12/1/07
Serving the Seattle VectorWorks Users Group and Northwest VectorWorks users.
An archive of past newsletters can be found at http://converttolines.blogspot.com/
In this issue:
• No user group meeting this month
• Giving Thanks
• More thoughts on VW 2008
• Possible bug when exporting DXF/DWG in V.2008
• Latest webcast link
• Viewports as Design Layers (DLVP)
•Stretching groups of lines in V.2008
•What is Resource Share?
•Creating Door and Window Schedules
Greetings VectorWorks users! The holidays are too busy to place any more demands on your time so let’s plan on getting together after the new year. Meanwhile, included in CTL #27 is a link to a new webcast (and a new downloadable tool) as well as the familiar tips, tricks and points of view for using VectorWorks effectively.
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There are a lot of people we could and should thank in making VW all it can be. I'd like to single out two.
I saw Katie demo'ing VW 2008 at the JLC Residential Construction Show in Seattle and I wish to acknowledge her efforts in teaching (and selling) VectorWorks, often under difficult, frequently exhausting conditions. If NNA would only film and post her demo on the website, it would help countless new users to find their way through VectorWorks and achieve success just a little bit sooner, or maybe a lot sooner, than would otherwise be the case. Katie also does yeoman work on the tech board helping any and all, day in and day out.
Here's a scary question. What if there was no Jonathan Pickup in NNA's world, or ours? Jonathan's books say more and do more in fewer pages than almost anything I've seen, as opposed to the Fundamentals and Designer Series manuals which, at over 1,300 pages, have been cobbled and patched for years, their engineer-speak context and order baffling to all but the most intrepid spelunkers. (Disclaimer--Jonathan has been kind to me and our Seattle VectorWorks Users Group with his generosity in the past).
Just the other day, Mike Enriquez posts this to the VW Listserv:
"I have VW 12.5 and I looked in the help files. I have VectorWorks Fundamentals Book. I have Vector Works Architect 1 & 2 CD, Core Concept CD,and Vectorworks Essentials CD Series TR104. No where can I find out how to set up individual working drawings, or drawings and how I can print or plot each sheet. I believe I looked everywhere and I cannot find this information. Help? I don't understand why this is not covered or maybe it is me and I can't find it. This information has to be somewhere because it is the very basis how Architects work. You know, draw multiple individual sheets and then take these sheets to the plotting service. Does anyone know of a good book or CD that explains how to set this up. I believe it is me and didn't see this information or how to look it up. But I am stuck. Help! Where can I find out this information?
Mike Enriquez 'VW Newbie' "
Of course, the items Mike asks about ARE covered, just not broken out where a new user can quickly pick up core concepts and be immediately, if incrementally, successful. I wish I could point Mike E. to a list of Sketchup-like tutorials that would teach a new user how to do just what he's asked in about an hours time. In lieu of that, I instead would point him to Jonathan and his mix of publications, user group, webcasts, etc. as being a most practical place to learn basic VW to date. By the way, Jon has just posted a link to a new book on using VW 2008, tutorial based, for new users and beginners. If you have VW and not had the time to dig in, this may be for you:
>http://www.archoncad.com/essential-tutorial-manual-for-vectorworks-2009.html
Thanks again, Katie and Jon.
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There may be a bug in the VW 2008 export of DWG/DXF. For some users the files seem to be humungous once exported. If this is happening to you, the best thing to do until a fix is issued is to export your file out as a VW 12 file and open it in VW 12.5--assuming you have that version on your computer. Your file will have a duplicate created with V.12 appended to its end. Open the file and export via DWG/DXF as you typically do. This version should be free of the problems caused by V.2008. It is also worth mentioning that creating a class in which to place memory- gobbling textures and other objects not needed for translation, might be helpful in keeping file size down once they’re set to be invisible.
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So what to make of this latest version of VectorWorks? I jumped in with a project already under way in V.12.5 and so far am very happy. I had designed an as-built of a two-story residence and taken it through 3D, intending to add an upper story. It took no time for me to forget about the icons in 12.5 that were stationed at the bottom of the screen. Most have now been moved to the top. I was pleased when I found that I could modify the top row to include a ruler icon that upon clicking, allows me to change the scale of the sheet or design layer I’m currently working on. It’s right next to a box that shows the current view scale. But I really like having the dimension box tied to the tool such that it only springs up as you begin to draw. There is no dimension string on the top of the page unless you set the preferences to display per V.12.5. Using this tool in the new way eliminates the positive/negative inputting that took extra work and was much less intuitive.
Let’s talk about differences in editing viewports. When you’re in a viewport and decide to edit it back to the main design layer by double clicking, you get the familiar--to most of us at least--box with the three choices of Crop, Annotations or Design Layer. You’ll be surprised to see that there is now a colored ring around your design layer. This is a factory setting that may not be appreciated and can be reset by going back to a viewport, dbl. clicking, and when the Edit Viewport palette comes up, unchecking Navigate Back to Viewport. This choice should stay sticky for all subsequent edits.
