In this session, we covered how to make a Clip Cube viewport from scratch and modify it, how to change the layout and linked data of a title block, and how to mark and reference sections.
There is an introduction to clip cubes on the knowledgebase website
Continue readingCameraMatch
CameraMatch is a huge timesaver. First, CameraMatch saves the time that it would take you to model the existing surroundings. Second, CameraMatch saves you the time it would take to match your current view to a photograph.
Many people think that they should only use CameraMatch for large projects. I believe this is wrong. CameraMatch is ideal for large projects, but it is also very helpful on small projects. It really does not take very long to set up a CameraMatch project, but showing your client the design and its context is so much better than just showing the model. CameraMatch can be used for exterior projects, architectural projects, urban design projects, landscape projects, and interior design projects.
Table of Contents
In this session, we demonstrated creating Interior Elevation viewports and how to control them, as well as working with Foreground and Background Rendering settings and other viewport tips.
In this session, we covered attaching Record Formats to objects and using Data Visualization in a viewport to show some attribute that spans classes.
In this session, we looked at creating keynotes and legends with the Callout Tool, working with details, and how best to modify the shapes of simple details.
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.
In the previous section we looked at several objects that will speed up the drawing process, especially when we come to create elevations, sections, and links between drawings.
These are topics that are the foundations of creating drawings. Creating the information is nothing if you cannot organise it into drawings.
To create drawings we use several concepts. These concepts include Design layers, Classes, Viewports, and Sheet Layers. These concepts are used in conjunction with each other to create drawings, but we will be looking at them individually to see how they used.
When you create drawings, you need to use the concepts that are built into Vectorworks in order to make your drawings efficient. In this manual we will be looking at several concepts that we can use to speed up the creation of drawings, concepts such as Design Layers, Classes, Sheet Layers, Viewports Site modeling, and BIM.
It is important to use these concepts because it allows you to create information and use it on several drawings. For example, if you are creating paving (using a hardscape object) you could use the same hardscape on the location plan, the site plan, a detailed hardscape in plan, and sections. If you needed to make a change to the paving, when you updated it on the design layer, it would update in all viewports. This makes it really efficient to create your drawings, but more importantly, it removes the ability to make mistakes.
you should be using viewports to create your drawings. But when you do you might find that it is slow to go in and out of the viewports to edit the annotations. If you change the edit dialogue box for viewports, you can make it very quick to enter a viewport to edit the annotations. If you right click on a viewport you can choose whether you want to edit the annotations, edit the design layer, edit the crop, or edit the camera. This is also a technique to speed up making changes.
In this session we looked at creating text, dimensions, and annotations. Should you put all of your text and annotations on the design layer or should they will go in the annotation part of the viewport. It’s a good idea to be consistent and it also depends on how you like to work. But for a basic rule of thumb it is often easier to create most of your dimensions, text, and annotations on the design layers for all of your plan drawings. Section and elevation drawings that use the 3D model on the other hand have to have their text and annotations in the annotation part of the viewport.
When you open a file, you sometimes find that all the viewports need updating. This can be frustrating and time consuming. There are a few things you can try. You can enable the Viewport Cache or you can convert the viewports to bitmaps.
In these sessions we looked at creating drawings for landscaping projects. These projects require that you use Design Layers, Classes, Sheet layers, and Viewports. This is similar to setting up drawings for any project. In these sessions we looked at when to use design layers and classes, how to create viewports and how to link viewports together.
These sessions are not about how to draw the landscape, they are about how to make the drawings from the information that you have.
You can’t change the scale of the viewport by interactively scaling it (using the selection tool to drag the corner). But you are allowed to do this to a group. If you make the viewport into a group, then you can and interactively scale it.
In this session we continued with our Getting Started sessions for landscape. We looked at site models, site modifies, adding retaining walls, adding missing models and adding hardscape areas.
Drawing Labels and Numbers In Viewports – This might seem like a small thing, but it means that all of your view ports now follow the same strategy for having labels when you create them, and being able to edit the label name and number without having to enter the viewport.
Creating Drawings – Now that we have some of the information, we can create drawings using viewports and sheet layers to show the live elevation from our model. You do not have to wait until the model is complete before you create your drawings.
Viewports let you take a view of the model and turn it into a 2D Drawing. For this project, we need to create a plan view, a front elevation, a side elevation, and an isometric view. You could create all of the viewports individually, but there is a quicker way. This command is not available in all versions of Vectorworks, so check your workspace for it.
In this session we looked at adding special characters to text, creating sloping walls, techniques with viewports and batch rendering.
Just lately, I have been teaching several users who want to move from using a workflow to using Building Information Modelling (3D workflow). In the past, I had several users who would say “I want to get to the under my belt first then look at 3D.” This suggests that 2D is a productive method and that 3D is a luxury. This completely misunderstands the way Vectorworks creates drawings. 3D is not a luxury, it is an intrinsic part of the modelling/drawing process.
When you use Vectorworks effectively the 3D components are easy to create, they will create your drawings, and when you update the model it will update your plans, sections, and elevations. Not only is this fast and easy, it also saves lots of errors.