What is it and how can I avoid it?

[Ramon PG]

I keep getting this pixelated effect. It used to be in PDFs made with Apple Preview and I could bypass it by doing an export via Vectorworks. Now I get them right in the VWs viewport and cannot get rid of them. Any tips on how to overcome this? Thanks.

 

The VP is Shaded (but it shows even in Final Quality Renderworks) and the Sheet Layer resolution is 200 dpi.

 

 

[Gadzooks]

My guess would be Z fighting.  Have you applied the highway markings over the grey tarmac as individual 'markers' (as opposed to a road layout graphic)? If it were a graphic the image would/should be clean.

 

From your screenshot it seems the problematic direction arrows may be at exactly the same z as the highway surface - give them a nudge up.

 

The centreline marking near the yellow truck is safely above the tarmac - albeit floating at tyre level.

 

The road markings near the grey truck are also safely above the tarmac - at hub level. (Also looks like someone has had the rear doors open and stolen your goods - lol)

 

The remaining road markings near the arrows seem slightly affected also - maybe 'as drawn' or also z is an issue?

 

Is there a gradient change before the roundabout that means the road markings need to be adjusted to account for z differences?

 

Hope that some of that helps.

 

[Andy Broomell]

It doesn't quite look like Z fighting to me. It looks more like an issue with pixel areas that are rendered as pure white. However, I'm not sure why you'd see a gray gradient through those areas.

 

If you select your viewport and set the Fill to Solid in the Attributes Palette, does the problem go away?

[Gadzooks]

17 hours ago, Andy Broomell said:

It doesn't quite look like Z fighting to me

 

Mmmm....I thought the same, but couldn't think of any other reason. The image does show odd pixels rather than the 'zebra banding' that's more commonly a give-away for z fighting.

 

Interested to see what the issue is.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Gadzooks

[Gadzooks]

@Ramon PG There are some other areas of interest in your screenshot - are they supposed to be there?

• Three smaller areas I've noted seem to be lighting burst?
• Larger area to the right - is that a tree?

Both the above look as if the road surface has some reflectance from/of other objects?

• There's a horizontal line as well - I've highlighted

Should this be in the frame?

 

 

Perhaps nothing relevant to your question, but I thought I'd mention in case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ramon PG]

On 2/11/2022 at 12:17 PM, Gadzooks said:

@Ramon PG There are some other areas of interest in your screenshot - are they supposed to be there?

 

 

On 2/11/2022 at 12:17 PM, Gadzooks said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to all for the responses.

The arrows were polygons and converting them to shallow floors fixed the problem.

Those are not light bursts but blurs from the Google pic I pasted onto a floor object to use as the "site" so I didn't have to redraw the whole neighborhood.

The issue with the white in the above pic was fixed by selecting white as the viewport fill... a new one for me!! Thanks.