How to stop sketches and parts moving!

[kitkaye]

I am an exhibition designer and have to make a lot of custom parts and architecture in my VW files.

 

One thing that i am finding extremely frustrating (almost to the point of refusing to use VW) is parts and sketches jumping off to random locations when editing from a 3D object, if the part has been moved or copied from the another location.

It makes it almost impossible for me to edit anything that need to be referenced from other objects (which is basically everything i do).

 

Right now, i'm not after workarounds or people saying they do not experience this.

I rely need someone to tell me how to set up VW so it simply keeps the sketches and the 3D in the place it is being edited. 

 

The 3 images attached show my issue:

001 - what i'm working on in location.

002- the part i want to edit in reference to the other visible parts.

003- what i get if i double click on it to change the sketch.

 

I hope someone can understand why this workflow is not usable in most situations...

I am also aware of the "show other objects while in edit mode" feature.

 

Please help 

 

[mjm]

I wonder if this is due to symbols being built not on 0,0 causing them to jump away when entering the symbol container to edit

[Jeff Prince]

5 hours ago, kitkaye said:

Please help 

 

You need to post a file demonstrating the problem so we can understand it better.

Also, explaining what your issue is with more clarity would help.

 

The fix should be simple and then you will just need to follow best practices for modeling and symbol building.

[Andy Broomell]

3 hours ago, mjm said:

I wonder if this is due to symbols being built not on 0,0 causing them to jump away when entering the symbol container to edit

 

This shouldn't affect anything...

 

Based on the screengrabs, my guess is that it's a Symbol whose instance has been flipped/mirrored. Unfortunately Vectorworks doesn't let you view the rest of the model when entering a flipped symbol, since it will show the "true" contents of the symbol.

 

If this is the only instance of the symbol, you could go to Top/Plan, flip the whole symbol horizontally, then enter the symbol, then flip all the contents horizontally. That way, the symbol is no longer "flipped" but the geometry should end up where it started since you flipped both the container and the contents. However, if there are other instances of this same symbol in the file, this approach might mess some things up.

 

So yes, flipped objects are sort of a PITA. 

[kitkaye]

@Jeff Prince i'm afraid it is a work file so i am not allowed to share it. I tried to be as clear as i could..

When i double click on a part that was not created in the location that it is now located, the part jumps off to a random place where i can edit it (without any of the parts i need to reference) and then jumps back when i exit edit mode. this make it impossible to edit.

 

@Andy Broomell I'm afraid it does effect everything.

The part in the screen grab is not a symbol yet, i am still trying to model the part, which will be converted into a symbol after.

Other wise i would not be able to reference the rest of the file when creating the 3d objects.

 

In this case, the object im working on has been moved from its original instance and mirrored, but that is because the group is created from around 30 parts and it took about a day to make so i cant just create it all again in a new location.

 

I need Vectroworks to ignore its original location and just move the parts and sketches in 3d space..

 

Is this making my issue any clearer? i understand that there a best practice, but that practice does not work for what i have to do most of the time.

 

[kitkaye]

@mjm its not a symbol, just an extruded polyline within a group

[line-weight]

6 hours ago, kitkaye said:

When i double click on a part that was not created in the location that it is now located, the part jumps off to a random place where i can edit it (without any of the parts i need to reference) and then jumps back when i exit edit mode. this make it impossible to edit.

 

Is it just an extruded polyline, or is it an extrude-along-path?

 

If it's just an extruded polyline then you should be able to edit it in-place but if it's an extrude-along-path then it's always a bit of a problem that it is difficult to edit the geometry relative to the "outside world".

 

If it's an extrude-along-path, is it the "path" or the "profile" that you are trying to edit?

[line-weight]

To be honest it's rather hard to understand your original post.

 

Part of the problem is that you mention images 001, 002 and 003 but the images you have posted aren't numbered and I think they might be in reverse order.

 

Also, I don't understand what you mean by "part" and "sketch". This might be a language/translation problem. At least in the English language version of Vectorworks there is no such thing as a "part" or "sketch" as far as I know.

 

If you can't share the file, then sharing a screen recording of you doing what you describe might help.

 

 

[Andy Broomell]

The "flipping" problem I describes also applies to Extrudes. When editing a flipped Extrude, you can't see anything else in the model, and it might feel like the object is jumping to a different position on the screen.

 

Not sure if that's what you're experiencing or not.

[line-weight]

It doesn't look like we are "inside" an extrude here though. If we were editing the extrude surely we'd be looking at a 2d shape.

 

[Elite Exhibits]

@kitkaye

 

Look at this

 

 

Will post an example when time allows

 

Run the script on the offending item (assume it is a mirrored item)

3D components - only one item at a time

These items should then stay where they are  when you double click them to edit

 

Peter

 

[TomKen]

Not sure if this is your issue or not.   What I have found is if you copy, move or rotate an extrude you can edit the polyline in place.   If you mirror an extrude you can no longer edit it in place.