| Exciting news! We are
in the process of releasing VectorWorks 10.1.2. In addition to
being a maintenance update, enhancements have been made to improve
the speed of the program as well as DTM reliability. This update
will be available for download on our website during the week
of May 19th. You can also call our Sales department to reserve your copy of the update on CD, which will
be sent out the following week of May 26th.
As you know, every month in our PROFILE column we highlight a
particular firm or project. We'd like to ask your help in filling
up that column. Do you have a project or design that you'd like
to share with the world? Send an email to linda@nemetschek.net
to tell us all about what you're up to, and we'll send you a VectorWorks
latte mug to thank you for your time.
Plus, so many of you write to thank us for including valuable
Tech Tips in the eDispatch and we're more than happy to pass them
along to you. Do you have a quick tip of your own? Send it in
an email to linda@nemetschek.net
and we'll share it with your fellow VectorWorks users in a future
eDispatch. |
| Sincerely, |
 |
| Richard Diehl
CEO, Nemetschek North America |
 |
| Tips & Tricks |
| PROFILE |
Paul Amirault
Canada
|
Paul Amirault is a Virtual Environment Designer at the Institute for
Information Technology (IIT), National Research Council of Canada (NRC). He
has been involved with 3D technologies since the late 80's, having worked in
most areas from CAD/CAM to virtual reality. In 1997, Paul started up the
Virtual Environment Lab (VEL) at IIT, a facility to help secondary school
and college students develop their 3D design skills.
In 2000, VEL and Paul Hennig (Production Administrator) of the National Arts
Centre (NAC) became involved in a project to recreate the performing spaces
of the NAC. Paul Hennig had been interested in 3D and virtualizing the
performing spaces for several years. IIT, on the other hand, was interested
in experimenting with distance learning and/or mentoring. The long-term
goals were in different areas, but the experience for the students who have
worked on the project has been unique.
|
 |
Southam Hall |
Although the project started in 2000, the project continues today. After
virtualizing the space, teams of students began working on developing what
is quite possibly the most effective online ticket selection system
available today. Only implemented as a research tool, VEL has developed an
application called Virtual Theatre 1.0 (V.T. 1.0) that allows online users
to enter a highly-detailed VRML scene developed in VectorWorks, and view the
stage from any of the over 900 seats. The stage shows either life-sized
figures or animated sequences giving viewers a very clear and accurate
representation of their seat. Virtual Theatre is also being used for a
follow-up project where VEL students have developed a voice activated
3D-design system. In this VRML world, the user can design a stage setting
using voice commands and then see the scene in 3D space in Virtual Theatre.
The most difficult challenges happened in the early stages, where students
had to be trained quickly in 3D and begin building very complex 3D scenes.
These models are very large and detailed. In the case of the opera (Southam
Hall), there are over 3000 seats, balconies, box seats, and an enormous
chandelier. The timeline for student availability was short: a total of
three and one half-hours a day for 18 weeks, including training time. Other
problems were the computer platforms available; although powerful machines,
they used both PC and Macintosh. As students worked on each other's work,
seamless integration of files was imperative.
This is where VectorWorks played a significant role in the project. Already
pre-selected for the project because of its inherent ease of use and
cross-platform compatibility, it made working with teams of students more
effective. Mr. Amirault says, "normally, it takes me only five days to
teach a student to model things like staplers, telephones, cameras, etc."
Within ten days, students are usually working on the selected project." He
also finds that "even though I continue to mentor them through the project,
they often come up with some feature or function that I did not know about.
This means that they are engaged with the program and excited about the
learning."
|
|
| How do
you maintain the transparency of objects when using the Render
Bitmap tool? |
To retain the transparency of objects when using the render bitmap tool, select View > Rendering > Custom RenderWorks Options and ensure that the Use Transparency checkbox is selected. If not selected, then transparent objects appear as solid colors when using the Render Bitmap tool. |
| Why, when rendered, do some SpotLight gobo textures appear with a ring
of light around the pattern and the light instrument? |
| Some VectorWorks 9 gobo textures, when transferred to VectorWorks 10,
did not import in a true 1:1 format. To remedy this, right-click (Windows) or Control + click (Macintosh) on the gobo texture in the Resource Browser
and select
Edit from the context menu. The Edit Texture dialog box opens. Increase
the value in the Size field by a few tenths, hundreths or thousandths until the ring is no longer visible (just by fractions of a decimal as too much in either direction can radically modify the gobo texture). |
| How do I change the height of an Extruded object? |
| While the object is
selected, choose the 3D reshape tool from the 3D Tools palette.
