Gert Sanner Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Hi there I would like to just draw a simple line on the z axis of my drawing. In Sketchup you do this by locking onto any axis of your choice, I can not figure out how to do this in VW. I have been reading a lot and found a way via 3D Polygon. Here I then struggle with entering the length accordingly and accurate. In the Screenshot you can seem three polygons on the layer. But I would prefer to just draw lines and then connect to create the surface. In my line of work I can not use double walls. So I have to basically draw 2d surfaces which can live on any axis. Would be great if someone could help here. thank you Quote Link to comment
AlanW Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 @Gert SannerHi, use 3dpoly and draw in 3d, drag the curser up and type in the length and it is a line in the Z axis.. Dont use 2d poly in 3d. otherwise go to front view and draw ia 2 d line. HTH 2 Quote Link to comment
Gert Sanner Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 thank you Alan, very kind. yes that works. Just realised that the number keyboard on Mac doesn't work for that. The Numberkeys under the F buttons however do your trick. This will take a little getting used to. cheers Quote Link to comment
markdd Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 You can draw at any angle with just about any tool. The key to getting it right first time is to set the drawing plane you want to draw on initially. This can easily be done by clicking on the origin in a 3d view an the Plane tool will appear. If you manipulate that then a pink pane will appear showing the "surface" or plane you are now drawing on. This is all related as well to the Active Plane menu in the tool bar It takes a bit of practice but is easy once you get the hang of it. You should probably read up on Working Planes in the help section or do a youtube search where there are several videos about this. 1 Quote Link to comment
rowbear97 Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 9 hours ago, Gert Sanner said: thank you Alan, very kind. yes that works. Just realised that the number keyboard on Mac doesn't work for that. The Numberkeys under the F buttons however do your trick. This will take a little getting used to. cheers You should be able to use the number pad on your Mac as that is how I change views all the time. Also I might suggest that you use the new multiple view plans option in VW 2018 and change your working plane with Set Working Plane tool (Shift -1). I prefer the second mode Planar Face Mode to easily draw in the Z access. And as a reminder use your "U" key to change modes in the first section of every tool. Best of luck with your project. 1 Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Personally I would recommend using NURBS curves if you want to draw lines in 3d. Set the degree to 1 to draw a straight line. Double click on the NURBS curve tool in the Tool Palette to change the degree. Kevin 1 Quote Link to comment
Gert Sanner Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 Many thanks to all, I will have to practice and see what works best for me. So far I am enjoying the journey. Quote Link to comment
EAlexander Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 I would draw that proscenium in front view with SCREEN PLANE active in 2D and then extrude it.....or draw it's footprint in top/plan view as 2D then extrude it. I would then draw another rectangle for the proscenium opening, extrude it tot he correct height and SOLID SUBTRACT it from the first extrude. Not that this is better, just offering a different perspective on how to approach this. Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 23 minutes ago, EAlexander said: I would draw that proscenium in front view with SCREEN PLANE active in 2D and then extrude it.....or draw it's footprint in top/plan view as 2D then extrude it. I would then draw another rectangle for the proscenium opening, extrude it tot he correct height and SOLID SUBTRACT it from the first extrude. Not that this is better, just offering a different perspective on how to approach this. I would often use similar approaches. In this case, given how simple things look, I would probably use a wall and a doorway (configuration set to opening) as the proscenium opening. This method has the advantage of a nice top/plan view. KM Quote Link to comment
Janvin Lowe Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 On 10/29/2017 at 2:02 AM, markdd said: You can draw at any angle with just about any tool. The key to getting it right first time is to set the drawing plane you want to draw on initially. This can easily be done by clicking on the origin in a 3d view an the Plane tool will appear. If you manipulate that then a pink pane will appear showing the "surface" or plane you are now drawing on. This is all related as well to the Active Plane menu in the tool bar It takes a bit of practice but is easy once you get the hang of it. You should probably read up on Working Planes in the help section or do a youtube search where there are several videos about this. @markdd is there a quick way to toggle on/off that pink square that indicates current working plane? Quote Link to comment
AlanW Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 If you hit \ on keyboard it toggles automatic working plane on and off. With auto on it sets the working plane on if you hover over and objects face, no need to rotate the working plane. Quote Link to comment
markdd Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 5 hours ago, Janvin Lowe said: @markdd is there a quick way to toggle on/off that pink square that indicates current working plane? Not that I'm aware of. If you find the Pink Square off-putting, then you can change its colour and opacity in the Interactive appearance part of the Vectorworks Preferences Interactive tab. This is more of a long-term change though and not really appropriate for toggling on or off. Quote Link to comment
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