GeoffreyP
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Posts posted by GeoffreyP
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If you created the logo from fonts, and not as a drawing, what you want to do (as a rule for just about anything - not just this situation) is to use the "convert to paths" operation in Freehand before you export it as an eps. You will no longer be able to edit the text sice it will be paths at this point (what Illustrator call outlines) but you won't need fonts, and it can be used by anyone with perfect results
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Does the logo print fuzzy as well? Freehand, which I also use, is notorious for crummy looking on-screen display when imported into other applications. It may just be that (hopefully!) One possible fix is to export the Freehand file as an eps, open it in Illustrator, and then re-save it. The file size will usually increase, but often Illustrator will produce sharp on-screen display.
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Thanks, Katie, Kristen, and Mike B! It looks like OSX running on the base extensions is the way to go. I had been putting off switching because my font management software won't work with OSX, but I'll just have get some that does. It seems clear it will be worth it.
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Thanks for the swift response Katie ? although I'm still a bit in the dark. I'm already using OS 9.1, and I have a hard time accepting the notion that over 800MB of RAM wouldn't be enough for rendering and printing operations even if VW was using the other 200MB that I've got. (I'll reduce it to 125MB as you suggest, though) I have reloaded the system software, reloaded Vectorworks from 9.0 through 9.5.2, run Norton Disk Doctor and done everything I can think of short of pouring Drano through the CPU.
When using Custom Renderworks, I set detail on high, and select ray tracing, recursion levels to 4, textures, transparency, and NURBS if they are used in the drawing. (Are these settings in error?)
Regarding extensions, please ask around and see if the folks in the white lab coats down in the bunker can recommend any settings. (I do know that the more extensions are enabled the harder the system has to work, and there can be conflicts with certain extensions when running some applications. Maybe creating a custom configuration for VW would help?
Thanks again
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I'm not getting proper performance on VW 9.5.2 -- crashes, painfully slow rendering for the size files I've drawn, etc. I'm running OS 9.1 on a G4 with dual 500MHz processors and over a Gig of RAM (I provision a minimum of 200Mb for VW)
I'm hoping that there is a recommended set of extensions and possibly other settings that will optimize performance.
Also, I routinely 'print to file' for turning into PDFs. On some larger files (only around 10MB or so, not huge) I have had the process fail, and an 'insufficient memory' message. Does anybody know where additional memory should be provisioned? I understand that Renderworks works outside of VW (using the memory that isn't taken up by VW) so is there a way to devote more memory to the rendering/printing process?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
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The image doesn't need to be CMYK in your file to start with - just when you hand it off to the service bureau or printer. Import the RGB image, and after your file is complete, export the image file normally (being sure that the image size and resolution is set per the vendor's requirements). Open the image in Photoshop, and then choose Image > Mode > CMYK and convert the file this way. You'll be all set.
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I use the same mouse with my Mac G4, and although I haven't experienced the behavior you describe, I have on several occasions had the fun of the vertical scrolling suddenly locking up in VectorWorks, so that the drawing zooms out of sight and the sliders don't respond to efforts to stop it. I've been able to arrest this "feature" by initiating force quit and then cancelling. (When the mouse starts to crawl around on the mousepad by itself, I'm going to go back to a hard-wired one).
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If you're familiar with Photoshop, this isn't difficult to do at all. To create the round holes for the perf metal, I made a circle in VW, filled it with black, and used the duplicate/rectangular array with an offset to stagger the hole positions. (Remember: black is going to be what's transparent). I could have done this in a drawing program like Illustrator, or directly in PS, depending on the pattern and effect desired. I exported this as an image file, and then opened the file in PS. (One small bug that VW has is that you will get a blank (white) border around the exported image, but you can crop this off in PS.) What you want to be left with is a tileable pattern that VW will use to cover the surfaces. You may have to go back and play with your image positioning / cropping in PS so that you don't get obvious breaks or other tell-tales that show separate tiles - it should be an accurately repeating pattern in both directions. Name and save the image as a JPEG - it should be as small as will serve the purpose. (For my perf holes, a 3" x 3" tile at 72 d.p.i. was just fine). Now in VW, bring into your drawing the texture you want to apply the mask to. Go to your drawing Resources pallette and choose Edit. Go to Transparency, and choose Mask Transparency from the drop down menu. You'll then be required to choose the desired mask, so select the JPEG mask you made, and then "okay" your way back to the Edit Texture window. You'll then see the effect of your mask on the texture you're working with, although you'll have to return to your rendering to see the true size of your pattern. If the pattern 'holes' or whatever are the wrong size, you can adjust this by returning to Edit Texture and changing the size there (select set by image which will allow you to set the tile size), or by adjusting the scale of the texture in the Edit Mapping window in your Object Info Pallette (Texture tab). Good luck
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Well, this may be cheating, but it may be the most direct solution if you are familiar with Photoshop: Create your display case without any glass element as has been suggested. Then export your rendering as a Photoshop image of desired quality/resolution. Open the image in PS, create a new layer, and using the 'pen' tool, carefully create a marquee around the case window where the glass would be. When you get it just right, save it as a path so that you don't have to keep re-drawing it. Then with the new path selected, use the airbrush tool with white (or whatever color is appropriate) to zip a few diagonal strokes across the case. You can erase, adjust for blur, opacity, and so on, so that the look is right. What is good about this method is that while it has to be done on a case-by-case basis (no pun intended) you have the control of not obscuring the view of some feature of the case interior, and you can make the effect very subtle but still effective. Good luck.
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I want to create a ribbed glass texture. Is there a way to create the texture within VectorWorks (as one would create a Alpha channel in Photoshop to accomplish the same thing) or import it into VW from somewhere else? Thanks in advance for any help.