This will add two additional control points to the center edges
of the object. These points can be used to resize the object by
dragging the resize cursor ( the cursor will change into a double-headed,
unfilled arrow when it is over one of the new control points ).
Once at the desired size, release the mouse. |
| News |
| VectorWorks
10.1.2 Coming Soon! |
| The VectorWorks 10.1.2
maintenance update will soon be released. Offering a number of
enhancements, some of the major fixes include DTM reliability,
speed fixes for snapping, processor utilization for OS X, and
improvements in wall cavity joins. For a complete list, or to
download the update, visit www.nemetschek.net/downloads
|
| New Libraries
of 3D Symbols Available for VectorWorks |
| Nemetschek North America announced today their partnership with Cardiff
Consultants Limited, a leading provider of 3D content for the AEC industry.
As part of this new alliance, Cardiff Consultants has agreed to provide its
3D CADsymbols® libraries in VectorWorks native .MCD file format. This
agreement will provide VectorWorks users seamless access to over 1,300
high-quality 3D architectural and interior design objects.
|
| Call
for Images |
| So many have terrific
images that we would love to use in our graphics for ads, tradeshow
art and our website. Share your 3D renderings and working drawings
with others who can appreciate a great design, and get a free
VectorWorks latte mug! Just send a high res, 300 dpi and better
than a 6X6 image to randy@nemetschek.net. |
| FROM
THE GALLERY |
 |
Michael
E. Becherer, Omni Architects |
| User Groups |
Minnesota User
Group Meeting
Date: May 13
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Meeting Location: Charles J. Radloff Office
7805 Telegraph Road
Suite 220
Bloomington, MN 55438
E-mail: Charles@RadloffArchitects.com
|
| Upcoming Events |
| Trade Shows |
Date |
Location |
| PCBC 2003 |
June 17 - 20 |
San Francisco, CA (Booth #2119 South) |
| Macworld NY |
July 16 - 18 |
New York, NY (Booth #1831) |
| Training Seminars |
Date |
Location |
| VectorWorks
Fundamentals |
May 12 - 13 |
Columbia, MD |
| VectorWorks
Hands-on 3D |
May 14 |
Columbia, MD |
| VectorWorks
Fundamentals sold out |
May 19 - 20 |
New York, NY |
| VectorWorks
Hands-on 3D sold out |
May 21 |
New York, NY |
| VectorWorks
Fundamentals sold out |
Jun 4 - 5 |
Los Angeles, CA |
| VectorWorks
Hands-on 3D |
Jun 6 |
Los Angeles, CA |
| VectorWorks
Fundamentals |
Jun 9 - 10 |
New York, NY |
| VectorWorks
Fundamentals |
Jun 12 - 13 |
Columbia, MD |
| VectorWorks
Fundamentals |
Jun 23 - 24 |
Calgary, CANADA |
| VectorWorks
Hands-on 3D |
Jun 25 |
Calgary, CANADA |
| AIA Accreditation
NNA is pleased to offer AIA Continuing Education credit
for our seminars. Architects can earn 16 learning units
by attending the VectorWorks Fundamentals course, and 8
learning units by attending the VectorWorks Hands-on 3D
course. For additional information, contact marketing@nemetschek.net |
|
| Contact Us |
| Call us
at 410-290-5114 to speak to Customer Service or Technical Support. |
| Fax us
at 410-290-7266. Visit us on the web at www.nemetschek.net |
| For ordering
and pricing information, call 1-888-646-4223, or e-mail sales@nemetschek.net |
| E-mail
questions about upcoming shows, User Group events, or any marketing
concerns to marketing@nemetschek.net |
| E-mail
your technical questions, solutions, and wish list items to Technical
Support at tech@nemetschek.net |
|
|
