Monadnoc

So does 2014 include import capabilities for OBJ, FBX, or DAE? I'm still on 2011 (mainly due to these issues). I suppose I should just go watch the "What's New" videos, and find out for myself ...

The problem is when you convert the triangles into a mesh, the texturing goes all to heck. Therefore it is useless if you have a textured model. I'm guessing it's related to the same problem I mentioned in another post concerning scaling 3ds models after import. I'm no expert on any of this, all I know is the same model viewed in C4D looks smooth, viewed in Sketchup looks smooth, viewed in other 3D apps it looks smooth, viewed in VW looks terrible. I've tried and tried to figure out a way to get my plant models to look smooth in VW and the only way is to up the polygon count by 3 or 4 times. Which makes them unworkable in VW. I believe it is due to two factors, the triangulation caused by converting to 3ds and the lack of a phong tag in VW (or the equivalent - I'm fine if using mesh smoothing works, but then make it work with triangles. Or make the textures work after converting to mesh). Triangulation could be avoided by including a OBJ or FBX or DAE IMPORT capability. All of these maintain quads. So, with all respect, it is a problem with VW and its rendering engine.

Yes, I agree. I forgot about it when making my first list. It should have been number 2, right after scaling imported models/textures.

I deal with this issue with all the models I make in C4D and import into VW. The problem is there is no phong tag in VW. I have had mixed results with changing the smoothing angle. In general, I find it doesn't usually work. Maybe 2014 has phong tags now. Let's hope. And also proper UV mapping so we can scale the models after import. Without both of those abilities, VW isn't too useful for 3ds models.

Well if this new voice from Nemetschek on the Forum is part of the New Release Game Plan I am whole heartedly for it. JImW, it is nice to see a rep from VW actively participating and answering questions on this forum. It was very much needed and long overdue. Since Katy left there has been a conspicuous lack of input. Thank you. I hope you continue to be an active contributor.

Same pace and focus as the last few releases, eg you can now clip holes in roof objects (as opposed to possibly having had components) Nothing about 3d hatches Nothing about window schedules More window types Some minor improvements to tools Minor improvements to Worksheets Improvements to rotated views Improvements and VPs from clip cube Displacement mapping Improvements to spaces Etc etc Thanks for the info. Glad to see Displacement Mapping was on there

So what's the opinion of you folks who have the vss sneak preview ... is it an impressive release? Or at least worthwhile? Anything stand out? Thanks.

I believe the blur setting only applies to reflections and transparencies, so if you don't have anything that is reflective, like a mirror, turn it off. That should decrease render times. Blur really slows down a render. If you need it for (what looks like to me) the glass table top, maybe use it but set to "low". Are you using Indirect Lighting? I would use it set to Interior 4 bounces and play with it. And are your lights set to soft shadows? Your best bet may be using Photoshop filters though.

There are many different things you can do. It's all a matter of taste and what look you're going for. I'm not even sure what you mean by "softness", but it sounds like you just want a slight blur to the whole thing. So just use one of the Blur filters (Filter > Blur >) in Photoshop. Now if VW could save out Alpha channels you could probably do some Depth of Field stuff with the background in PS (you still can, just with a lot more work in PS). In fact, maybe that's what you mean, C4D does have DOF ability built in, VW does not. Or just using soft shadows vs hard shadows might do the trick with VW. Do you use Indirect Lighting or Environmental Lighting (HDRI) in VW? Both of those will produce "softer" looking renders. Post an image of the look you're after, that might help figure it out.

I would handle the "softness" post-render in Photoshop.

There is a hedge plugin for VW called "Foliage" available at http://www.andreafacchinello.it I've never used it, but it looks like it might do what you need. You could also search Turbosquid for some 3D models of shrubs (http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Index.cfm?keyword=shrub&x=0&y=0). Just be sure to only get medium to low polygon models, anything else will bog down/crash Vectorworks. I wouldn't go much above about 20,000 polygons. If it's just one or two plants in a scene you could probably go as high as 50,000 polys. If you're putting a lot in I'd keep it down to between 2,000 - 5,000 polys per plant model. Get .3ds file format to import into VW. I don't think VW can import .obj or .fbx, otherwise I would use one of those. You can also buy Xfrog plants at http://www.xfrog.com (they are also on Turbosquid) but I would stay away from their 3D models as they will definitely crash VW, way too many polygons. They also sell 2D images of their plants you can use to make Image Props in VW. They have a bunch of free models in both 3D and 2D somewhere on their site that you can download and try first.

Glad it worked.

I think to Deactivate all you have to do is uninstall it. Both I think Bruce is right, as long as you don't run two at the same time, you should be fine.

