Rack Accessories & Design

[Luther Core]

Is there a preferred method for adding accessories to a rack in order to show the rack in it's complete form? For example, I tried using device builder to create a new device with NO I/O's in order to have a "dumb" rack blank or shelf. It created the device, but the device would not snap to the rack. I also tried to create a "connector Panel" with no connectors. That didn't work either.

 

All of the correct devices are in the rack but the blank panels, vents, shelves (for non rack mount equipment) and drawers do not exist. Also, the addition of bases with casters could be useful

 

Is there a quick way to add device images to the "face" of the rack device to mimic rack designs such as that created by NetZoom? See attached pics. It would be great if there was an image field so line drawings or jpg, png etc images of devices could be added. This could be in the device builder or in the Object Info/Display area. 

[Conrad Preen]

Hi @Luther Core

 

You can find some blank panels in the Default Content. Use the Resource Manager to browse to Objects - ConnectCAD. I usually recommend using the Rack Frame Object to model rack shelves since Equipment can then fit nicely to the slots when you drag-drop it in. Double-clicking the Equipment Item object opens its internal group. You can add your own graphics in there to enrich the look. A great way to do this is to paste in pngs clipped off manufacturers websites.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Best wishes for Christmas and  the New Year,

 

Conrad

 

 

[Luther Core]

Thanks @Conrad Preen

 

I am going to try this right now. Wishing you a great Christmas & New Year.

 

Luther

 

[Luther Core]

@Conrad Preen

 

I'm not sure if this is a bug or not but when I drag the blank rack panel into the drawing it is unusable. Other resources can be used with no problem. When I bring in the rack panel, insertion point and endpoint options show up but when selected they do nothing. The rack panel does not insert into the drawing nor does it anchor to the insertion / endpoints. Using the rack frame as a rack shelf worked well.

 

Thanks 

 

 

[Conrad Preen]

Thanks @Luther Core

 

I'll check that out.

 

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year

 

Conrad

[Company Call BV]

I want to pick in on this, I want to achieve the same as Luther but is there a way to link the layout that i'm using in the rack layout to the actual symbol? 
If I add a layout on 1 device and add copy it, I have to add the PNG again...

 

 

 

Thanks

Edited January 1, 2021 by jdepaepe

[Conrad Preen]

Hi @jdepaepe

 

Can you help me out a bit? I'm struggling with the terminology you are using. Let's use the actual names of ConnectCAD objects i.e. Device, Equipment Item, Rack, Rack Frame etc.

 

Best wishes for 2021.

 

Conrad

[Conrad Preen]

On 12/18/2020 at 8:08 PM, Luther Core said:

I'm not sure if this is a bug or not but when I drag the blank rack panel into the drawing it is unusable.

 

@Luther Core I just tried out the blank panels and they are working fine for me. Could you expand on what you mean by "unusable"? By all means send me a movie or sample file so I can see what's going on.

 

Best wishes for the New Year

 

Conrad

[Company Call BV]

@Conrad Preen Hi Conrad

 

Thanks for your reply, I think I already know the answer but to double check:

Can we link an image / png to the actual device? So if we create the rack in the rack elevation the image appears automatically? 

 

 

Thanks!

[Conrad Preen]

Dear @jdepaepe

 

By Device in ConnectCAD we mean the device as represented in a schematic drawing. You can add images  to Devices by double-clicking the device to enter its group. Anything you add in there is drawn as part of the device. You can save any device as a symbol and re-use it.

 

By Equipment Item we mean the physical device on a to-scale drawing e.g. a rack elevation. Again you can double-click an Equipment Item to enter its group and add images etc. You can save any Equipment Item as a symbol and re-use it. Schematic Devices refer to the Equipment Item that has the same Name, Many devices can refer to one Equipment Item. We use Equipment Items to define the physical location of devices in racks and rooms.

 

So in this context, where would the image be that you want to appear automatically? in the Device, or in the Equipment Item?

 

Conrad

 

 

[Company Call BV]

@Conrad Preen Hi Conrad

 

In the equipment item. 

In attachment a picture of how I would love to see the racks in the rack elevation. 

I know we can double-click an equipment item and add an image, but it would be great if that goes automatically because the front view of a device never changes... 
Any ideas?

[Luther Core]

Happy New Year, @Conrad Preen,

 

Please see the attached video. I hope it's something I am doing wrong but no matter whether the drawing is in 2D Top/Plan mode or isometric, the rack panel/equipment never allows me to release on to the drawing (even when selecting an insertion/endpoint. It stays attached to the cursor. Also, ConnectCAD does not show up under Symbol Insertion/Vectorworks Libraries. It only shows up under Resource Manager/Vectorworks Libraries/Objects - ConnectCAD.

 

Regarding jdapaepe's request. For me, in a perfect world when you create a new device using Device Builder there would be an option to add an image. Ideally, this would be the Equipment Image which would then also be used for the Device if desired (check box?). Obviously, everyone has a different workflow so maintaining the ability to have a different image for the Equipment or Device is desirable. Maybe the "Device Builder" would change to the "Equipment Builder" since equipment encompasses the device as you stated in your earlier reply.

 

 

[Company Call BV]

1 minute ago, Luther Core said:

Regarding jdapaepe's request. For me, in a perfect world when you create a new device using Device Builder there would be an option to add an image. Ideally, this would be the Equipment Image which would then also be used for the Device if desired (check box?). Obviously, everyone has a different workflow so maintaining the ability to have a different image for the Equipment or Device is desirable. Maybe the "Device Builder" would change to the "Equipment Builder" since equipment encompasses the device as you stated in your earlier reply.

