Kaare Baekgaard

I can never remember how to rotate a HDRI map correctly - should it be minus or plus 45?? A lot of trial and error goes into it. I am sure there is some way to visualize this in the Edit Image Environment dialogue, and it would be helpful, so I wish for that. The second wish may be tricky to grant: It is often quite difficult to get the horizon of an image environment right. It is either too low or too high. It would be very helpful to be able to move the image map up or down by as much as 25%. The only workaround for this is to tilt the model, which is not practical.

I'm actually pretty happy with the Parasolids engine. It is much more stable than the old one. Yesterday I shelled a very complex object. Prayer was involved because experience tells me, that it cannot be done. But surprisingly the shell came out just fine, which would never have happened with the old engine. Push/pull is OK too - but it only works on fairly basic geometry. Viacad has a 99$ modeler in the app-store. It is not suited for complex projects but it does have a lot of modeling tools way, way more advanced than those of VW.

The 3D powerpack has not been updated since its release - which is now more than 10 years ago (!) In CAD terms that is equivalent to the stone age. All talk about BIM aside, there should still be an artistic soft spot among VW architects to support a request for better modelling features with the next release.

Hey, I see, that I have just made the 500-club :-) 5 replies from you, Chris D and we are even...

Two good wishes. Until granted, there are workarounds for both. Duplicate objects with no fill and no opacity on a front layer to make lines and text stand out - and a large white rectangle with opacity on a front layer to make the underlying layers fade without translucency in individual fills.

have you checked, that your objects have solid fills? If they don't, they will not display textures.

I wish I could drop decals onto any surface of any object using a paintbucket-like tool. I wish I could then map the surfaces individually with the mapping tool in 'decal mode'.

I dont think I have this plant function with VW Architect...? A simple drop shadow for any 2D object - like you get with most 2D programs - would be nice.

I got the same for my VW 2011 with your magnifying glass, which is strange, because I have never seen it before. It even occured when I pasted one of the elements into a new document, which kinda scared me because it sort of felt like an infection. But when I started a new document to draw a similar object from scratch, everything looks normal again. No help here i'm afraid...

Create or import a texture- not an image, which is for 2D objects. Select a 3D object. Rightclick the texture and select apply. That's pretty much it. Adjust the texture using the render-tab on the OIP or edit the texture itself by right-clicking on it and select edit. For certain objects - like a poster on a wall or the screen of a TV, it is faster to use 'Create image prop', turn off auto-rotate and place the image prop rectangle slightly in front of the surface, that it should appear on. For both types, textures will only be visible in certain render modes - not in wireframe. OpenGL is good for previewing textures. 'Perimiter' is the default mapping mode for textures. For certain object types, you may have to change that. Try pressing the Attribute Mapping Tool to view the alternatives. Beware that walls can be given different textures for either side and also a texture for the wall core.

Select & move multible control points on nurbs curves: I can do this with the 3D reshape tool on nurbs surfaces. There is no apparent reason why I should not be able to do the same with nurbs curves. So I wish for that.

Looks like Moir?. Does the texture have pattern up close? And a bump setting? If so, they might collide to form moir

I have seen this phenomenon again and again, Oded. And it is a resolution issue. I get it most often with very 'delicate' curves and also with long, complex extrude-along-paths. Most export formats will cary the problem forward to the exported format, because the export function relies on 'vectorworks preferences/3D/3D conversion res' setting for its accuracy. And sometimes the setting 'very high' doesn't even cut it. If the 3D figure is based on nurbs curves, you can fix the issue by decomposing the curves and select 'rebuild nurbs' for each curve section using more (many) control points. For complex extrude-along-paths, decompose and extrude each section of the path individualy and add-solid them afterwards. If you need to fillet the edges later, this will sometimes fix the issue in itself. If you use the export format IGES, all curves will be nurbs and resolution issues will not be carried forward. If you have to use a polygon format for exports - like 3ds - you can use the split tool to cut the figure a few times before export to alleviate the problem. If you get the problem with final quality Renderworks, then use Custom Renderworks with all settings high except 'curved geometry', which should be very high. If you believe, that my analysis is wrong, attach the VW file to the next post.

