Jump to content

Polyline, circle and line as 3D entities


Recommended Posts

I'm using the latest version of VW on an iMac. I'm trying to create a symbol. I create 3D geometry and overlay it with a 2D shape for Top Plan View. The polyline, circle and lines that make up the 2D part of the symbol, however, became 3D entities with me doing nothing. The are described in the Info window as 2D shapes, but when I go to an isometric view they become dimensionless planes. They do not appear at all in Plan View as 2D. I did not make them 3D, obviously, because they are not 3D. Why are they appearing as 3D? If I draw a square in the "Edit 2D" window of the symbol the square shows up as it should: as a 2D shape in Top Plan view. Why did these other shapes become 3D in practice while VW thinks they are 2D in the info window. Is this just a random bug? Thanks for any advice on this.

MHBrown

Link to comment
Edit the 3D part of the symbol. You should find the "2D" shapes.

In the OIP check the layer plane. It's probably "Symbol Definition".

Switch it to Screen and exit the symbol.

hth

mk

I use hybrid symbols for almost everything I draw, and I have to do this conversion tens of times a day and it is maddening! Why does this not work as expected.....

Link to comment

Me, too!

You just have to watch what the plane settings are when you create the 2D elements. It will just pick up whatever plane is active when you draw it.

I switch between Screen, Layer, Automatic, and Working planes many times a day.

I've yet to find a use for "Screen Aligned" plane. If anyone can shed some light on that, I'd appreciate it.

But you can switch it back to the way it was before VW 2012(?) In the plane pulldown go to options and you can set it so you are always drawing in Screen plan or always in Layer plane.

hth

mk

Link to comment

I can't tell you how many times I've searched help for "Screen Aligned Plane".

Nothing.

It seems to turn itself on whenever someone is standing over your shoulder asking for a dimension for the height of a wall while in a front or side view. Thus ensuring that you get a skewed dimension object that is measuring the distance from the bottom of the near wall to the top of the far wall.

mk

Link to comment

Must be a 2016 thing. In all previous versions, a dialog box comes up when creating a symbol with a check box asking if you want to change all layer plane objects to screen plane.

For those who aren't aware, the original VW (MiniCAD) and in versions of VW up through a few years ago, there was no "screen plane" / "layer plane" dichotomy. In fact, every 2d object was what we now call a "screen plane" object, and anyone who has the experience indicated by some signatures on this thread has long experience with using screen plane objects, even if they didn't know that's what they were! This was historically a big difference between VW and AutoCAD, where all 2d objects were actually 3d - basically, what we call "layer plane" in VW.

I use virtually nothing but screen plane objects, even though I do a ton of work in 3d. I find it incredibly useful - think of it as a layer of trace on your screen, where you can draw and think in 2d with respect to the view on the screen. I actually think it was a mistake to embark on this "layer plane" notion, instead of enhancing the 3d objects we already had. But this is the VW we have - it would help if certain operations did not inadvertently toggle the preference for screen vs. layer plane. Every time I edit a sheet layer viewport crop, my "screen plane only" option switches to "working plane only," and I have to switch it back (this is 2015). Hopefully this bug is fixed in 2016, I'm just starting to use the new version. For anyone who doesn't know, you can choose "screen plane only", "working plane only," or "screen plane or working plane" in VW preferences / plane mode tab.

PS: if you want to make sure moving a 3d object in a 3d view does not change location with respect to the screen normal axis, just draw a screen plane rectangle between the points you want, set it to the side, and between the corners of the rectangle. Just one of many useful screen plane object tricks.

Edited by P Retondo
Link to comment

Kevin, I don't even remember what version of Minicad we first had. It was the first CAD program I dealt with professionally, in the transition from hand drafting, and we jumped right into 3d immediately to model custom day care furniture.

BTW, a lot of people don't realize that, as in the original Minicad, screen plane objects are truly 2d - they have no Z coordinate (or maybe that is faked now, who knows what is in the code!). What is especially useful about them is that they make it possible to transfer geometry from one view to another with simple copy and paste, in much the same way as we used to project sections and elevations from plans in the days of hand drafting. I think this hybrid 2d-3d design environment was part of the original unique genius of Minicad / VW, and is much undervalued by some folks who are used to straight 3d programs like Sketchup, Form Z, etc.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

I was quite happy when layer plane got introduced, mostly because I also use 2D plans as background for reference to surrounding areas when creating 3D models without having to turn everything 2D into 3D polylines etc. first to make it look right in 3D perspective view if one wants to show the 2D plan in perspective view as well.

But I agree that the automatic plane switching that happens at times is frustrating for creating hybrid 2D/3D symbols.

Regarding all 2D objects in AutoCAD actually being 3D is not entirely correct. In AutoCAD it is possible to draw 2D lines in 3D space and it will look like 3D but when you import the dwg file into Vectorworks (or other programs that can differentiate between 2D/3D objects) it will still be recognized as a 2D object, even though we can tell Vectorworks to import it as 3D.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...