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Hi Jesse, Thanks so much for building this - I'm looking forward to using it. I noticed that this tool doesn't work on referenced Viewports placed in a design layer. Is that something you can confirm? Would you consider expanding the capabilities to include this? Cheers, Nic

I think we're missing each other - I have an existing site file created using points. According to my understanding, the correct way to edit it post VW2021 is to use the 'edit proposed contours' command - you can see the suggestion here: https://app-help.vectorworks.net/2021/eng/VW2021_Guide/SiteModel1/Creating_a_contour.htm#XREF_15642_Creating_a_Contour The proposed contours do have elevation - is the missing link the grade modifier? Even adding that, I get an essentially random landscape as a result, as below, that has nothing to do with the new contours I've drawn in.

Rylevang 3B · D 056 · A 7.10 · Oversigt · Skabe v2024 v2021.vwx

You can't get it to work because your existing contours aren't at the correct elevation and you didn't have a grade limit modifier....It really has nothing to do with the method used to add the proposed contours. I don't recall hearing anyone at Vectorworks claiming anything is superior, they seems to be a bit agnostic on methodology. Can you point out where you heard that? I've been beating the drum for years that people should use points instead of contours. Why, because contours are imaginary and points are real. You can make your own imaginary contours from real points. Your model will be more accurate and operate faster as a result.

I got these maps off the NASA website several years ago, 2016 or so. They include the Hi clouds, etc. You might think the first one was done with the AI Visualizer, but just C4D. They are/were Lo res or Hi res. No reason why they could not be used in VW's. If you notice continental U.S.A. they have light maps of the cities and towns.

Thank you @Jeff Prince, this is exactly what I'm looking for! I understand your process and stumbled onto something similar, but I should note that in the Vectorworks guide they do not suggest using site modifiers and suggest editing the proposed contours, so I followed that process. Is there a reason why I can't get it to work that way or a specific reason why that process is suggested by them as being superior?

Oh Man, thank you for posting. This is going to be a game changer. Thanks @Jesse Cogswell for building this!

How do you close a spherical map in VW's? Scaling did not seem to work?

You can employ a trick here to avoid the refreshing of geoimages... Set up a geoimage which matches the rectangular extents of your site model. Ungroup it. Build a texture using this image and use the X dimension of the rectangular extents for the texture size. Apply that to the site model using the texture tab in the OIP. This will prevent geoimage refreshes and other crazy behavior. This method also provides a pathway which allows you to edit the geoimage to improve the quality in a photo editor.

#1 - You don't need to use existing contours for your existing conditions when you have been supplied points. Just grab the points and make and existing site model from them. Next, draw a grade limit around your proposed contours to define the extents you will allow Vectorworks to resolve the grade. Add your 3D Polys representing your proposed contours to the Site-DTM-Modifier class. Set your model to Display proposed in 3D and 2D. Update the site model. You should then see something like this which features burns and swales fitted to your proposed contours. The file you posted shows something similar at the far right, but your existing contours lost their z elevation. This happened sometime around your example named "PROPOSED SITE (CONTOUR EDITED)". Another reason not to use/generate contours when you have points, you can make mistakes without realizing it. Flip your file up into Front View and you will see what I'm talking about... you contours are suddenly flat. Attached is a fixed version of the file for reference. Site Modelling-fixed.vwx

Hmm okay - As I think about it that makes sense - I will have to experiment how to better organize this file then and maintain the Stories in our drawing so that our coordination file back to Revit via IFC works Appreciate you confirming that it is expected and Im not losing my mind entirely

I've always been partial to globes with a bit of raised relief myself... Just make a Vectorworks sphere. Then, make a texture from an image. The best results use an image made from equirectangular projection. Finally, texture the sphere using spherical mapping. The trick to accurately scaling and placing the texture involves Pi and the length of a 90 degree arc based on your model size. The previous examples here by @Kevin K and @VIRTUALENVIRONS may be salvageable in that regard, I don't know where they got their textures. And yes, I did do it in Vectorworks...

