Drawing Straight Walls

The Wall tool creates a hybrid wall object, simultaneously adding both a 2D and a 3D version of the wall to the drawing. Walls can be drawn in Top/Plan or in a 3D view.

Create walls by drawing them with the mouse, or by using a mouse-Data bar combination (see Using the 2D Data Bar or Using the 3D Data Bar). The following directions assume that the walls are drawn with the mouse.

 

To create straight walls:

1.	Select the Wall tool from the Walls tool set.

2.	Click the desired Offset mode button (see Creating Walls).

3.	Click the Wall Preferences mode button.

The Wall Preferences dialog box opens. This dialog box can be accessed any time afterward to modify wall settings. Walls can also be drawn first, and then the parameters can be set later from the Object Info palette.

Additional wall capabilities are available in VectorWorks Architect, and are cross-referenced to the appropriate section in the VectorWorks Design Series User’s Guide where applicable.

 

Parameter	Description
Wall Style (VectorWorks Architect required)	In VectorWorks Fundamentals, all walls are un-styled. For information on wall styles, see Creating Walls in Architect.
Save Preferences as Wall Style (VectorWorks Architect required)	See Creating Walls in Architect
Preview	Displays a preview of the wall structure, including any defined components; the preview wall is drawn from left to right, so the “top” of the preview, by default, indicates the left part of the wall as it will be drawn (see Wall Direction). The arrow shows the wall direction.
Overall Thickness	Displays the thickness of the wall. If a wall contains no components, enter the wall thickness. The thickness of a wall with components is defined by the sum of the component thicknesses. When components have been defined, this parameter becomes read-only.
Edit Wall Attributes	Opens the Wall Attributes dialog box, to specify the wall fill and pen settings
Components	Lists the components that form the structure of the wall, in order from left to right as displayed in the preview. To change the order of a component, click and drag within the # column.
New	Click to define the components of the wall; see Creating Wall Components for information on creating components
Edit	Opens the Component Attributes dialog box to edit the selected component’s thickness and attributes (you can also double-click on a component to open the Component Attributes dialog box)
Delete	Deletes the selected wall component; the wall thickness is adjusted accordingly

4.	Click Edit Wall Attributes to specify the wall attributes.

The Wall Attributes dialog box opens. The wall attributes of an un-styled wall are initially set to the parameters displayed in the Attributes palette. If they are changed here, the Attributes palette reflects the changed attributes of the selected wall (after exiting the Wall Preferences dialog box).

Fill, pen, and opacity can be set by class rather than by the attributes in the Wall Attributes dialog box. If the wall class is changed later, the wall changes to use the attributes of the new class. Wall attributes cannot be overridden on a per-instance basis; if a wall style uses class attributes, all walls of that style must use class attributes. However, walls of the same wall style can be placed in different classes.

 

Parameter	Description
Fill
Use Class Attributes	Sets wall fill attributes by class rather than by the parameters in the Wall Attributes dialog box
Style	Specify the wall fill attributes, or select None for no fill. Selected hatch, gradient, or image fills, if not already present in the file, are imported and added to the Resource Browser (default resources are automatically imported into the current file at the point of use and display in the Resource Browser). See VectorWorks Fundamentals Default Resources and Fill Attributes.
Pen
Use Class Attributes	Sets pen attributes by class rather than by the parameters in the Wall Attributes dialog box
Style	Specify the wall pen attributes, or select None for no pen. See Pen Attributes.
Line	When a pen style has been selected, specify the line thickness and style; see Line Style Attributes
Opacity
Use Class Opacity	Sets wall opacity by class rather than by the parameters in the Wall Attributes dialog box
Opacity	Specifies the transparency of the wall; drag the slider to the left to increase the transparency, or enter a percentage directly in the box to the right of the slider

5.	Click OK to return to the Wall Preferences dialog box. If components are to be added to the wall, click New to define each component (see Creating Wall Components). The Overall Thickness is then defined by the thickness of the wall components.

6.	Click the Insertion Options tab to set the wall insertion options.

 

Parameter	Description
Height
Set Height	Sets the default wall height value; walls are drawn with this height, which can be edited later in the Object Info palette
Link Height to Layer Delta Z	Sets the default wall height to the value specified for the design layer’s Delta Z value (see Setting Design Layer Properties) The association between wall height and the layer’s Delta Z value can be broken after wall creation, by deselecting Link Wall Height to Layer +/- Z from the Object Info palette.
Offset	Adds to or subtracts from the height of the design layer’s Delta Z value
Class	Specifies the default class for the walls
Caps	Select whether a wall segment is capped at the start point, the end point, both ends, or has no caps at all
Control Offset	If using the Custom Control Line wall mode, enter the offset value for the control line (see Creating Walls)

VectorWorks Architect is required to display the Data Fields tab. See Creating Walls in Architect.

7.	Click the Textures tab to set the wall textures (RenderWorks required).

Select from the default resources or the current file’s resources (see VectorWorks Fundamentals Default Resources). Alternatively, select Class Texture to use the texture defined by the wall’s class. Any walls with that wall style use class textures for that part of the wall (unless overridden). Class Texture can also be chosen for a selected wall in the Render tab of the Object Info palette.

Textures can also be set from the Render tab of the Object Info palette. Textures applied from the Object Info palette override the textures set in the Textures tab. Textures from the Textures tab override the class textures, when Use Textures at Wall Creation is selected.

 

Parameter	Description
Use Textures at Wall Creation	Applies the textures to the walls as they are drawn
Use Left Texture for the Entire Wall	Applies the texture selected in Left to the center and right parts of the wall (see Wall Direction for information on wall sections)
Left	Specifies the texture for the left section of the wall
Center	Specifies the texture for the center and ends of the wall
Right	Specifies the texture for the right section of the wall

8.	Click OK when the wall preferences have been set.

9.	Click at the starting point of the first wall section.

10.	Click to end the first wall section.

To continue creating walls, click at the end of each additional wall section.

11.	Double-click to finish the wall if the start point and end point are not at the same location; otherwise, click at the starting location (a SmartCursor cue displays) to finish the wall.