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v2014 hybrid object smoothing angle not good enough


Christiaan

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The smoothing angle addition to Hybrid objects in v2014 is, I'm sure, a fine bit of programming. However it's fallen at the first hurdle when I've tried to use it.

We often model balcony handrails using the extrude along path command. More often than not these hand rails are circular. And we would have liked to use the smoothing angle feature to display the handrail in plan view without any facets. The problem is it doesn't matter what angle you use at least one facet remains showing, as attached image.

So frustrating. Why do these sorts of things always creep in? Surely you have a loads of architects helping you beta test and check new features before release? Another year until this is fixed or should I submit a bug?

ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=9544&filename=handrail.png

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I vote for bug. How's your experience been with the overhead created by using Auto Hybrids in general? I found adding more than one or two in VW2013 slowed things down considerably. I am hoping the Auto Hybrid in VW2014 is much better.

(I reported a graphics bug in the 2013 Auto Hybrid. I followed up after it wasn't addressed in each service pack and was finally told by my distributor it would be fixed in 2014. I tested it this morning only to find the problem remains when opening old files :-( If I cut and paste the Auto Hybrid into a clean file the issue disappears.)

Kevin

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Christiaan, what do you see if you look at your handrail model in Top view, hidden-line render? (I agree that this is a bug and should be submitted, but I'm wondering exactly where the bug is to be found.)

Kevin, I will be very interested to hear from you about your experience with VW_2014 and auto-hybrid performance, since that is an area that has received some attention with this release.

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Okay, great to know it's not designed to work like this, thanks guys. I take back the banter about having enough architects! I'll see if I can get to the bottom of it.

Edit: so it looks to me that at some point along the line the circle used for the Extrude Along Path profile has been converted to a 3D Polygon. And I didn't notice this until I started using the new smoothing feature in v2014.

I don't think it happened during the v2013 to v2014 conversion. It's happened during the life of the v2013 file at some point but unfortunately I don't enough records of the file's progress to figure out when it happened.

Changed the profile to a circle and it's working great now. :)

Edited by Christiaan
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I vote for bug. How's your experience been with the overhead created by using Auto Hybrids in general? I found adding more than one or two in VW2013 slowed things down considerably. I am hoping the Auto Hybrid in VW2014 is much better.

I don't think we've experienced that slow down in v2013 or v2014 Kevin, unless we just didn't notice. Mind you we haven't used them as much as we'd like to because we couldn't control the smoothing angle in v2013.

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Following up on a couple of different threads but mainly responding to the auto hybrid slowdown I mentioned above. Here is a comparison that shows the slowdown. In this case its directly related to a sweep object. Try entering and then exiting the auto hybrid on the left built with two sweeps. It takes an eternity to rebuild. Try the same with the auto hybrid on the right, where the sweeps have been converted to generic solids. Very fast.

There's a couple of things going on here. I think first and foremost the sweep command is fundamentally flawed and needs a rebuild. It should be more efficient to parametrically generate the geometry, not less. In this case efficiency is gained by giving up design freedom (ie. the ability to easily change the geometry). Programs like Solidworks are parametrically generating all sorts of geometry these days.

Next it shows that auto hybrids and sweeps are not very compatible. Not sure why.

There is also something odd going on with sweeps that originate in VW2013. When I tried to edit my sweep the polygon objects wouldn't select even in top/plan view. I ended up using select all and using those shapes to create a new sweep.

I would love to use the auto hybrid all the time, but situations like this really get in the way.

Kevin

ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=9600&filename=Auto%20Hybrid%20Comparison.png

Edited by Kevin McAllister
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