You can also apply the "Sign" texture as a Decal, if you want to have the main 3/4" plexiglass have it's own semi-transparent texture. Think of it as two separate "layers" of texture applied to the same object.

Dave, Here is an image showing the problem with textures when scaling 3ds models after import. This would be really, really nice to have fixed for the next release. I realize 2014 already been put to bed, but I think it warrants a fix for the first service pack. Thanks.

If you often have textures that look too dark, it may be your lighting set up. I would play around with the lights first, before I did anything else. It could be because you are only using spotlights.

The problem with using Glow is the object no longer displays shadows. So if you have a scene where there might be a shadow thrown across the floor, it will disappear. You might be better off using "Backlit" as the Reflectivity choice. That accepts/displays shadows. You can adjust the Brightness as needed. Although the better solution might be to bring the original texture image into Photoshop and lighten it there, then re-import it. Don't even mess with Reflectivity as a lightening agent.

I think the point is, C4D has it's strengths and weaknesses, and VW has it's strengths and weaknesses, and the optimum way to leverage both of their strengths and alleviate both of their weaknesses is to be able to seamlessly go back and forth between both of them, without losing any data, info, geometry, materials, etc. (whew!, long sentence).

Dave, Yes, you can scale the 3ds model when doing the initial import (which is a good thing - thanks for getting that put in), but we need to be able to scale it again once it is inside VW. Often multiple times at multiple scales. This dovetails with your second questions on why we would want to bring a C4D object into VW. In my case it is for similar reasons as Kevin states above. C4D does organic modeling much better. I model trees and plants in C4D using the XFrog plugin. It would be virtually impossible to create a similar model in VW. But it is extremely time consuming to get them into VW right now through 3ds. Plus you have the triangulation issues plus other restraints due to it being such an old file format. But I can get them in. Why do I want them in VW? Because it would be virtually impossible in C4D to do a planting plan or layout a landscape or do any construction document in C4D. Problem is, back in VW if you want to add a little variety to a scene by scaling copies of the 3D imported plants/symbols things fall apart quickly. All the leaf textures tile, they don't scale up with the geometry. People have been complaining about this for a long time. We need to be able to scale an imported model (after it's been imported) and have the textures scale with it. Right now they don't. It's like they lose their UV mapping coordinates. Until then true 3d plants are extremely limited in VW (and Image Props, although they have their place, aren't even close to a true 3D object. More like 2 1/2 D). I hope that clarifies things. I'd be happy to provide you with a model for testing/demonstration purposes. Thanks again.

After reading the other posts, I have two more requests: 4) Ability to render final images with embedded Alpha Channels and/or transparent backgrounds. 5) Two-way interactivity between C4D and VW. Right now it only goes one direction, we need to be able to open C4D files directly in VW, not by exporting as 3ds. Half of this deals with geometry, but the other half deals with Textures, Materials and rendering issues.

1) The ability to scale models (usually 3ds) AFTER they have been imported and have the textures scale with the geometry. I believe this has something to do with UV mapping. (edited for clarity) 2) The ability to "hide edges" of a polygon so only the mapped texture shows using sketch and toon or other non-realistic render modes. Ex: an irregular leaf shape mapped onto a square polygon using alpha to "cut out" the leaf currently shows the outline of the square, not the leaf. 3) Polygon Displacement/Sub-polygon Displacement. Thanks Dave for asking. And I'm glad to see you back posting on the forum.

If they just included Displacement Mapping it might do the trick, or at least offer an alternative. See this video about displacement mapping in Cinema 4D (if you jump to 5:07 you'll see an example using a brick wall - bump vs displacement maps): part 2 (continues with brick wall - starts right off with a nice example): Whether they could get it to work with hidden line renderings is another question.

Hmmmm, interesting effect, but I'm sure it's not what you want. I would think the pixels have to be exactly white (255,255,255) to work. Maybe antialiasing in Photoshop is creating the halo of off-white pixels? I know I always run into that problem with photoshop softening the edges. You may have to wait until VW supports png or tif transparency. Hopefully next month.

And if I understand this technique (I haven't had time to test it yet), anything that is white on the image will also be transparent, not just the background. So if you had white flowers or something on your image, they would become transparent. For most images this wouldn't be a problem, but on occasion it will definitely be.

I think 64 bit would help a huge amount. It's probably the main reason VW handles so poorly/sluggishly and why you can't import and use modern models which contain hundreds of thousands of polygons. I truly hope VW2014 is 64 bit. Right now, I think that's the biggest thing holding it back. But I might be wrong... I too, want VW to succeed, and get back to doing what it used to do best. Speed. Simplicity. Intuitive tools and commands. It never had stability, but it would be so nice if they included that finally.