DanJansenson

If it's a static render, you could also Convert Copy To Lines with Hidden Line Render, and then assign the resulting lines to a dashed line. Render the original view in Shaded Render, and then place the HLR/dashed lines version directly on top.

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.

Dave Donley, the old link in the first post has expired, alas. DJ

Supporting P. Stanford The Eternal Optimist above: https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/04/04/stop-panicking-about-apples-rumored-switch-from-intel-to-its-own-chips-in-the-mac

Jim W. rumors are flying about a possible change to the Mac CPU infrastructure (i.e. a new chip made by Apple) and a transition away from Intel-based designs. Obviously this would require a reworking of the Mac VW version. Any in-house discussions of this that would be interesting to us naifs outside the building?

Make sure you use a mask, for when it starts smoking.

There's another issue, at least for architects, which has been peripherally discussed here before. There is a disconnect between the time needed, up front, to model the project, the way an architect gets paid, and the time when benefits derived from the model make their appearance. Most architects traditionally get paid roughly in line with the phase of the work completed. Schematic design, design development, construction documents, etc. But a process that relies on extensive development of a 3D model does not follow the traditional phases of architectural work. Some of the up-front 3D work is design, certainly. But much of it has a direct impact on the final construction documents, when information gets extracted from the model. One could say that an important piece of the effort invested in creating a quality 3D model only receives its compensation late in the life of a project. In practice this means that an architect who invests considerable resources up front in developing a model is taking a signficant risk. A client could change their minds late in the project, or even cancel the project outright, as has happened to me several times this past year. And then it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to ask for compensation for work done early in the process that doesn't fit neatly into the phase-oriented timelines of normal architectural contracts.

Escalatina.com is a web-based collection of high-res images of people from Latin America, suitable for use in renderings. The ArchDaily description is here. The images are free to use, but cannot be sold. I've prepared image props from most of the images currently on the site right now (the number of images is expanding regularly as new contributions flow in). A VW 2018 file containing 140 image props can be downloaded here. Feel free to download and use. Dan Jansenson