eamon

October 30, 2019

Hi

Yes, the mac is a wee bit old but it is still a trusty machine.

I did not look at the min specs for vwx 2020. I upgraded as soon as it came out and it is only in the last month these problems have started to appear.

I will get around to updating to mojave but just not the time at the moment.

October 30, 2019

Hi Tamsin

I have received an email from Vectorworks Uk and forwarded the requested information this evening.

To confirm, my graphics card is Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB graphics

Thanks for coming back to me.

Hopefully they can track the bug down.

Will update the sig too.

Eamon

October 29, 2019

To add to this, in a trial, I can crash the program & screen within 2mins!

Just tried a file that I will need in the next month and voila.

Eamon

October 29, 2019

Hi all

I have being experiencing a great deal of crashes with VWX 2020. On its own, the programme seems fine but whenever I open an existing show file from an earlier version it tends to have a major stroke and then crashes.

The crashes have occurred with plans created/modified in vwx2019. The plans are all "simple" geometry and are all venue based drawings with some being Autocad, Vectorworks, PDF hybrids etc. The crash seems to specifically happen when I open the earlier version file in 2020.

The program will run fine for 5-30mins and then the screen will crash and the fans go into overdrive. At this point, a force re-start is the only option.

I was teaching a class and the computer crashed at least 3 times in the space of 20mins.

At the moment, vwx 2020 is unusable for the mixtures of venue files I possess. I have not narrowed it down to a particular file but have found it seems to have across any file edited/created in vwx2019.

I have a great deal of work on an upcoming tour with older version plans and need to do an updated lighting plan for each. I will have to revert to 2019 to play it safe.

I am on a macbook pro 2011 c/w SSD & 16 RAM.

I am currently running High Sierra. I will upgrade to Mojave but not really wanting till December. Too much work on etc. If Mojave is required to cure this ill, I will take the chance!

I am on the latest version of VWX 2020 SP1

Does anyone have any pointers or would this be classified as a bug report?

Eamon

April 19, 2019

Hi

While more of a lurker than a poster, I would like to echo the sentiments expressed by other users in the announcement of Jim's departure.

It is Vectorworks and also these forums loss with the exiting SR of Jim.

I have often felt that he has flown the company flag in the face of user frustration and ire. Jim has, to me, being a talisman for thes forums and seemingly managed the expectations of both sides.

It will be awhile before I encounter the supervision and dedication to a company forum as personified by Jim. The new moderators have big shoes to fill and I hope they can rise to the challenge.

Best of luck with pastures new. Hope life will treat you well.

Eamon

September 6, 2018

Hi Pat/Gadzooks

Many thanks for the pointers.

I went with the option of Convert to groups and so on aka Pats method.

I did not think of AC blocks as becoming the symbols in my drawing but that makes sense. I checked the file in autocad but it read oddly. I am not as good with AC as I am with vwx.

The convert to group worked perfectly.

Thank you very much for the help and the solutions.

Eamon

September 6, 2018

Hi

I have been sent an autocad file for inspection and work etc.

I have imported the file and all seems fine on the outside.

On closer examination, all the items in the drawing have been classed as symbols. I wish to edit the multiple parts of the drawing as normal but each item is listed as a symbol and all the sub items are noted as a symbol. I know I can manually copy & paste the file the old fashioned way but I am wondering is this a quirk of the import and more importantly is there a sensible way around this.

I am looking a days worth of re-doing plus the issue of my making a mistake rectifying this file.

I am wondering does anyone have any pointers.

I have seen this before and I cannot remember what I did to "cure" the problem.

Eamon

May 13, 2018

Hi

I can take a look; I cannot guarantee success but I do understand the frustration of others making "hidden" changes and the time taken to fix things etc.

If you wish, you can send it on.

eamondofox at me .com

Cheers

eamon

September 28, 2017

Hi all

I have had the following message come up on my computer screen a couple of times lately. I suspect this is due to some "house keeping" that has gone awry....

Message: "Vectorworks will now quit because this license is in use elsewhere"

I have recently moved stuff from one laptop to another and put in a new SSD drive as a clone etc. Somehow I think that I may have messed up the seat count for my license...??

I am wondering as to how to stop this. i have uninstalled vectorworks from one of the newer machines but to no avail.

I am intending to upgrade to 2018 and have put it off due to this issue and too much work on my part... I do not wish to proceed and lock myself out of the program!

What is the best way to proceed....?

Thanks in advance

Eamon

January 27, 2017

Hi all

I have finally gotten round to getting a home computer.

I normally run vwx on my mac laptop and am looking to install the 2nd seat (standard e license with 2 x seats).

As I have a mac installation current and my new home computer is a PC, is there anything I need to do re installing the 2nd license? I have yet to do this but do I just access the service select menu or do you need to go back to the dealer for the download link?

I had a look but I dont think I am using the right terminology with what I am seeking?

Eamon

November 18, 2016

Hi JIm

Thanks for the answer.

