#Visual Link Support
11 messages in this thread
It sounds to me that your light problem may be similar to copying 3D
entities. Sometimes the HANDLES get lost, or messed with. When you do an
ARRAY on meshed objects, things will get screwy. An ARRAY on wireframe
objects works well. Don't know if that'll help you.
Did you discover whether or not freezing Layer 0 prevents exporting? I
like your idea about the XDATA being common. I work with a friend of mine
who is a BETA site for McNeel's ACCU-RENDER. It's an ADS app that sits on
top of ACAD and uses XDATA for rendering. Does a damn good job too! I
have talked with the developer about transfering 3DS files via Visual Link
to him to see if he can read my XDATA. He says he can't use it now, but
will consider coding an interpreter into his product. =D]
Alan,
I, too, use Accurender, and I am happy with it for the most part. You CAN
physically copy and array the light blocks in this one, and it works.
The major drawback tha I see in Accurender is SPEED (or lack of). This is
especially true when you include any kind of foliage. I once had a <<Very>>
complex drawing take 6 HOURS to render. I must admit that it was an
auditorium with about 200 bentwood chairs with corduroy seat covers,
assorted spotlight sconces and all manner of decorations on the walls. The
image did look great, though.
The part about the Xdata target points in Visual Link has been verified by
Autodesk.
Jeff Bradley
People for people 3d people libraries are coming out in AutoCad Block
Libraries especially for AccuRender in a week or so, in case you need
people there…. let me know your addreses & i'll send "people for people
for accuRender" brochure to you, both, if interested.
it seems alot of large(4-5M) building files with simple colors for
materials render faster in accurender than they do in 3DS,for me… (same
file thru Visual Link to acad)
isn't AR great?McNeel assoc is shipping the final version w/ a real manual
now.
Rachel:
Hi there!
>> It seems a lot of large (4-5M) building files with simple colors for
>> materials render faster in Accurender than they do in 3DS, for me.
Is this using the full ray-tracing in Accurender? With shadows and
reflections? Are you saying simple colors meaning with no texture maps?
I'm real curious, because even the guys who wrote is say that it is a slow
program! Are you swapping in 3DS? In Accurender?
Greg Pyros
hi greg!
well, i am rerendering all the cover images for the 3DS people
documentation,in AccuRender now- which in 3DS are all Phong, 2 sided and yes
for these files in 3DS I swap- I still only have a 486-33 w/ 1M on board, and
those same 16 M on the old ALR-Mt test rendering in suitpeople takes me 1:27
and my customers 30 seconds (w/66 MHz)
the hard drive is whirling away at something to make the image in
AccuRender-But I have -oh 2 walls of clerestories with reflections, very simple
scene-no trees,and the granite map on all the walls-test rendering at 640×480
w/ the Mach-12 driver to display on yes, still the old Genoa 7900, cofiged to
256 in ACAD.So its not a fair comparison.
I'm just starting the higher res to disk and will be getting new system soon
and will let you know-i'm not very scientific right now on this as i am running
the visual link thru its paces back and forth to grasp those limits first and
.dxfing and .dwging people libraries.
I am still sub-professionally equiped so I cannot really evaluate any
software's (esp.3DS') performance, when all I'm really evaluating is the fact
that I need more RAM.
However, as a mere "user" I would highly recommend AccuRender and never
dissuade anyone from using it due to any "slowness." I think it is the perfect
low-budget intro to rendering for ACAD users- who are not quite ready for the
leap to 3DS.Its interface is simple and almost zero learning curve. The images
are breathtakingly beautiful (w/ forgive me a little less time to get the
lights right than in 3ds)-the highlight feature is a painters dream
In fact, Greg-I have watched customers quickly move thru AccuRender and THEN
want to buy 3DS, because they grasp the beauty and ease of rendering and thaen
want to animate finally. Accu-Render complements 3DS, a little bit like a
"little brother;" there must be some marketing buzz word for this but uh, you
know me and "marketing."
I was thinking of finally even BUYING (yikes) the Gus' painting IPAS over thar
in Newport, to use on Accu Render images in 3DS-that would be a really great
combo. Have you tried that yet? Hope all goes well… congrats on Autodesk
award to Susan and You- heard thru Cad Camp gravevine…rach
Rach:
>> I was thinking of finally even BUYING (yikes) the Gus' painting IPAS
>> over thar in Newport, to use on Accu Render images in 3DS-that would be
>> a really great combo. Have you tried that yet?
No, I haven't tried Accu Render with our IPAS programs, but after trying
almost everything else (Morphs, live rotoscopes, scans, etc) anything can be
made to look pretty intense!
If you are rendering the final in 3DS, you can also have the background
'painted' and the forground People-4-People sharp and clear!
Bring by some of your Targa files and we'll run them through the routines
so you can see the results and the controls you have over the effects.
>> congrats on Autodesk award to Susan and You – heard thru Cad Camp
>> gravevine.
Thanks! We were really honored to recieve a Top Dealer award in MultiMedia
sales and support. We must be doing something right!
Take care,
Greg Pyros
thanks for offering demo…
it would be a treat for if i get through the next two weeks…
isn't the changing early fall am light beautiful outside? there has been gray
gloom all summer here. Finally the Beach is ours again
Rach:
>> isn't the changing early fall am light beautiful outside? there has been
>> gray gloom all summer here. Finally the Beach is ours again
You know, you could finish that thought and make a poem out of it!
We actually have a view again! We saw the mountains beyond LA twice this
week, haven't done that for a while – maybe we'll even be able to read the
Hollywood sign from home again this year!
Greg (who watched "Dead Poet's Society" once too often) Pyros
i knew there was a poet lurking under there…mr.greg, son of Pindar and Homer
in the rhododaktulos eos….
<<I, too, use Accurender…>> You're model sounds cool! Just in case you might
not know it, AccuRender is a Ray-tracing program. This means that it creates
the most realistic type of rendering, *including glass objects*. My friend
Craig, the beta-tester, is now doing animation with it through a series of
*manual adjustments* between frames, OUCH! Now if we could only get 3D Studio
to perform selected ray-tracing… Jeff, tell me again about the Target points
in VL. Is Adesk doing a fix, or has a work-around? =D]
<< tell me again about the Target points in VL. Is Adesk doing a fix, or has a
>>
<< work-around? >>
Alan,
Here is the story (as best as I can deduce). When you place a spotlight in ACAD
via Visual Link, you define the light position and the target point, either by
pointing or entering points from the keyboard. VL then draws a pretty picture
of a spotlight and a line leading to its target point. The target entity and
the line leading to it are there only for your visual reference. All data
necessary to produce that spotlight in 3DS is contained as XDATA in the
spotlight block (including the target point). The insertion point of the
spotlight block defines the position of the light source.
The problem happens when you try to copy that light, because the XDATA
contained in it IS COPIED TOO! So, the second light that you just copied has a
new position based on it's insertion point, but its target data is the same as
the original.
I haven't heard of any fixes. If anyone else does, PLEASE let me know.
Jeff Bradley
AXIS 3D