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Why use "saved view"


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A Saved View saves layer and class visibilities, view orientation, stack layer status, etc. Saved views are a huge part of my workflow. I draw mostly in 2D and have all the pages of each set in one file, using class visibility to determine what objects are on what page and saved views to navigate to the pages.

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It took me a while to finally incorporate this valuable feature in my workflows-especially as your files get larger and you start designing in 3D. This is an architectural workflow.

If you are designing on a floor plan you don't want to see roofs or floors (or you want the overhead elements show as dashed lines-if a floor class is turned on you will always be inadvertently selecting it anytime you click on the blank space in a room) and likewise when you are designing the roofs you want to be in a view where many floor plan elements are turned off, then you will want to see how these elements look in a 3D or section view. Saving these view with various classes and layers turned on and off or grayed for clarity, and being able to switching back and forth through these views with one click to immediately see or continue to design without going back to switch off and on extraneous elements every time is invaluable. The trick is to set up the view parameters early on and utilize the class and layer system.

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I recently begun to use the saved views more and they are definitely a good time saver and organizational aid, but I do have some problems with them. When I use them, most of the time they don't go to the saved view accurately the first time. I need to click the view again to get it to work. It seems like the script isn't completing the first time?

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We use Saved Views very little in our office.

We find that it's far more robust?particularly when producing technical documents?to configure Sheet Layers with Viewports and then double click on the Viewports to get the relevant Design Layer and Class settings.

This way you always know that the Class and Layer settings you're working with are the same as those that will be printed.

Too often, with Saved Views, we found people working away on drawings with bits and pieces missing or bits on that needn't be.

In this light I've actually added an item to the wishlist to provide a dynamic link between Viewports and Saved Views:

http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=12&Number=100807

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Working on a large site model recently using pads and adjusting their levels and falls ? Saved Views were invaluable

This aspect of my design was not shown in Viewports on Sheet Layers so I could not easily return to that View without Saved Views

Depends on what you are doing

Saved Views should be in your tool kit

When working away I have one ?wo? (working on) really easy to move away from that view and then after doing something necessary just get back to where you were

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I was and still do use saved views as you would use VP in SL and what you could do with the camera tool.

Saved different angles of the project in perspective views on a Design Layer called PRES1 and PRES2 which is LayerLinked to a Design Layer called PLAN. I do all the Drawing part in PLAN layer and did the export render from PRES layer.

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Guest Wes Gardner

I use Saved Views a fair amount when switching from designing/building the model to viewing - I get Saved Views to do all the work for me in turning on the appropriate Classes and Layers, toggling on Stack Layers, setting the camera view, etc.

Also, when demonstrating files, I can get the correct amount of zoom, centering, etc. making the demo smooth and reliable.

Edited by Wes Gardner
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i am using saved views less + less now that we have VP's,

but still use them for the design layer production,

flipping quickly to different class settings of the

same view, turning all the presentation crap off to

get to the structural minimum, very much faster than

messing around with classes + layers in the nav palette.

BUT.... it also can lead to disasters on sheet layers

when a title block or even a VP is created using an

incorrect + obscure class.

after using a saved view which turns off that class + then

batch printing you discover the sheet layers have all sorts

of things missing only once it's

on paper on the client's table because you didn't have

time to check....

the antidote to this is to either make sure you have a

saved view that turns everything on before batch printing

sheets,

or be religious about keeping everything on a sheet layer

the none class...

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I use both Saved Views and Sheet Layers. Just as the visibility state of Viewports needs to be managed so does that of Saved Views. This is done via the Visibilities portion of the Organisation Palette.

Saved Views allow you to quickly and easily change the Design Layer work context. To overcome the issue of switched off Classes you just need to be disciplined about changing the working view by using the Saved View pop-up.

Saved Views can also be used for presentation and specific 3D views.

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Guest Wes Gardner

I've also used a "Click here before Print" saved view that toggles on my "Notes-Sheet" class where my drawing border and title block lives as well as all the other appropriate classes/layers before I go to Sheet Layers.

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It's far easier for mistakes to be made when it comes to printing if Saved Views are part of one's workflow.

How so??? I'm not seeing the link here.

For my workflow, both Saved Views and ViewPorts are absolutely essential to my VW productivity. One does not (and, I don't think, was ever intended to) replace the other. I use Saved Views to make managing ViewPorts easier - and occasionally use ViewPorts to create/update Saved Views.

