Polyline

[Ericoxer]

While i have been using VW for a couple years now for lighting design, i am trying to move away from using acad for drafting everything else . . .if i can keep it in the same program, i will.

My issue is that i am so used to using the acad polyline tool that i can't seem to get the VW to work the same way, particularly with arcs.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this a little easier, or any tips that will help me understand this better?

[mike m oz]

If you can't get the Polyline tool to work the way you want it to, try using the Polygon tool instead. You can then convert the vertices to arcs, beziers or cubic spline points using the second mode of the 2D reshape tool. The same tool can be used to convert them back to corner points should you need to do this.

[jan15]

Eric, If you tell us what you're trying to do with the Autocad polyline tool, we can probably suggest ways to do it in VectorWorks by using other tools. VW has a lot of tools that Autocad doesn't have. Usually it turns out that one of those will do the job easier than Autocad can do it.

[Ericoxer]

With the polyline tool in auto cad, particularly the arc segments, each segment is individually controllable and does not affect the segment before it.

[P Retondo]

Eric, again, it would be easier to advise if you could tell us more about what you are trying to do. Based on my experience with both programs, I don't think you are going to find what you are hoping in VectorWorks. The polyline tool can't be made to work by dragging in a direction, enter number, click and drag in another direction, type one key and <enter> to change modes, etc. It just isn't set up to be used as productively as ACAD's tool. On the other hand, you can do some of these operations using the VW polyline tool - it just takes a little more effort to tab through the data fields (at the top of the screen) to get to the "L" field, or if you are working orthogonally, you can tab fewer times to use the "x" or "y" fields. Changing modes (straight, arc, etc.) is accomplished by hitting the "U" key. The biggest drawback is that you can't control the radius of an arc easily, or its other characteristics.

On the other hand, I would challenge anyone to get results faster in AutoCAD when compared against using methods more "native" to VW. For example, the following polyline was constructed using the "Add Surface" tool very quickly:

Similarly, you can draw lines and arcs and combine them into a polyline using the "Compose" tool. These are the methods I use most often, and having used both programs, I definitely prefer the more intuitive and additive processes that work best in VW. These processes are more flexible for designers, as opposed to the data-entry orientation of the ACAD polyline tool.

[jan15]

With the polyline tool in auto cad, particularly the arc segments, each segment is individually controllable and does not affect the segment before it.

Right, and the polyline tool in VW doesn't work that way, which is good because that allows it to do things that Autocad can't do. You may not be interested in those possibilities right now, but the thing you're trying to draw can probably drawn very nicely in VW using other tools. Only we can't suggest what tools would work best without knowing what you're trying to draw. So instead of saying that you're trying to use Autocad, you should describe the thing you're trying to draw.

[Ericoxer]

I guess its not the tool im trying to get to work the way im used to, its just more of me thinking in terms of VW, and less in in the how i would do them in ACAD.

Pete, seeing the diagram it makes more sense to do things that way, and i keep forgetting that acad was built on an idea of data entry by keystroke, where VW is a more visually based program.

Thanks all for your help!

[eas]

As someone who has a similar issue thinking about polylines in VW I also find the paint bucket under the polygon tool to be pretty useful. In many ways it is way quicker than the AutoCad trace method. I just wish I could set it to be the default for that tool or set up a keyboard shortcut for it.

Add/clip surface is huge--I set up keyboard shortcuts and use both of these tools constantly. They work well when you are searching for an ACad "fence" option.

Edited April 12, 2007 by eas