Archoncad Releases Essential Tutorial Manual for VectorWorks 2008

archoncad has realeased a major update for the successful Essential Tutorial Manual for VectorWorks 2008. This update has completely re-written substantial parts of the manual to make it faster for you to learn VectorWorks.

The VectorWorks Essentials manual is designed to take you from no skills in VectorWorks through to a competent beginner level. It is designed to teach you all the things that are need to give you a good, solid foundation in VectorWorks.

This manual comes as a text book with an included CD-ROM. The text book is written in a conversational style, and is designed to be easy to read and understand. The manuals uses pictures to show what is going on and often uses diagrams to explain concepts that people find hard to understand. This manual is designed for visual people.

The manual starts with very simple VectorWorks concepts because these are the foundations to mastering VectorWorks. Then there are a series of 2D drawing exercises finishing with a drawing exercise that brings all your skills together.

the manual is available from my new web site:
http://www.archoncad.com

Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 5 (upgrading to 2008) Select Multiple Object In Walls

How many times have you tried to select more than one window in a wall so that you could edit it? I’ve tried so many times and I’d finally given up. With VectorWorks 2008 you will be abel to select all the doors in a wall ad change them. 

Unfortunately, you can’t use the align/distribute command on them, but you can change the door size all at the same time. 

Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 4 (upgrading to 2008) Import and Export AutoCAD 2007/08

I’ve had a few phone calls lately from clients. They have received an AutoCAD drawing from the engineer or architect and they can’t import it into VectorWorks. They are upset and confused, because in the past they were able in import these drawings from the consultant.

The answer is that the consultant has updated AutoCAD and now VectorWorks is not able to open the new DWG format.

It’s not all lost. VectorWorks 2008 is now able to import and export AutoCAD 2007/08 files.

So, if you are having trouble with importing and exporting new AutoCAD files your answer is to upgrade to VectorWorks 2008.

Landscapers should buy VectorWorks Designer

I teach a lot of people, some architects and some landscape clients. Some of the landscape clients want to be able to count all the parts of the project. This means counting all the piles, bearers, joists and decking. 

VectorWorks architect has a joist object. This object makes counting all the joists, bearers and decking very easy. Because of the way this object is designed, you can place joists of different sizes and then ask VectorWorks to count up the joists, sort them into sizes and then count all the parts.

The joist object also makes 3D objects. So, with the joist object you can solve 2 problems with one object.  In this picture i used the joist object for the decking, joists and bearers. 

Along with the joist object is the rafter and roof framing objects. Perfect for making roof framing for pergolas. 

As well as these objects, VectorWorks Designer has some commands that will create all the joists for a floor, or all the decking, with just a few clicks.

If this is the sort of thing that you want to do, get VectorWorks Designer. You will pay for the extra cost by the time you save. It will only take a few jobs to pay for the extra cost, but the savings will be on every job from then on. 

Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 3 (upgrading to 2008) Export Google Earth

In VectorWorks 2008 there is a new export command that will export your 3D model to Google Earth...

I had a play with this command and it worked really well. You need to know the location the location of your model very accurately. Of course you can use Google Earth to find the accurate location of you site.

This might sound like just some fun. But there is more to it than that. You could email your client the exported file. They can open the file in Google Earth which will show them the house in 3D on their site. They can turn around and look at the house from any angle.

Your clients can look at your designs wthout using VectorWorks.

Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 2 (upgrading to 2008) Classes For Wall Components

Wall components now have their own classes. For Architects this is a real step forward. Until now Architects have avoided drawing the complete wall (cladding, structure and lining) and have mainly drawn the structural part of the wall. After all, this is the part that the builder really wants to know about.

Now with VectorWorks 2008 we can draw the complete wall showing the cladding, the structure and the lining. If we assign different classes to each component of the wall then we can turn off some components for some drawings but turn all the components on for other drawings.

This has been a request since we first changed to using the new wall style system and I’m really glad that we have this new ability.

This will be covered in detail in my updated Architect Tutorial Manual for VectorWorks 2008 due late October 2007.

Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 1 (upgrading to 2008) Rotated Plan View

This week my podcast will show you the rotated plan view in VectorWorks 2008.

If you have a complex plan with rotated parts, you might find, like I do, that drawing the plan in the rotated parts of the building can be a pain.

VectorWorks 2008 has a new plan view called rotated plan. This new view option allows you to rotate the view without rotating the information on the plan.

This allows you to work orthogonally for this part of the building.

When you are finished, you can return to the unrotated plan view to work on other parts of the building.
You can save the rotated plan views as saved views to return to them at any time.
This will be covered in detail in my updated Architect Tutorial Manual for VectorWorks 2008 due late October 2007.

List of Vectorworks Keyboard Shortcuts.

in VectorWorks 2008 you can export a list of all the keyboard shortcuts in your workspace.
Go to the Menu Bar
Choose Tools > Workspaces > Workspace Editor...
Edit your current workspace.
Click on the OK button

Click on the
Export Workspace to Text File... button

When you open the text file you can see all your commands and tools with the keyboard shortcut or hot key listed.

Library of Details with Vectorworks

I saw a question on the VectorWorks tech board about making a library and using it. Some people make a library file with symbols in it that can be used on several jobs. If you make your details into symbols then you can use the Resource Browser to import them into any job.
You find the detail in the Resource Browser.

Drag the detail from the Resource Browser into your drawing.
You detail is now in the drawing and can be edited, moved and so on.
This works well. The details can be created so that when you inset them they become groups. That way you can edit the detail without changing the original symbol.

I’ve been thing for some time that you could also use WorkGroup Referencing to link your detail library to your current project. this would have an advantage when you wanted to update the detail library and have all your projects use the new details.
To get the referenced details onto your drawings use viewports. This would also work well for larger companies where there is more than one person on the project.

