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Is there a way to pull 'other' geometry in?
For example, I want to have a Lighting Console present in my Signal Flow Chart, and I also have to account for it in 3D space, and I do not want to have to add it twice into two places manually.

Everything in the rack is great, but in live events there is a lot of important gear that doesn't go into racks.

 

I'm happy to expand on what I'm trying to achieve and give some examples if needed?

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hi Thomas

 

Yes there is! It's just not very nice at the moment. You add a symbol to your drawing resources named <make>_<model> and assign the same make and model values to the Equipment object and... it draws in glorious 3D 😁

 

In the example shown the Make=AllenHeath and Model=Qu16, and the symbol is named AllenHeath_Qu16 in the Resource Manager.

 

We already made this a lot easier to do in ConnectCAD 2021 - so yes we are moving forward fast.

 

Conrad

Screenshot 2020-05-12 at 20.32.06.png

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Thank you very much @Conrad P, unfortunately I can't seem to replicate that result..?

1224147262_ScreenShot2020-05-12at15_35_50.thumb.png.31080a13e92e7e0baa48ce140a6e84d5.png

Attached are three .vwx files: 

 

- empty doc with only one object.vwx, which is the ConnectCAD device

 

- empty doc with only one symbol.vwx, which is a regular symbol, 3D only

 

- after merge.vwx, which shows the result of doing both Update Rack Elevation, or Inserting a new Equipment Item.

 

I'm probably just missing a step somewhere?

 

Thanks

 

Thomas

 

empty doc with only one symbol.vwxempty doc with only one object.vwxafter merge.vwx

Edited by Thomas Peters
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Amazing, thank you.

This is going to improve my workflow significantly going forward.

 

Not only does that work perfectly and immediately, but it also accepts spaces and other characters as well.

 

The downside is that I lose the device symbol I've created because I'm essentially overwriting it, so my next test is going to be figuring out how to add/update devices in the internal library.

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  • 2 weeks later...

@Conrad Preen, here is another scenario: integrating with other PIOs

 

Projectors need power, a video signal and ethernet, and I'd like to put projectors on my schematic.

The catch: they need to be inserted by the Video Screen tool to be useful in 3D space, so I can't use the above 3D Geometry trick without ending up with double objects, which is what I'm trying to avoid in the first place.

 

Is there a clever way to make this work? It's basically the reverse: I am inserting the Projector and imagining that 'update rack elevation' would work backwards to give me the schematic as the outcome.

 

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hi Thomas,

 

Projectors on your schematic are Device objects. When you have more than one Device with the same Name parameter value ConnectCAD assumes that they all refer to the same physical device in the real world. Equipment objects model real-world physical devices. They are to scale, they have dimensions and geometry. And you can use then in your model.

 

To avoid "double objects" with the Video Screen tool uncheck Show Projector in the Video Screen and put a ConnectCAD Equipment object there instead.

 

27 minutes ago, Thomas Peters said:

It's basically the reverse: I am inserting the Projector and imagining that 'update rack elevation' would work backwards to give me the schematic as the outcome.

 

A rack elevation doesn't have the information needed to automatically create a schematic. That stuff is in your head.

 

Best

 

Conrad

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Thank you @Conrad Preen, that is an efficient workaround, and not at all backwards like I was imagining.

I've tested it and my current solution is to let the Video Screen tool insert the lens symbol, and then ConnectCAD insert the projector body symbol- thus, one hand washes the other. For 20 seconds or longer.

 

I should have been clearer. It's not that I'm imagining a ghost hand doing my work for me- instead, I'm trying to adapt my existing library of assets and workflow to the new dimensions this toolset offers, and I thank you for being so present and responsive on this forum.

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  • 7 months later...

I want to return to this thread with some updated feedback on the way this works in VW2021: being able to select a symbol from the OIP is wonderful, except that I now have to chose either the 2D or 3D part of the symbol, not the hybrid, and on some projects I do actually need both.

In summary: I would like to have my cake and eat it too. Please and thank you @Conrad Preen

 

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  • 1 year later...

@Conrad PreenI'm returning here to what is clearly my most favorite topic. 

Referring here to @TomWhiteLight's (?) MODELING TO SCHEMATICS: A FULL AV WORKFLOW webinar, Using the "Equipment Item" workflow allows me to select an existing PIO on a design layer- a lighting device, a camera, a video screen, a loudspeaker, a projection screen- and have that be the equipment item linked to the device on the schematic. Great. Wonderful implementation, 10/10 for integrating with other PIOs in such a sensible way. 

 

...But there are non-rack items that exist outside of those PIOs that I want to show in 2D and in 3D, which I typically insert as regular symbols, which do not 'belong' to any of those PIOs and are not selectable with the Equipment Item Tool. Barco EC-210, MA2 Full, DSAN PerfectCue and so on. 

Using your above described workflow, the MAKE_MODEL symbol name clashes with the red symbols ConnectCAD makes, so that workflow doesn't seem to apply anymore...

Is there currently any other workflow to have hybrid symbols represent non-rack devices?

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

hmmmmm

 

the only way I have been able to do this is to attach a relevant record to the symbol and then insert it with an appropriate plug in tool. Then I can 'Tag' it with the Equipment Item Tool.

 

Not very elegant but it does work. Further conversations to be had internally about this.

 

Many thanks.

 

Tom W

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hello @Thomas Peters,

 

The equipment item looks for the front component of the hybrid symbol. If you do not have such, it generates it automatically. So, in order to see your 2D parts of the symbol that you have selected, you should put them in the Front component of the symbol. Then you will be able to see these 2D graphics when the equipment item is drawn in in Front View.

 

Best Regards,

Nikolay Zhelyazkov

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