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Using Rendered Viewports to Create Elevatons


CipesDesign

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Here's a step-by-step to get a result similar to the one I postedELEV EXAMPLE :

1) Create a model of your building. The model will usually consist of multiple layers (but this is not a requirement). It helps (in the long run) to use specific classes for "ext walls", "Style-Glazing 1", "roof", etc, etc. This is also not required, but will allow you to show certain textures in a "model" (3d presentation) and then change them (by class) for the working drawing elevations. I will explain more about this later.

2) There are two ways you can display your building model so that all of the layers align properly in "Z" space. Either use "stack layers" or "create layer link". For quick testing and viewing, stack layers is much faster & easier, but for final elevations I prefer to create one (or more) layer link(s). The reason for this is that I can place a "sun" object into the layer with the link, and it wont show up anywhere else. (You can also assign your sun(s) to specific classes to control when they are "on" or "off".

3) Once you have a model with a light source, go to an elevation view (eg: front, right, etc) and render it using "Final Quality Render Works". (note: artistic rendering will not give you accurate shadows). If it looks good (that is, has nice looking shadow lines and light) then go to step 4, otherwise keep tinkering.

4) Draw a rectangle (or any poly) around the entire rendered elevation and "create viewport". Place the VP on a sheet layer and position as desired.

5) Select the VP and then "duplicate in place" (I usually just "option-click" which will do a duplicate in place). Now you should have 2 identical VP's, one stacked exactly over the the other.

6) Select the top-most VP and change it's rendering mode to "Hidden Line". Then go to the "advanced properties" dialog and increase the line weight by some factor (I used 6 in my example).

7) Now double click (or right click) on the Hidden Line (top) VP and select "edit annotations". In the annotations draw any heavier line work you want. In my example there is very little: basically only the perimeter and some areas of the porch posts and railings.

8) Select both VP's and click UPDATE.

9) You should have something close to my example.

Try it and let me know if you have any questions.....

A couple other things to keep in mind:

Rendered presentations (3d stuff) are very different from printed elevations. So be aware that you may need to adjust the level of ambient light for your elevations (In my example the ambient level for the FQRW's VP was 85% or so). Again, In a 3d model I might want a dark brown roof tile and clear windows, but these will not print very well (the roof will be a giant black blob for example). So if I have used a specific class for my roof (and glazing) I can go into the "classes" area of each of the VP's and by selecting a particular class I can then edit that classes attrigbutes (including texture) FOR THAT SPECIFIC VP ONLY (sorry for yelling, I wanted to very clear!). That way I might change the dark brown roof texture to light gray (or white) for the elevation VP's, and change the window glazing to solid gray, etc. Hope that helps...

Also, in response to a couple of questions regarding "suns" and lighting:

In my case I have created one new deisn layer which I have named "Elevations N & E" and another named "Elevations S & W". With one of these new layers active, and with no objects in the layer yet, I have gone to VIEW>CREATE LAYER LINK. In the dialog that comes up I have selected the design layers I wish to show in the elevations (eg: First Floor Plan, Second Floor Plan, Roof, Etc), and clicked OK. I have repeated the exact same procedure for the second Elev layer. Now I have two layers, each containing a complete building model (as a Layer Link). Next, for each of the layers, I use the "Set Sun Position" command. I always try to use accurate lat/long for the sun, but will vary the time of year/time of day as needed so that each side of the building has some direct light on it. So, in the example I posted earlier, the sun is set to very early in a mid-summer morning, which is how there is light showing on the North side of the building (you'll notice that the shadows are very long). This also gives me light on the East side. In the second link I use a Sun position in the mid-afternoon, which allows light to fall on the South and West sides. In this example the house is oriented exactly N/S, but you can modify the above to suit your needs. Hopefully that expalins it more clearly... P

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