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Dieter

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Posts posted by Dieter

  1. Hi ajs,

    In the Object Info Dialog the cast shadow option for the light must be OFF. Then it works. Is this Logic? Yes & No. Don't color the glass - no effect. Color the light.

    Cheers

    --Dieter

    [This message has been edited by Dieter (edited 10-27-2000).]

    [This message has been edited by Dieter (edited 10-27-2000).]

  2. Hi Boris,

    I do not get dominated by Autodesk or by Bill Gates and I have nothing on my hard disk from one or the other. I have several Clients with AutoCad seats and their do not mind my VW drawings. Some use VW now, as their have seen my work.

    As long as I deliver excellence nobody cares what tools I use. However I do not have to take care about staff. This is just a one guy operation.

    Generally I refuse to deliver drawings in DXF format because this is ?my work? which is not ripped to bits by an archaic limiting format which is not even able to recognise the ISO standard. I use PDF extensively for communication over email.

    Cheer

    --Dieter

    Melbourne, Australia

  3. I agree totally. The VW?s 3D tool box for our profession and for mechanical engineering is archaic. Have you read the trouble people have with 3D subtract tool?

    Have you tried the MacNurbs plug-in? It helps sometimes.

    It is a shame for a product which began as a 3D modeller. Over one year ago Diehl Graphsoft announced the licensing of SMLIB a superior 3D library, without visible result yet. The next vertical product will be for landscape. I tired of waiting.

    However NNA will argue, VW is a general purpose CAD software. I just wonder how theatrical lighting fits in this philosophy.

    I?m considering to purchase Solid Works but then I have to leave my beloved Macintosh.

    Cheers

    --Dieter

  4. Hi Tim,

    Exporting Images from VW:

    File menu > Export Image File

    The ?Export Image File? dialogue opens which has three sections.

    A) Width, Height and Resolution

    The default is always based on 72 dpi (Screen resolution)

    When you want a smooth image you have to increase the resolution, lets say three times (72 x 3 = 288). Do this.

    When you do not change Width and Height your image will be now exported smaller by the factor 3.

    So, what you have to do, you need to change the image dimension by the same factor as you change the resolution (x3).

    B) Format

    File Type:

    Choose a non lossy format for print e.g. TIFF or PICT(Mac).

    Choose Photoshop when you want to manipulate the image in Photoshop.

    Compression:

    Choose best depth.

    C) Preview

    Click the update button and you will see the file size and memory requirement for the image you will export. When you image is large

    you may give VW all the memory possible.

    D) Save

    Try this (also observe the explanation VW gives you as you move your mouse over the dialogue features at the bottom of the dialogue box).

    Sorry, English is my 2nd language. I hope you understand it now. It is really the best image export feature of any software.

    Cheers

    --Dieter

  5. Hi Dane,

    Great to hear from you. Interesting comment that you prefer Artlantis over Stata 3D. You also listed all the advantages of Artlantis. However I find the integration of Lightworks inside Vectorwork the more elegant solution. Most often I prefer Lightworks dryer result because it will not raise the clients expectations based on render quality or the nicer picture. His (the client) impression must be formed by seeing and handling the final physical prototype (industrial design). It is part of my philosophy to increase the ?clients and the users happiness? through each stage of development and I use rendering only in the early stage. However in your area of work you develop a different approach.

    When one begins to work with CAD and rendering, like Thomas above, allot of energy it absorbed by learning the software especially when one thinks his ideas must be now instantly photo realistic. To stay focused on the quality of the concept can be difficult.

    Thanks Dane for your hints.

    Cheers

    --Dieter

    P.S. Increasing the resolution and and keeping the print size the same does not increase the image quality. In fact it can get worse

  6. Hi Thomas,

    I use both render engines. When you are in the beginning of your rendering experience, I would suggest to stay with RenderWorks.

    It would be a good idea to build a test model which is typical for your work and figure out the lighting - it is the key. Placing, manipulating, and coloring the light source is the foundation to rendering success. As you go along and play make yourself some sketches of successful tests for later reference. You also find in this site some tech notes about rendering (I think).

    When you are not happy (lets say in a years time) with RenderWorks, you can have another look at Artlantis (which creates quite small images) and requires Photoshop to get the most out of it (to my taste). In my work (Industrial Design) I find it difficult to achieve a distinct material surfaces with RenderWorks. It looks a bit blunt and when I need to pull a real show off I do some work in Photoshop which has a steep learning curve in the beginning. However what I have seen in architecture and RederWorks is excellent.

    Cheers

    --Dieter

    prowolf@ihug.com.au

  7. Hi,

    It is worthwhile updating to OS 9.04. VW runs excellent on my G4, but I agree OS 9.0 was a bit temperamental. Just remember the system needs some house keeping from time to time. Go to Apple and download the updater (in the correct language). When you have a lot of problems use Conflict Catcher (Casady & Green) and perform a clean installation from your system disk and run the updater after. With Conflict Catcher as companion a clean system installation is a breeze (minutes).

    Cheers

    --Dieter

  8. quote:

    Originally posted by poiron:

    Does anyone think the ability to snap to the corners/centre of the page as useful? I would like to be able to precisely align objects to the corners or the centre of the page, and be able to grab the page using handles at the corners or centre using the move page tool.

    Excellent Idea! I need it now!

  9. Hi J?rn,

    Yes you can! Use the command ?Export Image File? in the export dialogue box (VW 8.5). A real choice dialogue box will open. You have a choice of File Formats and resolution settings. Calculate the size of your final output file e.g. A4 and this final image probably does not need more than 150dpi resolution for printing. By the way one pixel or one point = 0.35 mm - I think.

    When you choose a high resolution setting VW needs all the memory it can get.

    The other alternative would be to create a PDF file which is also excellent for file transfer into PageMaker.

    When you have any problems, then just ask more questions here.

    Cheers

    --Dieter

    ________________________________

    Dieter Wolf-Devine

    ________________________________

    Wolf-Devine Design

    Product Development & Graphics

    P.O. Box 85

    Coburg VIC 3085

    Australia

    ________________________________

    email: prowolf@ihug.com.au

    ________________________________

  10. Yes Christine,

    The best result you can get is with Adobe Distiller. Even a large format drawing you can scale down, ?distil? it and the output is fantastic. The PDF Printer from Adobe does not work well and lines are jagged. Distiller and the PDF printer are part of Adobe Acrobat 4 (this is not the Acrobat Reader). However I belief you can purchase Distiller separately, then you also require the free Acrobat Reader. There are also freeware PDF printers around, but you will not get the result of Distiller.

    You also need the Adobe printer driver which will appear in the chooser (Mac). You select the AdobePS printer in the chooser, return to VectorWorks and select ?Print? from the file menu. Work through the following dialogue box and try it out. Don?t worry about the page size restriction. I put an A1 drawing on A4, no problem.

    Cheers

    --Dieter

  11. quote:

    Originally posted by Denis O'R:

    Hi guys - First I hate doing this as I ain't a critic.

    I'd love to see an addition to the VW preferences for metric so as every new page opened is in European Metric as opposed to US Imperial, thats all, great software love it a lot!

    Yeah, great, the world is metric!


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