Linking VW to external content?

[Taproot]

In our practice we've been including more and more linked information in our drawings.  Here's an attached example that I presented at the Seattle VW users group about a year ago.  The sheets are from a set of as-built drawings.  We used the hyperlink tool to link to 3D panoramas (page 1 - purple "3D" bubbles).  Elsewhere in the set, we linked individual photos for special conditions and inaccessible areas (like the crawlspace).  Overall, it gave the bidding contractors a lot more confidence of what they were getting into.

 

The industry is definitely headed toward a digital future.  I live in a rural area and many of my contractors are now working from tablets in the field ... as am I.

 

So, I'm really curious - are you linking in external content into your materials?  What has worked for you and what would you like to see more of?

 

 

 

 

Taproot_AsBuilt.pdf

Edited November 1, 2016 by Taproot

[Andy Broomell]

In the past I've included hyperlinks to 3D models that were uploaded to SketchFab (I haven't yet tried Vectorworks' new web view functionality which might be a replacement). It worked pretty well for the fabrication shop to easily see and interact with a 3D model in addition to the 2D plans.

 

Out of curiosity, in your drafting (which is awesome by the way), are the elevations created with textures that are greyscale, or was the greyscale effect accomplished in some other way?

Edited November 2, 2016 by Andy Broomell

[Taproot]

Andy - That's a great resource.  Thanks for sharing.

 

The elevations are grayscale textures.  I find they read best for construction drawings.  They give enough texture for shadows to read correctly but aren't too saturated to overwhelm the rest of the information.  Another plus is that you can modify the texture with a color overlay to try different finishes.

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One idea I've speculated about for linking content is to be able to embed hyperlinks directly into symbols.  Imagine being able to click on the bathtub and having it link to the manufacturer rough-in sheet, or embed links into worksheet text so that clicking on a scheduled item would take you directly to the manufacturer product literature...