Using Vectorworks Spaces

I’m running one of my Architect Courses this week and we got to discussing spaces. I like using space objects in VectorWorks Architect because they can be used for quick 3D bulk and location. The example we are using shows you how to make a quick model of the house to check your concept model against the site constraints.

This can be completed very quickly. It might take you 5 or ten minutes to create the spaces and link them to the site plan. You can check your house concept against the site recession planes (height in relation to the boundary). Checking at this early stage allows you adjust the concept. This gives you the information you need to improve your design.

Maybe you will move a room, reduce it’s height, change the room elevation. You can now choose to do all sorts of things. But without the 3D information you would not be able to fix your design.


If you are interested in finding out more about this concept check out my Short Sharp Manuals, available from http://www.archoncad.com/electronic-manuals.html

On-Line User Group August Newsletter Out

The August issue of the cadsupportonline user group newsletter is now available. The topic this month is WorkSheets.
Worksheets allow you count and schedule stuff in VectorWorks. For example you can count all the trees in a site, schedule all the doors on a particular floor of a project, even find the weight of a bracket in a 3D model .
Worksheets are an under used area of VectorWorks and this workshop should open your eyes about what you are able to do with them.
In this issue I show you how you can use worksheets to:
- count areas and compare them
- count objects that have information attached, information that you could use to make a window schedule.
- count a landscape area and calculate the plant mix
the Question and Answer this month is:
How can I get more than one person to work on the same project?”
The extended podcasts this month are:
epodcast 042
In this podcast I will show you how the chain extrude tool. The chain extrude tool makes it really quick to draw the cross section through a balcony roof or varandah roof and extrude it.
epodcast 043
In this podcast I will show you how to make a solar animation.

If you are a subscriber then you will get your newsletter in the next day or so. If you are not a subscriber and would like to join, then visit this web site for more information:
http://archoncad.blogspot.com/p/short-sharp-training-monthly.html

Door and Window Schedule

I was teaching the other day and i wanted to show the client how to make a window and door schedule, one that would just count the doors and windows in the external walls.

It’s common here to count all the external doors and windows together, but to do this with the standard Window or Door object is not that easy. You can count all the windows, or you can count all the doors, but it’s not easy to count all the external windows and doors together.

One option is to count just the windows, the Next Option is to use a separate symbol that can be used to count windows and doors, but then this defeats the purpose of having all the scheduling attached to the window.

I also looked at the Windoor manager from OZCad (http://www.ozcad.com.au). This lets you assign the doors or windows to the door schedule or the window schedule... Briilant!

next month the user group newsletter will be looking at worksheets, so If you are a subscriber then you will get your newsletter about worksheet... If you are not a subscriber and would like to join, then visit this web site for more information:
http://archoncad.blogspot.com/p/short-sharp-training-monthly.html

Sharing Work in Vectorworks

Ever wondered if you can share work with VectorWorks so that you can have more than one person working on a project?

Using WorkGroup Referencing it’s possible. This concept allows you to share layers from your file to another person, or it allows you to borrow a few layers from another file. The command you need is found on the Tools menu.

Before you use this wonderful feature you need to consider what bits of information you want to share. I find it’s easier to sort out who is going to be working on the job and what parts they will be responsible for. After you’re work this part out the rest is easy.

If you choose to put a few drawings in one file and a few drawings in another then it’s easy to share your work around but this is not what I have in mind. For one thing, you can’t print all the drawings at the same time. So batch print is not useful... I wanted to show you a way that you can have all the drawings in one file and still have several people on the same project.

Worksheets in Vectorworks

I was training at a landscape client today and I was reminded just how powerful worksheets are. We made a worksheet that would count all the plant areas in a layer. That’s easy, so the really fun bit was that we set up the worksheet to allow for 14 types of plants, allow for a percentage mix for each plant type, a different plant spacing and VectorWorks worked out all the plants.

This worksheet has dramatically speed up the client. They don’t want to use actual plants as the areas are vast, 50ha is typical, so placing individual is not an option...

I have a short manual on worksheets available from:
http://archoncad.blogspot.com/p/manuals.html

archoncad interviewed by 101 Marketing

I have been listening to a business podcast for some time now, because he talks about coming internet strategies and stuff. The author got in touch with me the other day and wanted to interview me. You can listen to the interview at:
http://101marketing.blip.tv/

Listen to some of the others as well. One of my favourites was why you should buy an ipod as a business tool...

I’m working on my on-line user group topic for July 2007. The workshop topic is Annotation. Annotation is text and dimensions, but VectorWorks has much more than this, there are tools to make it easy to assemble the notes, labels and references on the drawings. This topic includes;
-    text
-    Dimensions
-    Custom dimensions
-    Call out tool
-    Drawing Labels
-    Reference Markers
-    Elevation Benchmark
-    Tittle Blocks
-    Custom Title Blocks


the Question and Answer this month is:

I want to have walls with brick veneer and I want to place windows in the wall so that above the windows I have a different cladding. How do I do that?”
The extended podcasts this month are:
epodcast 040
This podcast shows you how you can import a survey drawing from a consultant and quickly make it into a 3D Site model.
epodcast 041
This podcast shows you how you can quickly make hardscapes accurately and how you can edit them. This podcast shows you how to add surface and clip surface to edit your hardscapes quickly.

If you are a subscriber then you will get your newsletter in the next day or so. If you are not a subscriber and would like to join, then visit this web site for more information:
http://archoncad.blogspot.com/p/short-sharp-training-monthly.html

WorkGroup Referencing 1

What is WorkGroup Referencing?

WorkGroup Referencing is the ability to link one VectorWorks file to another. For example, you have two people working on a large project. One person is doing most of the plans and sections, the other is doing all the details.

So far so good, you could always do this with VectorWorks, just have two files. But when you want to print all the drawings you have to open two files. Wouldn’t it be nice to just have the one file to print all the drawings from? This is what WorkGroup Referencing allows you to do.

