jnr Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 So a brief look at new features in 2020 it appears despite pleas and lengthy threads, that the stair tool remains the same after calls for it to be replaced for the last three years. Do I have this correct? 2 Quote Link to comment
fabrica Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 YES! along with no updates to window or door tools (barn door not with mentioning!) and to really get the scale of another year lost again and how lost they are, quote below Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar. “When we looked at the future of the industry and what our customers’ needs were, we kept coming back to data, my favourite = they couldn't even be bothered to change the 2020 icon ! 1 Quote Link to comment
Andy Broomell Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 I've liked the black icon best so far, so I'm sort of glad they kept it. I wonder if the plan is to just keep it black moving forward? 2 Quote Link to comment
Popular Post cberg Posted September 10, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted September 10, 2019 While this could be complete speculation on my part, VW Development is likely still implementing a number of under the hood changes, most notably making the 3d modeling modules of the program multi-thread. Until this is complete, there may not be major improvements to any of the BIM features since they were developed using legacy code and would be quickly become out of date. VW2020 is an incremental upgrade, albeit one with excellent features. Hopefully, in practice, the program runs smoother and without any of the glitches and stability issues that affected the VW2019 release, which took two or three service packs to stabilize. I think the folks at VW are listening, and are very responsive compared to most other software companies. Thank you to the team for all your hard work! I've downloaded the new release and look forward to exploring it in detail. 9 Quote Link to comment
fabrica Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 11 minutes ago, cberg said: Until this is complete, there may not be major improvements to any of the BIM features since they were developed using legacy code and would be quickly become out of date. I think you are wrong on this unfortunately - my understanding is that these tools are made by other companies and supplied to vectorworks - as for the listening - seems to be the same things asked for and the same disappointment each year ? think it was 2015 last time stair tool got an update? 1 Quote Link to comment
jnr Posted September 10, 2019 Author Share Posted September 10, 2019 yeah the stair tool is written by the German distributor as I understand it. It's too rigid, overly complicated, with a serious lack of design flexibility. So I agree, not buying the code argument either. As for stability, don't think for a second that this release will be any more stable than previous ones. Once again, extremely disappointed and frankly not interested in the upgrade for now. 1 Quote Link to comment
beanus Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 I think I'll wait to download the 2020 version, 2019 was very unstable will 2020 be the same. I agree the stair tool is not flexible I tend to used a combination of the "custom stair" and "simple stair" tools to model my own, in fact the custom stair tool is more user friendly its a shame a revamp of the stair tool wasn't done. 1 Quote Link to comment
jnr Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 B: The custom stair I believe was original to 2009 if I recall. Maybe even written before the company was sold. Within a year of new ownership we had the new inflexible cumbersome stair tool. Needless to say this has been going on a while. While the custom stair tool is more flexible, I've had issues with it corrupting in later versions. I suppose it's possible that with the change in kernel that things got more stable, so perhaps taking another stab at it is worth it. Like others on here, its incredulous that the CEO can bandy about claims they responded to the user base in this version when after lengthy posts and in-depth thoughtful responses on this board about what needs to change in the stair tool, that this was a priority for the architectural user base, (it would appear) they flat out simply ignored this pressing need. I'm so not impressed. 2 Quote Link to comment
Raja Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Stair tool still causing problems in 2020. When I open my 2018 file in 2020 I'm getting this red error message at the stair regarding the posts. A similar error message occurred between 2018 and 2019 stair objects and I had to rebuild all of the stairs. Anyone else having this problem? How to resolve? Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 I hoped for better geometry. For my migrated files, stair look even more crippled than in VW 2019. Simplest steel U stairs. The base story stair is "unbuildable" - or better architectonically would look ugly - but VW built it. If I force similar to a default VW 2020 stair, it will moan, ask for more space, build it and look crippled though. But all my others stories VW 2019 stairs are even simpler 3 flight U-stairs, harmless but crippled handrails in 2019 and bad 3D overall geometry. Converted to 2020 handrails are still crippled - but now even the stringers are corrupt in itself. Quote Link to comment
