Matt Panzer

Hi James, I did this movie a few years ago (maybe in 2006) using AnimationWorks. As for moving objects, notice the gate and glass doors opening and the moving waterwall. If you want to do this sort of thing in Vectorworks, you need AnimationWorks.

Hi Yancka, Have you tried creating the lines in a group and giving the group a handle? something like this: BeginGroup; {create all the lines for cutting} EndGroup; GroupHand := LNewObj; { now create a copy of the PIO's path poly and send it into the group } CuttingPolyHand := CreateDuplicateObject( pioPathPolyHand, GroupHand ); { do all your clipping and delete the clipping objects } ForEachObjectInList( Convert2PIOProc, 0, 1, FInGroup( GroupHand ) ); HTH, Matt

Hi Yancka, You may want to use CreateStaticHatchFromObject: FUNCTION CreateStaticHatchFromObject(inObj :HANDLE; inHatchName :STRING; pX, pY :REAL; rotationAngle :REAL) :HANDLE; This places a static hatch (inHatchName) within the polygon (inObj) at point (Px, Py) with an angle (rotationAngle). You would still need to have a hatch in the document to use but it'd probably be much faster (and easier) than trying to slice and dice a bunch of lines. If the needed hatch resource is not already in the document, you could create it before inserting it. Then, if desired, the PIO could delete it so the user doesn't see it in the RB). Long long ago I developed a similar approach to what you're proposing (before the CreateStaticHatchFromObject call existed). It would create the array of lines over the polygon (making sure to cover it's BBox), bring the polygon to the front, then Intersect Surface (I think). Not nearly as elegant... Matt

David, In this case, I would try exporting the image from VW at at about double the desired size. Then I would reduce it to the needed size in PhotoShop. PhotoShop will anti-alias the image as it reduces the resolution hopefully avoiding the pattern. Worth a try...

Ray's right, the monitor resolution is effectively reducing the displayed resolution causing the moire pattern. I found the Preview application to be the best at viewing image files and PDF files. It does a great job at anti-aliasing to display the image closer to what it would print like. I guess the REAL test is to print it with a high quality printer. I do wish there were better display options in VW though. The same thing happens in exported Renderworks animations. I'd love to see improvements there as the moire patterns are very distracting.

Michelle, Option-clicking with the Zoom In tool should zoom out. Actually, You can have it the way you're used to by adding the zoom out tool back in your workspace using the workspace editor. NNA took it out (to simplify the interface) but it's still available to add back to your workspace.

Hi Michelle, Seriously consider getting a mouse with a scroll wheel. If you can borrow one for a minute and try scroll wheel zooming, you'll probably place an order another minute later. It's SO much faster and can be done during drawing operations as well.

No problem! The only trick with the perspective crop is, once you get it aligned to a square objects in the photo, drag the center grips of the crop to include as much of the rest of the photo you want. Dragging the center grips keep the crop sides constrained to the perspective so you won't mess up the perspective dragging them.

stmlandplan, While the skew tool will work, it take a lot more eyeballing and guesswork. I think skewing and keystone stretch the image without taking into account foreshortening. The perspective crop method does take foreshortening into account. Try placing a crop in your version of PS and see if there's a "perspective" checkbox. As far as importing SketchUp models, I haven't done this much...

Hi stmlandplan, I use the perspective crop in PhotoShop to take out perspective distortion and I've found it to be the fastest and most accurate by far. Hopefully your version of PhotoShop has this option. The feature has been there for several versions. A quick search on youtube shows the process. HTH,

Fritsch, As mar suggested, the vertical line can be of use for some things. The brick in the elevation was created using the brick shader in Renderworks. I just set the bricks to white with a black mortar. Some textures I created in Photoshop. If you already have a color image based texture that you need a B&W version of, try exporting it's image to a file, use an image editor (ie Photoshop), set it to greyscale, adjust the brightness and contrast, etc. and you may get something close to what you need. Yes it takes some work, but it may be worth trying. If you thinking of trying this method, experiment with some quickly done textures to make sure you're getting what you expect in the model. I've found some issues with textures not lining up from one wall to another or between walls and floors. This has caused me to manually edit the problem objects to shift the texture to line up. I'm using the "Use Z Origin" feature on the texture mapping which should take care of this, but it doesn't seem to be working. This is why I say, experiment a bit before investing the time to create perfect textures in Photoshop. Oh, and another thing you may want to use in your textures for elevations is Constant Reflectivity. This will prevent Renderworks from shading the object. HTH

There's a recent thread on the VW MailList about this. Here's my method. While there are advantages and disadvantages to this method, I think it's similar to the direction VW should be going to get elevations from models. ------------------------------------------ What I've been doing is to create black & white "line" texture equivalents of the textures used on the building exterior. Then, in my elevation viewports of the model, I override the class textures of the exterior objects to use the B&W "line" versions. This does require the viewport to use a background Renderworks render mode (I use Custom Renderworks with stripped down settings to reduce render time) and a Hidden Line foreground render mode. It can take some experimenting to get the look you want, but I've found it to work very well. A nice benefit is that textured surfaces that are set off at an angle (roof slopes, angled walls, etc) show their textures accurately instead of "head on". This method does require more time to update viewports after making revisions, but it's worth it, IMO. To help things along, I set the sheet layer DPI to 72 while working, then bump it up to 300 DPI for final output. Another option I use often is to turn off the background Renderworks render mode while I make changes until I need to view the textures. See the attached file...