The concept of WorkGroup Referencing sounds simple enough, and it really is easy to set up a WorkGroup Reference. The challenging part of the whole process is deciding what to link.

Elevation Benchmark Tool

if you want to use the elevation benchmark tool, DO NOT move the origin on the file, the elevation benchmark will not work with Auto-Reference...

On-Line User Group June Newsletter out

What is WorkGroup Referencing? 

WorkGroup Referencing is the ability to link one VectorWorks file to another. For example, you have two people working on a large project. One person is doing most of the plans and sections, the other is doing all the details. 

So far so good, you could always do this with VectorWorks, just have two files. But when you want to print all the drawings you have to open two files. Wouldn’t it be nice to just have the one file to print all the drawings from? This is what WorkGroup Referencing allows you to do. 

The concept of WorkGroup Referencing sounds simple enough, and it really is easy to set up a WorkGroup Reference. The challenging part of the whole process is deciding what to link. 

If you are using grey layers or grey classes to make stuff go transparent in your viewports, you might find that the printed drawing doesn’t suit you. In VectorWorks you have no control over the grey colour in grey layer and grey classes.

You can switch the classes to grey, but I don’t like the results much.

But there is a better way. In viewports you can edit the class attributes to have the grey colour that you want.

Find the viewport you want to edit.

Click on the classes button to open this dialog box.

Select the classes you want to edit.

Edit the colour, line weight and line style to suit.

Notice how much better the grey lines look now.

By changing the class overrides on the walls, I can make the drawing better still.

On-Line User Group May Newsletter out

the on-line user group newsletter has been out for about 2 weeks now. If you haven’t received yours yet, email me.

jon@archoncad.co.nz

The main topic for May is Textures and Rendering. Rnedering is where you start to enjoy your 3D models, but you need textures to make the rendering come alive. We cover
- rendering modes
- creating simple textures
- assigning textures
- creating textures from an image
- a great trick to judge the texture on the object.


The question and answer session is on creating 3D fillet welds on a 3D bracket.

The two extended podcasts are:
- how to set your units to dimension ini one unit, and have a different usit for worksheets.
- how to quickly edit viewports.

As with all the on-line user group newsletters there are notes, screen shots to show you what to do and links to movies so that you can see me carrying out the exercise.

for more information and to regisiter for the on-line user group please visit:
https://plus36.safe-order.net/archoncad/manuals/usergroup.php

Cheers,
Jonathan
VectorWorks training manuals and support
on-line user group
http://www.archoncad.co.nz

I Don’t Want Existing Plants on My Plant List in Vectorworks

If you are drawing a landscape project that has existing plants in it and you don’t want these to show up in the plant list, it’s easy to do.

Place all the plants that you want. If you create a plant list at this point, all the plants will be there. But let’s say that a few plants are existing and will be left, but you don’t want these on your plant list.


Select one of the existing plants.

On the Object Info Palette, find the option for
On Plant List

Click on this option to turn it off. Now this plant will not appear in the plant list.

If you change your mind, find the plant again, turn on the option for
On Plant List

Then recalculate the worksheet and the plant will appear in the plant list.

VectorWorks Files get Corrupted on the Mac

if you have a problem where your VectorWorks files on the Macintosh get corrupted and lose all their information.
From Julian Carr:
The problem happens when you minimize a VectorWorks document (send it to the Dock) and then immediately save.

In VectorWorks 12 on the Mac when you have more than one VectorWorks document open and you minimize the active one, you will notice that the Data and Mode Bars at the top of the now active document are not displayed properly until you click in the document window. This is when the problem happens. If you do not click on that document to fully activate it, any save you do including Autosave , Apple S or choosing Save from the File menu, will cause the partially activated document to become zero K on disk.

Recommendation to Mac users is to make sure their Autosave is saving to a backup folder (VW Prefs/Session tab) and to NOT minimize VectorWorks documents. You can use the Window menu to switch between open documents or press Apple ~ to toggle between open documents (the ~ key is just below the ESC key).


- good advice, so take notice...

On-Line User Group Topic June 2007

I’m working on my on-line user group topic for June 2007. The workshop topic is Customising VectorWorks. This topic includes;


changing your workspace

adding tools
deleting tools

changing the context menus

making simple tools

how to get started with VectorScript.

Some people might think that VectorScript is too hard to get started with. That’s what I thought too, before I got started, that’s why I wrote this topic. I think that if you understand the basic concepts of VectorScript you can make simple tools that will speed up your use of VectorWorks. I believe that the notes this month will do this for you.

How To Fillet The Corners Of A Rectangle With Vectorworks

If you wanted to fillet the corners of a rectangle there are a few of ways to do it. You can use the fillet tool to take off the corners of the rectangle, but I also think that could be faster ways to do it.

Start with a rectangle.

Choose the fillet tool, choose the 3rd mode on the mode bar, then click on the last button on the mode bar. This button is the preferences or settings button and it is where you enter the fillet radius for this tool and it sets the fillet radius for then next two techniques that I want to show you.

If you have Click-Click drawing set as a VectorWorks preference, click on the first line then click on the second line. This places a fillet at the corner.

A quicker way to do this is to use the 2D Reshape Tool. This tool has a mode for changing the vertex type (the second mode on the mode bar). This means that wit one click you can change the vertex type from corner point (pointy corner) to a fillet corner (chose the fillet corner button on the mode bar).

And I know one more way to do this quickly. Make sure the rectangle is selected. We have a command on the menu bar:
Modify > Poly Smoothing > Arc Smoothing.
This will fillet all the corners at the same time, but the object has to be a polygon...

Setting Units for Areas and Dimensions

I saw on the VectorWorks Tech Forum someone that was looking for a solution where they want to have the worksheet count in one type of unit and the dimensions count in different unit.

The answer is to use primary and secondary units. Use primary units for the worksheet counting and use secondary units for the dimensions.

