3D Dimensioning

[Kevin Keys]

I think this topic has been touched upon, so excuse the redundancy.

I am mainly exist in the architecting world but have of late been getting involved with this company at my marina here in Hawaii that has asked me to make various fasteners in 3d. Many of them I have found in the VW library of items. Some I have to make from scratch, or add or subtract items to the original VW fastener. Because of the format required with this company, dimensioning has to be done in 3d so it can be visible in the correct view ( right, top, left, etc) next to the 3d object. I have figured out a workaround that allows seeing all the text and dimensions in 3d as you rotate the primary object around. Its a bit tedious as well as not having te dimensions associated to the object as we have in the world of 2d dims in VW.

So.......any thoughts on when 3d dimensioning may be included in a VW upgrade? I know certain other cad software does have that ability.

Thanks

-Kev

[islandmon]

How is it possible that after 2 decades and millions of programs sold ... including the addition of numerous Industry Series 2d/3d modules ... nobody at headquarters as seen the need to develop dimensioning tools for 3d Space ?

Yet, Minicad v1 had primitive 2d dimensioning capabilities which have evolved into powerful tools including dimension-able WorkingPlanes and Hybrid Symbols.

Vectorworks even sells a CAD Program called FUNDAMENTALS which is... ironically... fundamentally flawed due to the lack of 3d dimensioning capabilities.

To add insult to injury the Presentational Powers of Vectorworks are aggressively promoted ... unless of course you need to present your work in dimensioned 3d.

Currently, Machine Design does not allow the designer to utilize isometrics to display the dimensions of the parts of the machine being designed.

Go figure ..

[Benson Shaw]

Amen, Islandmon!

Kevin- List a few of the 3d dimensioning capabilities you want in VW and post them in the VW Wish List Forum.

Your post might help the developers get to it faster.

My list (already posted this year) includes the following for 3d objects:

OIP readout for perimeter, area, volume.

Linear, angular and radial/diametral dimension tools with associative option.

Measuring tool.

-B

[JBender]

I would just like to add my vote here. I'm as perplexed as the rest of you. I started a thread about this a long time ago.

NNA, please say you're at least working on it!

[J Windsor]

Couldn't agree more.

One item that seems a perennial disappointment with VectorWorks, unfortunately, is the lack of associative dimensioning for 3D objects. We have the Designer package, but our primary use is the Machine Design component. We've seen small incremental improvements concerning this part of VectorWorks, but it seems to lag woefully behind innovations in the other components. Each year it is becoming more and more difficult to justify upgrading when colleagues are using other CAD/CAM tools like SolidWorks. Modeling our parts in 2D is a step backwards, and having to overlay 2D objects just to get proper dimensions seems absurd.

Is there any hope that 3D dimensioning will see any significant improvements in the coming years? This is especially exasperating considering how much VectorWorks users WANT VectorWorks to succeed. Count me among the many who would gladly pay for significantly improved 3D dimensioning.

[M.CH]

Just think SketchUp 3D dimensioning here

[Jonathan Pickup]

i wish we had 3D dimensioning

[AndiACD]

Innovations? Innovations?

Now i know i've heard that word somewhere before, just can't seem to recall what it's supposed to mean in NNA terms.

Now i remember it was the big Buzz word when NNA produced the 1st episode of the VW soap. If only!!