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Fergy

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Posts posted by Fergy

  1. It appears to be only half-on in 2022, so I personally had to go back and turn on legacy features to get it to work as I needed.  It does not seem to align or project a 2D plan layer well with a 3D layer on top of it.

     

    It's not even visible as a greyed-out option for me. I go straight from Rotate Plan to Create Viewport.  Opt+Cmd+L also does not work.

     

    I found that if I went in and enabled legacy, told VW to Display Screen Objects, then disabled legacy, it works as needed.  So enabling and disabling don't work as intended either. 

  2. It was in Spotlight version.  A reboot solved it, but was really strange. I bounced back to 2020 to get the revisions done.

     

    Just opened that same file into 22.  Started in Design Layer, was able to add curtain as needed, or convert it between P&D, Curtain, Border. 

     

    Switched to Sheet Layer, and it disappears.  Check classes, and they are viewable.  Double-click viewport to go back to edit Design Layer, and curtain objects are no longer visible; only insertion point is there.

     

    Closing without saving and then reopening the file makes it visible again, but shuts down as soon as I repeat the flow to Sheet Layer and back.

     

    Create a new drawing with just two objects in it, and I cannot get it to repeat.  Will try to dig in more later and will send a DM. Could just be an old file that's been beaten so many times that something is hinky in it.

     

     

  3. This is strange. Just trying 22 for the first time this AM, testing a file for an upcoming show made in 20. In Spotlight, Soft Goods tool works fine for Pipe and Drape and Border, but normal Curtain only creates an insertion point.  Nothing is created in 2D or 3D mode other than an insertion point. Adding Track or Pipe inserts that object at the proper length and Z. HOWEVER, once I've cycled to a Viewport, and then back to the Design Layer, the Curtain AND Border options no longer appear other than insertion point. Pipe and drape option forces it to appear. Classes are all set to be viewable.

     

    Just for grins, opened same file in 21, and then 20 (Initial file was made in 20). Problem is the same on all. Worked last week before installation of 22.  Just some strange coincidence? Literally opened the file to discover all of my softgoods were missing, just in time to confirm my rental order.

  4. 18'x91' screen.  VW inserts 3 projectors for this, resulting in 150 px overlap.  Want to increase to 4 projectors with 740 px overlap for a better blend.

     

    Increasing horizontal count and inserting projectors will not update.  Projectors remain with the same overlap and just extend past the screen.

     

    Cannot overwrite values in any of the text boxes to alter this.

     

    Known bug? Operator error? Should I just give up and manually create this?  It's never really worked well for this; no changes in 2018 from previous versions.  Should be able to alter horizontal count and have it auto-update with the new overlap pixels, percentage and distance.

  5. Any idea on when this will be fixed? This is killing me.

    And the auto-classing of plug ins is excruciatingly annoying. Whoever decided that should be flogged. Most of us have huge lists of default classes we use, and now we have to go hunting and reclass every object we create.

  6. Previously, I'd click where I wanted the truss to start, hit 'Tab', enter length and/or angle, and truss would be created. This still works as it should for all other items that I can find. In fact, it still shows those two options when I start a truss.

    The moment I hit 'Tab', the truss tool deactivates and I'm back at my selection tool.

    This is maddening.

    Bug, or new "Feature"?

  7. On a related note, I try to install all of the libraries following the instructions. I get the "Starting Install" text and nothing ever happens after that. I've been stuck using the old libraries since 2014 was released because of this.

    I've followed the instructions by double-clicking, dragging into a window, and dragging onto the application icon. Same problem each time.

    Any tips?

  8. It's more on the modeling end, but I would absolutely love to have warping features like 3D Studio Max or others have, so that I can easily modify primitives instead of trying to edit NURBS or mesh surfaces. I've got a ton of scenic items that can't be created simply in VW so I have to create them in other software and then import them, usually resulting in monstrously bloated files.

    There are also a lot of issues with shadow rendering, at least that I've discovered, as well as a clunky Open GL rendering engine that doesn't render anything in groups well. I've complained about that for several versions, to no avail.