Jim Smith Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 Thanks @jnr saves me looking at this tool. We gave up attempting to use this tool years ago & have been modelling our own stairs. I always hold out hope but... 1 Quote Link to comment
jnr Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 J+Z: They really should be embarrassed. Viewports, callout tools, and something as basic as the stair tool, etc. all broken right out of the gates? Does anyone other than a software engineer bother to test the software before it's released? 1 Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 On 9/13/2019 at 11:49 PM, zoomer said: hoped for better geometry. For my migrated files, stair look even more crippled than in VW 2019. Hmmh, looks like the geometry got indeed a bit better. Seems like it is very important to NOT start the Tool from any Presets or existing older Stairs from previous VW versions. (Like those Presets I had in my migrated Workgroup Folders) And at least I find some ways to clean up and solidify their Geometry from current Presets, after DWG exports in other Apps. Also Handrails aren't necessarily crippled when using current Presets AND giving some extra space at Flight's start and end. In this case I would finally make sense to use them for Visualization purposes again. 2 Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Hmhhmmmhmm But Stairs don't export for me in IFC4.0. I checked that they have IFC4 Tags and even added some, but no Stairs. Maybe the Groups inside the Stair PIOs cause Problems ? Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 ok, Geometry of Flights is pretty ok now, but the Landings are still a mess. And Panels in Railings have some issues in Z direction, where Flights meet Landings. Which will impact your Elevation Plan Quality. Quote Link to comment
lupin Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 I miss the flexibility of the old stair tool. It's crazy that the current stair tool makes fewer stair configurations than the old one. When will this be fixed, I wonder? Quote Link to comment
jnr Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 L: It's an ongoing disaster and a pain to use. The old one is buried in the legacy folder of you edit your current workspace (tools/workspaces/edit workspace/tools/legacy). Beware it can sometimes get glitchy. If it crashes your file, delete it and rebuild and it will work. 1 Quote Link to comment
lupin Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Thank you! Good to know it won't corrupt my whole file! New stair extra whinge (user feedback) - in case VW is reading this: I want to be able to make 1 tread stairs (eg: for a floor level change) for starters. It's really annoying that you can't mass edit the graphic attributes, and that you can't mass open and close the sub-attributes - it should work like classes. It would be good to know an intended timeline for the overhaul of this awkward tool... 1 Quote Link to comment
leecalisti Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 I have nothing new to add - except spending the day trying to get the stair railings to be smoother and follow American standards for a switchback stair in a multi-story building. I tried studying @Wes Gardner's stair that he uploaded months or years ago, but found on a switch back stair when the offset between the landing and nosing is a small number between flights, the railing cannot seem to resolve itself cleanly. I imported his stair and altered the dimensions to meet my conditions. No avail. The other frustration is the outer railing. In the US, we'll extend it past the last tread 12" or so, but this tool extends the railing around the perimeter of the entire mid-landing. I know none of this is new, but I'm adding an update to keep the stair tool noise going. I was told that it's a frustration for the American VW team too, but they're working on getting it updated - sometime...before I retire. So just like the current mantra is "Stay Home and Wash your Hands," - I'll repeat - PLEASE fix the stair tool. I don't need new fancy tools - I need the tools for basic architectural elements to be wonderful. I'm told or I've read many frustrations that Revit has a horrible stair tool too. No need to follow peer pressure. Be the leader. Any suggestions are always welcomed, but I messed with this for so long. 3 Quote Link to comment
Willmt Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Considering stairs need to comply with code, it is amazing that this tool is still this problematic. I have been using the software since early Minicad days. Hopefully, railing parameters will be improved soon. - w 1 Quote Link to comment
Boh Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 I can’t believe a crucial architectural tool like this can be so bad. it’s all been said already in this forum. Just fix the stair tool 3 Quote Link to comment
A McDonell Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Ive always found the custom stair tool workable for most applications... until today when it went nuts, started renaming its self in oip, oip sometime blank, unable to bring up settings etc... anyone else with a quick fix to this ? deadlines loom as always Quote Link to comment
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