I think it is a 3D resolution issue (can be changed in preferences). You can check it out by setting the openGL quality to very high and give it a render. If it looks clean, I would be right in my assumption.

If the profile has distinct corners, you may also consider this: Create the path to be extruded along. Use that path to create a helix spiral with start & finish radius to match a corner. Duplicate and enter a rotation value + adjust radii to match an oposite distinct corner. Ungroup both helix spirals to turn them into nurbs curves. Place the profile perpendicular to the helixes at one end. Then extrude along both paths.

For a smoother representation, there are two settings, that you can change. In wireframe Vectorworks Preferences/3D/3D Conversion Resolution can be turned up. For OpenGL Open GL Options/Detail can be set higher. In renderings, you can use Custom Renderworks and set the option for Curved Geometry to Very High, which is one step better than Final Quality Renderworks, where all settings are High. The first two will make screen update slower, the latter will affect rendering time. But the differences are 'virtual': The accuracy of the actual geometry remains the same - it is only the representation, that changes.

Hi Kevin I suppose I should read, "you can not step in". If you found a smart way to do that, I would like to know. The workaround for this is to use the shell tool on the curved surface of a duplicate, then subtract the shelled duplicate from the original, then extract the surface, you need, undo the subtraction and delete the shell.

It works rather well for me.

If I use the backlit texture setting with indirect lighting, I get strange structures in the surfaces of curved objects. I would appreciate, If it was fixed.

Hello Jake If you use that tent outdoors, you will have problems, if it starts to rain. I propose a different approach, which should be fast, easy and foolproof: Start with an extruded rectangle. It is best to do a quarter- or half tent and then mirror it up to the full shape. Use solids or nurbs surfaces to carve away the sides by sectioning or subtraction. Use a sphere to carve the top away. Mirror the shapes and add solid them. Then shell the resulting shape from the bottom. The good thing about this method is, that you keep the history of the tent intact. Changes can be applied easily by working with the sectioning surfaces. The method was used for this chair, which still has an intact history. Hundreds of changes were made in the design phase.

I just found out, that the Unfold Surface function is not acurate, so beware if you use it. I wish, it were.

I may be mistaken, but I don't think there is such a function. If the offset is vertical or horizontal from the reference point, you can use the fact, that any value entered through the databar can be in the form of a calculation. So get a snap from a reference object by hovering the curser over it until it ligths up. Then evoke the databar by hitting the tab until you are in the x- or y-field as needed, you will see the current value reflected and highlighted in that field. Press the right arrow, then write +100 (or whatever the need is) and hit return. You will now have a red constraint line 100 cm from the chosen reference point - if cm is the chosen unit. It's not what you asked for, but often quite useful. I should warn, that the accuracy of the method is only as high as the decimal setting in the preferences.

Listen to michaelk. I have become somewhat outdated myself...

Rita, create an empty layer intended specifically for rendering. On that layer create a layer link, that links to all model layers (Later you can add layer links for props/plants/furniture/garden etc.) Make sure that layer options is set to active only. Set up lighting and render. Thats it.

Has the artistic rendering actually been useful in VW2010? (I jumped from 2008 to 2011 and it sucked in both versions) But the Archicad rendering certainly looks like something, you can do - and do better - in VW in a viewport rendering: Try a combination of a Custom Renderworks background rendering with colours and textures disabled and a hidden line foreground rendering with the sketch option turned on and an appropriate smoothing angle. If the rendering becomes too dark on colored surfaces or in the shadow areas, turn the ambient light up in the lighting options. If you want some greyscale textures in the renderings, you may want to build an alternative library of textures, where the texture images have been exported, turned into greyscale or B/W and re-imported into new textures. That way, you can leave the texture option on and get stone effects etc. I know theese are workaround, but it should produce the effect, you want.