  9. I've had the same problem for years, version after version.

    Here's something else you'll notice: if you create a group within that drawing, and then double-click to edit the group while in OpenGL mode, you'll get a nice, rendered view, within that group.

    I believe it has to do with the render light inside the symbol because as soon as you insert the instrument, there's a light object in the model with 0 intensity. However, adding a couple of directional lights to the model for rendering purposes doesn't really solve the issue well.

  10. Maybe I'm missing something here, but why not just use render lights to create what you're trying to do, and leave the lighting symbols where you really want them to be?

    And go into the default instrument texture and deselect "cast shadows" to prevent your floating shadow problem.

    You'll get more realistic and elegant lighting effects on your panels doing it this way.

  11. When textures are applied to floors, the settings for "Cast Shadows" and "Receive Shadows" in the texture resource apparently don't work. This probably also explains why floor objects look poor in my renderings, because the shadows aren't displaying properly.

    So, when using a floor as a ceiling and placing directional lights in the model, you get really ugly shadow lines if there are any objects in the ceiling such as vertical walls around soffits that are not a floor object. As it was explained to me before, when I want to show the ceiling in camera VP renders I need to texture the ceiling with textures that don't cast shadows. Then it was further explained later to use floor objects as ceilings to allow hybrid functionality.

    Solution was to convert the floor objects to 3D polys, but this loses the hybrid object functionality when switching between 2D plan and 3D views.

    Bug, or some other issue?

  12. My trick for this is to create the truss object that I like, then switch into a top or other 3D view, and ungroup the object, then regroup it or create a symbol. That effectively destroys the hybrid object, but you can then rotate it in 3D any way that you want.

  13. Hi Fergy

    Yes, you probably do need to add a directional light to create shadows on the floor, but it depends on which HDRI background you use. Try turning down ambient light a little - that may have some effect.

    The orientation depends very much on the HDRI you are using. There is no hard and fast rule, so just experiment. Create a floor and place a sphere on it in a new file. Render in Top view with different backgrounds applied and you can guage the orientation of the HDRI relative to the screen.

    To get a directional light to light a scene in what is effectively a closed box, turn off Cast Shadows for the directional light. It will then pass through the walls/floors/ceilings.

    Hope that helps!

    Thanks Tamsin,

    But what I want it to cast shadows with the directional lights? That's the current problem. I just want to be able to set the height of the effective emitter for it, so that I can set that emitter below the ceiling height. Spotlights don't work, because they emit as a cone.

    I'll play around with the HDRI files and see. It's just frustrating, because some of these renderings take quite a while, especially once I start adding in a lot of textures and other rendering lights.

  14. All of this is being done inside of SLVP, not in the design layers. I've set up the scenes use HDRI in the Layer Lighting Options dialog.

    What I find strange is that sometimes the HDRI casts shadows, and other times it doesn't. I just can't figure out the method to the madness.

    I hadn't thought of giving the ceiling objects textures that don't cast shadows; I was just leaving them as primitives and using their attribute colors at the moment.

  15. I've got four questions for rendering that I'm stumped with:

    First, I need a little clarification about HDRI backgrounds/lighting. What do the names of the different files refer to? Are they all just randomly different, or is there a pattern to them?

    Second, when using HDRI for viewport lighting, I really like the results, but I'm not getting shadows from the objects cast on the "floor" object. I've tried different textures for that object, but I'm not getting anything, so the rendering looks fake at that point. Do I have to include at least a couple of additional directional lights for that purpose?

    Third, what is the orientation of the HDRI lighting in relation to the viewport, or more precisely, the camera that creates the viewport? Is it a dome with a series of lights on it, or how is it truly working?

    And lastly, when rendering an interior scene, how do you display a ceiling object and still use directional lighting to light a scene? For example, how would one render a camera view of the interior of an arena, where you want to show the ceiling, but the model requires lighting to render in a realistic manner?

    Thanks in advance,

  16. It failed on me, but my model had a lot of lights and haze in it, as well as a lot of textures. I posted about it in another thread, but there was no response to the questions. I also discovered in the same model (as well as all other models) that OpenGL rendering isn't working on the Macbook, unless you group all of the objects and then edit the group.

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