Sketch Symbols for VectorWorks

I saw this web site on the VectorWorks Tech board the other day:

http://en.isymbol.eu/

This web site sells sketch symbols for VectorWorks. I think these are really cool, and a fantastic way to improve the presentation of your VectorWorks drawings.

If you get in touch with iSymbol, tell them you heard it here...

Ever Feel That Critics Are Getting You Down?

Ever feel that you are not doing a good job, even though you are trying your best? Do critics get you down? I’ve got a good quote to make you feel better:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming..."

Theodore Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

On-Line User Group Newsletter out today

the on-line user group newsletter is a bit late this month due to work commitments ( 2 weeks of training courses in Melbourne and Auckland), but it will be sent out this weekend (April 21st).

The main topic this month is how to build your library. You may think that your library is just a file with standard symbols but that’s not my belief. I believe that your library is really you VectorWorks system of drawing and it includes:
- symbol library
- symbol libraries for tools (drawing border, plants, repetitive unit, etc)
- hatches
- gradients
- layer and class standards
- Wall Styles
and so on. There are notes and exercises on making your office system.

The question and answer session is on dimension standards.

The two extended podcasts are:
- importing a detail from a multi-page PDF file and making a viewport
- using worksheets to count up all the landscaping on each site, for a multi-site development

As with all the on-line user group newsletters there are notes, screen shots to show you what to do and links to movies so that you can see me carrying out the exercise.

for more information and to regisiter for the on-line user group please visit:
http://archoncad.blogspot.com/p/short-sharp-training-monthly.html

Cheers,
Jonathan
VectorWorks training manuals and support
on-line user group
http://www.archoncad.co.nz

What can you do with Worksheets in Vectorworks?

Worksheets are extremely powerful for counting stuff. You can count areas, lengths, symbols and do calculations on the stuff you count. I was recently training a landscape architect who wanted to count all the plants, lawn areas, paving etc for a house development, but he also wanted to count the individual house lots as well as the overall qualtities.
Can this be done.... Sure, pretty easily.
Here you can see that we could have each site counted individually, and you could count all the sites combined.
If you want to find out more about this contact me for training
jon@archoncad.co.nz

The “None” Class in Vectorworks - what’s it for?

what is the None class for? I use the None class for things that I want to be visible all the time. On a detail I would draw everything on the None class, I would do the same thing on sections and elevations, draw nearly everything on the None Class.

I use when you draw in VectorWorks you create objects on the Active Layer and on the Active Class. So, if you make a viewport, what is the active layer? If you create the viewport on the wrong class it might get turned off by accident. So it would be better to set the active class to None.

In reality I find that you can leave your active class on None most of the time. This works fine because you can set up your walls to be automatically assigned to the correct class, you can create symbols that automatically get assigned to the correct class, commands like the roof framer can automatically be assigned to the class you choose in the dialog box.

So, beware the active class...

Constraints - Snap to Object

I was teaching a client today and they asked about the Snap to Object constraint. They had drawn a plan with Snap to Object turned off. It was amazing how much easier it was to draw accurately with this constraint turned on.

This is one constraint that I always turn on, and I leave it on nearly all the time, so I had forgotten how bad it was to draw with Snap to Object turned off... When I  turned the constraint on it was much, much easier to draw for the client , they could not believe what an improvement I had made to the way they draw.

Creating Plant Graphics in Vectorworks

I’ve been helping some landscape clients recently. It reminded me again that you have to make the plant graphics simple if you want your plans to re-draw on the screen quickly. I know that you want to make the plants look like your hand-drawn plans, but you have to be careful.

My first attempt at making complex plants was terrible. The plant was so complex that if you put several of them on the drawing, it took ages to re-draw. A simple outline looked just as good and re-drew so much more quickly...
Keep It Simple...

Missing Smart Cursor in Vectorworks

Even though I made a list of mant of the hot keys, I still get phone calls and emails saying that the smart cursor cues (Point, Object etc) are missing. 

First of all, make sure that the constraints are turned on, then hit key Y to make the smart cursor cues show up. 

VectorWorks Keyboard Hot Keys

Here is an incomplete list of the VectorWorks hot keys (keys on the keyboard that will do something if you hit them). You can find the complete list in the VectorWorks help. Search for keyboard...

2D Locus tool                                                              0 (zero)

2D Polygon tool                                                           8

2D Reshape tool                                                          - (minus)

2D Selection tool                                                         X

Angular Dimension tool                                               . (period)

Arc tool                                                                        3

Ellipse tool                                                                   6

Fillet tool                                                                      7

Line tool                                                                       2

Mirror tool                                                                    = (equal)

Pan tool                                                                       Z

Polyline tool                                                                 5

Rectangle tool                                                              4

Split tool (2D)                                                                L

Text tool                                                                       1

Wall tool                                                                       9

Zoom tool                                                                     C

Top/Plan view                                                            Command+5 and0 on numerical keypad

Front view                                                                  2 on numerical keyboard

Left Isometric view                                                     1 on numerical keyboard

Left Rear Isometric view                                            7 on numerical keyboard

Left view                                                                     4 on numerical keyboard

Rear view                                                                   8 on numerical keypad

Right Isometric view                                                   3 on numerical keypad

Right Rear Isometric view                                          9 on numerical keypad

Right view                                                                   6 on numerical keypad 

Top view                                                                     5 on numerical keypad

Mode modifiers/buttons-1st group                              U

Mode modifiers/buttons-2nd group                              I

Mode modifiers/buttons-3rd group                               O (letter)

Mode modifiers/buttons-4th group                               P

Unconstrained Line Dimensioning tool                        M 

Constrained Line Dimensioning tool                            N

Radial Dimension tool                                                 , (comma)

Constrain Angle constraint                                          S

Constrain Perpendicular constraint                             R

Smart Points constraint                                               D

Smart Edge constraint                                                 F

Snap to Distance constraint                                         E

Snap to Grid constraint                                                A

Snap to Intersection constraint                                    W

Snap to Object constraint                                            Q

Use Floating Datum (in Smart Points constraint)        G

Use Floating Edge (in Smart Edge constraint)            T

Toggle SmartCursor Cues  (screen hints)                   Y

VectorWorks Crashes On Opening

This hasn’t happened to me on my Macintosh but on my Windows machine it has, where you start VectorWorks and as it loads up the program it crashes. This is caused by a corrupt workspace.

