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sort order of design layers in Navigation Palette


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ok, thanks Pat and DBruhnke,

 

thought that already, just wanted to be shure I haven't missed some kind of preferance setting.

 

Stacking order as main sort criterium is a logical thing in architecture, as it results from the construction order. ( Can't build the roof before the basement )  But I wonder if anyone in the entertainment industry uses stacking orders at all, and what for ? For me design layers happen to be arbitrarily stacked by creation date, an alphabetically sorting makes it easyer for example to find a certatin truss layer and do changes on it.

 

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Perhaps the best work around is to change your stacking order so it matches your preferred alphabetical ordering. Especially if you do this in template files you will have a good start on what you need. Then you only will have to adjust layers that are added on the fly.

 

Just hover over the stacking order column and the cursor will switch to kind of look like a bent sheet of paper. Click and drag each layer to the place in the stacking order you want.

 

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
On 2/11/2020 at 4:23 AM, halfcouple said:

I love to have my design layers sorted alphabetically, unregarded of their stacking order. But every time I open a file the sort order is the stacking order by default. Anyone knows if that can be changed ?

Not sure why you would want this as surely this would mean that the Stage layer would sit visually above the Truss layer? my layers are....

 

Trace - The layer I draw in and then tidy geometry to subsequent layers when I get a chance.

Grid (House Rigging Points)

Truss

Sidelight

Floor LX

Stage

Venue

Groundplan/Imported Venue

 

Just curious as to why you wouldn't want to apply a stacking order to your layers? 

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35 minutes ago, TomWhiteLight said:

Just curious as to why you wouldn't want to apply a stacking order to your layers? 

I guess some people use layers as a way of grouping objects more expediently so that they can turn visibility on or off etc. and not necessarily geographically as you are describing.

 

The stacking order of layers does not change if you sort them alphabetically, so I imagine this is more about locating them quickly, especially if you have more than just a few.

 

Persnally, I think @halfcouplehas a good point. Once you make a change like this, then you would expect the document to retain it from one session to another until changed. Gets my vote!

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43 minutes ago, markdd said:

Once you make a change like this, then you would expect the document to retain it from one session to another until changed

 

I think that is precisely the point, unregarded how Layers are used. Agree to markdd , this should be a documents preferance, or better,  VW should just "remember" the setting when restarted. I dont think it makes sense to have this as a store option in saved views too.

 

1 hour ago, TomWhiteLight said:

Grid (House Rigging Points)

Truss

Sidelight

Floor LX

Stage

Venue

Groundplan/Imported Venue

 

You are right, my approach to layers is a bit chaotic, often depending on which information is set to plan first. I often correct stacking orders first when I find out that things are covered by something unexpectedly in a viewport. I should rewiew my workflow to keep at least those parts correctly stacked, that are definitely known as on top of each other. A pre-definded template for that is the right way.

But it is not always that simple,- for example, what is the stacking order of the detail layer that shows the scaffolding system for the audience, which ranges from floor to the roof of the venue ? Is it above or under the sidelights ? What if I position a followspot on it's own Layer since it exceeds the floor LX plan viewport with lots of empty space because it is 40 meters away from the stage,- located in the roof of the venue, is it above or under the truss layer, although it's wiring is shown on the floor cable plan ? And what about the additional tent behind the venue for backstage, is that above or under the scaffolding ?

When I have 10 or more of these "undefinable layers" it is often useful to quickly locate and sort them simply by name and then do with them whatever I want, for example change their stacking order... 😀

 

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I concur with @halfcouple. I have 58 DL's, and for quick navigation and visibility control I always display them in alphabetical order and thus suffer from the unnecessary reverting to stacking order.

 

I need to review the stacking order only when I want to control what's in front of what. Other than that I live with the alphabetical view.

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My Spotlight files have an average of 5-20 layers and 30-40 classes. Festival projects with 4-5 stages and/or venues would end up in 80 -100 Layers and 40-60 classes, but over the years I used to split these up in several smaller files and reference what I need into a masterfile.

So, even Spotlight files can have a lot of layers, indeed.

Glad to see I'm not the olny one who fights with bigger amounts of layers 😉

 

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