Problems making things transparent

[bgaertner]

Hi all,

I'm very very new to vectorworks. I started a project with a 2D object, and I need to make it 3D. I extruded the polygons to make them 3D, and now I'd like to make the "walls" more transparent so you can see what's going on inside them. Seems straightforward. However, when I try to set opacity, it will "let me" set it to 50%, then when I hit "set opacity," it goes back to 100% on the toolbar.

I think the biggest problem is that the properties of these things aren't set up correctly, but I'm not sure what properties are appropriate. Right now, I only have one design layer, and the class is set to "none". The options for classes are "none" and "dimension," but neither allow me to change the transparency. Any ideas? I'm pretty sure that I'm missing something very basic, but I have no earthly idea what it is.

[CipesDesign]

Opacity is a 2d only attribute. If you have Renderworks you can use one of many textures which are transparent/translucent (eg: glass,etc).

Additionally, in VW's it is recommended that one use Walls for walls, instead of just extruded polygons. The use of walls will allow much greater functionality, including the ability to insert doors and windows, make corner and L joins, and much more.

One note: it is always helpful to post your OS and VW's version, etc. and is easy to do as part of a custom signature. See the My Stuff link, above...

[Damon Design]

Create another design layer and put the objects you wish to make more transparent in that layer, turn your view>layer options>show others and then choose the gray visibility option for that layer- make sure the other layer is active.