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Viewport option to link display settings to match Saved Views


brian-rwc

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I wish there was a Viewport option to link display settings to match pre-set Saved Views.

This would be an optional override setting for the Viewport but it's purpose would be to avoid the redundancy of having to manually maintain the same settings on both a sheet layer Viewport and Saved Views used to navigate design layer views.

Viewports to could be set to match a pre-defined Saved View (from pull down list) and vice versa. The current work around procedure for maintaining matching Viewport and Saved Views is to not use Saved Views and only navigate through the Viewport but that is clumsy.

A project tends to have many more Viewports than Saved Views. I think it would much simpler to be able to create a master list of Saved Views and set the Viewports to either match a specified Save View or un-link them when you don't want them to match.

I think this would help to better structure the overall organization of the project files in general and create less confusion.

The flexibility Vectorworks offers in display formats may be a good thing but that can also be a detriment when setting up an maintaining all the various Viewports and Saved Views becomes too confusing and redundant. A better structured method of Saved Views could provide that macro level of organization Vectorworks is currently missing.

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

There was a recent discussion on Viewport Styles that may also cover this. The idea being that you could set your view up the way you liked it (as a saved view or not) then once a viewport was created, a "style" could be derived from that viewport and applied to others, similarly to how Wall styles work.

Does this sound like it would also improve things, or is there a different direction you would take it?

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I think that would definitely be a start but often at the early stages saved views are created before sheet layers and viewports are created. If a viewport style could be created couldn't the same thing be done for saved views?

Even after sheet layers and viewports are set up many of us find it easier to navigate through design layers using saved views instead of through viewports alone.

To me at least it seems more tedious to leave a design layer, find the sheet the viewport is on, click on it to select which design layer I want to make active and then try to figure out what's wrong with what I see next. Inevitably I need to change class or layer settings after that because something isn't displaying correctly even though I selected the 'match viewport display settings' option.

This may be "old school thinking" but somehow I still find it more convenient to just change what saved view is active. At least I can then concentrate on what I am working on rather than get distracted by various "navigation tricks" necessary to get to the same place a saved view would otherwise take me.

Whether to use saved views or not always creates intense debate in our office. Some say saved views are a legacy function Vectorworks should eliminate. They say it creates a redundant organization structure viewports can handle better and they refuse to set any saved views up. I'm not convinced of that argument yet.

I hope at least for now Vectorworks does not plan to eliminate saved views. If so they need to improve viewport navigation significantly.

A single project can have hundreds of viewports and when using the project sharing features of Vectorworks 2016 we see all those in one file. That's as it has to be but it's like navigating a sea of viewports. On the other hand a project may have as few as several saved views that get repeated in many more viewports. It's for that reason I think a "Saved View Style" makes more sense than a "Viewport Style". I think of a "Style" as representing a basic pattern that gets repeated, not 1 of a 100 different variations.

What it's named doesn't make as much difference as what it does. Basically there needs to be a more central setting to control all the various display settings available in Vectorworks whether that's design layer views or viewport settings (when selected as linked to a saved view setting). Conceptually I think of saved views as representing the more basic configurations that get repeated (Floor, Ceiling, Roof plans ect.). With viewports I expect variation not standardization.

When introducing new employees to Vectorworks their biggest complaint seems to be that there are so many different display settings and combinations of classes, layers, viewports, saved views, sheet layers (on and on) that setting plans up becomes more time consuming than it has to. I think a restructured method of Saved Views that can actively link to viewports would simplify the process, provide a sort of master control, streamline the workflow and allow better organization overall.

Thank you and sorry I didn't expect my response would become so long. Not easy to read in one sitting!!!

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Kizza,

Yes that would work and I believe it's the same basic idea.

I definitely prefer the name Visibility Style over Viewport Style as it would not be exclusively about controlling Viewport visibilities. It would also control design layer visibilities and/or whatever you wanted to link the presets to.

The whole point would be to create a single set of presets that can globally change or actively update whatever object or setting you want to maintain those visibility. It would basically be the existing Saved View function with significantly improved functionality where it could now serve as a sort of central control.

