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New RW 11.5 Features


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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hello All:

I thought I'd post with a little detail about each of the new 11.5 RW features.

1. Automatic lighting. If you don't have any lights in your layer a default lighting scheme will be used in OpenGL and RW render modes. This includes rendering while editing symbols, groups, and 3D boolean solid objects. This lighting moves as you change your view so that objects never render too dark.

2. Editing of textures and mapping while in groups and symbols. The mapping widgets, Attribute Mapping tool, and the Edit Texture Object Info palette menu can all be used while you are editing a symbol/group/3D solid.

3. QTVR Object export has options to set the lights to be fixed to the camera as it moves or to the objects (as in 11.0). When the lights move with the camera it makes the object look more like it is a hand-held item.

4. Piranesi/EPix export now has all the options for setting the rendered area and resolution as does the Export Image File menu item. In 11.0 you were limited to screen resolution and the current window's bounds.

5. Image props have several changes. You can set a name for the prop, that is used to name the texture resource it creates, and the optional plug-in symbol of the prop. The width and height can be set independently of the source image's aspect ratio. A checkbox has been added that lets you create a plug-in symbol out of the prop. When a plug-in symbol is dropped onto your document it is inserted as a plug-in so that you can edit the parameters (rather than as a symbol that would require you to enter the symbol definition to edit it). So, you could drop in a tree prop and change the height and width for each one you insert. This could be done before manually, but involved many more steps. The resource browser preview thumbnail for these plug-in symbol props is rendered in front view so that you can distinguish between them. Also, auto-rotating image props work in symbols now, in 11.0 they didn't texture correctly if you put them inside symbols.

Have fun!

[ 03-02-2005, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: Dave Donley ]

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Hi Dave,

Why is it that the interactive Sketch mode is only available with Industry series products and NOT RW?!!

(unless, of course, it's the same as the Sketch mode that's already in RW?? -it doesn't really look like it....)

In fact, why is it not available with base VW?

N.

[ 03-03-2005, 01:28 AM: Message edited by: propstuff ]

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>Why is it that the interactive Sketch mode is only available with Industry series products and NOT RW?!!

I second that question. I would hate to buy a pacakage aimed at other professionals just to get this feature. I am a designer - d - e - s - i - g - n - e - r, not a mechanical engineer or something else.

And I would love to get this feature. If I have to pay for it, then let it be, but I will not pay for a whole package of unwanted features, just to get to this one.

I did suppose this was why I bought Renderworks.

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

One way to compare ArtRW with the new Sketch is to look at ArtRW as a "rendering" technology, whereas Sketch is a "drawing" technology. The Sketch styles are applied as a post-process to 2D geometry (edges), even during hidden line rendering. No 3D information like depth or shading or whatever is used when modifying the edges. It is a line processor.

One advantage of Sketch over ArtRW is that it generates vector data, that will print at whatever resolution your printer can produce. Since ArtRW is a raster rendering technology it produces pixels, and you would have to bump the resolution way up to match the resolution of a Sketched drawing.

Sketch is totally appropriate for 2D plans for landscaping, or architectural plans/elevations/sections. One thing you can do in 11.5 though is render a viewport with ArtRW and stack another Sketched viewport on top, to get combined shading + high res edges.

How the ArtRW and Sketch features are divvied up among Industry products is not something I can answer. Other folks in the company can address that.

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Dave

thanks for the explaination of why it's not in Renderworks. Whilst I know you can't answer this your explanation, in my opinion, only strengthens the arguement for those who feel the "sketch" feature is not a industry specific feature and should be seen as part of the standard Vectorwork, along with batch printing. I see this as part of the basic package but won't hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

Alan

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>Sketch is totally appropriate for 2D plans for landscaping

Well, Dave it is totally apropriate for product design as well. Custumers tend to be intimidated by the look of a final quality rendering - they feel somewhat irrationally, that they can no longer influence the final outcome, because it is already finished.

>How the ArtRW and Sketch features are divvied up among Industry products is not something I can answer. Other folks in the company can address that.

You may not be responsible for this aspect, but since you have taken the trouble to answer these posts, I will ask you also to take the trouble to forward them to the correct terminals.

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I've used Sketch a limited amount, but enough to see that it does not render; it draws lines. I wonder if it really deserves to be within the Rendering menu.

Give Artistic Rendersorks a C+. Artistic Renderworks does render. You can create rendered animation with it. Where is Sketch's ability here?

Give Doodle an A for effect; an A- because it isn't integrated with a Rendering mode.

It seems like all of the words devoted to Sketch are a bit premature. It needs more functionality.

[ 03-11-2005, 08:09 AM: Message edited by: ErichR ]

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ErichR; What is it that you think Sketch should do that it does not do now. I want to keep an open mind here, as my opinion completely differs from yours.

I have not used Doodle with VW11. I have an older copy of Doodle. In my opinion, the speed and integration of Sketch makes it a better solution than Doodle.

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Kevin,

Doodle renders color fills. So does Artistic renderworks, only Doodle does a better job of it (visually). With Sketch you have only a line drawing. What's the definition of rendering? I would say that it has to give you something between the lines so that you have the appearance of a solid, and something on which to cast shadows.

Sketch is indeed cool, but it is limited. Ideally, it would give you rendered fills and shadows and textures too and then you could produce "renderings" and animations with a hand-drawn effect.

I've used Artistic Renderworks, in the Cartoon mode, with an animation of a building, and I really like the effect. Heretofore, there has been nothing that I know of that would do this.

Maybe I'm putting too fine a point on it, but why doesn't Artistic Renderworks have the Sketch parameters?

[ 03-11-2005, 10:50 AM: Message edited by: ErichR ]

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YOU SHOULD TRY THIS: Create a VP of a model (any view you like) and render it with your favorite Artistic RW's mode. Then duplicate the VP in place and, leaving the copy on the top, change its rendering to SKETCH (so now you have 2 VP's on top of each other). Play with settings. You can create some pretty nice hand drawn and colored 'renderings'.

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Erich,

Set your VP up with a 3D view. Choose Hidden Line (with or without dashed lines) or Final Shaded Poly. Click Render Settings. You'll find a checkbox to turn on Sketch. From there you can adjust the Sketch parameters.

With Final Shaded Poly, you get a color-washed effect "behind" the sketched lines. I've gone to this for all my concept presentations. Very effective for us.

Good luck,

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