V14 Issues
I have done some preliminary testing of V14 to see what adjustments I will have to make. I used Quickdraw and the Hardware portion of xsolids frequently to generate the 2D drawings we use. It appears that in V14, I will have to use flatshot to create each view 1 at a time to get what I was getting from Quickdraw with 1 operation and that I will manually have to place the hidden entities on a different layer. I tried the automatic generation of views, but it looks like you have no control over individual lines in those views and I don't like the way the default views look. We are also a 2D based shop, so I need to generate 2D drawings that conform to our internal standards. For new work, working in 3D is preferable to 2D to start, but I need to generate Autocad 2000 dwgs for distribution. All of our drawings are in model space, we have never used paper space or any of the layout tabs. We may be behind the times, but it works.
It appears that hardware is supposed to be available from the Mechanical browser, but I tried to access it on 2 different computers (32bit and 64 bit) in the Library tab, but I get a crash and nothing ever displays.
I understand that there will be a learning curve and there may be ways of using features in V14 that I am unaware of. I looked for updated documentation, and books that include V14 and don't see anything yet. I would appreciate any information that anyone can provide.
Comments
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I agree that there will be an adjustment period. I'll probably want to keep V13 around for maintenance on existing drawings but I do see some advantages to the "generate drafting views" method. Much less clutter in model space is probably the biggest advantage. Also nice to be able to switch between first and third angle, if required.
I'm okay with the "look" of the new views but I would really like an option to suppress hidden lines in selected views, along with a way to tweak the line widths and scale.
WRT the mechanical browser for ex-XSolids hardware, it is working okay on my box. There is a note in the help file that the "length" parameter is not fully implemented, so watch that you're really getting the .375 PEM standoff that you're asking for.0 -
By default the generated viewports will use a vsual style named Mechanical Drafting.
Modify this visual style to change line type or visibility of hidden lines display for all viewports.
To define display variants for certain viewports, create an additional visual style and make it the current visual style for these viewports.
Please file a support request when running into a feature that does not seem to work appropriately, our support analysts will be glad to help you out.0 -
Ah yes, I see. Not enabled yet, though, for the drafting views? However, it looks like it will be quite useful. Thanks!0
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A regen operation is required to update the display after modifying visual style properties.
Could that be the reason you have the impression it is not enabled yet?
If desired, the Drawing Explorer offers the "Regen at each change" setting...0 -
Well, I probably am doing something wrong. I do see "Mechanical Drafting" under Drawing Explorer | Drawings | Open Drawings | Visual Styles. I created a new style that mimics Mechanical Drafting with the exception of setting Occluded Edges to No.
When I select a viewport with one of the drafting views, there is a option under Misc | Shade Plot to select the new style (along with several others... cool!). However, changing that option from the default "As displayed" to the new one (or to any of the others) does not cause a change to the presentation of the object in the view port, including after a redraw or a regen is run.
It's undoubtedly a simple toggle that I've missed somewhere. The user profile is pretty clean, as I did not opt to import settings from BC13 and the template I created mostly sets up the units how I like to see them.0 -
The Shade Plot option controls which display style you want to apply when the viewport is plotted.
By default viewports are plotted 'As displayed', but one may e.g. opt to work with a not-too-costly Realistic visual style while plotting with a more expensive rendered style that includes multiple levels of reflection and cast shadows.
The not-straightforward way to proceed is to first activate the desired viewport e.g. by double-clicking in it, and then setting the desired visual style current (by opening the visual styles explorer and clicking in the leftmost column next to the name of the desired visual style)
That being said, in the near future we do plan to add 'Visual Style' to the properties that can be set for a viewport using the Properties Bar.0 -
Yes, got it now. Thank you!0
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Can't install v14.1.01 32bit on fresh Windows7 system. Says there is a problem in package in the middle of installation.0
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Please file a support request, our support analysts will be glad to help.0
