DanJansenson

On the Mac, two interesting apps are Waterlogue and Photosketcher, both of them very inexpensive. They can produce quite nice handmade-appearance images from RW images, and especially when output from each is stacked back in Vectorworks to produce a combined image (and in the example at the bottom, combined with a VW Hidden Line render). Not to everyone's taste, but still has potential, I think.

This is a wonderful technique, using image props behind the Section Viewport line. And it works not only with elevations, but with perspective views as well, with image props behind the camera position.

OpenGL with Detail set to Very High?

For the curved walls there is a work-around in HLR, though it's inconvenient. Create a very thin external component for the top-most wall, and extend the bottom of it to the bottom of the stack.

I think this may have been posted here already, but just in case it wasn't: https://architizer.com/blog/practice/tools/free-material-textures/

I think these are terrific.

Thank you for everything you've done, Jim. Best of luck with your next phase, and hope to see you back as soon as possible. Dan J.

OK thank you, Jim. But in any case, the GPU spec is basically left out of this particular consideration, focusing more on the speed and number of the cores, yes?

Jim, If the chokepoint in my setup right now is Hidden Line Render, then a big investment in a faster CPU(with more cores) would be better than a big investment in a better GPU, am I reading this correctly?

Hey, I have a old laser printer for sale. Cheap! Also a pair of shoes. Contact me for the best, discounted price!

Christiaan, if you have a specific laser-cut pattern you'd like to try, send it along and we'll see about creating a sample texture for it. Dan J.

I had asked because of foreign clients that were slow in paying, basically. The situation is now resolved (I terminated the contract, with a mutual release). It's actually quite a long story, but boring.

To my UK colleagues, a quick question. When releasing progress drawings to consultants and clients, or when releasing drawings as part of a construction bid package, but prior to obtaining a building permit–is it customary to place a "not for construction" note on the drawings? Here in the U.S. it is often advisable to place a note that says something similar to: "Not For Construction. May Only be Used with Permission from Architect of Record." Is there something similar used in the UK? Thank you, Dan Jansenson

As a work-around you could put a "white box" in the background, with a doughnut hole cut out in the image area to reveal the black layer background...

If you're rendering on a sheet layer, try making the sheet layer color (or background) black. Or dark grey. The white outlines may actually be transparent areas.