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Power distro symbols


Lec

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Interesting indeed to see the direction this thread has headed - many thanks for all the posts and to be clear, all I was asking for in the first place was a usable Power Distro symbol - I'm really not trying to start a war on 3rd party plugins, I have them, I use them, but I still don't have a symbol for a PD - that's all.

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2 hours ago, C. Andrew Dunning said:

Lec...no "war," perceived, at-all.  Just adding to the conversation...

 

And to that point, it would often be quicker to get a specific plug-in such as the PD in question, by going straight to the appropriate third party developer. I think the “PD Tool” would be a great plug in object and Sam has the cable end of things dialed in so it would make sense to see if he is open to adding that to his available arsenal. If he is, you are now discussing the functionality of this potential product, one on one, with the actual developer. It doesn’t get much better than that in the software development world. 

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Here's how others are feeling about 2020.

On 9/10/2019 at 10:14 AM, Tom Klaber said:

 

Our friends in lighting and entertainment seem to have a lot more to be excited about for 2020.  I have mentioned this before - but I am scared that VW is slowly shifting to an entertainment-focused software.   

 

The architecture video is pretty sad - concentrating so much on inline / in-menu editing - which is great - but long overdue.  

 

Heres hoping that the new stair tool and UI just take a couple of years to get right and we will have a landmark release in 2021.

Edited by mjm
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Lec's in depth reply will be very useful, and another private communication from Sebastian will also be a great source for describing functionality.  Unfortunately, I'm swamped right now adapting an Australian dance show to our space and trying to deal with a VW 2020 changes.  I'm looking forward to examining what Lec and Sebastian have described as needed functionality and incorporating in into AutoPlot, but I cannot at the moment say when the would happen.  It may happen in steps.  I will keep you informed along the way.

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hi Everyone

I thought I should add to this that we are looking at developing tools for power planning. I can't say when we will release anything as we are only at the initial stages of the background research, but this thread is providing us with some excellent feedback on the subject and will be a big help.

 

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Many thanks everyone for your feedback - I look forward to seeing how things progress and promise not to big up the Architects anymore who seem to be in very much the same boat as us all...

I used AutoCAD many years ago and made the transition to VW in 2008 - it is still the best CAD system out there...:)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, I clicked on this and didn't realize what it would evolve too.......this is interesting.  Only going to throw out a couple of small nuggets on my opinion.

 

1) On the actual idea of PD's etc in VW.  I have along with others have made a file of most of our PD's.  Main purpose is for 2D/3D geometry, not for any sort of smart functionality, but they do have records attached with notes like power service fed from size, and a few other more basic things.  However speaking from our industry, I know that essentially all of our distros are specific to us and not industry standard (one big thing is we wire them differently) either way which means they probably aren't terribly useful for any other users. In moving to a 3rd part or built-in plugin that opens the door for super levels of variables in equipment between manufacturers, vendors, end-users etc.  Personally I don't really see a huge need and we work on some of the largest touring productions out there. I think being able to show a 2D/3D representation of a dimmer beach area with racks is useful for overall footprint thought.

 

2) On the third party plug inside.  I love that some of these guys have made stuff.  Honestly, if anything seems even remotely useful I try to buy it even if I don't actully use it to encourage these different tools.  For a long time for me, I struggled with the hoist in VW (before there was a hoisting tool in VW).  The only thing maybe more specific to the side of the industry I'm in is 3rd party plugins can bite you if you work up a drawing that goes out and someone at some point wants to adjust something and doesn't have the plugin.  Often times those people aren't super VW savvy and it becomes a tech support call with me or something.  That's my only hesitancy with 3rd party stuff. What is cool is how VW has begun to incorporate things that were non-native plugins into VW.  

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/3/2019 at 10:35 AM, MattG said:

The only thing maybe more specific to the side of the industry I'm in is 3rd party plugins can bite you if you work up a drawing that goes out and someone at some point wants to adjust something and doesn't have the plugin.  Often times those people aren't super VW savvy and it becomes a tech support call with me or something.  That's my only hesitancy with 3rd party stuff. What is cool is how VW has begun to incorporate things that were non-native plugins into VW.  

 

That's also a great way to keep people from messing with your drawing :)

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