Creating Hatches in 2017

[Guest Blars]

Does VW offer a way to create a hatch of say standard running bond brick that also shows the mortar joint width?  I dont want to use a "tile" to create this as i want it to be line work and not a graphic representation of linework.  ... (hatching by using "tiles" is pretty awful, btw.)

 

Another question is why oh why is the hatch creation tool in the resource manager so archaic?  Why cant i just draw what i want the hatch to look like in that window?  Why am i restrained so extensively by being forced to use the convoluted hatch creation "tool?"  I feel like im trying to perform a complicated surgery with a baseball bat.

 

Thanks for your help / listening to my rant.

[Jim Smith]

There are some baked brick hatches, but I don't know of one with the mortar joint width illustrated, you may want to check the interweb as I find most ACAD hatches import pretty good. Do you use the Attribute Mapping Tool? It allows one to resize an existing hatch & to save the amended hatch as a new hatch. I use this often as it's lot more easy than the mental gymnastics required to make a new hatch. 

[Andy Broomell]

9 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

It allows one to resize an existing hatch & to save the amended hatch as a new hatch.

 

I never noticed this before. Thank you!

 

[markdd]

15 minutes ago, Andy Broomell said:

I never noticed this before. Thank you!

Neither did I! Thanks @Jim Smith

[Jim Smith]

You are welcome!

[Guest Blars]

I just started using tiles instead of hatches for these.

[TessF]

How does one define the local hatch so that it will offer the "New hatch from locally mapped hatch" option? I am assuming this is a right-click function?

 

[Andy Broomell]

Try using the Attribute Mapping Tool from the Basic tool palette. The tool widget will allow you to interactively scale and rotate a hatch fill.

[Guest Wes Gardner]

@TessF,  I think if you just hatch a rectangle with something that's close to what you want, then you can right-click and use the "New hatch..." command

 

Wes

[TessF]

That makes a new hatch from an existing hatch albeit with locally mapped characteristics. I would like something that will take a shape made of lines that I have drawn and convert it to a hatch. So if I manually draw lines in the shape of a tuft of grass, can I convert that into a hatch consisting of repeats of that tuft of grass? Is this an available function in VW, or does one have to use the VERY clunky hatch editor to create a completely newly designed hatch?

[Andy Broomell]

Not possible as far as I'm aware. Creating Hatches from scratch is a PITA.

 

However, "Tile" fills are nice for custom geometry and are really easy to make via the Resource Manager. That being said, they can't be used as Surface Hatches for RW Textures, and I'm also not sure how well they export to DWG if at all...

[TessF]

Thanks. Maybe VW will build that function in sometime? *hint, hint* to any VW development people out there?