If you can remember what your active workspace was:

•    in Windows find the VectorWorks folder
•    find the Workspaces folder
•    delete the active worksace
•    replace it with the worksace from the backup folder. 

now your VectorWorks should start up without crashing

Large Projects in Vectorworks

If you have a large project how should you set up the drawings? Should you have each drawing as a separate file, or not? Should you use Workgroup Referencing to join files together?
The first step is to put as many drawings as you can in the same file. There was a discussion on the Nemetschek North America Tech board (http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0) about batch printing 100 drawings in separate files. VectorWorks will not batch print 100 drawings that are in separate files.

Another reason to have all the drawings in one file is so that with 100 separate files, editing and updating the title blocks and issuing the drawings is a nightmare. If you have all the drawings in one file you can batch print the drawings, you can update and manage the title block information.

Having all the drawings in the same file does not mean that you only have one file for the complete project. With Workgroup Referencing you can have several people on the project adding to the design layers and this information will update on the drawings.

Viewing DWG/DXF Files

Sometimes I have to import or export my drawings to DXF or DWG. Importing isn’t such an issue but when you export a VectorWorks drawing to DXG or DWG, how do you know what you are sending, what will it look like when the other person gets it. 

Ideally if you have AutoCAD (and why would you) you can open the files and view your exported drawings. What if you don’t have AutoCAD? 

Someone suggested this site on the internet:

http://www.edrawingsviewer.com/index.html

You can download a free DWG/DXF viewer for windows and macintosh from SolidWorks. I tried it and it works well. It’s a recommended procedure to check the drawings that you send to people. 

This software has a simple interface, you get to see what you have exported so that you can add a disclaimer to you email to say that you have checked the exported drawings and they look correct. 

Texturing Extruded Objects Doesn't Work

Sometimes you apply a texture to an extruded object and it still won’t render. What’s wrong?

Here is a typical example. You’ve made an object and you made the correct texture, but still the texture is not showing up.

You can see on the Object Info Palette that I have applied the texture correctly, but if you look at the Attributes Palette you can see that the object has no fill. This means that it will stay wireframe.

Look at this example. I have changed the Attributes Palette so that the object has a solid fill. Everything else has remained the same.

Now the object is displaying the correct texture.

How To Save Corrupt Files (maybe)

How to save a Corrupt File (maybe)
This trick doesn’t always work, so it is a last hope solution. If you can get most of you drawing using this method, you may only have to redraw a small amount. Also, this trick only works with Design Layers, so all the annotations that you add to the viewports will be lost.
There is one trick that I have given out a few times lately where the file is corrupt or crashing frequently. Remember that this works sometimes, it doesn’t always work. If it can work then it is a life saver. I have sometimes used it to access a file that is so corrupt that it won’t open.
This trick uses WorkGroup Referencing. Refer to the VectorWorks Architect Manual, or the VectorWorks Landmark manual (also covered in the archoncad manual Setting up Large Projects available at http://www.archoncad.co.nz ).
• Leave the corrupt file closed and open a new file.
• From the Menu Bar chose
Tools > Workgroup References…
• We have to add the file that is corrupt, click on the New button.
• Find the file on your computer. Then click on the Open button.
• The New Reference dialog box gives you control over which layers to attach to the current file.
• Select all the layers that you want, but do not select any layers that have layer links on them, layer links can not be imported. Remember that only Design Layers can be imported.
• Then click on the OK button.
• So far this is just the same as the manual. Now for the trick.
• Delete the Workgroup Reference. This will break the link to the corrupt file.
• You get a dialog box asking you what to do with all the resources that you have referenced into the current file. Choose to keep them all and they will all stay in the current file, imported from the corrupt file.
• The Workgroup References dialog box is empty. No files are currently linked, but the layers that you choose from the corrupt file remain in your file, and all the information on the imported layers comes in as well.

If this method doesn’t work the first time try importing the layers one at a time. Attach one layer, Save the file. Remove the layer. Save the file. Attach the next layer and so on. You may find that only one of the layers is corrupt. If you do, leave that layer out and attach the others and remove them, keeping all the resources.
You could end up with all but one layer saved. That is better than redrawing the complete file.
You should also have a backup strategy so that you could go back to yesterdays file, or the day before. That file may not be corrupt.

7th July 2009
I know people that are still accessing this blog, but it was written 3 years ago. Vectorworks now has a new interface for this area, so some of the instructions need to change.

You access the References from the Tool Menu, choose Organization...
Click on the References Tab
Click on the setting button.
Choose Design layer import

For detailed instructions on using Workgroup Referencing try this short shart manual:
http://www.archoncad.com/workgroup-referencing.html

How To Send Large Files via Email

Sometimes I get my clients trying to send me large files over the internet. Even if you compress your files you might still have trouble sending large files. 

Here is my solution:

http://www.yousendit.com/

This site allows you to send large files (up t0 100Mb). The way that it works is that you upload your files and an email is send to the recipient. They get a link where they can download the big files at their leisure. 

Works really well....

New Rendering With HDRI Backgrounds

VectorWorks 12.5 introduces a new rendering options with HDRI backgrounds. HDRI means High Dynamic Range Image and it means that you can create more realistic rendered views. I used to use a program that allowed you to add environment maps, images that would be reflected in shiny objects. That’s what the HDRI backgrounds are all about. Making and environment that can be reflected. 

