VW2026 - 2D Walls for Detailing

[cberg]

I am trying to figure out what to do with my 2D detail library now that Vectorworks 2026 has changed how zero-height walls behave in Top Plan.  In general, I support walls that act more three-dimensionally, but there are certain problems associated with this change.  

 

It would be great if some legacy version of the wall tool could be repurposed into a 2D wall and added to the Detailing Palette.  When legacy files are converted to VW26, VW can display a dialogue box to convert zero-height walls to 2D walls.  Doing this would provide a clear separation between 2D and 3D workflows.  

 

Going back through the years, there are many instances where I have used walls in viewport annotation layers and for 2d details.  Or for when I needed parallel 2D lines that acted/connected like walls. Some consideration needs to be given to the role of 2D information in a 3D BIM context.  

 

As it is, this unexpected VW26 change will require countless hours of reformatting, and I am not sure how I will accomplish what I need to...  Faced with reformatting dozens of wall types, I am at a loss as to how to fix...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2025 by cberg

[Tom W.]

In VP Annotations at least can't you just draw a normal (3D) Wall? Why does it need to have zero height? Likewise with new 2D details.

 

For your existing 2D details, I don't know how they are arranged but is there not a way to select them en masse + give them all height at the same time...? Presumably not... Not sure if it could be scripted in that case?

 

You can draw 2D 'walls' already with the Double Line Tool by applying Components in the tool prefs but you can't use Materials + you're essentially recreating an existing Wall style which isn't what you want. Plus they don't connect like Walls. But again I'm not sure why you can't just use a Wall with height as in 2D you don't see it anyway. 

I have never created a zero height Wall!

[cberg]

You are correct.  You can put a 3d wall in an annotation viewport, and it maintains the components .  But that doesn't solve the problem of 2D details (in a design layer) created with the wall tool.  

[Tom W.]

26 minutes ago, cberg said:

But that doesn't solve the problem of 2D details (in a design layer) created with the wall tool.  

 

Do you mean existing (pre-VW2026) 2D details or future ones?

 

[cberg]

Both.  I guess. 

 

I have to think about this change a bit more before, and how to adapt my existing 2d detail library to VW2026. 

[cberg]

Ok.  (I am slower than most other folks on here :-))

 

Since my partition details are on dedicated 2D design layers (organized by scale), I decided to set all my walls to a height of .002" and a cut plane of .001" for these layers.  This makes everything appear "flat" in 3D and also correct in a 2D plan view.   It also means that I am only maintaining a 3D library of wall styles.   

[zoomer]

On 10/25/2025 at 5:28 PM, cberg said:

I am trying to figure out what to do with my 2D detail library now that Vectorworks 2026 has changed how zero-height walls behave in Top Plan.

 

 

 

Could this help ?
 

Quote

 

VW 2026 Update 2 :

• Objects in the below cut plane class of walls have the visibility and attribute overrides of that class.

 

 

[Tom W.]

9 minutes ago, zoomer said:

 

 

 

Could this help ?
 

 

 

I'm not sure this will make any difference to @cberg. All the update means is that the Below Cut Plane Attributes class now controls not only the attributes of that geometry but the visibility as well. Which is very useful, where people are seeing bits of Wall below Doors for example where they never used to see it before, but won't change the fact your Wall needs to have height in order to display in Top/Plan.

[zoomer]

OMG,

I read this as "and attributes overrides by their (Wall or Component) Classes" 🙂

 

Thought VW will make an option so older Walls in Plans keep looking the same in VW 2026.

 

In the Update 2 news I also read about Doors and Windows updates ..... while it was meant as Door and Window Assemblies fixes 😅