Maxweisen Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 Hello, I am trying to make a custom length of string lights, also known as festoons. Attached is a picture of what I am trying to create. I have done a lot of searching on the forums and google with no solution found. Could someone please explain a technique I could use within Vectorworks or maybe guide me to a symbol that will give me the intended lighting fixture? Thanks, Max Quote Link to comment
Kevin Allen Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 I’ve just modeled the lamps and. Sockets. Added to a string that was an extrude along part. I used a glow texture on the lamps for rendering. In this case they were not attached to a light info record. 2 Quote Link to comment
Maxweisen Posted May 7, 2018 Author Share Posted May 7, 2018 @Kevin Allen That is a great starting point for me. Another portion I still haven't figured out would be bending the string so that the string light would have some swag to it. Do you have any tips regarding that? Quote Link to comment
Kevin Allen Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 Well the path could be a NURBS curve or simply use the poly line tool for the path. Somewhat depends on the desired end result. Quote Link to comment
Maxweisen Posted May 7, 2018 Author Share Posted May 7, 2018 @Kevin Allen Okay, I made NURBS curve with the intended swag on the line. I have some light bulb symbols I added to the drawing. I tried using the distribute tool in Spotlight but I am only getting a 2D line. Is there a way to distribute the light bulbs using the NURBS curve I drew? If so, how? Quote Link to comment
Kevin Allen Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 I use the curve for an extrude along path. But the distro is manual. 1 Quote Link to comment
Maxweisen Posted May 8, 2018 Author Share Posted May 8, 2018 Got it. Thank you! This helps a lot. Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 You could also do the distribution using Edit>Duplicate Along Path. You would need to draw your swag curves in Top/Plan and rotate them into their proper orientation after distributing the bulbs. Duplicate Along Path would give you a lot more control and allows you to preview the results. Here's an quick example file. Depending upon how you're rendering the result you may not have to turn the cord into an Extrude Along Path. I often represent cords using a NURBS curve. Kevin String_of_Lights.vwx 3 Quote Link to comment
JBenghiat Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Also, don't forget, depending on your view, scale, and rendering detail, you can do this very quickly with image props. Once you create an image prop, you can find its texture and edit so that the glow gives off light. Quote Link to comment
RickR Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 My pet peeve on these is the "catenary curve". Nurbs curves can't really duplicate the proper swag shape. So do the best you can and know not to plan on it to closely. 2 Quote Link to comment
Kevin Allen Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Yes, a catenary curve option somewhere would be lovely. Doesn't have to be a NURBS function, just a 2D function, that can be converted. I have had to plot those cubes with a chain and pencil! Quote Link to comment
RickR Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 There's a wish list item on this. https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/topic/43438-catenary-curve-tool/ Vote it up! 1 Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 1 minute ago, RickR said: Vote it up! Alas, I would if I could, but apparently I voted for it before 🙂 KM 1 Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Interesting, I just discovered that the ability to draw a catenary was added to the recently released Rhino 6. The solution in VW may be with Marionette since there is an equation for finding a catenary. @Marissa Farrell has anyone tried this that you know of? Kevin Quote Link to comment
Marionette Maven Marissa Farrell Posted May 9, 2018 Marionette Maven Share Posted May 9, 2018 We've made holiday lights with Marionette, but so far nothing with a catenary (which I just had to look up...) though it shouldn't be hard to pull off. 1 Quote Link to comment
Maxweisen Posted May 9, 2018 Author Share Posted May 9, 2018 Lots of great information here. I really appreciate all of the responses. Thanks - Max Quote Link to comment
mjm Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 6 hours ago, Marissa Farrell said: We've made holiday lights with Marionette, but so far nothing with a catenary (which I just had to look up...) though it shouldn't be hard to pull off. Awesome! Cannot wait to see the fruit of that labor. A catenary is something I need 4x per year at least, and when it's wrong, it's just not right. 1 Quote Link to comment
scottmoore Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 I agree with J above. Image props generally look more realistic for applications such as this and require far less rendering time assuming that a presentation is a high priority. Creating a hybrid symbol that had classes for both an image prop and actual 3D geometry would be ideal as then you could do whatever you needed simply by toggling a couple of classes. Simply using a NURBS curve can cause real issues with renderings. I am not sure I can describe the issue, however, it really causes havoc with volumetric renderings. The best way I can explain it is that a NURBS surface always presents to the front of an image even when behind a beam of light. Extrude along path is a good solution but if you require faster rendering performance, you will find using the Double Line Polygon tool and making your arc out of short, straight sections will speed up performance just like using square tubing for truss chords. I suppose it depends on how many festoons you have, how close they are to your cameras and how prominent they are in the design. Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 5 hours ago, scottmoore said: Simply using a NURBS curve can cause real issues with renderings. I am not sure I can describe the issue, however, it really causes havoc with volumetric renderings. The best way I can explain it is that a NURBS surface always presents to the front of an image even when behind a beam of light. Its because NURBS curves are treated like 2d objects and rasterized during rendering. They should be treated like the 3d objects that they are and render like every other piece of 3d geometry. I have flagged it as an issue in the past. Kevin Quote Link to comment
AlanW Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Hi, this was the String of lights that i was toying with. Adjust the number of lights and exchange the symbol to your liking. adjust the colors, type etc of the lights. Will look at making one with different colored lights in one string. Right Click and change the Control Geometry also. HTH Striing of Lights.vwx 2 Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 (edited) On 5/9/2018 at 3:01 PM, Marissa Farrell said: We've made holiday lights with Marionette, but so far nothing with a catenary (which I just had to look up...) though it shouldn't be hard to pull off. On 5/9/2018 at 1:20 PM, Kevin Allen said: Yes, a catenary curve option somewhere would be lovely. Doesn't have to be a NURBS function, just a 2D function, that can be converted. I have had to plot those cubes with a chain and pencil! On 5/9/2018 at 1:00 PM, RickR said: My pet peeve on these is the "catenary curve". Nurbs curves can't really duplicate the proper swag shape. So do the best you can and know not to plan on it to closely. On 5/9/2018 at 2:09 PM, Kevin McAllister said: Interesting, I just discovered that the ability to draw a catenary was added to the recently released Rhino 6. Here's my kick at a Marionette version of the catenary curve using some online formulas. It draws NURBS curves so they are only approximations. (Rhino and some of the other software packages only generate approximations as well). Kevin Catenary Curve.vwx Edited May 12, 2018 by Kevin McAllister Corrected a problem with the example file where it didn't use the correct number of points. 2 Quote Link to comment
scottmoore Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 NURBS curves rendering as a 2D object is pretty ridiculous. I unfortunately found that out AFTER drawing thousands of feet of railings for a very large job. Seemed like a great way to go about doing that quickly and looked very appropriate when rendering without haze. Once I added volumetrics, it was a disaster. Keep that in mind if using NURBS for festoons. Quote Link to comment
RickR Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 Extruding a smal circle or hexagon along the nurbs will solve that. But it can add to the polygon count in a big way. Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 If you would like NURBS curves to render properly consider up-voting this wishlist item - Kevin 1 Quote Link to comment
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