That is what I figured. I have an old license of 2012 and this allowed me to jump the file down to 2010. He is not looking for all the bells and whistles etc.

The process worked and I have passed on a v2010 version.

Thanks for the pointer.

Eamon

November 18, 2016

Hi all

I am currently using vwx 2016 and all is fine there.

I run a theatre venue and do all my plans native to this format. I have recently upgraded from 2012.

A client coming in is still on vectorworks 2010 and has requested a copy for this format. I have recently upgraded the plans and do not have a working 2010 version that is accurate.

Is there a way to achieve this file version to help him out?

Many thanks

Eamon

November 18, 2016

Hi Josh

A big thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

It works!

Thank you for taking the time and explaining how the LSM works. I do and don't like the tool but your guide made me sit down and look at my workflow. I think I did the classic trick of just barrelling in with approx 30 plus plans to draw and a lot of other work too and did not grasp how the LSM works. Some what a case of RTFM.

Please excuse the lateness of my reply, the aforementioned work thing is this week a bit time consuming...

Eamon

November 13, 2016

HI Josh

Cheers for the tips and heads up re the LSM.

In typical fashion, I am still having the sames issues. I cannot seem to resolve the conflict of the symbol name. I have tried your suggestions and I cannot see any change.

I also use lightwright 5 and I have noticed I have a plethora of names for some of the units. The lightwright file can show a different name whilst the vectorworks key shows another! I have changed the Par 64 MFL to be a Par 64 CP62 in the instrument summary. Lightwright shows a Par 64 CP62 whilst vwx shows a Par 64 MFL; all are attached to the same symbol. Some people here will wrongly debate that MFL refers to CP61 etc. Sometimes easier to put CP62 in the name etc.I accept that I have changed a name type somewhere and not being consistent. Kinda makes me laugh and cry in the same breath.

I accept that my process and some of my symbols are at odds with the new (to me) way of using the LSM. The frustration is almost leading me to go back to 2012. I have a license on a second computer etc. Just for the time being to get by the plans I have to draw and the oddities of all the symbols.

I am unsure how to proceed as the symbols are a mixture and maybe my symbols are somewhat corrupted. I plan to update to 2017 in a few weeks but am waiting till I get past this trench of work. I do not wish to discover another quirk.

Please do not take this as a criticism of the new tool; it works somewhat and is a good idea but it is dragging me down.

thanks for all the advice.

Eamon

November 11, 2016

Hi Josh

I think I might have an idea as to why I am suffering...

Having been speaking to Steve Shelley today re a separate manner and another friend who is well versed in vwx, I think the reason I am having problems is that I have only recently upgraded to 2016. I was running 2012 prior to upgrading circa August. I have not done much with vectorworks in the last few months but now typically I am flat out.

The below quote is from Steve re a query I had for him:

"in 2014, Vectorworks added the Parts record, so that 3D lighting devices could swivel around and point at Focus Points."

Could it be that I skipped all versions from 2012 and jumped to 2016, that my symbols are not "referencing" the parts records properly? I use a mixture of generic, old white light (uk) symbols and Steve Shelleys field template. Some I just prefer and some are just for the scale. Some of these, I have had for over 10 years etc. Sometimes I change them out for 3D stuff etc.

I did attach a light record via Tools etc and nothing changed in terms of useage.

Also, some of the symbols will not allow me to edit or enter any changes when I got to change stuff in the LSM menu.

I do not know if the issue is a mixture of me just missing the point or there being a glitch etc. Probably me!

I will upload a touring version of the lighting plan in vwx 2016 just so I can show what is happening.

Re the plan, the cyc floods are intended to be Starlette floods and I am using a symbol from another library. Even changing the name of the house PC lanterns to R/juliat 329 PC from 329PC is not working etc.

Many thanks for any help possible.

Eamon

Nutcracker_An_Grianan.vwx

November 10, 2016

Hi all

Josh; you are correct in what I am wishing to achieve.

I am finding the ability to change names hit & miss. Needless to say , and typically, this is more miss than hit.... To be honest this is starting to get to me..

I have tried your suggestions re the type & model and they do not work for me. Sometimes the symbols have new names, sometimes not. I am unsure where & how this is working or not as the case may be. Does the Instrument Field in the Object Info palette bare any use in this equation? I just used to edit this field and away we went,

Some symbols will not let me save the changes in the light maintenance too.

I will be upgrading to VWX 2017 but not till the end of the month and this job is finished. Do not want to find more heartache..

I am unsure as to what I can do to help work around this problem

Meant to say, nearly all are taking their names from the "symbol name" and are ignoring my data.

November 6, 2016

Hi all

I am drawing a large amount of plans for an upcoming ballet tour.

Some of the plans are copy & paste, some are re-draws. I am using a variety of symbols and jumping from using a fresnel to profiles etc.

