kamelia Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Hey guys! I am new here and I must say, that I am completely helpless with Vectorworks. I have to do this project for Uni, and it is like my design finds what's the hardest for the programme to do. I've been all over tutorials and everything but I just can't figure it out. I am desperate for help! So basically I have to do this - a double triangular pyramid on a hill with fretworks and a tree growing through it. And what I have so far is this: Basically I have the hill and the main structure, but I can't seem to manipulate the structure from then on. I am quite content not to have the elaborate fretwork design but I cant even cut a hole in the pyramid! Hell I can't even cut out a part of the bottom pyramid so that it doesnt stick out from under the hill. I can't even put trees :eek: They just don't show up when I put them. As you can see I am really clueless here. Please I would appreciate all the help I can get! thanks in advance, Kamelia Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 There's probably a few ways to get there. You haven't mentioned which version of VW's you have.... For the pyramid I think I would try starting with a Tapered Extrude and then cut holes in it using Subtract Solids. As for trees, try using the XFrog realistic image props... Alas if you are running the basic VW's these might not be available. But if you have any of the Industry Series (eg: Architect, Landmark, Etc) you should be okay... There are others here on the forum that are much better as these sorts of solids modeling than I am. But hopefully that's a place to start... Quote Link to comment
kamelia Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 Thanks for the reply - and sorry I forgot to mention, I have the 2011 educational version. Just vectorworks - no industry series Quote Link to comment
billtheia Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 For the pyramid, I can think of two ways: 1. Draw each of the sides (or one side if they are all the same) as a polygon lying on the ground, cut in your fretwork, and extrude the polygon. Then, from an elevation view, rotate the extrude up into the right position. 2. Use the Extract Surface tool (in 3d modeling palette) to extract the faces of your pyramid, set your working plane to that face, and cut your fretwork from there. For the tree, you should be able to find a dwg or dxf file of a tree somewhere on the internet. Good luck. Quote Link to comment
Monadnoc Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 (edited) All of the suggestions above are good ones. As an alternative, I would use a transparency map/texture for the fretwork. I think VW would choke if you tried to do a subtract solids for that delicate and intricate a piece. Or at the very least, slow to a crawl. For the main form I would use either a tapered extrude or a multiple extrude, one inside the other, and subtract solid to hollow it out. Or else build it like it would be built in real life, as individual panels. This way you could make one panel a symbol and just copy/rotate it to create all three sides. It would also simplify applying/positioning the texture. And use a subtract solid to slice off the bottom part from under the hill. And as Bill said, just download a tree from Turbosquid or Google Warehouse. Or see if there is already one within VW. There should be a VBvisual Maple tree that would work great. It's in the Visualization Toolset. By your screenshot it looks like you have the same tool sets that I have, and I have Designer, so I think you have everything (all the Industry Series) in the educational version. That's my guess, anyway. Monadnoc Edited July 22, 2011 by Monadnoc Quote Link to comment
billtheia Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Transparency map is a good idea, Monadnoc. Could be a little tricky, though, getting it applied correctly to the model. I don't think that VW would choke on a simple extrude of the fretwork but a complex subtract solids like that might. Quote Link to comment
billtheia Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 If you do go with the extrude method, kamelia, and all of the sides are the same, you should make the first one into a symbol and then copy the symbol around your pyramid. That should help render times. Quote Link to comment
James Russell Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I personally would agree with Peter and Bill, the process of 2D - adding and subtracting, extruding and copying as a symbol. Then if you need to change a detail you change one and it changes all, you need to re align some cuts just go back in the object history. Interesting project though. J Quote Link to comment
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