Image Prop best practices

[Jeff Prince]

We have been experimenting with image props in preparation to create a new library of regional plant materials to be shown in elevation and perspective.

Are there any recommendations or best practices for:

• Image Size (width & height)
• Resolution/DPI
• Color Mode/Depth
• File Format

Are there any pros & cons to be aware of for various setting?

 

I would like to nail down all these settings before turning my staff loose on what will be a fairly large task.  Our intent is to use these images for the construction of image props, display in the plant database in a custom report (to show a larger image and less data), and as Photoshop entourage.

 

Thanks for any help,

Jeff

 

[Kevin Allen]

I go with 'actual' size. So a 15' tree would be a 15' tall image in Photoshop. I then based my DPI on my output. I prefer to use PSD files with an Alpha channel to make the image prop, I think that gives me better control over the masking than I can get in VWX. So, If I'm rendering to a tabloid size sheet,  and printing with an inkjet printer, I try to keep my image props at 1-2Mb. Sometimes that means 5DPI, sometimes 25, etc. 32 bit RGB color.

 

If you sometimes or often print for large format presentations, that would be another factor. In that case, I might consider two sets of props.

[Jeff Prince]

So 2 years have past since I set out to find the best way to create image props with Alpha Channels.  The question was never properly answered by by tech support when I had a Service Select membership.  Seems that there are some magic settings needed to get VWX to behave when exporting to other software formats, notably C4D.  Read my story of woe below.  Hopefully a solution manifests itself soon.  None of my imageprops will export correctly, VWX is altering the Alpha Channel on export!   100s of manhours wasted potentially 😞

 

 

[Jeff Prince]

Crickets.  I wonder what people do about these problems.

[Jeff Prince]

5 years, no answer....

[Dave Donley]

3 hours ago, jeff prince said:

5 years, no answer....

 

This was Vectorworks to C4D to Twinmotion.  I believe this problem is specific to how C4D can understand separate mask images in a texture but Twinmotion cannot.  Instead you should use the Datasmith Direct Link tool to export directly to Twinmotion.  Your original problems pre-date that tool which is the preferred way to get models into Twinmotion, now.  Hope this helps!

 

[Jeff Prince]

1 hour ago, Dave Donley said:

 

This was Vectorworks to C4D to Twinmotion.  I believe this problem is specific to how C4D can understand separate mask images in a texture but Twinmotion cannot.  Instead you should use the Datasmith Direct Link tool to export directly to Twinmotion.  Your original problems pre-date that tool which is the preferred way to get models into Twinmotion, now.  Hope this helps!

 

 

@Dave Donley Thanks, this is a separate issue....

I was referring to my first post and the subject matter of this thread.  

 

Quote

 

Are there any recommendations or best practices for:

Image Size (width & height)

Resolution/DPI

Color Mode/Depth

File Format

Are there any pros & cons to be aware of for various setting?

 

 

Many moons ago, Juan referred a tech support person to me and they promised to provide this information but it never came.

Each time I see my signature or pay for the SS renewal, I am reminded of these past experiences and their unresolved status.

[Dave Donley]

On 4/9/2018 at 10:51 AM, jeff prince said:

We have been experimenting with image props in preparation to create a new library of regional plant materials to be shown in elevation and perspective.

Are there any recommendations or best practices for:

• Image Size (width & height)
• Resolution/DPI
• Color Mode/Depth
• File Format

Are there any pros & cons to be aware of for various setting?

 

I would like to nail down all these settings before turning my staff loose on what will be a fairly large task.  Our intent is to use these images for the construction of image props, display in the plant database in a custom report (to show a larger image and less data), and as Photoshop entourage.

 

Thanks for any help,

Jeff

 

 

For image props.  Know that everything has tradeoffs.  If I recommend a resolution to you and you walk close to the plant in your workflow you may say it is too low.  If I recommend a higher setting the tradeoff is in file size, and if you are talking about hundreds or thousands of plants in a content library that could become a significant factor.  Here is wHat I say to what you asked:

 

Image size: Looks good enough for the views you expect to use the image props for.  If this is going to be shown as a foreground plant you may need a couple or a few thousand pixels wide.  If it will only be used for a treeline far away then less.  Something like 4k might be reasonable.

 

Resolution: Does not matter, only number of pixels matters for image props.  If you need 1200 DPI plans or renderings showing these objects then aim higher for number of pixels, but know that it will cost in file size and memory when rendering.

 

Color: 32 bits of color.  Windows support 24-bit color images but if you want to standardize just use 32.  Unless you know the source images use color palettes; if they do then JPEG 8-bit will be imported with the palettes.  8-bit images are pretty old and probably won't look that great compared to 24 or 32.

 

File format: I like PNG because it looks good and unlike JPEG it is lossless.  When you import the PNG or JPEG we keep the original compressed data around on disk so you are not going to get a bloat to raw pixels.

 

[Landartma]

I'm working on the same thing but not so advanced.  It hit or miss some images the alpha channels are recognized when I create an image prop others VW does not recognize the alpha channel.  I have gone back to GIMP and verified the alpha channel but VW does not recognize it.  I did two back to back one was recognized and the other was not.  I recall reading that the image should be around 800x800 px.  and in the KB range not the MB range.  Bigger images do really slow things down.  The work around I was to Import Image that allowed me to access the alpha channel (on the attached image) but it would not recogize the alpha channel via Model-Create Image Prop.  Its a head scratcher to me.   Any insight is appreciated.  

[Landartma]

Then to add to the issue.  The new image prop shows up in the Resource Manager but when I go to use it edit mode from the OIP its not there.  Do I need to shut it down so It can take a rest or is there another issue.  I normally have to shut down the file and reopen it.

[Pat Stanford]

Before you restart, try the Refresh Libraries command from the Resource Manage Gear icon.