Thank you. @M5d and @Tom W.. Interestingly. VW2024 now includes an option for gap below leaf, which did not exist in VW2023. For whatever reason, I can manage Windoor for windows, but I absolutely can't deal with Windoor for doors. Something about that tool is profoundly counterintuitive at times.

Thank you very much, I look forward to your feedback. I will try jdlang19's suggestion and report back.

I have successfully geolocated my site and attached a geoimage to the DTM. I have set a fixed resolution for the image, and when first set, the resolution looks good. However, after an update of the DTM the image drops to a much lower resolution, requiring at least another update of the DTM, and sometimes two or more, before the finer resolution comes back. Am I doing something wrong here?

I've seen this issue now internally and have reported to Apple. Would be curious if the suggestion mentioned above by jdlang19 helps in your case for now?

Hello @Stig Runar This the Update Mode setting in the Render style Option pane, for Redshift render styles.

Ever since I updated my MacBook Pro 2018 to Sonoma 14.4.1 and tried to work with Vectorworks, the screen just went black and the keyboard still worked. Since I didn't know at the beginning (about 3 weeks ago) that it was related to Vectorworks, I thought it was a macOS error. I then took the problem to the Apple Store who had no solution to the problem and finally told me my laptop had a hardware fault, which in retrospect made little sense, but I trusted the "professional" opinion of the salesman and bought a new Macbook as a result. Macbook Pro16 inch. Unfortunately, I still have the same problem, only now the entire Mac crashes as soon as Vectorworks and a few other programs are opened in parallel. Is there already a solution for this problem? I have already informed Apple about this several times and they tell me to wait until the next update comes, but unfortunately I don't have that time. I would be grateful for any information that would make my Vectorworks run reliably.

That is good news. I saw the video of latest D5 release and it looks great. I always thought it would be just a Rendere like VRAY or Corona. But realized now that is a complete real time render solution like Twinmotion, Enscape, Lumion, ..... And it supports Blender ! (But so far have not looked how deep that support or exchange will go in reality) Unfortunately I also realized that D5 is Windows only !? Bummer.

Esteemed Vectorworks Friends: I have imported via DWG 3d building objects into an existing Vectorworks file that has viewports. I am trying to get all objects to display with black lines, but the objects imported do not change color from the default colors that they were modeled in before DWG export. I have tried to override the display of these imported classes with a black line and black fill, to no avail. Is there another place I can use to control the color displayed by these 3d objects imported via DWG. I would like to do this in Vectorworks via viewport overrides for graphics via reimporting objects and changing their colors to black. Thanking anyone who can help in advance. Art in Seattle

If you are doing Layer Referencing, then I believe this is the expected behavior. When the layer reference updates it deleted all data from the layer and brings in the new data. So anything you have manually added to the reference layer will be lost. You will need to add a non-referenced layer to place your objects on.

@lkr241 Oh, my bad...I didnt read your post carefully enough. You wanted just an earth as a texture instead of more of a map.. Perhaps you can still use it and texture map it with a different texture..??

This may help I don't really know that much about VW texture mapping, but this is a VW's 3D file with texture file. I can't get it to close, but I am sure someone else can help. File enclosed. VW EARTH.vwx

Thanks for posting this. I've been battling all day to get this working on a project. I got the Coordinates for the site from the Lead BIM Manager at the Client Offices. E/W - 529808876.6 N/S - 180310450.2 True North - 328.93 Vectorworks wants these in metres due to SPSG 27700 being a Metres Standard. So I enter the numbers with a 4 decimal place adjustment, and it rounds up the last bit on the Northing and Easting to the following: Easting (X) 529808.877m Northing (Y) 180310.450m Angle to True North 328.93000000 I'm not sure if that matters. It does come up at the right place on the Geoimage Tool. I can also import the Shared Coordinates File, and it lands in the right place with the right location, I think... The problem now is that whenever I import a Revit from the various BIM guys doing the Plant and Ceilings etc, they just land with the wrong rotaion. If I go into Revit 2021 (The one they're all using) and export to a DWG, I get the option in VW export options to enable Georeferencing for the import., You don't get that option with a Revit import. Does someone know if it's possible to import a Revit to land in the right place please? It must be something I'm doing wrong.