If you render a view with an HDRI background, you will notice the reflections of the background in the ball. This is the beauty of the HDRI backgrounds.

This will be a huge improvement in the quality of our renderings, but it takes longer to render. 

How To Get Rid Of The 2D Stuff in 3D Views

Often you want to have a view of your model, so you change to a 3D view. It looks OK, but then you notice all the 2D stuff. Wouldn’t it be nice to get rid of the 2D stuff? You could have it on a class and turn the class off.


There is a quick way to get rid of the 2D stuff. From the Menu Bar choose:
View > Stack Layers
This is the same view with Stack Layers turned on. Notice that all the 2D stuff has vanished?
Stack Layers is only available in Architect and Designer versions of VectorWorks.

Which Manual Should You Buy?

If you are interested in buying one of my manuals you might wonder which manual would suit you. I have tried to offer my advice on the manual order page, which says that if you are new to VectorWorks and want to buy the Architect manual, you are advised to buy the Essential manual as well. 

If you are new to VectorWorks and you want to buy the Landscape manual, you are advised to buy the Essential manual as well. 

The reason for this is that the Essential manual covers the stuff that I consider to be essential knowledge for using VectorWorks. I used to say that this manual covers the foundation knowledge that you need to build on if you want to use VectorWorks effectively. 

So, to summarize, when buying one of my advanced manuals ( architect , landscape) you should also buy the Essential manual UNLESS you are sure that you know all the basic stuff (how to use layers AND classes, viewports/sheet layers, graphics etc).

Hot Keys with Vectorworks 2

Yesterday I told you how to find the Hot Keys for tools that you use. One of the things that I didn’t mention was that if you double-hit the hot key VectorWorks will carry out an action.

For example:
double X key = Deselect All

double C key = Zoom in 2x

double 1 key = opens the Create Line dialog box

double 4 key = opens the Create Rectangle dialog box

and so on. 

Hot Keys with Vectorworks

Hot Keys in VectorWorks, this is where you push a key on your keyboard and VectorWorks chooses a tool for you. There are many hot keys assigned to the keys on the keyboard, but how do you find these useful things? 

If you move your cursor to a tool on a palette, and leave your mouse there for a short time, a tool tip will pop-up to tell you what tool it is and what the hot key is. Notice the letter ‘X’ inside the brackets? That’s the hot key for the 2D Selection Tool. Now whenever you want the 2D Selection Tool, you can it the X key on your keyboard. 

Another tool that I use a lot is the Zoom Tool. Notice that you can use the letter C for selecting the Zoom tool. Double tapping the C key will Zoom you in 2X. 

Now you can find the hot keys for you favorite tools and get quicker at using VectorWorks.

New Object Editing 2

As well the editing I showed you in the last blog, you can also edit the objects that can be created from a Polyline, such as hardscapes, plant groups, spaces, ceiling grids, property lines and so on by double clicking on it. 

Here is an example. Draw an area of hardscape.  You can use the hardscape tool to do this or you can draw the 2D shape that you want and then use the Objects From Polyline... command from the Modify menu.

With the 2D Selection tool, double click on the object. The handles will change from around the object to on the edges of the object. Your 2D Reshape tool is now the active tool. If you move the cursor to one of the middle handles and drag it down...

The object has been re-shaped. You can see the result, the hardscape area has been edited. This is a fast way to edit hardscapes and other similar objects like ceiling grids, spaces and so on.

New Object Editing 1

With VectorWorks 12.5 you will find it easier to edit the objects that can be created from a Polyline, such as hardscapes, plant groups, spaces, ceiling grids, property lines and so on.

Here is an example. Draw an area of hardscape.  You can use the hardscape tool to do this or you can draw the 2D shape that you want and then use the Objects From Polyline... command from the Modify menu.

Draw an area on top of your hardscape. Use a solid object like a rectangle, polygon or circle.
Select both objects.
From the Menu bar choose
Modify > Clip Surface.

You can see the result, the hardscape area has been edited to match. This will make it a lot faster to edit hardscapes and other similar objects like ceiling grids, spaces and so on.

How To Un-Sketch Your Elevations

If you set up your elevations using section viewports or a viewport from the front you will get this heavy red border. It means that the viewport needs to be updated. To update the viewport, click on the update button on the Object Info Palette. What if your elevation looks like this, but you don’t want it sketchy?

On the Object Info Palette click on the button for the Render settingS.
This will open the Hidden Line Render Settings.
If there is a tick on the Sketch Hidden Line results then click on it to turn it off.
If the tick is not on, but your elevation is still rendered you will have to go back the 3D Model layer and check the Document Default sketch style...
Click on the OK Button.

Update your elevation viewport by clicking on the update button on the Object Info Palette.
Now you have hard line elevations.

Eyedropper Tool Improvements

The new Eyedropper Tool in VectorWorks 12.5 now allows you to copy the attributes of one viewport (layers and classes assignment) and paste them on another viewport.

This will copy the class settings, the class overrides and you can copy the viewport attributes from one file to another. If a class doesn’t exist in new file you get a warning, but all the other classes are copied.

The New Offset Tool

With VectorWorks 12.5 Nemetschek North America have updated the offset tool. It would be fair to say that this is a major change to the Offset tool. 

Select the Offset tool.

Look at the Mode bar, see all the new options.  

You no longer have to choose the object that you want to offset BEFORE you choose the offset tool. If you choose the 5th mode then you click on the object to offset, then click on the side to offset it to. this is much faster than it used to be. 

The Offset preferences have been changed as well (the last button on the Mode Bar). 

Notice that you can choose all the mode bar options with the preferences.

Choose whether you use the selected object or you click on each object that you want to offset.

You can offset a duplicate or you can offset the original object. 

You can now offset walls!

This is a big improvement over the old offset tool. It will improve your workflow. 

I found that this new tool made drawing buildings easier because you can offset copies of walls, it has reduced the need to delete lines when I really only needed the offset... 

go, upgrade to 12.5...

