VW2009 - viewports, references, multiple users....

[doug shaffer]

Hi -

We are starting the Design Development phase of an industrial / office project which is the largest project we've ever produced using VectorWorks. There will be three of us working on the project (plus three consultants using Autocad), and we are looking for information regarding the best means of working on the project as a team.

We are familiar with how to use design layer and sheet layer viewports, and understand the concept of using design layer viewports to external files.

Does anyone have any tips, or links to processes that have been spelled out? For example, do people use different files for each floor of the building? Are are notes and dimensions added using the 'annotations' part of viewports? Regarding sheets that will be printed, are they all compiled in one main file, or are sheets scattered amongst the various plan, elevation, etc. files?

I realize that this is a complicated question, so I appreciate any advise you might have.

FYI, we will be working in 2D only on this one.

Thanks -

[HOUCAD]

Hi Doug, I have been setting up a set of drawings for a 4 story office building with 3 people working on the drawings in house and a couple of outside people using AutoCAD. I started off following the Ellicott Heights example found here

This example uses a single master file for all your sheets but I have trouble working with their master file because it gets very slow and crashed all the time. This office typically creates one file per sheet but there are advantages to grouping sheet drawings by floor.

With multiple users it is a good idea to have separate model files for each floor. The model files are not for printing, only building objects, walls doors windows etc. should go in the model floor files. I set up design layers in each floor file for slab, floor plan, reflected ceiling plan.

It can also be good to add spaces and room tags on a layer in the model file as well as dimensions. Anything that is connected to your wall / floor plan geometry. If you need to change your floor plan then spaces set to auto adjust and dimensions set to auto associate will adjust themselves (most of the time). With layer options set to show, snap, modify others you can 2D reshape stretch rooms and modify all layers at the same time.

For vertical circulation it is a good idea to leave a void in your floor levels and draw your stairs, elevators etc. in a separate file. These elements are usually the same on each floor so only draw them once. Make sure you keep the same origin as your floor plans. Reference these elements or any other common repeated elements into your model floor files.

For MEP plans they will usually be plotting their own sealed drawings but if they use a 3D application you can import their ducting and piping into your model files. For structural you can keep the column grid and columns in a separate file and reference them into each model floor.

I keep any drawings from outside sources in a separate background folder and reference the layers into my model floor file layers. This way when you get updates you just reimport the DWG into your background MEP file layer. For sending your floor plans to others you can export only the floor plan and clg grid layers without unnecessary notes etc.

For exterior elevations and building sections you can reference each floor into your sheet file design layers. For exterior elevations you can stack all your floors and generate elevations and building sections. Keep your section and elevation markers on their own design layer so you can reference them into your floor plan sheet files.

For managing borders and issue / revision data it is better to have one file with all your sheet information. I like the issue manager because you can manage a drawing set and record all issues and revisions in one place. If you want to have one person checking and plotting the plans then you can do all your notes etc on a layer in the model floor files and reference what you need into the master sheet file. This takes some planning and limits your production to one person per floor.

What I ended up doing is I made a separate file with my borders on separate layers and separate sheet files for every sheet. I reference the borders into my sheet files and turn on the appropriate layer. This way you can manage the drawing set and issue data from one file and have as many people working on the plans as you have sheets.

It is important to keep your drawing origin the same on all model layers and keep your scales the same across all model files. you can rescale your viewports in your sheet files.

With our drawing we use a set detail module layout. The sheet drawing area is divided into a 5 x 4 grid and the detail titles are always in the same place and the numbering never changes even if a portion of the drawing spans several detail modules. This is a convention the boss insists on. It means you will have sheets with missing detail numbers but it allows you to make a cartoon set to plan where everything goes. We have a library of standard details made to fit the detail module space. I make a grid for the detail modules on a separate layer or part of my border so I can turn that on to layout my sheets.

For sheets with multiple scales you need a scaled grid layer for each scale. This way you can draw details in place on your scaled design layers. This way you simply make a design layer viewport into your sheet layer and don't have to worry about cropping individual details. When switching between sheet and design layers everything is in place. Some of our older drawing are such a mess because people drew stuff all over the place and when you needed to edit something you had to search for it on your design layers. Often the cropped viewports would cut off parts of details etc.

The file and folder structure for a large project is important. I like to have only my sheet files in the root project drawing folder. I make subfolders for floors, backgrounds, common elements, borders and site. You can make separate folders for each discipline depending on how many drawings from others you are working with.

That is basically how I have set up our 4 story office building.

[doug shaffer]

Wow. Thanks for all the info, David!

[jfmarch]

You should also review the Multi-user section of the tech board that we started some months ago. This is an ongoing issue with us that we are sorting through project by project. I am going to speak to the NNA folks at the AIA convention next week and some of the things we have found so far...

[Damon Design]

That is a wealth of information David, props to you for taking the time to coherently explain and organize your workflow on a team and referenced project. For those of us who are single user/practitioners working on smaller projects it is difficult to guess on how best one might implement such a team workflow on a larger one. An overview like this takes a lot of the guess work away. I am also using my down time to explore and dissect the Ellicott Heights project to see how I can improve my workflow in setting up all of my projects.

Thanks

[doug shaffer]

For managing borders and issue / revision data it is better to have one file with all your sheet information. I like the issue manager because you can manage a drawing set and record all issues and revisions in one place. If you want to have one person checking and plotting the plans then you can do all your notes etc on a layer in the model floor files and reference what you need into the master sheet file. This takes some planning and limits your production to one person per floor.

What I ended up doing is I made a separate file with my borders on separate layers and separate sheet files for every sheet. I reference the borders into my sheet files and turn on the appropriate layer. This way you can manage the drawing set and issue data from one file and have as many people working on the plans as you have sheets.

David -

Thanks again for the very useful information. I'm slowly figuring things out for our project. Would you mind clarifying what you said regarding how you use borders/title blocks and sheets? You said that you made a separate file with your borders that get referenced into your separate sheet files. I've found that when I reference a sheet border layer in to my individual sheet files that the sheet specific information in the title block is not editable.

I think I'm misunderstanding how you do this.

Also, it is my understanding that you are using the Vectorworks border tool because you are using the 'issue manager'. Is this assumption correct?

thanks!

[jfmarch]

One of the things we are still trying to figure out is how to have multiple users use a single model file. We have had trouble in the past with broken up multi story building models. Anyone have any other suggestions regarding this aspect?

If anyone is planning to be at the AIA convention, I would be glad to chat about this.