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Moving symbols between layers changes Z height


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I found this topic from 2012 and there were no real answers in this thread, so, once again I'm asking if anyone has found a fix for this. When I move a symbol from one layer to another layer, it changes the Z height back to the symbol's Z height it was originally made at. For example, I move all my house lights to a new layer, and they all end up below ground. 

 

It appears to only be some symbols that do this, others do not. I can't find the difference between the symbols. For example, "Furn Stand Music" does this but "Audio Speaker Marshall Amp" does not.

 

It appears one workaround is to edit the symbol, copy the items, and create a new symbol. Is this removing some sort of setting that I just can't see in Spotlight? (Story-aware?) Kind of tedious! 


Update from the Spotlight Facebook group: 

"Well. The Music Stand has Story aware features enabled and the Marshall Amp doesn't. I suspect it has something to do with that. I don't know why this happens if you are using Spotlight which doesn't have this feature. I suspect it is a bug that most testers won't necessarily have been able to pick up because they are all on Designer Versions.

I will post as a bug in the morning and see what comes back." 

 

It appears I won't be able to fix this mistake as I can't see "Story-Aware" features. 

 

Edited by echerney
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This may seem obvious, but have you checked Layer Elevation of the new layer; the one you are moving the object to?

 

If you have a Layer Wall Height >0 on any existing design layer, Vectorworks will create any new layers at the elevation of the previous layer's wall height. For Spotlight it is useful to set all the elevations to zero, but this auto-elevation feature makes that a pain.

Edited by JimDenaultASC
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2 minutes ago, JimDenaultASC said:

This may seem obvious, but have you checked the Layer Elevation in the Organization window?

 

If you have a Layer Wall Height >0 on any other design layer, Vectorworks will create any new layers at the elevation of the previous layer's wall height. For Spotlight it is useful to set all the elevations to zero, but this auto-elevation feature makes that a pain.

 

Someone mentioned this on Facebook and I generally don't use this feature. I've had this issue on multiple files, every file has layer wall heights etc. at 0. 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

@echerneyThe music stand is set to story aware in the Symbol Options and that is why your height keeps changing. You can uncheck this option by right clicking on the symbol and editing the symbol options. I will log this in our internal tracking system and discuss with the team if this should really be story aware or not.

 

Screenshot 2024-02-29 at 16.00.29.png

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1 hour ago, JustinVH said:

@echerneyThe music stand is set to story aware in the Symbol Options and that is why your height keeps changing. You can uncheck this option by right clicking on the symbol and editing the symbol options. I will log this in our internal tracking system and discuss with the team if this should really be story aware or not.

 

 

 

Thanks, the music stand was more of an example, it's most of the pendant lights, light fixtures, etc. that I sometimes use for house lighting in my entertainment drawings. Since I only have Spotlight, I can't see "Story-Aware" mode when I edit a symbol. So I have no way of knowing if the symbol will have that mode, and I have no way of turning it off! This would be helpful to Spotlight users to be able to see. 

Screenshot 2024-02-29 at 5.41.19 PM.png

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I find most of the pendant lights I've tried had this issue. Here are 6 that have the problem. I discovered the issue when using the "Light Fixt Lightolier TL Pendant Atcha". 

 

I've also used "Light Fixt Moooi Smoke Chandelier" and "Light Fixt Suspension Chandelier Wood Round" in the past and they also have this issue. 

Screenshot 2024-02-29 at 6.04.29 PM.png

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Anything that is prefixed Light Fixt is designed for Architect use and will be story aware. Anything prefixed Light Instr is designed for theatrical use and will not be story aware.

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