Tutorial: Creating Section Viewports Tutorial: 1 Distributor: North America: Developer: Nemetschek North America Vectorworks is a registered trademark of Nem- 7150 Riverwood Drive etschek North America, Inc Columbia, MD 21046 www.nemetschek.net Tutorial: Creating Section Viewports If necessary, please use the provided project files as a reference. In addition to the use of standard viewports, Vectorworks also provides users with a way to easily create and present section views of a model, with section viewports. Section viewports create a cross section view of a model, while leaving the model in intact. Like standard viewports, section viewports can be modified, cropped and annotated. Unlike standard viewports, however section viewports can be created either from a design layer or from an existing standard viewport. Section viewports that are created from a design layer are updated, to reflect the changes made to the layers referenced in the viewport. If the section viewport was created from a standard viewport, it does not keep a connection to that standard viewport, but updates when changes are made to any of the visible design layers in that standard viewport. In this tutorial, you will use section viewports to show several different interior elevations of a model. Before you begin, please open the file Section Viewports Steps 1-7. As you can see this file has a completed model of a theater, and some standard viewports are already created. To create the first section viewport you will use the existing model on the design layers. 1. In order to create the section viewport, the drawing must be in a Top/Plan view. To change to a Top/Plan view, go to View > Standard Views > Top/Plan. 2. Now that the drawing is the in correct view, to create the section viewport go to View > Create Section Viewport. a. If the drawing is not set to a Top/Plan view prior to using Create Section Viewport command, Vectorworks will automatically change the drawing’s view to a Top/Plan view. You will now draw the section line, which will determine the cutting plane and the orientation of the section viewport. 3. Move the mouse cursor to the center of overhead door (located towards the top center of the stage), and click to set the start point of the section line when the Center cursor cue appears. 4. Next, hold the Shift key and move your cursor downward, and then click at the center of the first tread of the stairs, when the Object/ Vertical cursor cue appears. a. The second mouse click indicates the endpoint of the section line. Tutorial: 2 Distributor: North America: Developer: Nemetschek North America Vectorworks is a registered trademark of Nem- 7150 Riverwood Drive etschek North America, Inc Columbia, MD 21046 www.nemetschek.net Tutorial: Creating Section Viewports You should now see there is an arrow in the middle of the newly created section line. The arrow indicates which side of the model will be used to create the section viewport. 5. Now, move the mouse cursor to the right until the black arrow is pointing to the right and double click to create the section line, and access the Create Section Viewport dialog box. e. Please be aware that the section line does not have to be a straight line. You can also create broken section lines to include or exclude desired objects within a section viewport. v. To create a broken line click in the drawing and draw the first line segment, and indicate with side to keep as in the steps above. Then click and drag to draw additional segments, and double click to the complete the broken segment line. 6. When the Create Section Viewport dialog box opens, name the viewport Longitudinal Section through Center. 7. Next, choose Section Sheet 48 from the Sheet Layer drop down, and then click Ok. a. You should now see that the sheet layer, Section Sheet 48, is the active layer and the newly created section viewport is selected. b. Also notice the Object Info Palette displays Section Viewport. c. The resulting section viewport is displayed with all the Advanced Properties set to their default parameters (See Vid.1). To Play Vid.1, please click the image below. X X Notice how all objects that fall on the cross section are displayed with a red fill color. This is because by default all sectioned objects’ Tutorial: 3 Distributor: North America: Developer: Nemetschek North America Vectorworks is a registered trademark of Nem- 7150 Riverwood Drive etschek North America, Inc Columbia, MD 21046 www.nemetschek.net Tutorial: Creating Section Viewports are merged into one profile. By default the cross section profile appearance is set by the Section Style class, which is a class that is automatically created when creating a section viewport. Although the default setting is to show section items with a red fill, users have the option to change the class appearance of sectioned items, through the section viewport Advanced Properties. For the next section viewport, you will create the section from an existing standard viewport and change the Advanced Properties so that all sectioned objects show with their original attribute properties. You will also change the section viewport to display in a perspective view. 8. To create the section viewport from an existing standard viewport, you will first need to go to sheet layer Light Plot 48. To do so, go to Tools > Organization. a. In the Organization dialog box, select the Sheet Layers tab, and then click in the far left column for sheet layer Light Plot 48. i. This places a check in the column, alerting users that the layer is now the active layer. b. Once complete, click Ok to go the newly activated layer. i. You can also switch layers through the Layer drop down menu in the View Bar. 9. In order to create the section viewport on a sheet layer a standard viewport must first be selected. So use the 2D selection tool to select the viewport. 10. Next, go to View > Create Section Viewport. 11. Then draw the same section line as with the previous section viewport. To do so: a. Click at the center of the overhead door in the middle of the stage when the Center cursor cue appears. b. Then hold the Shift key, while moving the mouse cursor downward to constrain to a vertical angle, and click at the center of first tread of the stairs, when the Vertical/ Object cursor cue appears. c. Now, move the mouse cursor to right, and once the black arrow is pointing to the right side of the viewport, double click to create the section line. 12. In the Create Section Viewport dialog box, click the Layers button. 13. It is not necessary to have the lighting devices visible in the section viewport. So when the Viewport Layer Properties dialog box appears, click in the middle visibility column for the Light Plot layer, to set the layer to invisible. Tutorial: 4 Distributor: North America: Developer: Nemetschek North America Vectorworks is a registered trademark of Nem- 7150 Riverwood Drive etschek North America, Inc Columbia, MD 21046 www.nemetschek.net Tutorial: Creating Section Viewports 14. Then click Ok to close the Viewport Layer Properties dialog box. 15. Now that you are back in the Create Section Viewport dialog box, choose Section Sheet 48 Perspective from the Sheet Layer drop down menu, and then click Ok to create the section viewport. 16. You should be on layer Section Sheet 48 Perspective, with the newly created section viewport selected. a. Notice that the new viewport also displays a red fill for all section objects in the cross section. 17. To change the attributes of this section viewport, so that each object displays its original attributes, click the Advanced Properties button in the Object Info Palette. a. When the Advanced Section Properties dialog box appears, select the Attributes tab, and then select Separate Cross Sections under Section Plane. i. Choosing this option generates a separate cross section for each sectioned object. b. Once you select Separate Cross Sections under Section Plane, check the option to Use Attributes of Original Objects. i. Notice that if the option Use Attributes of Original Objects is unchecked, the Attribute Class drop down is available. ii. The Attributes Class drop down menu allows users to choose to use another class’s attributes for all sectioned objects other than the Section Style class, which is used by default. c. Once complete, click Ok. 18. The section viewport should now show a red and white outline, indicating the viewport is out of date. To update the viewport to reflect the changes made in the Advanced Properties dialog box, click the Update button in the Object Info Palette. a. All sectioned objects should now be displayed with a solid white fill, which is reflective of the objects original attributes. b. If these objects had hatches or patterns applied these fills will also in the cross section. 19. Now to show the viewport in a perspective view, with the section viewport still selected, choose Perspective from the Projection drop down menu. Tutorial: 5 Distributor: North America: Developer: Nemetschek North America Vectorworks is a registered trademark of Nem- 7150 Riverwood Drive etschek North America, Inc Columbia, MD 21046 www.nemetschek.net Tutorial: Creating Section Viewports 20. The Perspective drop down menu should now be available, choose Normal from this menu. 21. Then click then Update button in the Object Info Palette, to see the section viewport from a perspective view (See Vid.2). To Play Vid.2, please click the image below.