CONVERT TO LINES #5

CONVERT TO LINES #5
November 18, 2004

In this issue
Extruding objects

Greetings from the Seattle Vectorworks User Group. In my last post, I had suggested that those interested solely in roofs meet December 1st, a Wednesday, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. A number of folks responded and so we will go forward with that meeting but I’m sending this post out to one and all in case your schedule or your interest changes. There is plenty of room so just show up. The more, the merrier.
I have a Vectorworks 10 Learning Series CD, Foundation ll that I’ll give away at the meeting. Those that wish can draw for it--as in pick-a-number. Disk topics include Walls, Advanced 3D, Creating Scripts, Worksheets and Databases, Setting Up a Drawing System and Workgroup Referencing. If you have VW 10 Learning Series CD’s at home that you’ve finished viewing, bring them to the SVUG meetings and share them or swap them!
I also have the full set of VW 11 Learning Series CD’s which I plan to lend out. These include the Vectorworks Foundations l & ll, Architect, Landmark, Spotlight and Renderworks. I’m still working out a plan for this to work but at this point I am considering accepting and holding a check for the retail amount of the CD plus a few dollars to cover mailing the CD out and back. There would be a two week period before the disk would be overdue. Upon receipt of the CD, I would tear up the check and mail you back the pieces. Only one CD at a time would be issued to any one person. Let me know if this interests you.
The Dec. 1 Roofs meeting will be held at the Seattle Central Community College Wood Construction Center lecture hall. The Wood Construction Center is located at 23rd Avenue South and South Lane Street. Parking is available in the gated lot off South King Street, one block south of Jackson Street. The lecture hall is the building directly adjacent to the parking lot at its south side.
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Let’s get right into some tips. When you want to make a plane such as a ground plane, do you choose Extrude or Floor? The Floor tool gives you a dialog box that allows you to set the floor height in space. The Extrude Tool does not have this same advantage. You will have to drag it to its proper location or use the Move command. You can angle an extruded object by going to a side view and using the 3D Rotate Tool. If the yard slopes or you are making a sloping driveway or other tipped surface, this is the tool to use. A Floor cannot be tilted. If you wish to apply a texture to an extruded object, doing so will cover all surfaces. Pasting a texture onto a floor will only texture the top plane and not the other sides. There is also another option and that is using the Roof Face command which will give you a combination of advantages from both Extrude and Floor. There is--and I believe this is in Architect and perhaps Landmark--a road tool that makes sizing from the Object Info Palette and easy chore. It also has a curb option. Import from Object Libraries the Sitework-Parking & Roads library. Once imported into your Resource Browser, choose Road Straight Drive and use it as a road or any other flat or sloped surface.

Here is a link to a trove of QT movies of VW
http://www.nemetschek.net/movies/index.html

If you have ever wondered about cabinet hinges, check out this site.
http://www.allwoodwork.com/article/woodwork/glossary_of_cabinet_hinge_terms.htm

See you on the 1st of December!

Tom Greggs
tomgreggs@mindspring.com
(206)-524-2808