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Mesh Rendering


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So to reduce file size I was converting some of my extrude along paths to meshes or generic solids. But the hidden line rendering shows all the lines in the mesh or generic solid which is not a clean look in my elevations.

Is there any other way to render a mesh so it looks as clean as an extrude? The attached picture shows a mesh on the left and an extrude along path on the right.

By the way, to convert an extrude along path to a generic solid. Convert to Mesh. Convert to Nurbs. Ungroup. 3d Power Pack - Stitch and Trim.

Jim

Edited by jamesmise
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Correct, viewports will keep the rendering settings they had upon creation.

If you create viewports after you make changes to the design layer rendering settings, they will take on those new settings and hold them until they are modified per-viewport.

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James,

The render settings on the design layers are completely independent of the render settings for each sheet layer viewport as you discovered.

I was reminded of a simpler way to get from an Extrude Along Path (EAP) to a generic solid. Choose the EAP and ungroup it. It will turn into a group of NURBS surfaces which you can then stitch and trim.

I've often wondered about efficiency and its been discussed in the forums at various times. In my mind the EAP should actually be the most efficient in terms of storage. Programs like C4D use primitives and parametric objects for efficiency but that doesn't seem to be true in VW.

I created a series of test files and compared them. I've included the base file here.

1) The first file contains the base object, saved while the 3d conversion resolution was set to High (Preferences>3D>3D Conversion Resolution).

2) The base object reserved after changing the 3d conversion resolution to Low.

3) The base object was ungrouped, creating 3 NURBS surfaces.

4) The base object was ungrouped, creating 3 NURBS surfaces. The resulting NURBS were turned into a Generic Solid using Stitch and Trim.

5) The base object was converted to a mesh using Convert to Mesh while the 3d conversion resolution was set to High

The results are interesting. The cleanest, smallest geometry comes from 4.

Kevin

ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=10977&filename=Screen%20Shot%202014-08-11%20at%201.20.47%20PM.png

PS. As an experiment I exported the base file to Rhino. The resulting geometry is 28k. I also tried saving an empty VW file. The result is 535k. Some of the file size is clearly VW overhead.

Edited by Kevin McAllister
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One other note. Be careful about converting to generic solids this way. I discovered even my simple example creates problem geometry. Try sectioning the geometry of file 4 above and you'll see its not actually a "solid". For whatever reason the geometry doesn't join at the bottom inside ring seam after the conversion and VW sees it as hollow. If you're cutting sections through models for your drawings you'll want to be aware of this.

Kevin

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