I’ve been noticing that I don’t always like having to go back to the Viewport to navigate in and out of the design layer. An alternative that seems a reasonable compromise to having Crop, Annotations and Design Layer as buttons on the top of the page is to use the right click mouse button to travel via the contextual menus. (Go to Help / VectorWorks Help and search for “Context Menus” to see a long list of context-based options.)
Along these same lines, here’s something to try. Double click a viewport and when the Edit Viewport palette comes up, go to the bottom of the palette to the pull down the menu labeled Double Click and select Edit the Design Layer. You’ll find that when dbl. clicking on a viewport, you’ll be taken directly to the design layer WITHOUT having the Edit Viewport dialog box come up. If you want this option back, just right click again on a selected vp and then click on Edit to put things back the way they were. Note that I’ve had instances where I can’t seem to get the correct right-clicked palette to come up. If this happens to you, zoom in or out a bit and try again.
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Do you have a wish item or two that you’d like to see included in the next rev. of VectorWorks? Theresa at NNA has sent me an email saying that they’d like us to send them a list of items needing improvement or perhaps new tools or processes. This list should be ready to be returned to her by February for the engineers to consider the requests. I’m working on my list and would like your input. Please email me your thoughts. Thanks!
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The NNA VW webcast for November is on Sign Location Planning. There is a new tool available, (link provided in the tutorial) designed for indicating sign locations within commercial/institutional architectural plans. The tool gives one quite a bit of notation and record keeping control of signage. Here is the link to download and view at your leisure.
>https://vectorworks.webex.com/vectorworks/k2/e.php?AT=RINF&recordingID=25935252&recordKey=B23E5FE2C349AC9E7706580E271E53EC69BCC872B362817A00C498650C1DB304&action=publishfile
The code word to get into the system is (sorry-for our members only).
NNA is likely going to a recorded status (versus a live feed) for webcasts on the West Coast since it simply makes life easier for all. In the future I’ll pass these links on to you as they become available.
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In the Sign Location tutorial, you’ll see that a viewport of a floor plan was brought in as a Design Layer Viewport and used as an underlay for subsequent drawings. This is a new feature of VW 2008. Thus the sign tool, or any other tool, can place information onto a floor plan--a floor plan that can be automatically updated when the original design layer is changed. This works well for me when I wish to show a story below a residential roof or floor joist framing plan. Prior to this, I had to duplicate and disassemble and ungroup until I had a bare-bones set of dead, dashed lines indicating walls.
After beginning the drawing for my Main Story Floor Plan, I created a class for windows and a class for doors into which I placed those respective units. With the viewport underlaying my framing drawing, I then turn off windows and doors leaving holes across which I place heavy dashed lines as indicators for headers or beams. The intent in making windows and doors invisible is to reduce clutter and aid in plan readability.
One can also, using the Advanced Properties button on the Object Info palette, hide wall components as well as strip out wall colors or fills by checking Black and White Only.
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In VW 2008, one has to click on a NEW button to stretch multiple lines, vs VW 12.5, when you needed to click on NO buttons to drag-stretch multiple lines (as long as the "Enable Interactive Scaling Mode" button--the diagonal arrowheaded line icon--was selected as the default choice). Is there a benefit to this additional step or did VW just get harder to use? Not really but you should reset the new third button to ON (it’s sticky). This new button is called "Unrestricted Interactive Scaling Mode" for short.
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Resource Share is a site on the NNA techboard that allows you to download user-provided textures, symbols, hatches, worksheets, wall styles etc.
>http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm&c=8
This page is new so it may take some time for the content to build out.
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Creating door and window schedules seems like a breeze. I set each door and window to show an ID number on the planset and then I go to Tools / Reports / VA Create Schedule. Choose schedule type and click somewhere on your drawing when you see the cross-hair cursor. A schedule appears. Woohoo! You can easily remove unneeded columns by first double-clicking on the schedule which takes you to the original spreadsheet of the schedule. Shift-select those columns you don’t want and delete via the triangle button on the left side of the spreadsheet. Alas, I found I had to number each door and window consecutively and this was slow going and prone to error. I posted a question to the NNA techboard on how I might get the units to number consecutively and received this post back from Pat Stanford:
“Take a look at the ID Label Tool. This will go through and let you do the numbering and turn on the On Schedule button at the same time. The other benefit is that it lets you specify exactly where you want the label to be, rather than having to move it afterward.
The only trick (for me) is that the tool makes you click where you want the label first, then on the door/window to label.”
Thanks Pat! Note that on the ID Palette, you’ll find a button called Auto-Increment ID Label. Check this, obviously, to get the numbers to post consecutively. Note also that you might choose the suggested class called Door-Spec (or Window-Spec) in which to place the ID labels which will allow you to make door or window numbering invisible as needed.
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That’s it!
Have a great holiday season and may all your dreams be designed by Pixar.
Tom Greggs
Greggs Building Design
(206) 524-2808
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
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