Landmark Special Interest Group September 2019

In this session, we demonstrated what dark mode looks like Vectorworks 2020 (Mac only), presented a workaround for rotating hybrid objects in a 3D view, discussed how to clearly present existing and proposed site data, and showed how the Select Connected Objects, Compose, and Decompose commands help with handling surveyor lines.

Topics Covered:

• 00:11    We started the session by looking at the updated version of dark mode that Vectorworks 2020 offers for Mac users. Personally, I’m not a fan of dark mode—although the updated icons do look pretty cool that way!
• 01:28    Someone had problems rotating rock objects in a 3D view. The rocks were hybrid objects—and Vectorworks doesn’t let you rotate a hybrid object in 3D. The object is called a hybrid because it has both 2D and 3D components. I get around this problem by deleting the 2D component—which makes the rocks just 3D objects and allows me to rotate them. We had some car models with the same problem. As hybrid objects, they had a nice 2D view, but we couldn’t rotate them in a 3D view so that both wheels touched our sloping driveway. As 3D-only objects, we could rotate them—all wheels sat perfectly on the surface of the driveway—but in a 2D view, you see all the facets of the 3D shapes. You can’t have it both ways!
• 13:10    Next, we discussed how to clearly present existing and proposed site data. The greatest flexibility comes from going to the Site Model Settings dialogue box and assigning the categories under Graphic Properties—such as 2D contours, 3D contours—to separate classes. That way, you can change the line weights and colors, as well as turning classes on and off, and present the site data in an understandable way. Another factor that can really affect the presentation of site data—or any drawing—is the stacking order of your design layers. For this reason, I recommend putting imported surveyor data on a separate Design Layer. Remember that you also have the option changing the stacking order in the Layer settings of each viewport—that stacking order will only apply to that viewport.
• 34:10    Sometimes, it seems like surveyor lines come into Vectorworks in a hundred different pieces. I’ve set up the Select Connected Objects, Compose, and Decompose commands so that I can quickly select one when I right click with the mouse—these commands work magic with surveyor lines!

Landmark September 2019

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

[/ms-protect-content]