Monadnoc

My guess would be a naming conflict. Perhaps something in the cad survey. A layer or class name? Or ??? But maybe two things are named the same, and one of them has to do with the Existing Tree Tool - which can't be changed. So rename the other. Just a guess. Monadnoc

I vote for this one too. And not just for Sections, the DTM itself should be scalable in the Y direction independent of the X or Z. In the "old days" every section ever hand drawn had the Y axis exaggerated at least 2 or 3 times, if not more. Otherwise you can't really get a grasp of the relief. I think it's just a trait of how humans interpret what they see. A terrain scaled correctly, even in perspective, doesn't appear to have the correct relief compared to the real world terrain we are viewing. It always looks too flat. Vertical Exaggeration is a must for terrain analysis, especially visual analysis. The catch is, you need them non-exaggerated for any computational analysis. I don't know how to get both. Just my 2 cents. Monadnoc

I second (or third?) the request. This capability is sorely needed. Right now, I fake it by using a wall component offset from the top and/or bottom. But this only lets you create one trim piece, when a room can have up to three - baseboard, chair rail, or ceiling. So I just use it for one of them and use EAP for the other two. It also restricts you to only a square profile. But at least it matches the door/window trim. It would be really nice if VW provided a trim option for walls (as part of the wall tool) AND the ability to choose profiles for all trim, including windows and doors. Monadnoc

Another thing to check is under the viewport's Advanced Properties settings make sure "Show Wall Components" is checked. Monadnoc

A good start would be to add a "Tutorials" section in the Resource Sharing area, in addition to Textures, Symbols, Hatches, etc. And propagate it with some in-house NNA generated, short tutorials. They could be either video or old style PDF, preferably a mixture, so there's something for everyone. VW users could also contribute tutorials. In fact, I would expect most of the tutorials be created by users. C4D Cafe has this, as do most modeling software forums. All of those forums are user created/maintained. We are very lucky that NNA created and maintains this forum. And has "officials" drop in every once in a while, too. No other forum does that. And I appreciate it. But it would be a very nice addition to have a place to post and read tutorials for a bunch of different real-world situations. I know I would make the effort to contribute at least some short, basic tutorials to it. Monadnoc

Good question. I've never tried using a regular background, so I just gave it a go. It lets you select it, then after you hit OK (and think everything is fine), it gives you an error message and you have to go back and do it over. Not a very well thought out interface. Nor logical. Nor elegant. And definitely not intuitive. And it wastes time. Precious time. I would think it took MORE programming to do it the way it is, rather than just allow files with the extension".hdr" to show up in the list. Go figure ... Monadnoc

My guess would be an incompatible version of Quicktime. VW is very temperamental when it comes to Quicktime. Make sure you are using the version that came with it.

Bruce, To add a background to the list create a Renderworks Background resource in the Resource Browser. When you create it you have the option of creating an HDRI background (Image Environment) or a regular background (Image). Both will show up in the list once created. To be an HDRI background, the source image file has to have been created as an HDR file. The regular backgrounds just serve as a backdrop to your scene, they don't provide any light to it. An HDRI background can be a backdrop AND provide light, or just provide light (and not be seen) or just be a backdrop without providing light. Monadnoc

michaelk, Thanks for the feedback on Pixplant. I'll have to download the demo and play with it when I have the time. Monadnoc

taoist, I think my first line may have been a little confusing - you don't want/need to use File > Import > Import Image File at all. That serves a different purpose. In order for you to use your images as Textures and/or Image Fills, you need to create a new Resource in the RB and import the image file as part of the process of creating the new resource. Whether it be a Texture, Background, Image, etc. Then save the file for your library. Monadnoc

