Why can I not draw a 2D object in any orthographic view?

[MGuilfoile]

 I'm not sure when it happened, sometime around VW 2019 or 2020, but I used to be able to pull a dimension or draw a 2D shape (rectangle, circle, line) in any orthographic view (Top, Front, Side). Now, it often does not work. I'm looking at the end view of a wall right now and I wanted to measure up to the center of an electrical outlet (to make sure it is in the right place.) I can snap to the points and pull the dimension, but it immediately disappears. I try to draw a rectangle and then view the height of it, but it disappears after drawing. If I go to Top view, there they are, scattered around at random, nowhere close to where I drew them.

 

This is similar to the problem of 2D objects not staying 2D. Often, I will draw a rectangle in front view, but in Top view it appears as a dimensionless plane on edge. If I go to a isometric view, sure enough, it is a 3D rectangle. If I wanted a 3D polygon I'd use the 3D polygon tool. I'm sure this is a feature, but I want my 2D objects to stay 2D and I want to pull dimensions on objects regardless of what orthographic view I am in.

 

There are a zoo of drawing settings now (Screen Plane, Screen Aligned, Screen plane only, Working Plane only, Screen plane OR working plane(?), and, my favorite, "Unified View." Then there are the Legacy Settings. What? None of these terms really mean anything to me and the whole thing begs for simplification. Which is what I'm looking for here. Can anyone give me some advice along these lines: 2D objects stay 2D and the ability to draw in 2D in any orthographic view. As I mentioned, this used to be possible..

Thanks,

MHBrown

[MGuilfoile]

OK, scratch part of that. Somehow my Dimensions class got turned off. I never turn it off, so I must have hit it by mistake. I still have the problem with the 2D objects becoming 3D without my permission. Any advice on that?

[Jonathan Pickup]

2 hours ago, MGuilfoile said:

There are a zoo of drawing settings now (Screen Plane, Screen Aligned, Screen plane only, Working Plane only, Screen plane OR working plane(?), and, my favorite, "Unified View." Then there are the Legacy Settings. What? None of these terms really mean anything to me and the whole thing begs for simplification. Which is what I'm looking for here. Can anyone give me some advice along these lines: 2D objects stay 2D and the ability to draw in 2D in any orthographic view. As I mentioned, this used to be possible..

if you want to go back to the old way of drawing, you can activate the legacy settings. This will allow you to go back to Screen plane mode if that's what you need. Activating these legacy options will only affect the current file as they are document settings rather than Vectorworks settings.

 

 

[Mat Caird]

 

If you use the "set working plane" tool, click on the face of power socket, then it will draw the dimension aligned on that face. 

The dimension will be in 3d, as per my screenshot below. I set the working plane to the face of the king post. 

You may need to change to one of the other orthographic views to find the snap points. I find the snap points are more reliable in wireframe.

 

If you go back to top/plan view, it resets the working plane to top/plan, which is the same as Layer aligned. This won't affect the dimension you drew, but will for future, so you have to Set Working Plane once again.

 

HTH, Mat

[rDesign]

@MGuilfoile it may be worth checking out some of the Core training videos over at the Vw University portal. This one titled ‘2D Planes’ briefly explains a little about the different Document preferences for Plane Mode.

VW University: 2D Planes

[jmcewen]

On 8/28/2023 at 5:48 PM, Jonathan Pickup said:

if you want to go back to the old way of drawing, you can activate the legacy settings. This will allow you to go back to Screen plane mode if that's what you need. Activating these legacy options will only affect the current file as they are document settings rather than Vectorworks settings.

 

 

What was the reasoning behind phasing out screen plane mode?  It was the fastest way to make viewports, especially if they are not orthographic. Almost every plate I make has at least one not-quite-isometric overview summary viewport because true isometrics always seem to line things up perfectly to hide important details.  It would not change your working plane when you went back to drawing so screen plane is great for when you want to temporarily work at a strange angle.

 

I keep turning on the legacy mode and a little while later find that the legacy mode has been deactivated again.  

[Josh Loy]

    

There is a command called "Align working plane with current view" which might be able to help with some of those alignment concerns along with the "Snap to working plane."

[jmcewen]

4 hours ago, Josh Loy said:

    

There is a command called "Align working plane with current view" which might be able to help with some of those alignment concerns along with the "Snap to working plane."

Sure, but this is an extra step.  I tend to do all my playing at once, skipping from view to view. I can set the working plane every single time I change views so that I can draw my crop shape for every single viewport, or I can set to screen plane one time, and never need to think about working planes again until I want to model more.

 

What is the value in phasing out screen plane as a standard option?