Vectorworks, Inc Employee Neil Barman Posted October 2, 2013 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 2, 2013 Hello all, I am relatively new to using VW in 3D but am getting the hang of it. One thing I am having trouble figuring out is how to transfer the locations of existing trees (circles representing their trunk diameters, imported with a survey file) to the surface of a DTM. I have the DTM made and it's looking good with Z ranges from 54m to 66m). I have circles on the Site Model layer too but all their Z's=0 as they came in with a survey. I have tried turning the circles into Polygons then doing "Send to surface", but they don't move up to the surface of the DTM. The odd thing is, if I draw a brand new polygon (at Z=0) and then Send it to Surface, it DOES move up to be drawn on the surface of the DTM. (I have also tried turning the circles into Site Modifiers (Pads) but I would have to set the Z for each one, and I just want them to be drawn on the DTM's surface.) Can anyone point me in the right direct to get these circles drawn on the surface of the DTM (aside from having to redraw every single one as a new polygon)? Thanks in advance, -Neil Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Try this: First, make sure that the VW's Preference for 3d Conversion Resolution is set to High or Very High (see attached), then Select the Circle(s) and then choose Modify>Convert to 3d Polygons. Then Send to Surface will work as expected. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Neil Barman Posted October 3, 2013 Author Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 3, 2013 (edited) Hi Peter, Thank you for the tip, but unfortunately it does not seem to work. I tried both the High and Very High settings, and while there is a slight difference in how much of each circle (turned 3D poly) gets Sent to Surface, some of each circle still gets left at Z=0. (I did try every single of the 80 or so circles, but the same thing occurred with the sampling that I did try with.) I would attach a screenshot of this but I'm not quite sure how. Oh, and for what it's worth, since I originally posted I've also tried: - Making the circle into a symbol and sending to surface... a flat disc ends up getting halfway "edged" into the terrain's face, rather than being "mapped" onto the terrain. - Drawing a new polygon inside the circle and sending that poly to surface... Some of the poly is still left at Z=0. - Converting the circle into a NURBS and sending it to surface... Some of that is still left at Z=0, though it's a different amount than was left with the polygon. -Neil Edited October 3, 2013 by Beil Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Neil, I tried the procedure in a new file and it works as expected. Not sure where the original data came from, but if it from an imported DWG file the data might be very far from the origin, which can cause all sorts of weird issues... Attaching file here is easy: click on Switch to Full Reply Screen and use the FIle Manager... Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Neil Barman Posted October 3, 2013 Author Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 3, 2013 Peter, The circles were actually ones I drew myself on top of tree symbols that arrived with an imported DWG, but I'm not sure now to tell/fix this. I've now added a screenshot showing the result of a "partial" send to surface, as most items seem to do as well as the VW file with the DTM and the circles in case you are able to see any obvious issue with it. While I don't have lots of VW 3D experience, I have usually been able to figure things out This one however is really stumping me. -Neil Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Here is file back with all the circles at the surface of the Site Model. Not sure if your problem was operator error (I'd need to actually watch you work) or if this series of commands is somehow broken in VW's 2012. FWIW, I opened the file in 2014, converted the circles to 3d poly's, sent them to the surface... Also, your data is in fact very far from the origin, which was for sure an issue in 2012... Also, in my work, if I'm gonna take the time to create a Site Model I usually use 2d/3d Tree Symbols as they add a lot of credibility to the rendered views... Anyhow, here you go. The first one is always free... Enjoy... Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Neil Barman Posted October 3, 2013 Author Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 3, 2013 First off, Thank you!! As for the issue... While I know what you mean about operator error, I can assure that it wasn't the case this time. I tutor VW in 2D and am painfully methodical (just ask my wife) so I was doing what I was advised. I even did it in 2D and 3D just to see if the view somehow had an effect. Good to know about VW2014 helping to solve this too. I was using 2013 on this file, but I will do some tests once I get 2014 installed. I'm also going to do some tests with the origin to see if/how that might have buggered things up for 2013. Oh, and I totally agree about tree symbols. In this case I'm just needing to get the trunk diameters onto the terrain so that I can export a useful terrain for a coworker to work with in Sketchup. (He has never used VW and now is not the time for him to learn.) Again, thank you so much! -Neil Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Neil Barman Posted October 3, 2013 Author Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted October 3, 2013 Just a quick follow-up... Peter, I have just installed VW 2014 and tried to do what you initially advised. It worked. I was able to send the circles (turned into 3D Polys) to the surface without issue. So... VW 2014 seems to have fixed whatever the issue was, whether it be the distance from origin thing or whatever else the problem was. -Neil Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Hi Neil, That's good to hear! Happy to help ;-) Quote Link to comment
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