Why The 2D Selection Tool Is Your Friend

When you start learning to use VectorWorks you might find that you leave the current tool on, and then try to do something else like selecting things.

When you are learning VectorWorks you will find it easier to change back to the 2D Selection tool after you have finished with a tool. This will stop you accidentally creating more things.

After you have placed a symbol from the Resource Browser change back to the 2D Selection tool. That will stop you accidentally adding more symbols in your file.

Some people have a habit of clicking in the drawing area when they have finished with a tool. Changing to the 2D Selection Tool will stop this being a problem.

Drawing Borders, or the VAA Title Block?

When you place a title block in your drawings, you can use the VectorWorks Drawing border, or you can use the VAA Title Block. The VAA Title Block is available if you are using VectorWorks Architect in Australia or New Zealand.  It gives you more ability to control title blocks, edit the text on the title blocks and customizing the title blocks is relatively straight forward. But there is a big bonus to using the VAA title block you can easily make a Document Transmittal sheet.

From the annotation tool set choose the VAA Title block tool.  When you choose this tool you get a ghost image of the title block on the screen.

Double click anywhere to place the title block. This tool is designed to fit the title block to your piece of paper, much like the VectorWorks Drawing border tool. The title block will come in with a border and crop marks. This is the default setting that you can adjust if you want to.


To get rid of the crop marks, go to the Object Info Palette and find the pop-up menu for Draw Crop Marks. Choose the option Not for Any Title Block to turn off the crop marks for all the title blocks in the file.

Finally, to get rid of the border, don’t turn the border off from the Object Info Palette. Use the Attributes palette to give the title block no fill and a line colour of white. The title block itself won’t be affected, just the border.

Should You Put Annotation on Design Layers, or Viewports?

This is a topic that comes up at the user group on a regular basis. I think that you have to find a way that suits your style, but I do have some advice to help out. Many people put all the annotation in the viewports, and I have tried that but for me, it doesn’t work. I like to put all my annotations on the design layers, and this works for all the plan or 2D viewports, but this doesn’t work for 3D viewports.

So the answer about putting annotation on design layers or viewports depends on what you are trying to show and what you have drawn so far.

For plans, I recommend putting all the annotations, dimensions and detail references on the design layer, the same design layer as the walls.

You can make several drawings from the same wall layer if you use classes to filter the information.

For example, you can draw the foundation plan on the same layer as the walls. By putting the foundation walls on a class and putting the foundation dimensions and detail references on the same class, you can turn off all the other notes, details and details references and see the ones for the foundations.


By putting all the other walls on classes and putting the framing dimensions, notes and detail references on the same class you can turn off the foundation walls, detail references and notes, leaving the framing plan the way you want.


These two example examples show that it’s better to include your annotation on the design layers for plan type drawings, or for drawings that are 2 dimensional.

For drawings that use the 3D parts of VectorWorks, it’s better to include the notes and dimensions in the Annotation part of the viewport.

In this example the elevations and sections are live views of the building using a front view for the elevation and using the section viewports for the sections. In this example you have to put the annotations in to the viewport, there is no other way.  If you try to put the dimensions and text on the design layer it will not show in the viewport.

Worksheets

We’ve just finished the user group meetings for this week. The topic we covered this month was worksheets. The turnout to the user groups was disappointing again. That’s a real shame because the people that came to the meetings got so much out of the meetings...

 we gained a lot from the topics discussed. Especially interesting was the Worksheet tool, that has potential in so many areas. Also the Create Section Viewport tool has convinced us we need to upgrade to Version 12. Each user group session we do makes us realise the power Vectorworks has. Looking forward to the next one.

We have been attending the meetings for approximately the last 12 months and without exception, we have never left a meeting without having picked up at least one hint that has proved invaluable and not only made drawing easier but saved a huge amount of time.  It may only be something small and incredibly obvious to you but is often an aside from the general topic and may be a point made by you or one of the other users attending.

I have always thought that worksheets are an under-used area of VectorWorks. Worksheets are amazingly powerful. They can be used to calculate things like;

- the buliding/Site coverage;

- how many electrical objects in the building;

-  if you’re working on an interior design, how many desks in each are of the building;

- how many plants you have in each area of the landscape design. You can even set the spacing as an option and have VectorWorks calculate the number of plants for a drawn area. If you change the spacing, or change the area the number of plants will change.

All the people that came to the user group had a copy of my essential manual but many had not completed the exercises in the essential manual on worksheets. My advice to them was to go back and try out the worksheet exercises and play the movies, there is a lot of valuable stuff in the movies on how to use worksheets.

If you want to learn more about worksheets, buy my Essential Manual, or the short sharp manual on worksheets.
http://archoncad.blogspot.com/p/manuals.html

Tree Images

I just received an email from this place:

http://envirographic.com/products.htm#

They have high quality images of NZ Native trees. I have tried to import them as images props and they work very well as the short movie here shows you. 

You get the nice image and a great image mask that cuts out the image for you. 

If you contact this site please tell them I sent you. 

Repetitive Unit Tool

VectorWorks Architect has a tool called the Repetitive Unit Tool.
I’ve not used this tool a lot, not until I saw someone on the Nemetschek North America chat list that needed a corrugated iron symbol.

I have a corrugated iron symbol and so I tried placing it in the file that the Repetitive Unit tool uses. And it works really well. For Roofing you need to add your symbol file to the following folder on a windows machine:

Program files\VectorWorks 12\Libraries\Defaults\Repetitive Unit\Roofing

and on a Macintosh:

Applications: VectorWorks: Libraries: Defaults: Repetitive Unit: Roofing:

Now when you use the Repetitive Unit tool you will be asked to choose a folder first, choose the Roofing Folder, then you choose a symbol, choose your symbol for corrugated roofing.

