as the on you are working on. Try turning this on, switch to Top/Plan View and then export.

VW 2011 has a layer plane mode and a screen plane mode. If you want to move an object in plan view (X & Y) make sure that screen plane is selected from the drop down menu at the top of the screen. You can move things in an isometric view and snap to 3D points by using the Layer Plane mode.

Yes, I had noticed.

Made a mistake here, it's the back arrow on the 'Working Plane' palette window to get back to the preselected plane.

If the scan is an STL file you can 'decimate' it to a manageable size using a handy little program called Meshlab. (STL files can be quite large if it's a bumpy surface that's been scanned) You can also use this to translate it into a DXF or 3DS file so you can import it into VW. Depending on how it was scanned and if the scanners have something like Geomagic, another very useful piece of software but quite pricey, get them to trim and export as NURBS surfaces. If you're going to 'subtract' and 'add solids' to the scan a DXF file is probably better as they normally import as solids. Best place to start is with Meshlab though, it's either free to download or is very cheap.

3D contraints would be marvellous.

It is one of the many areas that underlines the fact that VW is really based as an architectural program and you're probably right that if more people used these tools there would be more interest and more focus on making them more useful. I have been banging on about the nuts and bolt tools for ages but sadly to no avail. At least now they seem less likely to re-align themselves to the ground plane after they have been inserted, but trying to get them to insert directly onto the desired plane is not straight forward. On that, and you may already do this, if you select the plane with the plane select tool, then click on the bolt tool (the plane will revert to the ground plane after tool selection) and then re-select the original plane you selected (using the drop down menu and selecting 'working plane") the bolt should then be aligned to the y-axis of that plane. A help but not ideal. As for automatically subtracting the hole, every other software I have looked at does this, why VW doesn't is not clear, but logic would imply that if you're using the hole tool then you will inevitably want to remove the hole from the object.

Chris Have a look at this. Hope it helps

Thanks Oyvind.

So far the graphics are working well, I still may end up going with PC laptop. Would you mind telling me which laptop you decided to buy?

I too have found it difficult to take the step after all it's quite an investment on many levels and I have been using VW for a long long time and don't want to give it up. The decision by NVW to drop Machine Design and therefore not develop that side of things further started me considering my options, and with recent frustrations in 2011 I have to taken the plunge. Especially as in the Machine Design world VW is quite far behind. In answer to your question, 'how difficult the transition had been', it has been easier than I thought, although I am still using VW and it's still early days, but learning the basics and producing drawings has not been difficult. The tutorials are helpful and utube has a fair amount of videos to help as well. Filleting, chamfering, 3D dimensions, EAP's etc all seem really good and the lofting even carries a history. OpenGL works very well and I have had no crashes or freezes...yet!! So far a good experience