Architect Special Interest Group April 2017 (am)

In this session, we looked at three main topics. We looked at different types of symbols, how to control the graphic style of symbols, and how to create a section viewport that uses two-point perspective.

• 00:35    When you look at symbols in the Resource Manager, you will notice that some symbols have different colored writing. There are four colors of writing that Vectorworks uses; symbols can have black, red, green, or blue writing. The different colors of writing tell you that the symbol will behave differently. Black writing is a standard symbol; when you place this in a drawing, it remains a symbol. Red writing will convert a symbol into a plug-in object; when you place this in the drawing, it becomes a plug-in object. Green writing is a page-based symbol; it will always appear to be the same size, regardless of the scale of the layer. Blue writing converts into a group; when you place this in the drawing, it will convert the symbol into a group of objects. We looked at why you should use one type of symbol instead of another. For example, a project may require that we use a symbol that converts into a group rather than leaving the information as a symbol.
• 18:25    Next, we look at controlling the graphic style of objects in symbols. The most effective way to control the graphic style of objects inside symbols is to use classes. If you use classes to control the graphic style of the objects in the symbol, it allows you to change the graphic style of those objects in viewports.
• 25:55    As well as using class overrides in viewports, you could also choose to convert the entire viewport to black and white only. The setting for this is on the advanced properties for a viewport. Setting this viewport to black and white only will not affect the original layer and will not affect any other viewpoints.
• 28:06    As part of the explanation for black and white only in viewports, I edited the class settings for demolished walls. One of the users wanted me to go over using class overrides in viewports in more detail. Using class overrides in viewports is a powerful technique for controlling the graphic style of objects in a specific viewport. It allows you to change the graphic style for just one viewport.
• 36:04    One of the users wanted to create a viewport that was a section perspective. What this means is that they wanted to have a section viewport, but they still wanted to have a two-point perspective. You can create a one-point perspective section, but a two-point gives you the ability to clip the model to show a small part of it. This is possible in Vectorworks but it requires several steps. First of all, you need to use the Clip Cube to create a section viewport. Unlike most uses of a section viewport, this one has to be placed on a design layer. On this design layer, you then set up a perspective view by using a Renderworks camera. When you have the required view, you can then set up a viewport on a sheet layer. We compared this to a section viewport with a one-point perspective.

Architect April 2017 am
[ms-protect-content id=”34491,34492,34493, 34494, 34495, 34496, 344927″]

[/ms-protect-content]