All of the suggestions above are good ones. As an alternative, I would use a transparency map/texture for the fretwork. I think VW would choke if you tried to do a subtract solids for that delicate and intricate a piece. Or at the very least, slow to a crawl. For the main form I would use either a tapered extrude or a multiple extrude, one inside the other, and subtract solid to hollow it out. Or else build it like it would be built in real life, as individual panels. This way you could make one panel a symbol and just copy/rotate it to create all three sides. It would also simplify applying/positioning the texture. And use a subtract solid to slice off the bottom part from under the hill. And as Bill said, just download a tree from Turbosquid or Google Warehouse. Or see if there is already one within VW. There should be a VBvisual Maple tree that would work great. It's in the Visualization Toolset. By your screenshot it looks like you have the same tool sets that I have, and I have Designer, so I think you have everything (all the Industry Series) in the educational version. That's my guess, anyway. Monadnoc

michaelk, How do you like Pixplant? I've been thinking of buying it. Do you think it's worth it? I currently manually create seamless textures in Photoshop using the Offset filter and High Pass filter. But it is time consuming and often far from perfect. If I could find a program that does it well automatically, it would be worth the $$$. And on a Mac. Do you think Pixplant is better and/or easier than Filter Forge? I'm not even sure how one uses Filter Forge to create seamless textures, but that seems to be what most people use/recommend. Thanks. Monadnoc

taoist, If you use the File > Import > Import Image File process, you're just bringing in a bitmap image as an object in the drawing file. You can use it to trace over, etc. But it will not show up in the Resource Browser, nor can you apply it to anything. To have it show in the RB (and be able to be applied to something), you need to right-click in the RB and choose "New Resource in [file name] > and choose either "Image", "Renderworks Background", or "Renderworks Texture". All of those will allow you to import a bitmap image to be used within the resource based on what kind of resource it is. I am not very familiar with "Image" resources yet, but it is my impression they are only for 2D objects. If you want to apply a tile pattern to a 3d floor/slab, I think you would want to create a Texture Resource. Once you have the Edit Texture dialog box open, most of the options should be self explanatory. You can import an image into several areas - Color, Transparency, Reflectivity, or Bump. You also set the Size by the image (it will preload it for you). For most textures, especially tile flooring, you probably only need the image in the Color channel, and maybe also in the Bump channel (as a Black & White or Greyscale image) to simulate depth/grout depressions. You will have to repeat this process for each individual Texture you want to create - there is no way to batch import a bunch of images and create textures out of them that I know of. In VW, or any other 3D app. But someone else may know a way to do that, or an app that does that. I don't. At least you only have to import the image once, and then it is available when you create any of the other resources that utilize bitmap images in their creation. Just choose "Reuse an Image From Another Resource", from the "Image" > "Choose Image" dialog box when you're making the new resource. To confuse the process further, you can also import an image as an "Image Prop", but that's not done through the Resource Browser, that's done through the menu Model > Create Image Prop command. Once you have all your Textures created, save the file, make it a Favorite or put it into one of the VW Library folders so you can easily access it from the RB for future use. HTH Monadnoc

This is definitely a much needed option. Monadnoc

I posted a link to it in this thread: http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=156003#Post156003 Scroll down to the bottom. I think this is what you're looking for. Monadnoc

I too have my autosave set to every five minutes. And I usually hit "Command-S" 4 or 5 times in between that time. But in this case, autosaving and saving does you no good. Everything is being autosaved/saved to invisible files. It's like you stepped into the Twilight Zone and all existence of any work you did the day before has disappeared into the Ether. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often. In fact, I'd say it was extremely rare. But next time, at least I'll know to look for invisible files. Thanks again Christiaan. Monadnoc

You know I've had that happen to me and I thought I was going crazy. I've opened up a file and it was like the entire last session never existed. But I never figured out why, so I just started over. It was only a practice session, so not a big deal, and it hasn't happened again. Yet. But I suspect this happens from time to time. Now I'll know how to find it when the finder can't. Thanks for a very helpful tip. And great sleuthing. Monadnoc

I miss the ability to choose colors, line weights, etc., too. And like you, I read it in the manual and had to check several times before I realized the manual was wrong. I don't know why they leave that in, it's obviously left over from the old Renderworks. Which in this case, I have to admit was superior (even though I love the switch to C4D). Monadnoc

Wow! Great improvement. All the background elements really make it nice. I haven't figured out a way yet to soften the horizon line either. And I'm not even seeing a sky in the image, the sky area is white/blank. Is that the kind of sky you used? Or is it just not coming through for some reason?

