Phil hunt Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 As an experienced user of artlantis,and as work has gone a bit quiet i thought i would try and learn renderworks, with good results until i had to apply a decal. well folks after 2 weeks of renderworks...unfortunately i have given up with trying to apply decals quickly and with little bother. i need speed and flexibility and artlantis i'm on my way back....drag and drop from my files straight onto the surface hit the alpha channel button and its done, resize in real time add ambient light,shine and reflection on screen. As an exhibition designer i need to have a program to be able to do this and at the moment renderworks is not that easy. i have used vectorworks for 12 years for my workshop drawings and 3d models and love it...... but if the vectorworks expect to really challenge the render market...for me...they really need to change the mode of applying textures like graphics and decals. the video tutorials....for applying a decal in renderworks look so easy, buts it's not.....come on vectorworks this must be a must for the future to improve this feature........ 1 Quote Link to comment
Atoman Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Agreed. The work flow to use the Renderworks aspect is highly counter intuitive and the help files are really less then useful. We're pulling our hair out trying to get our output time and quality for rendered images anywhere near the Artlantis output. -Aaron Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 In my experience the usual issue with decals is to make sure you have the decal selected when you use the attribute mapping. Other than that its normally a quick process. What do you have difficulty with? Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 I think the main problem in using renderworks is that you have to render everytime you want to see what the lighting looks like and such like, i think and hope there will be a real-time window in the future to alleviate this problem although i have to say when you do get it right in renderworks the results are outstanding......i think it definitely has the edge on artlantis but usually takes twice as long to get there in fact a client did comment on the quality of the renderworks renders only last week..........you can defiantly get better quality textures in renderworks with the use of noise and such like to achieve bump map effects......i still do however struggle with the importing from sketchup.....as most of my work is automobile lead.......only today it took me ages to get to the core of a model so i could change the texturing to another colour.......if only i could crack this i would defiantly use renderworks for my bigger jobs......but with the lack of entourage libraries for cars......sketchup is my only avenue to get the correct and brand of vehicles i need...... Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 in reply to the decal problems....once you get the idea it is simple enough to do but i do like to use alpha channels and this takes a bit more time to do but in my opinion well worth the effort...i know there are other commands to remove the backgrounds but i do like the AC method...... you can always use an image prop with an alpha channel for decals and just nudge it in front of the surface.....you have more (and this is my opinion) better control on the size of the logo....also you have this as a symbol if you have a load of logos on visuals....... Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Sorry Off Topic but what issues are you having with Su to VW Phil? Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 this was the render i mentioned with a bit of the render blurred for obvious reasons 1 Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 its when i import an su file.....i can't separate the blocks.....tried to convert to a group but still find it hard to pick apart the items i need to make the changes...i know there is a work around if you have sketchup.....there something you can do in SU to alleviate this problem but i don't want to fork out £500.00 for the privilege....i have made a post before and this came up.....can't remember what you have to do in SU.......i have tried to convert the SU files to other import models but this makes the VW files large and very slow to work with......just need some bright spark to write a programme that will convert other files to vectorworks entourage....but i don't think this will ever happen....but you never know Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 If we are talking Su to VW then explode the whole model in Su then covert to a component (which equals a symbol in VW). Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 yep i remember now.....just don't have sketchup.....dont use SU....and as i said £500.00 is a lot to pay for this one command.....but in the long run may have to get SU to make life easier thanks though Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 £500? SketchUp Make is free Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Also on your render what did you use for the cloth that is hanging down? Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 well i think it was a sketchup file....but came in with only 1 texture...so was easy to copy the item and then edit Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 nice work. So Su Make is free and not sure if you have access to a Windows machine (not in your sig) but https://forums.sketchup.com/t/wrapr-uv-mapping-tool-for-sketchup/39367 I am thinking about getting a cheap PC just to use it. Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 Thanks for all your help. Downloaded the free software and again many thanks..... Mac man but again would consider a windows machine but Would probably have a job switching it on LOL Quote Link to comment
rDesign Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 (edited) 47 minutes ago, barkest said: nice work. So Su Make is free and not sure if you have access to a Windows machine (not in your sig) but https://forums.sketchup.com/t/wrapr-uv-mapping-tool-for-sketchup/39367 I am thinking about getting a cheap PC just to use it. Another SketchUp extension for working with UV maps is SketchUV. It is not a full UV unwrapping tool like the extension that @barkest linked, but it offers a fairly simple UI for properly texturing objects. It is free, and more importantly, works on both Mac and Windows. Edited February 27, 2017 by rDesign 1 Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 Thanks for the information Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 Rob is this something you could expand on when importing an actual SU file into VW.....To allow me. An easier workflow to change the colours of say an actual car that had a green colour in SU to say a dark grey inVW Your input would be appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Phil, you have 2 choices in Su. You can use a texture or a colour or both of course. I tend to only use textures as it makes life easier in the long run. In Su: select the surfaces you want to texture and just place any texture on there at all. It does not matter what it is as you are only using it as a placeholder. Alternative put a colour on to the surface. See the attached I have a texture and a colour. Make it into a single component as it is much easier in VW (component = symbol). In VW if you have used colours (as I say I only use textures) then you must check the Create Renderworks Textures for All Materials (see attached). You will then have the texture and the colour in the resource browser which you can edit and change at will. hth Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 Hi thanks for going to all this detail.....fantastic....thanks....I did download the SU for free....my task for in the mornings.....cheers Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Shout if you need help 👍 1 Quote Link to comment
joey altalef Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 question... everytime I add a decal, the image will be inserted perpendicular to the plane I want. Why is that? Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 good question i have tried this as a sequence...i don't know if you can control where the decal first appears but from jpg 1/4 this is what i have found......to get the decal to where i wanted i pressed the surface it appears as a small hand with a rectangle you can then drag this around as you wish.....i guess you may know this but if you don't create a surface on its own where you apply the decal it will come throught the other side as shown on no 4jpg Quote Link to comment
Phil hunt Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 is the default application of a decal set to perimeter.....just wondering why you can't use the attribute mapping tool with perimeter.......should it be set to plane as a default so this box does not appear or am i missing a setting Quote Link to comment
barkest Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 (edited) <edit> Edited March 1, 2017 by barkest Quote Link to comment
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