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Getting elevations to look correct


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Pete, thanks for your reply and suggestions.

As far as I can tell, 3D line weight settings, that apply to hidden line rendering, do not discriminate between lines on the profile of an object and those on the object field. Also, the lines on the profile of a building elevation could be from many types of objects (each with their own settings) other than walls. As you explained, your method of doing elevations uses layered viewports with different settings with no additional annotated lines added. So, my specific question is: Using this method how do you control the line weight of the profile of the elevation so that it is significantly heavier than the lines in the field of the elevation?

One way that occurred to me was to create two identical elevation viewports one on top of the other. Set the lower to hidden line with a line weight scale (in advanced properties) of say 4. Then set the viewport on top to a chosen background rendering and foreground hidden line. Is this how you would do this?

Thanks,

By the way, I am in Asheville.

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Jonathan,

Yes....

Hidden line VP on top of FQRW VP. In order to speed the VP gerneration I usually will make the Hidden Line VP first from a front view that I visually inspect on screen, place it to a pre-defined sheet then copy it, change the settings to FQRW and send it behind the HL. Make sure the HL VP has no fill attribute assigned to it. Foreground/background settings as well as line weight overrides will change the visual look of the HL on top.

Pete A.

Ashville...I was there a couple of weeks ago for the Southern Energy Expo...small world.

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  • 2 months later...

Great Elevations! Is there any way you could list the steps as to how you do this? Is there anybody that can help those of us who have yet to figure out all the "tricks" if you will. That is extrude along path tool. Hip returns for your roofs. I am still learning VW and am trying to get a quick grasp as to how to utilize it's power if you will.

taoist

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I generate Elevations similar to Pete, (NC Guys are Detail oriented) 3 Viewports per elevation, bottom layer Model Quality Renderworks w/ Lights, Next Layer Hidden Line Sketch Careful, Top Layer Annotations

You have too trial & error numerous times in order to get the correct output, but once you understand your color options & line weights, you begin to feel what the output will look like.

David Nichols

Anderson Nichols Design, Pinehurst, NC

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David,

Nice job on the elevations. Glad to see another mechanic from North Carolina.

One thing I noticed with your elevations is the the splotchy shadows on the rendered roof. If you tweek the Bump Cast setting in the roof texture you can get rid of the classic North Carolina black algae stain look. It's in the scale and detail settings...reduce the scale to 1/4 of what is set by default and increase the detail. Test the settings with a small roof. It will make your elevations look better coming off the greyscale plotter.

Attached is a sample roof with adjusted Bump-Cast settings

Pete A

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David,

I make my soldiers (mortar joints and brick seperate) in photoshop to scale then create a texture in VW. Works good and even better when you invert to B&W for bump map.

Round tops...now there's the million dollar question. I model the individual bricks and mortar joints with pattern array (slick). The only way I have found to get the textures to map in the proper direction.

The goal is to buid a model that does not look electronic.

Pete

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Highpass, since no one seems to have replied... I use more or less the same method for my elevations. I usually use one (and usually more than one) light source which is created using the "Set Sun Position" command. Generally where I live I can make do with three different "suns". One for the morning (which lights up and shadows the east and south sides quite nicely), one the the afternoon (for the west side) and a "cheater" sun for the north (I know, I know, but I've never had a builder even notice!). I create three discreet classes for each of my suns. I make the relevant class visible in the corresponding viewport/elevation. Sometimes the materials of choice are just too dark for B & W printing. In these cases I generally use VP class overrides to change to a lighter colored material (eg: change dark brown roofing to light brown) in the elevation VP's...

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Funnily enough, after much mucking around i also found the light type created by the Set Sun command to be the way to go. My boss noticed that shadows on certain elevations aren't quite accurately represented, but as its purpose is to show depth in lieu of line weights more than anything else he's not that fussed. He's not taking the transition from 2d autocad line elevations to FQRW VP elevations so well, though, but that's another topic altogether.

I have already come across the problem you mention of B/W version elevations looking way too menacing/evil/muddy. Will have to try what you suggest, although i'd rather the boss invest in a colour plotter considering it's not 1983 any more.

The only change i made from your described set up is that instead of using classes to turn lights on/off per elevation, i use the Vis Palette. Not noticed any downfalls to this as of yet but we'll see.

Anyway, cheers again.

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I was at a 'mass demonstration' of a number of packages and asked the guy doing the sketchup demo if it could handle multiple simultaneous sun positions (which it can't) - I nearly got laughed out of the room. I find them very useful, especially when working out average light conditions in planting plans - so much that I started to write a PIO that would allow me to create one sun object, linked to the north point, that would simultaneously create others at alternative times of the day as for me, juggling 3 sun positions a day and associated classes for a number of dates through the seasons is asking for an error to occur.

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I don't use the Visualization Palette, I tested it out on a project and just decided I prefer using classes to control lights.

In response to Ian's discussion of multiple sunlight positions, I thought I would share my method:

In my Template File, I created 15 sun lights using the "Set Sun Position" menu command.

Each light is set at a specific time (8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, & 4pm)

on three different days (Summer Solstice, Equinox, & Winter Solstice).

These light objects live together in their own "Sunlight" Design Layer.

They are each classed with a "z" in front so they drop to the bottom of

my class list, just to keep them out of the way.

This took a few minutes to set-up, and it is not the most technically advanced method,

but it is super easy to use and I don't have to re-create sun-positions for each

project anymore (although I would need to do some edits to Lat&Long if I were going outside my local region).

picture8nd6.png

picture6qc2.png

picture7hr7.png

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I use (5) directional lights.

The main overhead light slightly skewed from center to front and right set at 60' above the model.

The reaming (4) lights are set at 80' above the model and set on the corners about 60' distance from the model. These lights are put on seperate labeled classes where I can modify class on/off per viewport. All of my classes are ordered with a prefix number so I can group them according to the way I build the model.

I also insert directional lights under all porches and large overhangs to provide a small amount of light adding depth to covered areas. Cast no shadows for these lights.

Recently within the last year I have been using HDRI environment lighting to flood the model with ambient light (no shadows. I stick the model in a 3d open box with a white texture. The sides of the box are classed on and off to allow the viewport camera to see the model.

I have also been experimenting with Dark Colored Lighting as shown below.

Still learning.

Edited by panthony
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