JR Merrick AIA

That is an interesting approach and observation. Fits the experience I have had with stairs coming into contact with walls and relocating unpredictably. Re the wall join problems, I sent a file to NNA about 6 weeks ago and have heard nothing. Since this takes time it would be good to know that the file was recieved and a report on the diagnosis or that a plan to fix the problem is scheduled for the next release.

Built in to VW and called by that name. Not a 3rd party add on.

Yes. Thanks for the excruciating desription of the process. I have had the same bug ridden time consuming experience to accomplish this simple task and it is time that the tool was fixed.

Robert, again thanks for reponding. The tool is the offset tool on the 2D tool palette that has been in multiple versions of the program. While it has worked in ealier versions, when used to offset walls in v10.5.1 it fails to work and produces and error message. This was confirmed by tech support for v10.5.1 and v11 last week. Rod

Thanks for responding. I am running 10.5.1 on XP pro fully updated. I ran a test creating a new drawing and the y-join worked. I ran a test on a drawing created in 10.1.2(??). I duplicated three wall segments with a solid color fill and "removed wall breaks" from the ends of the three lines. I selected the wall join tool, "t", and the walls highlighted but a message box said "the first wall will not intersect the second wall". I tried again. This time drawing the wall segments from scratch in another drawing created in 10.2.1 with no solid fill. Same reaction"the first wall will not intersect the second wall". At other times the walls come together but the solid fills don't join. It was the repeated experience of this type of failure that caused me to draw the above conclusion.

I have 3 way wall join problems in 10.1-10.5.1. In 10.5.1 it sometimes leaves an open intersection. Worst problems are with non-perpendicular joins. Is there a work around?

Right. It worked in 10.2. It was broken in vw 10.5 and has not been repaired. Please VW provide a quick fix for this important feature.

IN v10.2 - 10.5.1, The 3 way wall join tool does not seem to work especially if the walls are not perpendicular. Is this under developement? Also the offset tool does not work for walls after v 10.2. please advise.

Thanks for your comments. I am asking for something that provides ongoing onscreen feedback about the font size and type without having to break the train of thought- and without third party software.

I admit, I dont know what "masking layer links" means. Please clarify.

Best add it to the program as the ESC button

I am unhappily looking at lines in W2K VW that end in a bullnose rather than a crisp rectangles. This is greatly slowing my desision to upgrade to 10 and making the switch to Windows . Please fix this problem. Thanks

Please add a font palette. This could be part of the graphics palette or at least a menue bar indication of the font and palette size in use. VW 10 CTR-SH-T is a great improvement but the information should be visible in advance of typing. Also the font palette should be able to be loaded with a set of 6-10 preferred fonts so that all 150 are not displayed when selecting fonts.

I spoke to Epson today about the 1520 with OSX problem. According to them they have the drivers ready but OSX is not developed to actually print variable paper sizes for them or any other mfg. Beyond the hype can Apple can pull their act together ? I am on the fence on upgrading or switching to PC. Cheers

Please add a font palette. This could be part of the graphics palette or at least a menue bar indication of the font and palette size in use. VW 10 CTR-SH-T is a great improvement but the information should be visible in advance of typing. Also the font palette should be able to be loaded with a set of 6-10 preferred fonts so that all 150 are not displayed when selecting fonts.

What a bizarre graphic twist to find bullnose ends on lines in the PC environment. For thick graphic lines this is particularly problematic. Please make all lines end in a crisp rectangle like Office Draw, VW Mac, and every other graphics program. At least provide a toggle if some users are attached to the bullnose.

quote: Originally posted by Kevin: Autocad did not create Revit. Revit was independently created and Autocad had the wisdom to buy them out. I briefly looked at this program until I saw the pricing structure. It did not appeal to me. Any info you can share on this program would be interesting. I was not suggesting that VW emulate the price. Probably up there with acad. Rather I was responding to the structure and organization, the way you can seamlessly move from massing model to construction documents in the way you would assemble a very realistic and detailed model. The layering is replaced by components. All changes made in one dimension are simultaneously changed in the 3d model. I did not test it in any depth but intuitively it seems right.

I am a long time MC/VW user. Just took a test ride on Revit and was very impressed. I am a 'never again autocad' person but by some miracle autodesk saw the light. Revit leaves autocad in the dust bin where it belongs. Layers begone. Interactive 3 d modeling in. I hope our beloved Vectorworks is working on becoming a better Revit. Comments? :

As an 8.5.2 user I have been patiently waiting for the 10 version. I looked at 9.5 but found no compelling reason to upgrade. The helpful comments from this list suggested that many bugs had yet to be worked out. The 9.5 Windows version seemed to work well enough in the tests I made in 2D. I was concerned that the Object info palette 'docked' and enlarged on the right hand of the screen and effectively made 20% of the screen unusable. I hope this is fixed. Also I have yet to see a compelling reason to add Architect to the program as the basic version seems to meet my general needs. perhaps someone could convince me that this would provide a meaningful advance in productivity. Thanks

I have found a reliable way to import DWG at the proper scale, when I can remember the sequence. The following may help you. First you will want to know whether the imported drawing is in paperspace or model space-ie whether it is scaled or full size. Then become familiar with the scale ratios by looking at the "scale" window under the layer set up. When importing, VW asks if you want it to scale automatically. >NO. The translation continues and VW opens a window showing estimated scale ratio which is an approximation. in the dialog box, type in an exact ratio which is closest to the estimated. I hope this process is improved in version 9!!!

