In this session we looked at modeling a swinging sun bed supported on 4 columns. This project will involve extrusions, extrude along path, subdivision modeling, creating drawings, lighting, and getting resources from other projects.
In this session we looked at adding special characters to text, creating sloping walls, techniques with viewports and batch rendering.
Topics covered:
Rendering is a fun art of using Vectorworks and in the past we have covered lighting (1502), but we covered it from the point of view of interior and architectural lighting. This manual is about exterior lighting, which suggests that we should be looking at nighttime lighting for architectural and landscape projects.
This means that we have to think about our rendering from a completely different point of view. Instead of trying to make sure that everything is visible, we’re trying to create a mood. We have to consider things like the moon, the night sky, the lights on the building, the lights inside the building, street lights, garden lights, et cetera.
Rendering is a fun art of using Vectorworks and in the past we have covered lighting (1502), but we covered it from the point of view of interior and architectural lighting. This manual is about exterior lighting, which suggests that we should be looking at nighttime lighting for architectural and landscape projects.
This means that we have to think about our rendering from a completely different point of view. Instead of trying to make sure that everything is visible, we’re trying to create a mood. We have to consider things like the moon, the night sky, the lights on the building, the lights inside the building, street lights, garden lights, et cetera.
You can apply sketch rendering to the entire view, but you can also apply sketch rendering object by object. If you select an object, then go to the Render pane of the Object Info pallete, you can choose what sketch style you want to apply to each object. You will only see the difference when you apply sketch rendering to the entire scene.
When you’re creating concept drawings, you can use the concept called sketch rendering. You not trying to trick your clients into thinking you drew the project by hand, you are trying to help them understand where the project is in the design process. Using sketch lines will take the focus off the details and put the focus back on the big issues.
Rendering is one of the fun parts of using Vectorworks. Rendering is where you bring together the lighting, the textures, and the rendering settings to create the kind of visual presentation that you want. Vectorworks has a huge range of options when it comes to creating your rendered views. Do not forget to look at the manual on textures and the lighting manual before you start to render your project. You have to do all that preparation work first. Continue reading
Batch Render
This is the trick to make sure you do not tie up your computer when you want to be using it. After you have assigned the lights, cameras, models and textures, and you have used the Render Bitmap tool to check everything, you can set up batch render jobs for your computer to work on while you are out on away from your computer at building site or a meeting or even overnight while you are asleep.
Render Bitmap tool
Adding extra lights makes rendering slower. If you add bluriness to a texture, it will make the rendering take longer as well. This has the effect of locking up your computer for 10 or 20 minutes at a time. This is not a great use of your time and it complicates decisions in regards to rendering. If you need help with textures, refer to the earlier workshop or kindle notes on textures.
The answer is to render small areas of your view with the Render Bitmap tool. When you render an area with this tool, the result is a bitmap. You can leave the bitmap where it is, or you can move it. Sometimes I have several images in the drawing as I try to sort out out the lighting, textures and lighting options.
Renderworks Style
A Renderworks Style is a way of creating a saved set of rendering preferences, in a way that you can recall these when needed or store them in the library so that you can access these preferences in any project. A Renderworks Style is a resource that is available in the resource browser for importing, exporting and editing. Renderworks Styles are very productive way of keeping your rendering settings easily accessible.
Custom Renderworks
This is the rendering option you should use if you want to have the highest quality. This rendering method offers a lot of flexibility, more than any other rendering method. It allows you to control all aspects of the quality allowing you to balance quality with the time you have available.
Final Quality Renderworks
Some people think that this is the best rendering you can get. It is a high quality rendering, but Custom Renderworks can give better results because it has access to more choices. With Final Quality Renderworks you get great quality, but there are no options to play with.
Fast Renderworks
I hardly ever use this rendering mode. It is a step up from OpenGL, and there are no options to choose from, but it offers a shadow option. Remember, you have to have a light source to get shadows.
OpenGL
OpenGL rendering is fast and of a reasonable quality, but it is not the best quality. I sometimes call it quick and dirty, because it is one of the fastest rendering modes, but it is not the most accurate.
Line Rendering
These preferences control the options for Hidden Line and Dashed Hidden rendering. The line render options also cover the Sketch Rendering settings.
Wireframe
This is still a rendering mode, and it is the fastest mode to use. You use this mode while modelling, setting up views and so on.
Renderworks Camera
On the view menu is a command called Set 3D View… This command can be used to set up a perspective view, but it does not save the view. In order to save the view you have to create a saved view after setting perspective. While you can use this command to set the view, a more efficient way to set your view is to use the Renderworks Camera. Not only does the Renderworks Camera remember the view, you can use the Visualization Palette to restore the view (much like a saved view) and you can also use the Renderworks Camera to create a viewport. My recommendation is to use the Renderworks Camera to setup your views.
The Walkthrough Tool
The Walkthrough tool is used to walk into and through your model. You can use it from any perspective view but the results are always more pleasing if you set your perspective first.
Artistic Renderworks
Artistic Renderworks lets you create an artistic rendering that looks like a pencil sketch, cartoon and so on. There are several Artistic Rendering modes to choose from, each option has its own settings.