What is frustrating me is the inability to change (properly) the name of the symbol. I have for example flood battens in one venue and I wish to re-use them in another venue as a different fixture e.g. Thomas cyc floods are now Coda cyc battens etc. I wish to leave the symbol as the same unit and just change the name. Just efficient and the scale is not the important. I cannot figure out for the life of me, how to change the symbol name.

I would normally have changed the Instrument info in the object info palette. I have changed the symbol name in the object info and this has given the symbol a mild stroke. I have also doubled clicked and changed the symbol to a new existing name but I cannot change the fixture/symbol/instrument name to a new uncreated name...!!

I appreciate the instrument key/schedule has changed and there are some good improvements but can anyone shed light on a sensible way to change the name of the fixture...??

Eamon

I am on vwx 2016, final build

September 3, 2016

Hi all

I am currently sharing a large (ish) lighting plan between myself (chief electrician) and the lighting designer for a production beginning next week. I have just upgraded to 2016 and she is on 2013 (maybe 2014).

She sent me on the plan for the first venue. This being the rehearsal venue. I used this to make up the DMX plot for the show. I used the address column to input the DMX address's. This was synced via lightwright 5 and all was good on that front. I sent on the updated version as the one to work off etc.

The problems began when she did some edits and started looking to the main production venue. For every fixture she touched, the DMX address information defaulted to 0 and the information disappeared. I gathered quickly enough that is was my use of the address column. Her version does not possess this column and obviously there is a conflict between version's.The plan is useless to her re this field

In hind sight, I should have used one of the user columns but I assumed the address column would have been fine.

I am just wondering if there was/is an easy way around this issue without manually re-mapping all the DMX information or does anybody have any insight to this problem?

Thankfully there are only two venues and I will look to use a user field column in futures.

many thanks

Eamon

July 30, 2015

Aha!

So freaking obvious.

Many thanks for that. I think I am going blind. Just realised that I am so used to hitting the shortkey N for the dimension tool and completely missed this.....

Was not thinking straight.

Sorry for the double post.

thanks again.

eamon

July 30, 2015

Hi all

I am making some dimensions for people using the dimension tool and I am having some problems. It could be me being a bit thick but I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

I am putting dimensions on objects in a set.

As an example I have an 2440mm (8') x 1220mm (4') piece of decking on 45 deg angle to the set. Now I know the dimensions to this but I wish to mark this out. I am using the dimension tool in constrained linear mode (the 1st one!). I measure the line of 2440mm and the floating info box confirms this. As soon as I click finish, a totally different dimension appears. In this case 2440mm becomes 1725mm.

Now when i straighten the object up and re-do the dimension, the measurement is correct....!??!

I might not be using the correct dimension tool but I have tried the others and similar things happen.

I am probably being a bit thick but if any one could point out the probably very obvious mistake I am making, I would be grateful. I do not wish to send the wrong information out etc.....!

cheers

eamon

August 17, 2014

Hi Stephen

When it comes to placing a second colour on your drawing, I use the USER FIELD 1 option. This can be found down the object info palette. I use this option for notating my frosts. If memory serves me, I picked this trick up from the forums.

When you are setting up your label legends, you can add the user field option and place it as you would normally do for the other labels etc.

I am unsure about getting it into vwx reports as I just use lightwright for my paperwork. If you are not doing the XML file exchange and just exporting your data, you will have to tick the user field 1 option for it to be included in your exported lightwright info.

You can also rename the column in lightwright to become frost and make this part of your default layout etc. This is under the set up menu (column names & definitions).

I have heard that it is possible to edit the user field names in 2014 to become permanently new names etc but I am still on 2012. No doubt other users will know the best way to do this.

eamon

September 11, 2013

hi Kevin

That was the trick.

Thank you for that.

I never thought of copying & pasting an empty value.

thanks again

eamon

September 11, 2013

Hi Kevin

I have managed some progress.

The worksheet/report is functioning somewhat but when I try a range command, it looks at me very strangely. I can not seem to get it to delete/clear a range of dimmers i.e select the column and right click, then delete.

I can delete an individual number but not a range. Must be real lemming thinking going on with me.

Is it me or is this possible?

thanks again

eamon

September 11, 2013

Hi Kevin

Thanks for the tip.

I have tried and accessed the report as you describe.

I have managed to delete the dimmer information, which is what I want to do but the plan does not appear to accept the updated cleared dimmer information.

I have re-calculated the worksheet and refreshed the lighting information. The dimmer information still remains.

I am probably being a bit thick but I would be grateful if you could tell me where I am going wrong.

thanks

eamon

September 11, 2013

Hi all

I am starting to use report in vectorworks 2012 for the first time and I am floundering to say the least.

I am trying to create a editable worksheet as one used to do in Vectorworks 2008.

I know the report system has being upgraded but I cannot seem to find out how to do/create an editable report that I can manipulate data and then refresh the lighting symbols to retain the new data.

I have searched and cannot find how to manage this.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

thanks

eamon

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