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Braceworks Frustration


Darrell Henry

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It is super frustrating to pay to be a beta tester for Braceworks. 

 

Hoists:

• Insert Truss using the Insert Truss Tool

• Convert the truss to a Hanging Position 

• Insert hoists using the Hoist tool

• Little red diamond shows up -- supposedly binding the hoist to the truss

• Run Calculate Visible -- "The Suspension Point is not attached"

• Drag hoist off position and re-attach - same message

• Delete hoist and re-insert -- same message

 

Instruments:

• Right click on instrument -- Attach to Hanging Position -- select the HP

• Click on Hanging position 

• Click on drill down arrow on instrument -- Set Hanging Position

• Attach to truss (get the little red diamond and left click to assert

• Run Calculate Visible -- The Load is Not Connected

 

Just really frustrated that every visual clue says it is working and yet it doesn't. 

 

Question: 

If I have a motor for an audio point or cable point that is not attached to truss:

• Can I insert a  load and connect it directly to the hoist (seems like no)?

• How do I stop those hoists from generating "The Suspension Hoist is not attached" errors?

 

 

 

 

Beta Testing Woes.png

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I'm in the same boat Darrell!  I spend more time trying to solve errors than it would take me to manually calculate the weights.   I definitely feel like a beta tester too.

 

I haven't solved the cable pick question either.  For that scenario I manually input a weight in the a USER field - but it will not calculate or be part of the report.  I don't know if you can connect a load directly to a hoist with out an intermediary piece of hardware like truss or a pipe.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

You can connect loads to a single hoist. Unfortunately, this is a little bit tricky with the Vectorworks Hoist. You have to place the load at the hook of the hoist, and then Braceworks will calculate the single hoist. We are working to update the snapping to better support this connection.

Also, be sure you are using SP2.  There were several fixes in SP2 related to connecting items to the hanging position.

It's difficult to diagnose the issues from just the screenshots.
Would it be possible to post the file here or email it to technical support, tech@vectorworks.net? Please put "Attention Kevin" in the subject line if you email the file.

I've also asked the developer, Moritz, to post to this thread if he has any additional information or questions.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Any one else finding the "Hoist Weight" field in the hoist object window missing.  

it is supposed to be right under the "chain Cross Section"  button but it is missing.  

 

I have 1/4 ton motors that are being calculated out at 100 lbs.  with nothing on them, 

Did they move the place where you can set up the hoist weights.  

Thanks 

 

 

point.jpg

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31 minutes ago, brooks gotham said:

Any one else finding the "Hoist Weight" field in the hoist object window missing.  

it is supposed to be right under the "chain Cross Section"  button but it is missing.  

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting.  I have hoist weight in some existing drawings, but not if i create a new drawing.  2 screenshots attached.  I think you found a bug. 

 

 

Screenshot 2018-01-18 16.33.24.png

Screenshot 2018-01-18 16.31.57.png

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Yes I have reported this as a bug on 29th Nov. I think we'll have to wait for the next service pack. 

The missing fields are:

 

Low Hook to load trim 
Speed 
Voltage 
Total Chain length 
Hoist Weight 
Chain Weight 
Hoist wt with Chain 

 

You can still access the fields via a worksheet which I enclose.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

Hoist missing OIP SP2 worksheet.vwx

Edited by Peter Neufeld
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I went messing around in the built in plug-in window.  When I changed a name of an alternate name field and exited all of a sudden the missing fields reappeared.  

The path to where I was is : Tools/Plug In Manager-> Built In Plug-ins -> HoistVW,  then double click I simply changed one of the alternate names slightly.  

I would bet that if you just went in to this are and then clicked OK it might work but I cannot recreate this issue to prove it. 

Warning I have heard that if you change the regular name fields it breaks the hoist tool.  

 

 

 

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After some more time I Noticed that it gets screwed up when you open the hoist tool Preferences.  Apparently something is amiss in the preferences dialog box.  

I noticed this because I watched the  fields disappear as I clicked on on the OK Button.  When you adjust one of the labels in the Plug-in manager the object info box is 

restored to its original state.   Do VW Developers lurk around here and take notice of things like this or is their a bug report form to report thing like this?  

Thanks 

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Guest Yordan Kostadinov
48 minutes ago, brooks gotham said:

After some more time I Noticed that it gets screwed up when you open the hoist tool Preferences.  Apparently something is amiss in the preferences dialog box.  

I noticed this because I watched the  fields disappear as I clicked on on the OK Button.  When you adjust one of the labels in the Plug-in manager the object info box is 

restored to its original state.   Do VW Developers lurk around here and take notice of things like this or is their a bug report form to report thing like this?  

Thanks 

This issue is fixed for SP3.

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  • 5 years later...

I notices the posts stop in 2018.  Have these issues been fixed?  I am trying to figure out if the issues I am running into which are the same as in this thread are from me doing something wrong or if the software is truly buggy especially when it comes to hoists and bridles.  I have tried connecting a hoist to a truss with the red diamond and then connecting the hoist to the structure and 60% of the time that works, likewise using the bridle tool with a hoist symbol I see the red lines between the structure and the diamond on the truss and 60% of the time it works.  The rest of the time the Braceworks tells me "The suspension point is not attached, and no mater how hard I try and will it to attach to the truss it will give me the diamond but it will not attach according to Braceworks.  I have watched the videos probably a dozen times and no mater what I do it does not work like it does in the video.. is it me or the software.

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42 minutes ago, gangotti said:

I notices the posts stop in 2018.  Have these issues been fixed?  I am trying to figure out if the issues I am running into which are the same as in this thread are from me doing something wrong or if the software is truly buggy especially when it comes to hoists and bridles.  I have tried connecting a hoist to a truss with the red diamond and then connecting the hoist to the structure and 60% of the time that works, likewise using the bridle tool with a hoist symbol I see the red lines between the structure and the diamond on the truss and 60% of the time it works.  The rest of the time the Braceworks tells me "The suspension point is not attached, and no mater how hard I try and will it to attach to the truss it will give me the diamond but it will not attach according to Braceworks.  I have watched the videos probably a dozen times and no mater what I do it does not work like it does in the video.. is it me or the software.


First, try quitting and restarting VW. That usually fixes those errors for me.

 

Then, try the same workflow in 3D. Don’t worry about making perfect or final. Just see if the attachments will succeed.

 

The thing with Braceworks is to isolate what you’re working on / calculating, and then incrementally build on that, little by little. That way, if you get an error, or get stuck, you can fix that part of the system instead of playing roulette.

 

 

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