Lock Site Model!

[ericjhberg]

It is way to easy to accidentally grab and move site models.

 

You should be able to "LOCK" a site model in place the same way you can Lock a Referenced Viewport. The lock needs to allow you to manipulate and update the site model, but should prevent it from moving.

 

I've asked for this before, but can't find the original thread.

[Pat Stanford]

You know you can lock any object in VW?  Won't keep you from selecting it, but will keep you from moving it.  

 

You will have to unlock it to update the site model.

[ericjhberg]

Thanks @Pat Stanford, I was aware of this feature, but it actually doesn't help here because

1. Frequenty interaction with the Site Model settings and iterative updates makes Lock/Unlock cumbersome
2. The risk of moving the site model actually comes with the interaction, so even if you lock it, when you unlock it and interact with it, the risk of moving it is still just as high.

 

[E|FA]

I think you can leave the DTM in its own Layer and place all the modifiers in another Layer(s)and then update the SIte Model within the modifiers' OIP when you change or add any.  That way you never have to make the DTM Layer active.

[ericjhberg]

True; however, for complex site models and processes that we have worked out over the years, there are speed benefits from interacting with the site model that do arise.

 

Additionally, even to update Cut/Fill, you have to interact with the site model as you can't update those numbers with the Site Model is Locked using the Lock/Unlock function.

[Jeff Prince]

@ericjhberg 's suggestion is extremely valuable.

It's a logical expectation that your site wouldn't move while manipulating it, it's supposed to be a geolocated representation of the real world after all.

 

I teach people how to site model and accidentally moving it is the number one mistake people make when editing the site or just generally using Vectorworks.

The next one is not setting up their model to listen to the correct design layer for site modifiers.  This usually happens right after they get so tired of accidentally moving their site that they decide to put it on a separate design layer from the modifiers and everything else to avoid the problem.

 

Making a model position lockable, but otherwise editable would be a huge improvement.

[E|FA]

I hadn't noticed this was a Wishlist item, not a troubleshooting request.  I voted.

[Katarina Ollikainen]

@ericjhberg, this is definitely on our list of site model improvements. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve nudged the site model when trying to move objects on top of it.

[MGuilfoile]

The suggestion that you lock the site model does not work, as anyone who has tried can tell you. It has nothing to do with the site model, however. It has to do with its general class: "Very Large Objects." If you are zoomed in and working on, say, a streetlight, you are most likely working on top of the site model, a classic VLO. If you have locked it, you will inevitably click on it. Even though it is locked, it is still able to be selected. What?! Until you zoom out and de-select it you will be unable to continue to work on your streetlight or anything else. It is a real pain. It makes me have to place large objects on its own layer or in its own class, which is never a part of my class/layer taxonomy. I rarely organize things by size.

 

Needless to say, this puzzling behavior is absolutely wrong. A locked object--any object, but especially very large objects--should not be selectable with a simple mouse click. It should only be selected with a key combination and a mouse click. After all, you may want to eventually unlock it. This would be a very simple and helpful fix. I'm curious as to why the problem persists. That said, I'm still mostly on VW2023, so perhaps in VW2024 it has been fixed. Has it?

 

MH Brown

[Jeff Prince]

3 minutes ago, MGuilfoile said:

Until you zoom out and de-select it you will be unable to continue to work on your streetlight or anything else.

 

FYI, hit the escape key and you will deselect it.

 

But, yeah, I pretty much agree with you 🙂

 

[MGuilfoile]

Thanks for the tip! I'll certainly do that.

MH Brown

[Jeff Prince]

I was watching the coffee break today and I could have sworn I saw the presenter lock their viewport with a checkbox in the OIP.

I don't seem to have that capability, but it got me thinking that it is exactly what we need for the site model 🙂

Just realized it was a reference viewport they locked.  Would be great for site models and regular old viewports too.

Edited March 7 by Jeff Prince

[kevin.hayward]

I'd like to suggest two-stage locking for all objects.

 

Lock position (as viewports)

 

Lock contents (for want of a better phrase)

 

Sometimes you want to fix an object in place, while being able to edit it in some way; e.g. truss, site, walls etc. If I have a truss locked in place, I'll still want to run cables on it, attach lights, distros etc, but I don't want to accidentally move it. I'll want to keep the site plan locked to geo location, but cut into it, walls will be fixed but I'll want to add doors, etc.

 

Sometimes you'll want to lock something so it can't be changed, but be able to move it without risking dragging something out of position.

[Ross Harris]

What we need here is a pin object option, with lock remaining a full lock up - this would be useful across the board.

Edited March 18 by Ross Harris

[hollister design Studio]

These are all such good comments.

 

None of us want to lock the site model so that there's no editing, updating, manipulating.

But we need to be able to "pin it" in place, as @Ross Harris suggested.

 

We also need to make it so that when it's pinned, it's not grey box selectable... this of course adds the difficulty of how would you reselect it so that you can unpin it.

 

In other 3D software I've used, you can find every object by its name in the OIP, whether they are visible, locked, or in a turned off layer.

Since you can select objects without actually clicking on them it's very easy to lock and unlock. 

We don't seem to have that option in vectorworks, unless maybe through a worksheet, so figuring this out is going to take a bit of nifty engineering on the part of the coding department.

 

and as @MGuilfoile said, it's generally a problem with all VLOs (I'm not sure if you came up with that acronym or not but its apt and fitting!).

 

 

[grant_PD]

I was just about to post this wish, but found this thread.  I know we can lock objects, but it would be very helpful at reducing errors if we could lock the whole layer JUST LIKE WE CAN A REFERENCED DESIGN LAYER.

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