exterior elevations

[Tom G.]

Dude, I'm old school! I convert my rendered Hidden Line Viewport* to lines (Convert Copy To Lines), send it back to a Design Layer, scale it up 48 times (1/4"=1'), ungroup, clean out the rubbish lines, set lines that missed my Classing process to the proper weight, add missing lines, and then I create a Viewport of of that Design Layer.

*My original Viewport is a complete model--I simply set (rotate) the side I want to convert-to-lines via the OIP. Thus I have Sheet Layers which comprise my plan-set with elevations of front, left, right, back, etc., but below them sits the 3D model or models that are transitional in function, holding the current model, which is updated automatically as the model changes.

The inability to 'explode' a model into lines and edit lines individually is a big loss that occurred in the BIM shuffle, in my opinion. In the process I use, if the model changes, I simply re-render in Hidden Line, Convert to Lines and send back to the Design Layer holding the original. I change the color of my new line set, overlay the original, ungroup and add/subtract the needed lines. Magic wand-select my colors and convert back to black. Model drawing changes done.

I never need to mask line-work. A kludge and a work-around, yes, but I get sweet looking hidden line drawings as a result.

Tom

[Dieter @ DWorks]

Here's another method:

1.Render your model front view with colors, textures on, in Open GL. Then export image to your desktop (jpg or other).

2. Ignoring the jpg for the moment, create a Viewport of the front view, re-render in Hidden Line.

3. Import jpg. and place it over your Viewport's Hidden Line image. It'll be one-to-one so should scale exactly.

4. Select the jpg and set the opacity slider (Attributes palette) way down.

In this way you get very subtle shading/texturing behind your linework which may be better for your planset than a more brightly lit rendering ala foreground/background render combinations. (There is no Viewport opacity slider on the OIP so you won't have options of softening the image below the Hidden Line linework.)

If you are after this look, the extra work of creating, then importing the jpg is really rather small.

Lastly, buy Renderworks.

Tom

You can have the same look if you create two viewports and just put a shape with an opacity between them. This will be faster and less hassle to work.

[Tom G.]

Great tip. I'll try it.

Tom

[Christiaan]

You can have the same look if you create two viewports and just put a shape with an opacity between them. This will be faster and less hassle to work.

Ha, I came online to say I'd just tried this.

[CipesDesign]

I use that method for Add-ons, to differentiate between the Existing and New portions of a project. Easy and fast! Here is another example.

[Jonathan Pickup]

Peter,

Do you also trace over your elevation to get the heavy outline?

[CipesDesign]

Yes, always. I used to work for an architect who insisted on it. I feel fortunate to have some of his old school knowledge and techniques.

[Jonathan Pickup]

Yes, that's what I do, I haven't found a good way to have Vectorworks do it automatically, even though its really important.

[Kevin McAllister]

If NV would implement the Cinema 4D rendering engine for hidden line it could be done. Cinema 4D has the ability to put a heavy outline around entire 3D objects or groups of objects.....

KM

[CipesDesign]

That would be nice, but honestly it only takes a few minutes to outline four elevations, and I always feel good while doing it because a) it's easy, and b) it's just about the final thing I do to the elevations. So when that's done, I'm done ;-)

[Tom G.]

OK, DWorks, I tried mine against your suggestion and they aren't the same.

In your version, you suggest placing a filled poly between the colored background and the hidden line foreground. The only way to do this is by using a color fill--white seems most neutral--which then can be reduced in opacity.

Trouble is, the fill color overlay mutes colors residing in the background image. The jpg import placed behind the hidden line image in my example above and reduced in opacity retains the original, now subtle, coloring, with no white-washing effect.

Let me know if I missed something.

Thanks,

Tom

[Dieter @ DWorks]

Let me know if I missed something.

It will not be 100% exactly the same, but play with it and you will get something close. It also depends on the colors you use in your elevations.

[Christiaan]

When I tried I was able to get both techniques looking the same.

[Christiaan]

That would be nice, but honestly it only takes a few minutes to outline four elevations, and I always feel good while doing it because a) it's easy, and b) it's just about the final thing I do to the elevations. So when that's done, I'm done ;-)

We're often hardly ever done until the builder is half way through the build on D&B contracts, so rendering is a bad enough process for producing elevations, let alone having to manually embellish them every time an edit is done too.

[CipesDesign]

Yes I also have that issue. But it clearly states in my contract that any changes made after approval of preliminary drawings will be at an additional fee. So even though it is annoying, at least I get paid for it.

[Guest Wes Gardner]

Someone mentioned profiling the outline of a drawing. The "automated method" is to enter Annotation space and using the Lasso mode of the Polygon Tool, draw a great big circular shape around the building (it doesn't even have to be a closed shape, just roughly enclosing) and Voila!

Here's an image using that technique

[Jonathan Pickup]

here is a youtube movie that shows how to do this, uploaded in September 2009...

[Joe-SA]

Is it only in OpenGL and not in Renderworks that you can turn on the hidden line work at the same time as you generate the textured image and shadows and therefor get both of them in the same viewport without the need for multiple stacked viewports or exporting out of VW?

We've used this in 3d perspective views. Makes for an interesting image when you sketch the linework on top of the textures. Haven't done much with final elevations, however.

Joe

[CipesDesign]

Joe, you can use either RW's or Open GL as the textured "background" setting. Then use "Hidden Line" for the "foreground" setting. You can then "Sketch Hidden Line Results" for that funky hand-drawn feel.