Vectorworks Tip #195 - Basic Tools - Attributes Palette

The attributes palette is used to control the graphic style of your objects. So if you want to assign a thicker line weight, a different color line, a fill pattern, gradient, etc. then use this palette. If you are using wall styles, the attributes palette cannot be used to change the attributes of the wall, you have to edit the wall style to do that.

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Podcast 207 - Test Yourself Exercise - 1

I am the author of the Vectorworks Essentials Tutorial Manual. I was recently talking to a university tutor that uses this manual with the students. At the end of the first chapter of this manual the students should be able to draw simple objects and dimension them. The students sometimes forget just how much they have learned from the simple exercise, so I have created a Test Yourself exercise to allow the students to test their knowledge from the first chapter. This movie shows you how to complete this exercise. If you have bought my manual and you would like to test the knowledge from the first chapter, try this exercise.

Vectorworks Tip #194 - Site Modelling - Stake Object

To create a Site Model you require 3D data for the spot levels of the site. There are several ways to do this. One way of creating your site model is to import an image file showing contours, then trace along the contours of the polygon tool. There is a command that will convert your 2D polys to 3D contours.

 

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Vectorworks Tip #193 - Solid Modelling - Intersect Solid

I often use Intersect Solids to create a complex shape. The basic strategy with this concept is that you create two shapes. This command will find where the shapes overlap each other (intersect each other), giving me the object that I require.

 

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Should I Learn SketchUp?

I teach a lot of people. So I hear a lot of comments, concerns and questions. A common question is about SketchUp. Should a Vectorworks user learn this? I admit that SketchUp looks very seductive, but you can model everything you need in Vectorworks, so why bother?
This is a simple design that you could probably generate after going through chapter 2 of my Vectorworks Essentials Tutorial Manual. All it uses is simple extrusions, but it does not convey the feeling of the outdoor space.

Vectorworks Tip #192 - Text - Check Spelling - Worksheets

Check the spelling of your worksheets. When you select a worksheet you cannot use the right-click (contextual) menu to check the spelling. But you can go to Text on the menu bar and choose check spelling from there. This command checks for your worksheet looking for spelling mistakes. If it finds words that you know are spelled correctly but not in the dictionary, Vectorworks will show these words as misspelled. If you add these words to your dictionary, Vectorworks will use them from now on.

 

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Vectorworks Tip #191 - Basic Tools - Clip Surface

Like the Add Surface command, you can access this from the Modify menu or from the contextual menu. As with the Add Surface command, I prefer to access this from the contextual menu (right click). Use this command to subtract a shape from the base shape. In this command the stacking order is important. If you get the stacking order wrong you will be clipping the wrong object.

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Podcast 206 - Creating a Butterfly Roof in Vectorworks

A client was asking how to make a roof that has a low point in the middle. Some people call this a butterfly roof. The answer is to use a standard Vectorworks roof and edit it to make just half the roof. Then mirror the roof to create the other half. This works for most versions of Vectorworks.

Vectorworks Tip #190 - Site Modelling

To create a Site Model you require 3-D data for the spot levels of the site. There are several ways to do this. One way of creating your site model is to import an image file showing contours, then trace along the contours of the polygon tool. There is a command that will convert your 2-D polys to 3-D contours.


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Vectorworks Tip #189 - 3D Modelling - Subtract Soilds

When you select text, you can use the right-click to choose Check Spelling…. This does not work if you select a call out. You might think that that will stop you from checking the spelling in a callout note. If you select a call out object (or even several of them) then you can go to Text on the Menu bar and choose Check spelling… This will then check the spelling of all of the selected called out notes.

 

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Vectorworks Tip #188 - Text - Check Spelling of Callouts

Check the spelling of your callouts. When you select text, you can use the right-click to choose Check Spelling…. This does not work if you select a call out. You might think that that will stop you from checking the spelling in a callout note. If you select a call out object (or even several of them) then you can go to Text on the Menu bar and choose Check spelling… This will then check the spelling of all of the selected called out notes.


http://learn.archoncad.com

Vectorworks Tip #187 - Basic Tools - Add Surface

You can access this command from the modify menu or from the contextual menu. I prefer to access this from the contextual menu because that makes a quick. Use this command to add two or more shapes together to create a complex shape. In my experience this is the fastest way to create complex shapes.


http://learn.archoncad.com

Podcast 205 - Create Polygon - Clip Surface with Vectorworks

I have recently been working on a lot of 2D detailing with Vectorworks. One of the issues that I came up against was the look of plaster. The person who drew this plasterwork originally had a very nice style for drawing a wiggly line. I am editing these areas of plaster and I want my areas to look identical to the originals, but my way of drawing the wiggly line makes it appear different. I found the technique that allows me to quickly draw the plaster and completely replicate what has already been drawn, using create poly from inner boundary and clip surface. What is the movie to see how I do it.

Vectorworks Tip #186 - Preferences – Document Preferences – Plan Shadows.

