C. Andrew Dunning

Chad - Because of all of the image adjustments (scaling, positioning, tiling, etc.), image content is limited to being managed exclusively through the image picker dialog. That being said, though, if you want to think through and send me some sort of description as to how you'd want this to work, I can add it to our on-going wishlist and see if there is a way to add the functionality. An interesting idea...

Chad - Your multiple-screen and multiple-Class idea makes most sense. There isn't any way to have a single Video Screen object that changes screen content based on Class. Sorry...

A twist on what you're saying, Grant...: I'd love to be able to define maximum chairs in a row and maximum rows in a section (like venues and fire marshalls define things), generate the Seating Layout objects, and have the PIO tell me when I've gone over. I just did a layout w. 8000-8500 seats for which it would have been quite nice to have been able to define my ideal aisles - but to have been able to see problem areas at-a-glance. Would have been a huge time-saver...

Also, check out the examples at http://www.vectorworks.net/support/custom/vscript/example.php. They're quite helpful.

Miguel - Thanks for the quick reply. Using subfolder is an option, but I was hoping to be able to have a folder of, let's say, "Cars," and then a file each for "Ford," "GM," "Nissan," etc. and extract Symbol names for a selected file.

Have any of you ever figured out a way to use BuildResourceList (or, similar) for a specific file in a given folder - and not simply gather all of the resources in all of the files in a folder? Thanks...

Ryan - BTW, I see you're in Nashville. You may or may not know that we have a local users' group (w. lots of production/entertaiment folk). If you're interested, drop me a direct message and I'll add you to our mailing list.

Actually, it's easier than that (assuming what Ryan is using is the Spotlight Straight Truss PIO). All you have to do is to enter the desired angle for your truss into the "Hanging Angle" box (about 3/4 of the way down the OIP).

Craig - A few months ago our users' group (McVUG) spent a meeting creating simple PIOs. I've attached the resulting VSO. It simply creates a hybrid box and places a text string. You might find tinkering with it to be helpful, as it demonstrates OIP parameters, subroutines, variables, 2D (a rectangle and text), and 3D (an extrusion). Happy coding...

We are pleased to announce the release of Audio ToolSet 2, the pair of Plug-In Objects used to create simple loudspeakers and flown line arrays. Though there are several other modifications, in this version we've addressed 3 of the most common critiques of our initial offering: - AudioBox 2 will allow users to visualize up to 3 dispersion ranges, for things like db drop-offs, key frequencies, and/or frequency ranges. - AudioArray 2 will allow users to define up to 3 loudspeaker types for a given array. - AudioArray 2 will allow different relative tilt angles for each loudspeaker in a given array. To get more info, visit our Audio ToolSet 2 Web page or view the . Thank you!

Resurrecting an old thread... Jon - If you're still interested, you might want to revisit http://www.landrudesign.com/AudioToolSet.htm, as we've addressed this deficiency. I'll make a more "official" release announcement once the dust settles around here a little more. I'll try to create a quick demo movie, as well. Have a good one!

Matt - There isn't an automatic way to do this. Your best bet is to assign the same image to all of your LED object instances and then use Scale and Horizontal and Vertical Shift to let each panel map a portion of your image. That help, at all?

Michael - Look for a file called "AudioBoxData.xml." It will be in your "Plug-ins" folder (either in your main Vectorworks application folder or in your User Folder. To edit a given box, simply select it in the "Type" pop-up, change the values in the OIP, and then click the "Save To Library" button. You'll be given the option of renaming the box or updating the definition. At this point, the only way to delete boxes is to edit the XML file manually. We have noted the need to add a "Delete" feature to future versions. Thanks for the question!

Happy to help. Do you know how many times I've (and, I'm sure others on this forum) have said that? What should have been a 15-minute fix that turns into 8 hours...that turns into pleas from help from this community...that results in a kind soul graciously pointing out a simple handle naming error...

