screnn plane and layer plane

[san]

Hi,

I am new to vw. Could anyone please explain in which situation is  best to use Screen plane, layer plane or working plane. I understand that screen plane is for 2d and layer plane is for 3d. Is that all?

Thanks

[Jonathan Pickup]

29 minutes ago, san said:

 I understand that screen plane is for 2d and layer plane is for 3d. Is that all?

In basic terms, yes. But it is a bit more subtle than that. Extrusions, for example, always extrude perpendicular to the plane of the object. If you are drawing a shape to be the crop for a viewport, it has to be screen plane.

have a look at this 

http://learn.archoncad.com/2013/07/13765/vectorworks-screen-plane-vs-layer-plane/

[PVA - Admin]

This covers the very basics:
 

Often though, most current uses will not use Screen Plane any longer, it mostly exists to support legacy workflows like drawing out elevation views in plan instead of creating a full 3D model and pulling viewports off of it. There are more nuances than covered in my answer and this video, but that's the core of it.

[Art V]

One example where layer plane is more convenient than screen plane is when you want to combine 2D plans with a 3D model. In the past there was only screen plane and all 2D objects had to be converted to 3D polylines and polygons to be able to combine them with a 3D model. With layer plane this is no longer necessary.

So if you want to import a 2D plan as a starting point for 3D make sure it is in layer plane before you start, otherwise it will look a bit odd when you switch to a 3D view. If you know the drawing will always remain 2D then using screen plane could be an option. Also when you import older Vectorworks drawings they may be in screen plane (I'm not 100% sure but layer plane got introduced in VW 2008 or 2009 or so, so earlier Vectorworks versions will be in screen plane)

[san]

 Thank you Jonathan, JimW  and Art.

[digitalcarbon]

 

[zoomer]

^ I use Automatic Place 85 % of time

It does fail at a certain amount of complexity in wireframe though.

[Art V]

It has trouble with curved surfaces as well. It would be nice to have a modifier key to pin/unpin the plane to a point on a curved surface so that you don't have to leave automatic placement.

[zoomer]

Good idea.

And an option to select the element first where you want to grab your automatic workplane from,
if things get crowded.

[P Retondo]

If you want to copy 2d geometry from top/plan view to another viewpoint, e.g., "front", etc., a screen plane object is necessary.  If you attempt to copy a layer plane object into a different point of view, VW will ask if you want to convert it to screen plane, in which case it will show up aligned to your new point of view instead of looking like a line (the layer plane object viewed from the side).  I have never been a big fan of layer plane objects, but they're here to stay and have a leg up over 3d polygons in that they can display hatches, fills, etc.