kelrock Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I imported a dwg into a new drawing. I am able to enter and edit the viewports created. I able able to select an 2d symbol. As an example, it shows up into the object info panel as Par 64_MFL. When I try to convert the symbol into an instrument, no such luck. The choices under Modify/Covert to "Convert to Instrument" or "Convert to Accessory" are "grayed out" and are not selectable. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee klinzey Posted February 12, 2009 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted February 12, 2009 Instruments being in a viewport do not make much sense. The instruments should be on a design layer. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 What version are you using? Is the PAR 64 MFL symbol imported from a dwg? Quote Link to comment
kelrock Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 I am able to edit the the viewport by "right click""edit design Layer". The way the drawing is built has the entire system (truss, lights, properties" as a symbol. When I edit he symbol, I am then able to select each 2d symbol (a piece of truss, a fixture, and so on). I select the symbol, it shows me that it is a symbol in the object info window, but it does not allow me to convert it. Quote Link to comment
kelrock Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 version 2009 Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Your instruments symbols are part of another symbol? And they were not inserted as lighting instruments, but as regular symbols? Quote Link to comment
kelrock Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 The symbols (i.e. Par64_MFL) were grouped together with other symbols (i.e. 10' Truss). I am able to edit the grouped symbol and select each individual symbol. If I choose the Par64_MFL, it shows up in the Object Info Palette as a 2D Par64_64 symbol. If I use the Custom Selection tool, select find all symbols Par64_MFL, it will find them. But when I try to convert them to instruments, the choices to convert to instrument, accessory, light position, and multi circuit are grayed out. If I copy the selection and paste them to a new drawing, then I am able to convert to instrument. Strange?? Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Yes. It's strange. Where did the symbols from? They don't sound like VW symbols. There is no 2D Par 64 Symbol (or any 2D lighting symbol) in the VW library. Could you post an example? Quote Link to comment
David Ormsby Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I think the fact you have symbols in groups may be a problem. Do you have several groups with PARs in them? I seem to remember having a challenge with that a while back. Try ungrouping everything and see if it works. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 That was my first thought, too. But the fact that the OIP says it's a symbol, means it can't be a group.... There have been several threads about how to arrange PARs on light bars into groups of six, but this doesn't sound like that. Quote Link to comment
kelrock Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 The drawing was imported. It was originally a DWG. But that should not matter. The fact that the OIP sees the symbol should allow me to convert it into an instrument. For example, if I drew a simple circle, created that circle into a symbol with the name Par 64, I am able to convert that into an instrument. I cannot figure why if I copy the symbol from the imported drawing, paste the symbol into a new drawing, it then allows me to convert it as per normal. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Does the current symbol (from the dwg) already have a record format attached? Quote Link to comment
kelrock Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 I spoke with the draftsman who created the dwg. In Autocad, when you want to break up a grouped symbol ( a symbol made up of various symbols) he uses the "Explode" command. In VW I thought a grouped symbol could be broken down using Ungroup, but that option is grayed out. So what I did now was to "Edit" the grouped symbol, select all, copy, then paste it into the drawing, after I delete the original grouped symbol. The copy is convertible. It's sort of a pain, but I am not normally convert a large amount of DWGs into VW format. It is still strange that the original grouped symbol could not be converted when I had it in it's edit window. Quote Link to comment
kelrock Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share Posted February 15, 2009 Is there the equivalent of "Explode" in VW? Quote Link to comment
Cris with no H Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I think the main problem is, you've been trying to make this conversion while INSIDE a symbol - the big one that includes everything. Conversion should be done from regular model space, not from within the editing space of a giant symbol. Select any symbol you want to ungroup and choose Edit>Convert>Convert to Group, or ctrl-K. You can then Ungroup as normal. It is misleading to talk of AutoCAD equivalents in VW, as it is missing many of the dichotomies of VW (2D/3D, classes/layers, etc). In this case, it misses the difference between groups and symbols. They have one construct for both: the block. Likewise, they only have eXplode to convert things downwards to simpler entities, whereas we Ungroup groups and Convert to Group higher-order objects like Symbols and PIOs. Quote Link to comment
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