Jeff - You might want to try...: - Create hidden OIP parameters to hold color info (a color index, 3 seperate RGB parameters, or a single parameter from which you parse RGB integers). - Build the PIO geometry based on those hidden color parameters. - When you OK out of the color-changing dialog, write the chosen color info to those hideen parameters. - Reset the PIO after exiting the dialog. This will cause the PIO to be regenerated using the new color. Make sense??

I'm glad you're liking the tools. Different PIOs have different approaches to Class names. This particular one seemed to be the simplest and was actually requested by one of our other users. It is good to know that at least one other user appreciates the addition. First, your co-worker will need to have a license for the tools... Assuming that is in-place, look for a file in your Plug-Ins folder called "AudioBoxData.xml". You'll be able to share copies of that instead of forcing each user to input the data individually. That help?

Michiel - There is a known issue between the Mirror tool and Audio Array. We're working on rectifying that for the next release. I know this is frustrating and truly apologize for the inconvenience. Regards -

Michael - I could be incredibly wrong, here - and haven't tried this, but would using SetTextureRef w. the Class' handle work?

Michael - Here is a Function that I use that I believe Gerard Jonker wrote a while ago that does exactly what you're needing, assuming you know the name of the Class: {----- Function to Determine Existence of Given Class -----} function existclass(Cstr : string) : boolean; var ci:longint; stop:boolean; begin ci:=0; stop:=false; while stop=false do begin ci:=ci+1; if Cstr = classlist(ci) then begin stop:= true; existclass:=true; end; if ci = classnum then stop:=true; end; end; If the Class doesn't exist, you can then store the active Class, create the new one and set it's attributes, and then "reactivate" the stored Class.

Michael - Eehoing what Dieter said... 1) EAP does create multiple objects. Creating them within a Group and using FInGroup, PrevObj, and NextObj will let you get handles to the individual bits. 2) Though Assigning Classes after-the-fact will work, I've not had the best success w. doing so and getting Class Attributes to work w/o constant PIO resets. Before-creation Class setting seems to fix that.

Miquel - You're quite right. Just to add to the discussion...: Using the new 2012 Soft Goods / SoftGoods 2 tool as an example, there are more wrenches to throw in...: - Textures are applied to all of the PIO parts. Some of those Textures are object-color-dependent; some are not. Some are constant and some are determined by certain choices made in a dialog. We had to decide which, specific, instances would allow for the over-riding of those Textures by-Class. - Certain colors are very intentionally chosen through a dialog. As with Textures, we had to decide if/when instances would allow for the over-riding of those colors by-Class. - Some of our users use by-Class settings for the whole PIO instance - and some use by-Class settings for the parts. Without getting into which approach is right/wrong/better/worse, we set out to accommodate either the best we could...and I think users will find that a decent balance was found...

The problem, here (for NVW and for 3rd-party developers) is that, in this regard, we have 2 different types of users: those who don't want to mess with managing PIO sub-parts and who just want to have all of the PIO parts automatically attributed - and those who want to sub-Class everything and have attribute control over those sub-parts. We have to serve both as equally well as possible. From my experience, the challenge isn't in handling thigs one way or the another; it's the having to allow for both ways that takes a bit of effort. It isn't incredibly difficult; but can get quite tedious...

We are pleased to announce that all of the tools in Landru Design's family of Plug-In Objects are compatible with all flavors of the newly-released Vectorworks 2012! The tools include: - VideoScreen 4 - The Staging ToolSet - The Audio ToolSet - StageLift - SoftGoods and SoftGoods 2 If you'd like more information, you can visit the Vectorworks 2012 Virtual Event Web Site (enter one of the areas and click on the "Partners" tab), the Landru Design VW Plug-In Objects Web Page, or the Landru Design YouTube Channel . You can also e-mail me directly. Thank you!

Echoing Mike... This is a very interesting tool. Not one to miss...

Nicholas - Learning something isn't a bad thing. Sing out if you need any more help.