Something positive. VW 2008.

[exocubic]

Maybe I'm just a glass-half-full kinda guy, but it seems there's been a deluge of negative comments re 2008. My first impressions have been anything but. Some observations:

The interface just feels more refined and less jarring on OSX. Not so Windowzy, and much easier on the eyes. The selection highlighting is a very welcome addition - it does beg the question as to why it took so long to show up. Plus, I'm not sure I dig on the way the selection "throbs" when my cursor leaves the drawing window - is there away to disable this? (edit: Just noticed the "throbbing" is gone this morning after re-opening VW; has anyone else seen this? Perhaps it is due to changing to "hardware accelerated 2d navigation" in the prefs without subsequently re-launching?)(EDIT - found the setting in the Prefs that controls this behavior.)

The "Move by Points" tool is fantastic, as is the Symmetric by Distance scaling. The regrouped mode bar makes much more sense now as well. I don't feel like I have to edit the standard workspace to make it work as advertised. I'm also loving the Heads-Up Display feature. Making the selection handles NOT DISPLAY when interactive scaling is disabled is brilliant - readily apparent visual feedback as to the tool's state should be implemented on every multi-mode tool.

The SpaceNavigator... works. The default settings are WAY too slow and the axes of rotation are bassackwards. I've added VW to the applications in the device's prefs and mucked about with the settings to get some improvements, but it is still very clunky and not nearly as smooth and flawless as working in SketchUp. Zooming is especially frustrating - slow, jerky, and not centered on the selected object. It would also be very helpful to be able to use it in Top/Plan for simple zooming and panning when working strictly in 2d. Hopefully more work can be put into this over time.

From the .PDF Manual:

"Shift - Rotates certain 2D objects (such as rectangles, rounded rectangles, ovals, bitmaps, and PICT images) with the 2D Selection tool at the object?s selection handles". I am unable to make this work. Not sure if I would use it if I could, but I'd like to try it out.

Overall, I'm impressed with the polish and usability that has been added. Thanks for your efforts!

ps I've been hammering the fillet tool all morning, and have yet to have a failure. Most definitely not "broken", and not "buggy" either, Robert.

Edited September 28, 2007 by exocubic

[Petri]

Ditto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ditto_machine

[Guest]

You can disable the pulsing highlighting by going to VW preferences > Display Tab > Selection Highlighting button. Turn annimation OFF

[Guest]

From the .PDF Manual:

"Shift - Rotates certain 2D objects (such as rectangles, rounded rectangles, ovals, bitmaps, and PICT images) with the 2D Selection tool at the object?s selection handles". I am unable to make this work. Not sure if I would use it if I could, but I'd like to try it out.

Which PDF manual are you referring to? The upgrade companion?

What section is this i?

It looks like part of the paragraph or sentence is missing.

[exocubic]

Applications>VectorWorks 2008>VWHelp>Additional Documentation>VectorWorks_2008.PDF

It's in the Introduction, "Additional Key Functionality", Page 21.

[Jonathan Pickup]

on the Mac it?s the option key that is the quick rotate

[exocubic]

Ah-ha! Thanks Jonathon.