Creating and Managing Stories

Project setup begins with creating stories and specifying their associated story levels. The Stories tab of the Organization dialog box allows stories to be created and managed. Stories can also be created when creating or editing design layers with options that display only when the Vectorworks Architect product is installed. See Setting Design Layer Properties.

To create and manage stories from the Organization dialog box:

1. Select the command to open the Organization dialog box. Click the Stories tab.

The functionality of the Organization dialog box is described in The Organization Dialog Box.

2. Visibilities view displays a list of story names. From the top of the dialog box, select Details view.

3. On the left, the stories are listed, along with the story’s prefix or suffix, and elevation. On the right, an interactive diagram displays the stories and associated levels (some with associated layers) that make up the building model.

 

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Story Name list	Lists the stories in the building model, along with each story’s prefix or suffix designation and elevation. The story order cannot be changed; stories are always listed in elevation order.
New	Creates a new story and specifies the associated levels, prefix or suffix, layer (if any), and elevation
Edit	Edits the selected story’s name, suffix, or elevation
Delete	Deletes the selected story or stories; when prompted, select whether to delete all layers associated with the story or stories
Level Types	Opens the Level Types dialog box; see Managing Level Types
Default Story Levels	Opens the Default Story Levels dialog box, for defining or editing the defined layer defaults; see Default Story Levels

4. Click New to create a new story, or Edit to modify the currently selected story.

The New Story or Edit Story dialog box opens. Specify the name, elevation, prefix or suffix for any levels to be created, and associated layers. To add objects to a story, at least one layer is required.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Name	Specifies the name of the story
Story Elevation	Sets the story elevation; a default value is suggested, based on the elevation of other stories
Layer Name Suffix/Prefix	When design layers are associated with story levels, specifies the prefix or suffix to append to associated design layer names, to distinguish the layers from other design layers. The design layer name can be changed later if needed.
Level List	Lists the available levels to associate with the story; select a level to include by clicking in the first column. Associated levels are indicated with a check mark. Only one level of a given type can be associated with a story; the available levels are determined by the default story levels. A story level can be used as a potential boundary for objects in its associated layer, or in the story above or below it. Selecting level types for the story is optional; however, level types are necessary when setting up a model with bounded objects.
New Level	Opens the New Story Level dialog box, to add a new level
Edit Level	Opens the Edit Story Level dialog box, to edit the selected level
Edit Default Story Levels	Opens the Default Story Levels dialog box, for editing or adding to the Level Types available in the story; see Default Story Levels

5. If changing the elevation of a story from the Edit Story dialog box, the Change Story Elevation dialog box opens to determine how to adjust the story and the stories around it. If not changing the story elevation, proceed to step 7.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Move this Story and all Stories above it	Changes the elevation of the story, and adjusts all stories above it, including included levels, associated layers, and level bound objects
Move this Story only	Changes the elevation of the current story and its included levels, associated layers, and level-bound objects only; other stories remain at their set elevation
Move this Story and all Stories below it	Changes the elevation of the story, and adjusts all stories below it, along with included levels, associated layers, and level bound objects
Move all Stories	Changes the elevation of the story, and adjusts all stories above it and below it, along with included levels, associated layers, and level bound objects

6. Click OK to return to the Edit Story dialog box.

The stories, once set up with associated levels and any layers with layer bound objects, define the building model. On the Design Layers tab of the Organization dialog box, listed layers that are associated with levels display their story, level type, elevation, and default wall height.

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Organizing the Drawing

Default Story Levels

Standard Viewports

Standard Naming

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