HP Sauce

Stay away from the 9400m.

What practices are people currently implementing to add foreground plants and trees to a rendering? Currently I'm making image props and messing around with them until they're in the right spot relative to the camera, but it's obviously not the most efficient. I'd rather not rely on another program (photoshop or whatever) to overlay this kind of thing, and attempting the same overlay route in VW always leaves annoying white lines around the edges of images.

Does your Glass, Accurate shader have 0% transmission? If transmission is set correctly, perhaps you need to also add a transparency shader to the mix (next shader down in list). I presumed a transparency setting in Reflectivity would be enough but perhaps not.

Ah is it this time of the year again already? Indeed, add me to the "still waiting" list for this. See you again in 6 months!

It's especially annoying given that this is a graphical object used across all disciplines, not something just mech guys use.

Genius! Worked perfect. Cheers.

If i create a wall, then create a symbol of an extrusion to cut a hole from said wall (with extrusion attributes set to no pen, no fill), why am i left with a grey outline of the cutting object when rendering? Should i be cutting the hole using other means such as 3d reshape? It's an arched opening.

We still use ACAD 2000 here at the office for some jobs. Oddly enough VW windows crashed a hell of a lot more than that does. VW mac on the other hand is the complete opposite; not one crash. Yet. Commands for crappy file problems: "recover" "audit"

I wouldn't revert to lines. There's a logical reason it's not working and the benefits of using the correct tools should not be thrown out the window just yet. Upload the drawing as Ray suggests and we'll figure it out.

Ha. Next you'll be asking to do even more insane things like showing a fence line with a letter in it. Nobody still uses these well-established graphic standards from decades ago do they.... Ok enough of that. You'll have to make do with the one found here:- http://www.vectordepot.com/plug-ins/

I know that Piranesi has the exact textures you want in the box, but buying the program just for that is a little silly. I believe their "entourage" package is available separately, but it's still not cheap. Google's Sketchup Warehouse may provide some copyright free stuff you can steal. Can you take a picture of a facade nearby? One storey would do, then tile it upwards to complete the building. A quick cap of some sort to finish it off and you're done. Texturing the 3D box shouldn't be a problem, what is causing the issue? I would think the only hiccup is setting the correct texture size.

Check the Z heights and ensure they are all correct relative to one another. Perhaps your counter is 50m below the walls for example. Did you draw using actual walls or with lines?

If you duplicate the viewport and turn off all layers, then render with background, it looks correct and fills the page as you'd like? If so, I'd presume your glazing texture has no transparency. The default window glazing texture, Clear, does not contain transparency. Presuming this is the texture you're using, edit it via Resources and select a type of transparency from the third shader drop-menu.

Indeed they have. Check out Brushes for iPad. Also, Autodesk Sketchbook for iPhone will work at 2x scale on the iPad until Autodesk release an iPad-only version. Bliss.

Exactly right. Yes there is a percentage of people who buy this stuff because it has a giant light-up fruit logo on it, but most because the software is a pleasure to use. Technically the iPhone is nothing special. It's the software that everybody loves. Same with OSX. It'll be the same with the tablet. Yup tablet computing has been around a long time, but has always relied on an operating system designed for a mouse/keyboard. Not so here. People are comparing it to the iPhone... I think it's fair to say the iPad was Apple's intention all along, and that actually it is the iphone/pod that are cut-down versions of this 'direction'. Apple are carving a new market here, for better or worse... Imagine your completely-non-tech-savvy grandparent walking into a shop looking for something to browse the internet and handle emails with no maintenance nor fuss, and without learning an operating system. They see a net/laptop and this tablet. Should generations of newcomers buy into this new, simpler computing fashion, we may find our computers being re-termed as "professional" computers of some sort. Food for thought. Whatever the weather, I agree with monkey in that NNA resources should be put towards fixing their existing products as opposed to making new. That said, a third party company willing to look at CAD from a fresh perspective could come up with something amazing. Think simple; few functions such as doors walls and windows manipulated by touch for simple survey or design work on site. Could be a winner. I'll grab the SDK and get going.

Flash is the bane of modern computing and although I'd rather have the option to disable it, am not bothered at all by it being omitted. Even Youtube are testing out HTML5 video for the future. ClicktoFlash is the new sliced bread. That aside the device is hardly old technology, which tech spec sheet were you reading? Brand new CPU that's awful fast, nice screen, and multitouch. USB is additional and yes probably costs 50 quid for the dongle. The VGA connection can't really be excused. A giant iPod with more horsepower is a perfect candidate for site visits and such. It all depends on the UI which will require NNA to hire some new talent. Sketchup on iPad would be pretty impressive. Shame about the name. Real shame...

Oddly enough the T7500 costs around $3k more than an equally-specced Mac Pro, even using memory direct from Apple (which is infamous for copious amounts of "Apple Tax"). You could get that plus a high-end Quadro FX 4800 and still save $1.5k. The Dell does offer more in terms of room for future expansion, and do note that the aforementioned price differences were based on website quotes. More often than not, a direct call to Dell will get you cheaper equipment than if bought on their website (sometimes by 50%).

What version of OSX is it that you use, Brudgers, because it's becoming increasingly inconsistent with everyone else's. Perhaps you overlooked the abundance of Programming Guides and third party applications? Surely a simple web document as Kool Aid suggests is the easiest solution for cross-platform developers. Not to mention the html rendered for Windows can be implemented in the OSX Help Book system if using a browser isn't kosher. You know, the one that links and highlights relevant menu items so confused users don't have to go looking for them on their own. Yeah, what a horror. Hate that.

1) Open Resource Browser 2) Right-click, new resource, Renderworks background 3) Select Background type (generated or use image). If using image, set the width and height to the printed size you want. 4) Select weather type (if any). 5) Select the Viewport to contain the background 6) With a Renderworks render mode selected as Background Render, you may then choose a background via "RW Background". 7) Render the scene and check width & height came are correct (if using image)

Now now, technically he has a workstation-class computer right there. Slap OSX on it and you have a slightly more expensive, somewhat slower version of a Mac Pro.

Indeed not, the Windows one is terrible. If you ever used MSPaint, it's that exact panel. RGB/HSB and that's it. No pick/drop, CMYK, swatches, etc etc. Luckily he has more than enough resources to run OSX alongside 7, just for the colour picker app.

You can (must?) use the RGB entry panel in VW. There is no dropper function in Window's colour picker app (which, if trying to match something on screen, is not ideal anyway unless you're certain your coloursync is exact). I would get the RGB from manufacturer and enter that. Kool: Unfortunately Windows does not come with an equivalent to OSX's system-wide colour-pick/drop utility (or at least, not as far as XP). Speaking of which, what is the far-right pane you have there, web-safe colours? If so are they not already part of the Colour Palettes pane?

Adobe have never been too savvy with UI anyway... I think I counted 15 different versions of a scroll bar last edition of Master Suite. Yuck.

You must have the ultimate in "office hands" then, because I consider myself clean yet found the trackball got full of dirt incredibly quickly. Perhaps mine was another case of Apple's early adopter botch job program/tax. I find the weight gives it a more robust feel... much like the original PS3 controllers feeling terribly cheap in comparison to the 360's, if you've experienced that.

They swapped ours over for the princely sum of 100 american dollars.