A simple answer to your question is that you use a layer for the title block and place your drawings in the page frame . If you have your drawings on a big sheet ala ACAD, just create a layer for a drawing and drop in place. Use the "view" control to name your sheets and turn on the appropriate layers and classes you want to be visible.

I just experienced the round trip to autocad. The design development was done in VW 8.5, translated to DWG and sent to an Autocad 14 drafting consultant. It was then returned for final corrections. In summary, it was a miserable and costly experience. 1.The settings dialogs for the translation process are quirky for both export and import. 2. Line weight and text formatting is lost 3. Patterns are lost, hatches are lost. 4. Arrows from ACAD are lost 5. Budget time at both ends to reformat all line weights, text styles, text placement in call out targets. 6. Unless you restart VW and start the import process with a new drawing, there is a high likelihood of VW freeze. 7. All in all a timeconsuming and hair raising experience. 8. The profession is so heavily dominated by autocad that a high level of compatibility is essential for VW and hopefully the programmers will keep this near the top of their agenda. 9. The introduction of "classes" as ACAD "layer" equivalents is a start. To be effective, the designer must be vigilant in working in the correct class at all times so that line weights can be easily identified(assuming the translators work seamlessly which they dont). Personally, I cant be bothered to do this . 10. One of the great assets of working in VW is the ability to draw lines the way you want to without categorizing them by layer or using colors (which have nothing to do with the output) to represent line weights. (In ACAD 2000i it is now possible to view actual line weights on screen.) 11. I hope that VW 9 will represent a great leap forward in working on this problem. 12. DataCad has just introduced a built-in PDFroutine for sharing drawings and Acrobat 6 supposedly has mark up capabilities. 13. VW must be able to share files over the net easily.

I just experienced the round trip to autocad. The design development was done in VW 8.5, translated to DWG and sent to an Autocad 14 drafting consultant. It was then returned for final corrections. In summary, it was a miserable and costly experience. 1.The settings dialogs for the translation process are quirky for both export and import. 2. Line weight and text formatting is lost 3. Patterns are lost, hatches are lost. 4. Arrows from ACAD are lost 5. Budget time at both ends to reformat all line weights, text styles, text placement in call out targets. 6. Unless you restart VW and start the import process with a new drawing, there is a high likelihood of VW freeze. 7. All in all a timeconsuming and hair raising experience. 8. The profession is so heavily dominated by autocad that a high level of compatibility is essential for VW and hopefully the programmers will keep this near the top of their agenda. 9. The introduction of "classes" as ACAD "layer" equivalents is a start. To be effective, the designer must be vigilant in working in the correct class at all times so that line weights can be easily identified(assuming the translators work seamlessly which they dont). Personally, I cant be bothered to do this . 10. One of the great assets of working in VW is the ability to draw lines the way you want to without categorizing them by layer or using colors (which have nothing to do with the output) to represent line weights. (In ACAD 2000i it is now possible to view actual line weights on screen.) 11. I hope that VW 9 will represent a great leap forward in working on this problem. 12. DataCad has just introduced a built-in PDFroutine for sharing drawings and Acrobat 6 supposedly has mark up capabilities. 13. VW must be able to share files over the net easily.

I just experienced the round trip to autocad. The design development was done in VW 8.5, translated to DWG and sent to an Autocad 14 drafting consultant. It was then returned for final corrections. In summary, it was a miserable and costly experience. 1.The settings dialogs for the translation process are quirky for both export and import. 2. Line weight and text formatting is lost 3. Patterns are lost, hatches are lost. 4. Arrows from ACAD are lost 5. Budget time at both ends to reformat all line weights, text styles, text placement in call out targets. 6. Unless you restart VW and start the import process with a new drawing, there is a high likelihood of VW freeze. 7. All in all a timeconsuming and hair raising experience. 8. The profession is so heavily dominated by autocad that a high level of compatibility is essential for VW and hopefully the programmers will keep this near the top of their agenda. 9. The introduction of "classes" as ACAD "layer" equivalents is a start. To be effective, the designer must be vigilant in working in the correct class at all times so that line weights can be easily identified(assuming the translators work seamlessly which they dont). Personally, I cant be bothered to do this . 10. One of the great assets of working in VW is the ability to draw lines the way you want to without categorizing them by layer or using colors (which have nothing to do with the output) to represent line weights. (In ACAD 2000i it is now possible to view actual line weights on screen.) 11. I hope that VW 9 will represent a great leap forward in working on this problem. 12. DataCad has just introduced a built-in PDFroutine for sharing drawings and Acrobat 6 supposedly has mark up capabilities. 13. VW must be able to share files over the net easily.