ClipPad Beta 7 Released: Beta 7 Notes: ? Removed the System Clipboard feature altogether. While it was an interesting idea, it was causing more problems than it's worth. ? This beta has a reworking of how clippings are pasted. Since clippings are symbol based, 2D only objects would not be pasted in 3D views, and 3D only objects would not be pasted in the Top Plan (2D) view. While this is the intended behavior for symbols, it is not desired for clippings. This beta now pastes BOTH 2D and 3D objects. Note: If you're in Unified View and have the "Display Screen Objects" preference turned off, when pasting a clipping contains any 2D only objects, the view will be changed to "Top Plan". This is to make those objects visible. For More Information, and to download, visit: PanzerCAD ClipPad PanzerCAD ClipPad

So What exactly is ClipPad and what can it do? Find out in our new ClipPad Overview Video:

ClipPad Now Updated to Beta 5: What's New: ? Removed the "Swap" feature that allowed swapping of the system clipboard with a ClipPad clipping. While the feature works fine, we thought it was too easy for user to inadvertently replace a clipping's contents with the contents of the system clipboard. ? Bug Fix: Fixed a possible crash when deleting a clipping when only one clipping exists in the document. For More Information, Visit: PanzerCAD ClipPad

You're welcome Jeff. Yes it was much simpler back then - but I could not imagine going back! ;-) LOL! I've been there with Google Earth trying to measure where I took the picture from. Even then, there are SO many other variables that you can waste hours and still not be happy (or confident) with the view. In fact, the last project I did this with spurred me on to develop CameraMatch. If you haven't seen my latest video on it, it goes through a complete CameraMatch rendering (in real time) in about ten minutes:

You're welcome Jeff. Yes. The ZeroFraztal route would be considerably expensive. In addition, if this is for potential buyers to operate, it may be a little cumbersome for them to move around. What I mentioned is something like what this product does: Product: http://www.easypano.com/virtual-tour-gallery.html Sample Tour: http://www.easypano.com/Gallery/Tourweaver500/nanhui/TourWeaver_nanhui.html If the panoramas can all be exported out of Vectorworks, this would probably be a much lower cost solution. While it's not a realtime 3D walkthrough, it's still pretty good and navigating is much simpler for the average person.

You could also create menu commands out of them and put them in your workspace. This will make them act as any other menu commands and also allow keyboard shortcuts to be assigned.

Hi Jeff, While I haven't done this, I think the best VW solution might be to export out a series of interior QTVR Panoramas and use software that can link them to each other using hot spots in the panoramas. IOW, while panning around in one room, there could be hot spots (toward other spaces) that allow the user to click to another space. When they click, they are brought to another panorama of that space. I've seen this done before but have no idea what software can to this. It might be worth looking into...

When I make a latte, I begin by walking out back into the coffee grove. :-P

Hi Dan, I'm thinking about that test strip idea. If the user's using Sheet Layer Viewports, They could make a copy of the viewport and crop it into a test strip. Then they could make multiple copies of it, apply various render settings (and even adjust lighting). This could be an advantage as various test strips could be setup and then all selected and updated at once (while you're out getting a latte). Of course, you'd lose the speed comparison unless a script could be written to record the times for each. The cool thing about this is that all the settings will remain with each "test strip" (and can possibly be copied to other viewports via the eyedropper?). Matt

Check out our new CameraMatch Video! This 10 minute video shows the entire CameraMatch process in real time: ? Placing a CameraMatch Reference object ? Placing a CameraMatch Object ? Setting & Tuning ths view ? Using the CameraMatch Mask to hide unwanted parts of the model ? A tip for simulating shadows of leaves The final rendering is all completed within Vectorworks using PanzerCAD's CameraMatch plug-in! And all in about 10 minutes!

You're very welcome Dan. I'm just speaking honestly. I'll keep an eye out for it's release! Matt

Dan, Although I have not yet seen your new book, I have no doubt that anyone who's using Renderworks would most certainly benefit from it. Getting good quality renderings takes a LOT of time experimenting with SO many variables. Judging from the exhaustive tests and images you've produced over the years (using Renderworks), this book will easily pay for itself in no time. It will get users creating much better images in far less time. BTW: When is the book due to ship?

Hi bcd, If you copy the "PanzerCAD Camera Match 2010" folder over the old one (in the "Plug-ins" folder), you should be fine. If you do this while Vectorworks is running, you will need to quit and restart Vectorworks in order for it to see the new plug-ins. To see what version of CM (CameraMatch) you're running, select any CM object ( CM object, CM Reference object, CM Mask object ) and look in the Obj Info palette. It should read "Version: 2010.0.3 (build 44)". Let me know if you're not seeing this. Thank you for the kind words about CameraMatch. I'm glad you're realizing it's benefits!