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The solution is pretty straightforward, and it's similar to the last problem (how did that chandelier thing work out anyway?) Create the 3D shape you want, and then copy / paste in place. The trick here is to edit the copy so that it's smaller than the original. Sometimes it may be easier to create two separate shapes from the get-go, and center them 3D. The size difference between the two will be the wall thickness of your fixture. Do a solid subtraction so you're left with a shell. Assign a texture to the shape that has some transparency (it almost doesn't matter what because you're going to go back and tweak the settings anyway or you're going to create your own). Then position a light inside. After placing a default light object in place, with the light object still selected, go to the object info pallette, change it from directional to spot, and adjust the beam spread, intensity, color, etc. I usually use the 2D rotate tool to position the direction of light objects because it's faster for me, but you can control direction from the OIP as well. See how it looks. Chances are there will be a balancing act between setting the fixture texture tranparency and the light object, and you'll have to go back and forth between them untill it looks right. If needed, you can then copy or mirror duplicates of the light object within the fixture. With the multiple light sources, you may need to go back one more time and adjust the light intensity / texture transparency to get it right. Good luck.
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Create a sphere, copy, paste in place, and then reduce the radius of the new sphere in the object info pallette. (The difference between the two will give you the desired wall thickness. Do a solid subtraction, and you'll wind up with a hollow shell. To punch holes in the shell, either extrude shapes (cylinders, or star-shapes - whatever) and do solid subtractions in the desired locations, or else apply a texture that has a mask transparency (try out the steel or silver mesh and see how it looks to you - sort of a disco ball effect). You can make a new transparency mask with the hole shapes you want (the mesh has square holes, so when I wanted to make a perf metal texture I made a mask with round ones). Put point light sources inside the sphere as required for desired intensity.
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I'm experiencing the exact same problem as Ranger - it appears as though VW 9.5 is going through the importing process, and there are new layers and classes in the document, but nothing is visible or selectable. I've tried outlined text created in A.I.9, as well as logos saved in A.I.9 as outlines, exported to DWG and also DXF, and got zilch. I'd love to know how jodawi got favorable results. Thanks to anyone who can shed light.
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Thanks for the reply, Mike. I tried your method, which works very well, but my problem is that the model has sort of a narrow corridor situation with lightboxes facing each other - not enough room to move the light "projectors" back far enough to be out of sight. Is there a way to make an invisible mask for a light source? Thanks for any thoughts
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Thanks for the reply, Mike. I tried your method, which works very well, but my problem is that the model has sort of a narrow corridor situation with lightboxes facing each other - not enough room to move the light "projectors" back far enough to be out of sight. Is there a way to make an invisible mask for a light source? Thanks for any thoughts
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Thanks for the swift reply, Matthew. I took my drawing file, which consisted of an outline and a solid fill in A.I.9, then exported it as a DWG (no sweat so far). When I imported it into VW9.5, it extruded fine, but there is no fill - just an extruded outline. Next I took an A.I.9 logo, confirmed that all outlines were there, and exported it as .DWG. When I imported that into a new VW file, it seemed as though it was going through all the crunching (creating new layer and classes, etc) but the page is blank! I fished around with the cursor looking for something to select, but nothing seems to be there. Classes and layers were set to 'show/snap others'. Numerous tries with text set in A.I.9 did the same thing. What am I doing wrong?
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If I have a monster file to render, the computer is going to be doing nothing else for a while, so would it make make sense to re-start using a set of extension settings tailored to RenderWorks? What would you recommend? (Dual 500Mz G4 with >1GB memory)
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For an interior scene, I have a texture applied to a rectangular polygon which represents the graphic in a lightbox. How can I brightly light the graphic so that the lighting pattern is restricted to the area within the frame of the box? Just putting a spotlight object in front of the polygon creates spill light outside the desired area. Thanks in advance for your help
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How can I import a logo created in another application (in this case, Freehand 8) so that it can be extruded? The original graphic consists of Bezier curves (as does extrudable type). Thanks in advance for any help.
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Thanks very much for the responses, folks. I tried creating a mask, and it worked very well. (I have so much surface of varying shapes that the 3-D skin approach might be dicey for this project, but I'll play around with that too). I appreciate the help!
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I'm trying to create a texture similar in look/behavior to the 'stainless steel mesh' or 'silver plate mesh' in the standard textures library. These consist of stacked square holes which transmit light - I want to create a perforated metal sheeting with round holes which are offset. (Other pierced surfaces could be called for too). Is there a procedure for this? Thanks for any help!
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I downloaded a sample image from the ImageCel website (business guy with a tacky-looking tie) and popped it into a drawing to test it out. It worked fine (if you don't have much experience using cut-out mannequins in your renderings, there's a very good 'how-to' on the VW website). The only flaw in the file I tried was that the clipping path which the ImageCel people had provided wasn't super exact, but if you open up the file in Photoshop you can tweak the clipping path to your liking. One thing to keep in mind: the lighting on the figures is very distinct - a person photographed outdoors might look odd in a low-lighting interior scene. And of course you have to be aware of the light/shadow direction - you can flip the file in Photoshop if it's lit the wrong way (give it a new name, then create a mask for it)
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I'm a VW rookie trying to create a texture similar in behavior to the 'stainless steel mesh' or 'silver plate mesh' in the standard textures library. These consist of stacked square holes which transmit light - I want to create round holes which are offset. (Other pierced surfaces could be called for too). Is there a procedure for this? Thanks for any help!
Anyone have experience with Artlantis?
in General Discussion
Posted
I've heard favorable things about the Artlantis rendering program from some folks who are serious power users of Vectorworks. I use only Renderworks now, but I'm curious to know what impressions others may have out in Vectorworld who are familiar with this application. Thanks in advance