Viewport driving me nuts!

[Mickey]

I'm trying to use viewports, but I'm struggling to get this to look right.

Maybe I'm trying to do something It can't do.

Help!

Here is what I want.

I have drawn a structure in 3D.

I would like to have a front view and top view on a single sheet of paper.

So I created a sheet called "Truss"

I created a viewport called "front".

When I go to me sheet layer, there's the front view of my structure. Yeah!

Now when I go to my top plan, and create another view port my stucture is located far away, and if I try to edit, and move things around it screws up the other view.

What gives, and how do I make this work?

In addition: Why is my structure located somewhere differnt when I change views? I draw something at coordinates 0,0 when I change views my coordinates are now 0, 170. Why?

Why would the structure physically move when I change views.

[jfmarch]

You have the right start. what i do with sheets that will have multiple viewports is to duplicate the first one and edit it to suit my needs. so in your case i would delete all viewports except your titleblock and the original 'front' viewport, since that one seems ok. duplicate the 'front' viewport and move it to where you need it. than change the view from front to top.

if these viewports have crops in them you will probably need to adjust the crop location (which might explain you quandry about why the structure appears far away). viewports are simply windows on whatever layers you have selected, and i believe they default to the center of the sheet layer. i always end up moving/cropping them to get the right sheet composition. hope this helps...

[Jonathan Pickup]

when you draw a 3D object, you can draw the plan view centerd at 0,0, but you also need to check the front view that it is in the right place, and 0,0 may not be the correct location.

After you have drawn your truss, DO NOT MOVE IT AROUND in the design layer as this will mess up all the viewports that you create. it's better to move the crop area. maybe you aren't using crops in your vieewports. if not try drawing a rectangle over the area that you want to be the viewport. then select create viewport from the view menu.

When this viewport arrives on the sheet layer you can move it to anywhere that you want to...

have you looked at the manual that comes with VectorWorks? if it is not makling sense then I have a manual that has exercises onn making viewports and movies thast show you how to achieve it, available from my web site...