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One way, which Gideon mentioned, is having a Saved View inadvertently turn things off on your Sheet Layer (such as title blocks).

The other way is that people can go to a Saved View (say, a Design Layer set up for printing) and edit the Class visibilities directly but forget to update the Saved View. Then next time someone comes along, chooses that Saved View, and prints, there will be things missing or not turned off (relative to what the previous user intended). When a user adjusts the Class visibilities of a Viewport you don't have this problem because the Viewport represents the print itself.

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Not necessarily. A Saved View only represents a snapshot of Class and Layer settings. The user can then edit their view separately (e.g. turn off a Class in the Nav palette) thinking they are modifying the end result or forgetting to update the Saved View to co-ordinate with their changes.

This never happens with Viewports because Viewports are an object in themselves (rather than simply being a snapshot of Class and Layer settings). The user is keenly aware that to change the printed view they have to actually edit the Viewport itself.

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Here's a few additional thoughts.

You can attach a VectorScript to a Saved View such that the script runs each time you choose that View. You cannot do this with Sheet Layers, but what you can do is save a view of your Sheet Layer such that when you choose your sheet your script runs.

We use this a lot in our office. You can attach a script that switches to Black and White, or one that dates you sheet, or one that changes the attributes of your drawing content, the possibilities are endless.

Also, Saved Views set your class and design layer visibilities when you choose them. This is invaluable to us, as we do our work on design layers, and when I go to a design layer to work on it, I usually want to see all layers and classes that are visible on the final sheet. If you navigate to a design layer through editing a viewport, you only see the the design layers that are visible within that viewport. I might have six viewports on the same sheet, all using different layers and classes, and when I when I go to the design layer in one of the viewports, all of the design layers in the other five viewports become invisible.

By saving a view of your sheet, you can change the visibilities of your design layers when you go to your sheet layer. Then you can go to your design layers just like the old days, by scrolling down the layer list to the appropriate layer, and voila, all the design layers in your entire sheet are visible, not just the ones in one particular viewport.

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The user is keenly aware that to change the printed view they have to actually edit the Viewport itself.

I agree w. that - and appreciate your needing to "manage" your users.

At the same time, I often find myself doing a lot of Saved View updating. I used a 3rd-party script to do that before NNA added the functionality into VW. Now that it is native, doing that is incredibly easy. I would find managing Saved Views through VP settings to be much more cumbersome than necessary.

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I think Saved Views are an indispensable useful tool in the actual design process in various ways. To be fully utilised, they require a bit of work, though.

My favourite is the ability to navigate to a location and have the ?scene set?. Take a hotel or some other complex building: how on earth could I otherwise quickly jump to the Sky Lounge interior or main kitchen layout!

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Petri.

You are right. We use Saved Views all the time to navigate quickly around our drawings moving from different levels and areas of the design. They are a key productivity tool in getting in our work out.

Viewports in sheet layers are completely different and you need to look before you print off to make sure that relevant classes/layers are on or off as needs be.

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We use Saved Views ... to navigate quickly around our drawings moving from different levels and areas of the design. They are a key productivity tool in getting in our work out.

Same with us.

Viewports in sheet layers are completely different and you need to look before you print off to make sure that relevant classes/layers are on or off as needs be.

Exactly, which makes Viewports far more error resistant, because one is required to be looking at the Viewport while modifying it, and one sees the changes before their very eyes.

I'm not arguing this hypothetically. I know I'm right out of experience. Whereas we often had problems with rogue Classes on printed drawings, since switching to Viewports for production prints we've had none. Zero.

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I'm not arguing this hypothetically. I know I'm right out of experience.

And that's where the value of forums like this can be so great. I, too, know I'm right about the way that I work being THE way to work, but the more I can see other approaches and get other perspectives the better. I might see a way to improve my particular method - or I might see value in changing the way I do things.

At a trade show this past fall I watched a VW demo. The person giving the presentation has a significantly different aproach than mine. The more I listened to him, the more wisdom I saw in his perspective. My workflow hasn't changed to match his, but I came away with a respect for his approach.

Whereas we often had problems with rogue Classes on printed drawings, since switching to Viewports for production prints we've had none.

I don't believe I've ever had issues w. rogue Classes. I have, though, learned the hard way about the ill effects of different Class visibility settings regarding VPs. For example, if a VP lives in a Class called "Bob," that class has to be visible in the VP when the VP is visible in order for the VP to update correctly.

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