Massing Models can show shadows in the shadows based on a document preference called Plane Shadows. You can also set the option on your plants to use the same shadows so that massing models and plants all show the same shadow direction, graphic style, and size.


http://learn.archoncad.com

Vectorworks Tip #185 - 3D Modelling - Add Solids

This is where you take two or more three-dimensional objects and you join them together. The strategy with 3-D modeling is to break your object up in the simple manageable chunks, then use Add Solids to join them together. In this image you can see that I created several different colored objects. When when added together you get a single object.


http://learn.archoncad.com

Vectorworks Tip #184 - Text - Text along a Path

If you ever need to create text that follows a curving path, use this command from the Text menu. as well as creating 2-D text that follows a curving path, this command will also create 3-D text that follows the path.

http://learn.archoncad.com

Vectorworks Tip #183 - Basic Tools - Custom Tool/Attribute

This is a great way of creating utility scripts in your files. This command will create a custom script that can control the text, symbols, layers, classes, snaps, etc. to set up the utility script for your snaps, set the snaps you want first, then go to the menu bar and choose Tools > Custom Tool/Attribute. Fill in the settings on the dialog box and choose the option to create a script. Give you a script in your file that you can use to reset the snapping whenever you need it.
http://learn.archoncad.com

archoncad Newsletter - December 2014

Time to wrap up the year

At the start of this year I started posting regular tips and tricks on my website. I call these my 10 second tips because they only take 10 seconds to read. I try to make them so that you will be able to read these tips each day without spending a lot of time...

Read More...

 

 

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Archoncad books in the Kindle Store

I have been working to catch up with my manuals on the Amazon Kindle store. I have been creating new covers for the kindle books.

If you are a subscriber then you do not need to buy the kindle version, you already have access to these manuals on this website. Your manuals have the movie links in them (which the kindle books do not).

 

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Podcast 204 - Add Soild, Subtract Solid, Intersect Solid

I have been working on a project that requires quite a 3-D modeling. To make this quicker I is a combination of Add Solid, Subtract Solid, and Intersect Solid. Using these tools made it extremely quick to model this complex situation. somebody asked me why do i use these particular techniques when I could use other techniques like Taper Face or Section Solid. The Intersect Solid is an interesting technique. It is fast, but more importantly it allows you to go back and adjust your work quickly.

Vectorworks Tip #182 - Preferences - Clip Cube with Saved View

If you set up a saved view while you have the clip cube activated, when you restore that saved view, the clip cube will be reactivated. This is a very handy way to save your clip cubes.

http://learn.archoncad.com

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Vectorworks Tip #181 - 3D Modelling - 3D Polygon

Vectorworks has some really cool 3D tools, and it's tempting to always look at these instead of some of the basic 3D tools that Vectorworks has. The 3D polygon tool can be used to draw a polygon between 3D objects. You don't need to use automatic working planes, you don't need to set working planes, you just need to draw the 3D object and snap to the 3D geometry you already have.

The leader for all your training needs: http://learn.archoncad.com

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Vectorworks Tip #180 - Text - Find/Replace Text

Find/Replace Text is a fantastic command for finding and replacing text in your drawings. I once had a client that had to change all of the notes that related to the roof strap bracing. Using this command meant that it will be done at once without having to look for every reference in document.

 

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Vectorworks Tip #179 - Basic Tools - Custom Modification

This command allows you to select multiple objects and modify them. It uses the same concept as the custom selection command, will you have a dialog box to set the criteria for selecting the objects. After making your choices and clicking OK on the selection criteria, you then get the Properties dialog box with all of the objects selected. This dialog box allows you to edit all of the selected objects at the same time.

 

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Vectorworks Tip #178 - Preferences - Clip Cube

The clip cube is a fantastic technique for filtering your model in 3D. The clip cube will allow you to filter out the parts of your model that you do not want to see. The easiest way to create your clip cube is to select an object before activating it. You can see from the image how it takes away all the information that you don't require. The clip cube can be adjusted after you activate it using the selection tool.

 

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Vectorworks Tip #177- 3D Modeling - Loft Surface - Loft With Birail Sweep

Loft Surface – Bi-Rail Sweep mode. In this mode you use a cross-section through your object and two rails to control it. This allows you to create very complex shapes very simply. As the rails move closer together to further apart, the profile stretches to match.

 

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Vectorworks Tip #176 - Text - Variable Tab Widths

Vectorworks 2015 allows you to create blocks of text with variable spacing for the tab settings. This is new. In the past, all of the tab settings were the same width. Now you can create blocks of text with different width settings with the tabs.

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Vectorworks Tip #175 - Basic Tools - Custom Selection

Vectorworks allows you to select objects based on a series of custom criteria. This would allow you to select all the walls of a certain wall style, or select all objects of a certain line weight, line color, or a combination of these.

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podcast 202 - 3D Ploygon Tool

3D Polygon Tool - Vectorworks has some really cool 3D tools, and it's tempting to always look at these instead of some of the basic 3D tools that Vectorworks Has. The 3D polygon tool can be used to draw a polygon between 3D objects. You don't need to use automatic working planes, you don't need to set working planes, you just need to draw the 3D object and snap to the 3D geometry you already have.

Vectorworks Tip #174 - Saved Views

Saved views are very useful for restoring a view of your project. They control the view, layers, classes, zoom, rendering, etc. It is a really quck way to jump from anywhere in the project to a specific view.

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Vectorworks Tip #173- 3D Modeling - Loft Surface - Loft With One Rail

Loft Surface – One Rail mode. In this mode you need to have a cross-section through your object and around the want to move it along. This allows you to create very complex shapes very simply.

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Vectorworks Tip #172 - Text - Check Spelling

Vectorworks has a spellchecker allowing you to check the spelling of individual blocks of text, all the selected text, all the text in the entire drawing.

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Vectorworks Tip #171 - Basic Tools - Select Connected Objects

This is a great command for selecting objects that join each other. You will find this command in the contextual menu, so when you right-click on an object you can select all of the objects that join to the selected object.

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