March 2017

File > New... | Find and Modify... | Organization...

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File > New...

 

Hello everyone!

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Busy times all around this month!

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At the beginning of March we held out latest Ann Arbor Vectorworks User Group (A²VUG) meeting, and had a decent turnout.

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Our conversation starter for the meeting was “Vectorworks in Education & Schools” where we tried to tackle some of the issues students and educators have with Educational Version of Vectorworks.

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One of the topics that came up also included Vectorworks’ Student2Pro program for recently graduated students to allow them to have a discounted copy of the latest version of Vectorworks, along with the option to remove the watermark from some of their pervious drawing built in the Edu. version.

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More details on the Student2Pro program can be found here.

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Keep an eye out for the next meeting!

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See you in April!

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Find and Modify...

Submit your questions to Dustin.Miller@TLSProductionsInc.com

 

Question

Many time when I import AutoCAD files, I have instances where sections of the document are non-editable, or seem to be viewports within design layers. Is there a solution to this?

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Answer

Yes & no actually…

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While the importing of AutoCAD files has done leaps and bounds within Vectorworks 2017, there are still things that AutoCAD does within their system that doesn’t always transfer over to Vectorworks in the way most of us would hope.

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When you import a file Vectorworks takes the Blocks within an AutoCAD file and converts them, based on a few factors, to either symbols, multiple objects (lines, shapes & other geometry) or into layered groups of objects & symbols.

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The best course of action when you first import is to ensure all layers and classes are visable, so you can get to the bottom of where everything within the file is now located.

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Also, as a quick tip, it may also be a good idea to change the class and layer settings to “Show/Snap/Modify Others” so you can select and seek out where objects are located.

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I like to right-click on certain objects that are giving me issues and select ons of the following to better understand hoe Vectorworks imported it:

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• Force Select: To see what class and layer the object is in.

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• Edit: Whether it’s a group or a symbol, you can find out simply by activating this.

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• Lock/Unlock: Many problems can be solved by simply allowing the manipulation of the object in general.

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Hope this helps!

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Question

I keep having to build shows that are in the same space. Is there a better way to create projects rather than starting from scratch, or duplicating an old show file and deleting what I don’t need?

 

Answer

Vectorworks actually has two methods of helping you out; Stock Templates & User Templates.

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When you open a new document you are usually prompted with a dialog box that asks if you want to create a Create Blank Document, or Use Document Template.

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If you select the radio button next to Use Document Template, you will have a sizable list of built-in templates to start your projects from.

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I personally use the "Spotlight (Imperial).sta" template, as it gives you tons of useful classes; Audio, Lighting, Rigging, Scenic, Stage, and a few design layers to start off from as well; Light Plot, Lighting Positions, Soft Goods, Scenery & Theatre Floorplan.

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With this as a base, you won't be doing all the hard work up front to add in all these from scratch, and they will all be built to USITT standards.

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With User Templates, creating them is as simple as navigating to File > SaveAs Template... in the menu bar.

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It will prompt you to name the new template and where to save it on your machine.

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Once saved, creating a new document from this template is as easy as double clicking on the new file you created and Vectorworks does the hard work of creating a brand new document, based on the template, ready for you to edit and save for your new project.

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Hope that saves a bit of time in your drafting!

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