kwhitt

Renee – In X15 and prior, an emissive material assigned to an object such as a sphere would not illuminate the scene using PBR. Attached is such a sphere with Lighting White applied in a room with the auto-light turned off and there is no illumination. In X16 you can now do the same thing, and the sphere will light the room. Prior to X16 we did not have real area lights. Attached is an excerpt from the X16 features list.

I guess I don’t need so many beadboard planks as the pattern is tillable (seamless) but when I created it I used it for a T & G ceiling and I wanted variation in the woodgrain so that the texture didn’t repeat too much. This image was created prior to the introduction of area lights and could be much improved with the new features. I’ll make a smaller version once I’ve caught up on my projects.

Thanks Michael. It is just a face that can be sized parametrically and can be rotated/tilted in plan view for convenience - like what i had to create manually. It is used to simulate a soft light box like they use in interior photography. Yes, the beadboard was intentionally placed this way. I used a normal map that I created in Substance Designer. It's attached if you want to use it. I had to lower the resolution to be uploaded to the forum but i can send you a high-res version. The normal made the most sense as opposed to modeling every door size independently. The normal allows you to resize the doors without "stretching" the beadboard.

Thanks DB. That's an excellent suggestion and I will follow through after Thanksgiving. We don't use electrical devices at standard placement on kitchen backsplashes. We use a slanted rough-in box to hide all devices beneath the wall cabinets. I don't think Bob was saying that Chief's area lights were any different - only that we have them now.

The introduction of Area Lights and Translucency in PBR is a game changer in X16. I feel like we have almost everything we now need to create high quality images within Chief without the use of 3rd party renderers. I have more shaders and features on my wish list, but I have to say I am very pleased with this release. Thanks Chief! One of the first things I’d have Chief implement is an Area Light fixture tool. Right now, I must create a face of the appropriate size (in an elevation view) and point it in the right direction to be used as a fill light. This can be a little tricky as I can’t figure out a way to rotate a face manually in plan view. Were I to use a 3 solid, all sides with normals would emit light – not ideal. The second feature I’d implement is the ability to adjust emitter intensity per camera view. It would also be nice to open and close doors automatically as needed per camera view. The images below underwent only minor curve adjustments in Photoshop – that’s it.

i always use live views as I do a lot of kitchens and the clients do a lot of changing their minds.

Okay, I figured out the first part by disabling the clip cad layer which I didn't know existed. What about mixing color and B&W in the cross-section views? Thanks.

I am using a staggered cross-section - see 1st attachment. In the elevation view it produces a vertical line where the cross-section jogs (denoted by arrow in 2nd attachment). Is there a way to conceal it? Also, as I like to use B&W elevations, is it possible for the cabinets (in this case) to remain B&W and have the text or arrow as shown to be in color or must everything in this view be B&W? Thanks.

Thanks again, Rob.

Thanks Rob. Very cool. I'm assuming that is an invisible wall? Is my idea of using invisible walls for the first question, the only way?

No one has any input on this? Thanks.

I’ve got a situation where an irregularly-shaped chimney pad will be forming a section of a room’s wall – first attachment. Obviously, this custom pad cannot act as a true wall which I need to be able to create the room definition. What are you doing in instances like these? Using invisible walls to fill in those areas to define the room? This house also has several walls that come to sharp points – second image. Is there a way to deform walls in Chief to take on this shape? If not, I can use poly-solids to get it to look right in 3D but what do I do in plan view to represent this shape? Thanks, Kevin

My bad. Please see above. Thanks, Kevin

You're right. I do not want to show the framing members. I just want a plane that represents the space without the drywall, floor surface, ceiling surface, and wall covering showing. Sorry for the confusion.

This is how I want it to appear but without the wall coverings, wallboard, and floor surfaces. I believe the floor surface is already gone but appears to be there as the wall covering starts 3/4" above the subfloor. There isn't a way to omit the wall covering altogether via a layer?

Hey Mick. As described above, I don't want to show the studs.

Thank you, Eric. I don't want to see the studs in this elevation. In fact, I have not even generated any framing at this stage as the house is existing. I just want to get rid of the wall coverings, wallboard, floor and ceiling surfaces - automatically if possible.

David - thanks for the reply. I am quite familiar with turning on/off layers. There doesn't seem to be a layer for wall coverings or drywall - I've tried main layers only. I was hoping to find a way to automate this without modifying my existing walls. The wall covering and wallboard should have a layer of its own.

I’m creating a framing elevation for a shower niche and medicine cabinet rough-in. I want to show the framing members only without wall, floor, and ceiling surfaces. I am unfortunately unable to hide these layers. I also have a wall covering below a chair rail molding that won’t go away. Any suggestions? Thanks, Kevin

Thanks you, Renee.

Thanks again, Rob. I very much appreciate it!

Thanks Renee. Are you proposing that I use different layouts and then combine them in a PDF when ready for print?

I believe they are the same by default 1/100 mm and I've never changed this. I'm not sure I get it yet, but you're telling me that if I tick "Use Layout Line Scaling" and the layout box matches the plan view scale, all line weights will be consistent even though the scale from page to page in the layout may vary?

So, under the layout do I need to set the scale to ½” if that’s how I’m sending the layout box from plan view or leave it as the default 1:1?

And what if the layout has varying scales amongst the pages? Thanks again, Kevin