 

 

Screen Recording 2021-01-04 at 1.11.16 PM.mov

Indeed, that's exactly what would solve it and how I saw it aswel. But I don't know if it's possible to get in the next release?

[Conrad Preen]

@Luther Core Happy New Year to you also!

Here is a video of placing blank panels. It is fairly quick and works as far as I can see... just simple 2D drag and drop. The blank panel is just another Equipment Item - nothing really special.

 

@jdepaepe and @Luther Core Thanks for clarifying this. Regarding richer more pictorial content... as I've said before you can add as much detail as you like to Devices and Equipment Items. And you can save these objects as symbols. The symbols are colored red in the Resource Manager to indicate that they become parametric objects when placed on the drawing. Using the Resource Manager you can access symbols from other documents, and keep frequently-used symbols in a favorite document as a personal library.

 

Vectorworks may in the future add extra resources to produce this kind of pictorial content. But you do have to appreciate that keeping such content reliably up to date over the vast range of products that appear in ConnectCAD designs is a Herculean task. Let me put it to you. Would you be prepared to pay an extra subscription for access to such a library? and how much would you consider reasonable?

 

 

Conrad

 

 

[Company Call BV]

1 hour ago, Conrad Preen said:

@Luther Core Happy New Year to you also!

Here is a video of placing blank panels. It is fairly quick and works as far as I can see... just simple 2D drag and drop. The blank panel is just another Equipment Item - nothing really special.

 

@jdepaepe and @Luther Core Thanks for clarifying this. Regarding richer more pictorial content... as I've said before you can add as much detail as you like to Devices and Equipment Items. And you can save these objects as symbols. The symbols are colored red in the Resource Manager to indicate that they become parametric objects when placed on the drawing. Using the Resource Manager you can access symbols from other documents, and keep frequently-used symbols in a favorite document as a personal library.

 

Vectorworks may in the future add extra resources to produce this kind of pictorial content. But you do have to appreciate that keeping such content reliably up to date over the vast range of products that appear in ConnectCAD designs is a Herculean task. Let me put it to you. Would you be prepared to pay an extra subscription for access to such a library? and how much would you consider reasonable?

 

 

Conrad

 

 

BlankPanel.mov

Hi Conrad

 

I'm well aware of the extra effort this requires. Maybe it's an idea to let the VW community help in this and setup and online shared library where users can draw their own equipment and upload, available for others to download after approval from administrators. This way maintaining the library is less an effort for VW & I do think people are willing to pay the extra subscription for this. 

[Conrad Preen]

Thanks @jdepaepe

 

Crowd-sourcing with curation is certainly a way to go. I will keep that in mind. To make a case for this I would need to get an idea of the possible income. So supposing for a moment that this service exists, how many dollars per month would you be happy to pay for it? or how much per equipment model to download?

 

Let's see if there is a real proposition here. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

 

Conrad

[Company Call BV]

@Conrad Preen 

I think we should look at a price / year to access the library like service select clients can. 

If the annual price is around 250 - 300 euro a lot of people don't mind paying this.
I don't know if this is enough to build a case...? but I see a huge opportunity here as there is not a lot on the market and you probably received loads of requests for this. 🙂

 

What do you think @Luther Core?

[Luther Core]

On 1/5/2021 at 4:37 AM, jdepaepe said:

@Conrad Preen 

I think we should look at a price / year to access the library like service select clients can. 

If the annual price is around 250 - 300 euro a lot of people don't mind paying this.
I don't know if this is enough to build a case...? but I see a huge opportunity here as there is not a lot on the market and you probably received loads of requests for this. 🙂

 

What do you think @Luther Core?

    I think it partially depends on what's in the tool. Netzoom has a team of people that create the stencils. The turn around time is usually couple of days which is EXCELLENT. This is not just for the visuals but ALL of the connection points as well. The data portion is similar to ConnectCad where you add in weight, power manually. 

The last time I used them I believe they charged around $700 per year which I felt was high relative, to what you got as it relates to Vectorworks/ACad/Bricscad etc. To be honest, for the cost of Spotlight + ConnectCad and the fact that most of the functionality is already available, I feel it should be included already (w/caveats). Your additional $250-300 feels reasonable. I would consider paying more for the device to have full information included: dimensions, weight, power, btu's, but I don't know if it's worth the extra effort on VW's part especially since some manufacturers don't readily provide this info.

 

    Would the tool allow the importation of cad blocks directly from manufacturers (this we can already do it's just not a part of Device Builder)? Would it include an editor to allow the complete creation of the block if not available from the manufacturer (This we can sort of do via Panel Builder but the panels would need to be attached to the device)? Since most of the tool is already in Vectorworks, they'd need to make the business case for modifying the software design so Device Builder and Panel Builder are more integrated and make the business for creating accurate symbols in house and including them in the library. 

 

My take is it should be VW provided and community based. If VW provided, each device needs to be as close to perfect as possible. If community based what becomes available should be as-is. This means if I create something that is incomplete, VW has NO responsibility to fix it and we use at our own risk. VW blocks should be labeled as such so we know they are complete and Community blocks should be labeled as such and each creator should state the level of completion, notating what is missing. From there it would be excellent if there were a means for VW and/or the community to update the device and the level of completion. VW would only need to verify that it is correct before receiving their stamp of approval to it's level of accuracy.

[Conrad Preen]

Thanks for the feedback !!!

 

Conrad