Sheet Layer, multiple viewports render slowly

[AW@WAdesign]

Hi All--

For some time now, our architecture firm has struggled with extremely slow detail sheets. On the surface, the detail sheets seem relatively simple--a standard sheet layer with about 16 viewport boxes showing a number of different details at 3"=1'-0". We could not figure out why they took so long to redraw, and we were losing time with every zoom and pan.

We draw details entirely on a single class. They're all lines and polygons, and all drawing work is on the NONE class. All of the details are scaled at 3”=1’-0”. We use a limited palette of 7 or 8 hatches to indicate materials like concrete, gyp board, and the like. All of the line weights, line colors, hatches, etc are ‘forced’ (assigned individually using the Attributes palette). Pretty basic.

Over the years, we've slowly built up a library of useful details from previous projects that we carry over to the next project. There is a lot of information visible on the NONE class in the design layer—perhaps a decade worth of details. This allows us to grab a window trim detail from here, a roof eave from there, etc. We’ve found that it’s efficient to build on and modify the library of details we’ve developed. We had assumed leaving the old detail info on the NONE class in the design layer wasn’t a problem, since we crop out the extra info in the viewport on the sheet layer.

But here’s what seems to be happening: When you zoom out, Vectorworks renders ALL of the information present in the viewports on the sheet layer (even if that info is beyond the crop boundary). Only after VW has rendered everything, does it apply the crop box. This means that each detail visible on the sheet (16 viewports) re-renders everything on the NONE class every time we zoom out. We’re asking the computer to redraw a decade worth of details 16 times every time we zoom out, every time we pan, and every time we zoom back in. It’s frustrating to watch the fastest computers in the office hang as we attempt to lay out our detail sheets.

Once we realized the problem, the solution was obvious. We’ve created a class called “OLD DETAILS” and a class called “CURRENT DETAILS.” Only the CURRENT DETAILS class is visible in the viewports. VectorWorks seems to recognize—and ignore—invisible classes when re-rendering the viewports. Why it can’t ignore items outside of a crop object is a mystery to me, but I’m glad to have finally happened on a work around.

This forum has solved many odd issues for me over the years and I hope this post helps someone out there.

Thanks,

Andy

www.wadesign.com

VW Fundamentals 2016 SP3 (Build 301288) (64-Bit)

iMac 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 running OSX El Capitan (v10.11.3)

8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3, AMD Radeon R9 M390 2048MB

[AlanW]

I would make sure that in File/Document Settings/ Document Preferences/display you have Save Viewport Cache ticked.

This maintains the previous render of the viewport even after closing the dwg.

HTH

Also if you are exporting a sheet and have other viewports around the sheet make sure you untick the update visible out of date viewports prior to exporting, otherwise you will have to wait for all to update even if you don't want them to update.

Also if only wanting to render one you can maintain control.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Alan Woodwell

[Kevin McAllister]

Are all your viewports in top/plan view? I suspect they are because you talk about 2d linework. I think that's one of the modes that hasn't been updated to the new graphics module - Jim?. I've seen the delays you're talking about with heavy 3d geometry too. Not fun.

Kevin

[PVA - Admin]

Correct, both Top/Plan and Section viewports of any type are still recalculating all geometry if the drawing is highly complex or if you have a large number of viewports. If it's enough geometry to overrun what Enhanced Navigation Graphics can handle (this feature was a stop-gap to help improve speed at the cost of memory usage while we transition to VGM and while it is a clever trick, it has limits) then you get really slow redraw as you're seeing here.

If it becomes a serious enough issue, converting the viewports to polygons or lines can help speed things up, though it might be best to Convert Copy to Polygons, then move the copies to a new sheet layer so that you still have your live viewports, but thats a messy cumbersome workaround and is only worth it for major slowdowns.

[AW@WAdesign]

Alan, thanks. We do have "Save Viewport Cache" ticked. No improvement.

We don't export from sheet views, but thank you for the suggestion.

Kevin, yes, all viewports are in top/plan view. Agreed, the delays are not fun. At all. My employer just dropped $5k on a brand new "bear canister" mac pro in hopes that dual graphics processors would make this manageable. No luck.

JimW, I have a feeling we're overrunning Enhanced Navigation Graphics. We've found that turning off this feature is the only way we can move around in the sheet layer. Turning it off at least allows us to pan, zoom, then redraw, as opposed to a slow, stuttering pan and zoom. I really hope that the VGM updates fix this issue.

Tangentially related, is it possible to turn off all 3D features of VectorWorks? Is there a version that drops the 3D and optimizes the 2D? I'd welcome a simple, lean, fast 2D drafting program.

Thanks!

Andy

www.wadesign.com

VW Fundamentals 2016 SP3 (Build 301288) (64-Bit)

iMac 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 running OSX El Capitan (v10.11.3)

8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3, AMD Radeon R9 M390 2048MB