I guess we all know about the manual work around method of achieving this where after saving and refreshing a saved view you create a temporary viewport that automatically adopts the active design layer view settings then use the eye dropper tool to select the other viewports we want to match to those settings (then we delete the temporary viewport).

This would just automate that process and maintain a constant link between viewport and design layer views when selected to link the two. The reverse should also be true in that every Viewport should have the option to save it's presets as a Saved View that could be used to both navigate through the design layers as well as link to and update other viewports to match the same visibilities.

Some people prefer to start with setting up Saved Views and others prefer starting with and only using Viewports but by linking them together both workflows can become better integrated.

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I think it would help a lot if Layer/Class settings would not be restricted

to overall visibility only.

So similar to C4D Layers where you have different options.

Something I would like to see in VW would be additional Options :

- Render in RW, or not, produce HL or not

- Export, DWG and or FBX/C4D

- Appearing in Navigation Palette

- Visible in Viewports (Or Sections only, or normal Viewports)

- IFC yes or no, (apply standard IFC Tag to make IFC export possible, or vice versa)

- Lock

- (Freeze. Still don't understand what that is but many need it)

Edited by zoomer
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I think it would help a lot if Layer/Class settings would not be restricted

to overall visibility only.

So similar to C4D Layers where you have different options.

Something I would like to see in VW would be additional Options :

- Render in RW, or not, produce HL or not

- Export, DWG and or FBX/C4D

- Appearing in Navigation Palette

- Visible in Viewports (Or Sections only, or normal Viewports)

- IFC yes or no, (apply standard IFC Tag to make IFC export possible, or vice versa)

- Lock

- (Freeze. Still don't understand what that is but many need it)

+9

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I think we are all peeing on the same bush here - but I do think there is good reason to split a save view from a viewport style. Yes - that does mean you will have update a change in both places - but I use saved views for so many different things with settings that go beyond simply classes and class overrides (which I think essentially will be the main thing global viewport style will control). Since save views can be so versatile - to me it makes it more complicated to try and port a section of their control over to a viewport. What would end up happening in our office - would be saved views used to control viewport types and then a set of saved views that we actually use to document navigation.

In any case - something needs to be done. The current system is too onerous and error prone. Adding or modifying a class on an RCP for example can take an hour as all RCP viewports are found and settings copied over.

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The idea being put forward is "Visibility Styles" not "Viewport Styles". Quite a different concept.

Visibility Styles can be attached to Saved Views, Design Layers (which is what I would like), viewports etc.

As for updating saved views, viewports etc, Nemetschek needs to eliminate manual updating. Manual updating belongs to the dinosaur era, period. None of the other two big boys require manual updating, and for the product development team to think that it's acceptable for a modern BIM application to require manual intervention at such a basic level??

Edited by Kizza
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The idea being put forward is "Visibility Styles" not "Viewport Styles". Quite a different concept.

Visibility Styles can be attached to Saved Views, Design Layers (which is what I would like), viewports etc.

Unlike a design layer that contains objects, or viewport which is an object, a saved view is just a collection of settings - not a thing in or of itself. So this gets a little meta - to have a master visibility style to control your saved view visibility settings. I guess I need to understand better your workflow - I think you must be using saved views in a more robust way than we do here.

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I think you must be using saved views in a more robust way than we do here.

Not sure if we are any different than anyone else but yes, we do use saved views extensively.

We do with saved views what many do with viewports - organise our class/layers to display what we want. We also use saved views to easily switch to certain 3D views that assist in the design process. We then create viewports of the SV and add annotations in the viewport.

We create our design layers to match the level of the building i.e. Ground floor first floor etc. Everything that's classed goes into one of these layers. Technically, we could control graphics mostly through turning on or off the layers, but things get tricky when more than one layer is involved and you need to adjust your class visibilities. Then enters viewport overides, to fine tune the appearance. But here's the thing - we want to do as much in the design layer space (model space) as possible and use viewport overides as little as possible because switching between sheet layers and design layers during project development is a royal pain.

I hope this makes sense..

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