You might want to try Babel3d (https://www.babel3d.com) if you have problems. They are an online conversion service that I've had good results converting sketcheup files to 3ds to get them into VW. I'm not sure what files they can convert, but if they can't convert a Maya file directly, maybe there is a format in Maya they do support. You may want to try several different formats to find the one that translates best. Sometimes the Babel3d conversion process is better than going directly between the two programs. The sketchup files I was trying to import could be imported into VW, but were useless (missing pieces, etc.) but the same files converted through Babel3d into 3ds came in perfect. I am in no way associated with Babel3d, I just stumbled on to their website a few weeks ago and found it very useful. You didn't have to register then, but I see you do now. It's supposedly still free though. Monadnoc

I could not upload a VW 2011 file of the tree line image prop, as the file with just the image prop was 28 MB. But I think you're better off just importing the original image from the Texture Resources/Buzz Box link into whatever version of VW you have, and creating an Image Prop out of it. Also, here is a link to a tutorial showing how to add grass in Photoshop after the scene has been rendered. Sometimes this is not only faster, but gives better results: http://www.3d-realm.com/grasstut.html Monadnoc

This from the Help file: The three types of plug-ins?menu commands (.vsm), tools (.vst), and objects (.vso) you may want to read the Help section on Editing Workspaces, too. Monadnoc

First quit Vectorworks. Then inside the Vectorworks folder inside your Applications folder there should be a Plug-ins folder ( Applications > Vectorworks 2011 > Plug-Ins). Just drop the .vso file (or .vsm or .vst, I have all 3 in mine) inside it. Then launch Vectorworks, go to Tools > Workspaces > Workspace Editor, and edit your current workspace and add it either as a Tool or Menu Item. I think it is usually a Tool. It should be listed in the left pane either under All Tools or All Menu items. Just add it to the right pane. Monadnoc

I don't have time to post a file for the tree line right now (got to get to work) but I will later tonight or tomorrow morning. I notice you are on v10, and I'm on v2011, which I think saves down to v2008, but I don't know how it will translate between the two different rendering engines. The tree line is pretty basic, so shouldn't be a problem. Also, it will just be the tree line as the grass textures are still an experiment in progress, and I don't want to post them until they're finished. It's more the technique than the textures, anyway. All the trees were just the Xfrog image props that came with v2011 (some tweaked for size and color). Monadnoc

The (white) diagonal lines that extend from the window corners didn't show up in Final Quality Renderworks until I improved the quality of the renderings, but I'm sure they were there, just not noticeable. Because when I tried doing my elevations using any Artistic Renderworks mode they were showing as big black lines. So I had to do those as FQR with Hidden Lines foreground instead. It's like it divides the wall up into a bunch of polygons wherever a window penetrates a wall or a skylight penetrates a roof. I've tried everything but couldn't get rid of them. I thought the answer was just use a render style that wasn't Artistic. But I see they're back. Does anyone know how to get rid of them, or is this a bug? Maybe Smoothing Angle? Carl explained how to reveal the hidden texture link. I hope it still works. The tree line was created as an Image Prop and positioned in the background. I first trimmed off the bottom half in Photoshop (which was a field). But you could also just "sink" it into your ground plane until you got it to the level you wanted. Also, since there is no Atmosphere or Environment in Renderworks, except for Fog I believe (at least I don't know where it is yet), I dropped the Saturation in Photoshop too, just to give it a slightly hazy look to simulate it being in the distance. As for the roof thicknesses, either they are the original roofs, matching up to the original roofs, or were determined by the builder and my daughter and the local codes. The shed roof is built from trusses due to the snow load and therefore quite thick. The air-lock entry roof is built from 2x6 stock (if I remember right), but I've been bothered by that too. I think they should be beefed up to match the shed roof thickness. But it's not my house, it's theirs.