Now draw the line for the roof and your corrugated roofing will be created.  The repetitive unit is really useful and can be used for roofing, wall cladding (siding) and for framing.

The podcast this week shows some of these uses...

Why Attend Courses?

Let’s say that you’ve got one of my manuals, or someone else’s manual, and you’re working through the manual. Why bother to come to a course? 

Well, there are a few reasons...

Some people don’t like to read a manual so they don’t put in the right effort and so their progress in is slow. Some people don’t read very well and so they make slow progress. Coming to a course can help these people because it’s a hands-on course. This means that I watch what oyu are doing to make sure that you are working correctly. 

Some people can work through the manual and it seems to make sense, but they not know how to apply it. Coming to a course gives you the opportunity to ask questions about how to apply the concepts.

Some people learn by watching and doing, not by following a book. If you have my manual then you can watch the movies and carry out the exercises, but it can still be a benefit to attend the course. 

Some people are too busy to read the manual. Coming to the course gets you out of the office and so you have not choice but to make progress in the course. You can’t answer your phone or work on other things, so you stay focused. 

Some people just like to learn from another person... 

To find out more about archoncad courses check out this web site:

http://www.archoncad.co.nz/training/online_training.php

Layers and Classes

I’ve just finished a round of Essential and Architect courses in Auckland. In both courses the question of layers and classes came up. Do I have some simple rules on when to use layers and when to use classes...

I do have some simple rules...

Follow-up From the User Groups

The user group meetings this month were on Site Modelling. We covered how to make a site model from a series of 3D loci, how to make a site model from a scanned image and how to modify the site model when you’ve made it. One of the questions that came up was when I’m using 2D Ploys to 3D Contours why do I recommend using 3D Loci rather than  3D Polygons. My answer was that it makes a better site model, especially when you want to add site modifiers. My friend Don came to the user group and tried out my suggestions. This is what Don said...

I have been trying out what I learnt from this NZVWUG meeting on DTM creation.

Yes you are right. I used the Site Model from Scanned Image method on a set of dummy contours I had drawn. Traced my contours. I selected "Create 3D Loci" option from "2D Poly To 3D Contours". The resulting  DTM of course didn't match the drawn contours at all well. But I could copy the appropriate 3D Loci (i.e. one which had the same Z value as the contour) and paste at reasonable  intervals along each contour. Re-run "Site Mode" and voila a much more accurate DTM.

It seems that you should give far more emphasis to the"Create 3D Loci" option in your manuals and classes. It  just gives you far more control over editing the DTM.

That revelation was worth every bit and more of the $ for Tuesday night. Thanks Jonathon.

So I guess from now on I’ll emphasise the 3D Loci more...

Running VectorWorks on Intel-Mac

I have received my new MacBook, I’ve had extra RAM installed (the max) and a bigger HD (the max also) put in as well. As fa as price goes I reckon that this new MacBook is excellent value for money. As I often say get as much RAM as you can afford. In my case I decided to miss out on the DVD burner and invest that saving in RAM.

VectorWorks does not crash on it as soon as I start it and I have used VectorWorks on my MacBook to demonstrate it at the user groups to do site modelling. There have been others that I know that have found VectorWorks to be workable, which means it crashes a little but not too bad. 

I made a short movie of a house project which took just over 6 minutes to make n my Intel-Mac. The same movie on my Dual G5 1.8GHz took just over 9 minutes to complete. So I’m happy that my new laptop can hold it’s own with my desktop machine. 

I’ve also installed Parallel Systems on my MacBook. Now I have VectorWorks running on my Mac and Windows at the same time (If you want to do this you need to have a windows serial number). Now for the important part, how does VectorWorks run on windows on my MacBook ? It’s very fast. I used it recently to demonstrate site modelling at the User group meetings and it was very fast to use. I’ve also rendered a small kitchen and it was very quick (I think it even uses both parts of the dual core processor). Just be careful when you install parallel systems for the first time, I didn’t create a big enough virtual machine).

Upgrading to VectorWorks 12

When you upgrade to VectorWorks 12, especially if you are upgrading from a older version of VectorWorks (pre-11). One of the major changes that we have been using since VectorWorks 11 is viewports. Viewports are really powerful and will change (should change) the way you draw and set up your drawings. For example, before we had viewports we used to need to use layers with different scales to show the same information at different scales, now with viewports you can draw the information once and use two viewports at different scales on the same drawing. You can have different class settings on each viewport, something that was impossible without viewports.

It’s a bit hard to explain the implications of using ViewPorts in this blog, but if you are upgrading look for a good manual that will explain these new concepts to you. I have had some clients recently that upgraded from VectorWorks 9 to VectorWorks 12 and we discussed how they need to review my Essential manual so that they can get a grasp on the new concepts in VectorWorks 12.

Should You Buy an Intel-Mac?

Nemetschek North America are working hard to bring you a Universal Binary version of VectorWorks that will run on the Intel-based Macintoshes, but it has not been released yet. Information from Nemetschek North America suggests that you should be careful, that Nemetschek North America cannot recommend VectorWorks running in an Intel based Macintosh yet. There is full article at:

http://kbase.nemetschek.net/index.php?ToDo=view&questId=91&catId=23

So, should you buy one? I think that that’s a tricky question. First your VectorWorks will not run well on it. If you are using other applications like Photoshop or InDesign, they will not run native on your new Intel-mac but the reports so far are that they will run, they just won’t run fast. All the Apple software such as iLife, iCal, iPhoto and Address Book will run native and will be FAST! I checked the Microsoft web site and all the Office applications will work on your Intel-Mac except Virtual PC.

So the real sticking point may be just VectorWorks. It’s not ready for Intel-Mac’s but it will be ready before too long. The version of VectorWorks that will work with Intel-Mac’s will be 12.5. Keep your eye open for it. If you really want to buy an Intel-Mac, go ahead and use it for everything except VectorWorks. Keep your old computer for a little while...