Secondary viewport crop objects for filters such as greyscale

[VWX USER 1]

ADD A SECOND CROP LAYER TO A SINGLE VIEWPORT THAT ACTS LIKE A FILTER. FOR EXAMPLE: I WANT TO SHOW AN ENTIRE FLOOR SO THE INITIAL VIEWPORT IS CUT TO THAT SHAPE. THEN, WITHIN THE OBJECT INFO PALLET WHEN THAT VIEWPORT IS SELECTED I CAN CHOOSE TO ADD A SECONDARY VIEWPORT CROP OBJECT THAT SETS BOUNDS FOR A GREYSCALE VIEWPORT (OR OTHER FILTERS). SO SAY OF THAT FLOOR I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT A SINGLE ELEMENT SUCH AS A LOBBY DESK, I WOULD SHAPE THE SECONDARY CROP OBJECT TO FIT AROUND JUST THAT DESK WHICH WOULD LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE FLOOR AROUND IT STILL VISIBLE BUT NOW IN GREYSCALE.

 

FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT, CURRENTLY TO HACK THIS INTO EXISTENCE I USUALLY CREATE A PRIMARY VIEWPORT WHICH I THEN DUPLICATE, TURN OFF UNNECESSARY LAYERS, AND CHANGE OTHERS TO HAVE CERTAIN LAYERS OR CLASSES SET TO INVISIBLE WHICH, WITH THE RIGHT SETTINGS, SHOWS AS GREY LINES IN THE VIEWPORT. THEN I MANUALLY LAYER THE DOUBLE VIEWPORTS TO SHOW THE DRAWINGS AS I HAVE IMAGINED. THIS IS ALSO HOW I HANDLE COMBINING 2D AND 3D DRAWING ELEMENTS WITHOUT REQUIRING THE ENTIRE VIEWPORT TO BE RENDERED AS A 3D DRAWING. SAY I HAVE AN ENTIRE FLOOR PLAN AND ONE SINGLE ELEMENT IS DRAWN IN 3D (BECAUSE IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EASIER THAT WAY FOR WHATEVER REASON). I DON'T WANT TO USE OPEN GL FOR THE ENTIRE FLOOR PLAN SO I CREATE TWO VIEWPORTS WHICH I MANUALLY LAYER ON THE SHEET (THE FIRST IS THE FLOOR PLAN WITHOUT THE 3D ELEMENT WHICH IS DRAWN ON ITS OWN LAYER FOR THIS EXACT REASON, AND THE SECOND VIEWPORT WHICH IS JUST THE 3D ELEMENT IN AN OPEN GL VIEWPORT). THE ISSUE WITH THIS IS WHEN A COWORKER LATER REVISITS THE DRAWING, THEY HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING THERE ARE MULTIPLE VIEWPORTS ON THAT PAGE AND THIS CAN CAUSE FRUSTRATION AND POSSIBLY BECOME MISALIGNED. HAVING THE ABILITY TO HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWPORT PROPERTIES/SETTINGS ON DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SINGLE VIEWPORT WOULD MAKE THE PRODUCT OF OUR WORK IN VECTORWORKS MORE SUSTAINABLE IN COLLABORATIVE SETTINGS.