TheKitchenAbode

Perfect!! Having read your posts in the past I was pretty sure you would have an SSD for the OS. I'm interested in this but not always up to speed on the terminology. Maybe it's time for an upgrade!

Jon, is the 512 drive you recommend a hybrid? if not then why would you not want the OS on an SSD for fast boot loading? I would have most likely suggested an SSD for the OS and program files and then a large capacity HDD for mass storage.

Graham

Most likely, ill have to give it a try some time. Pdf's are not vector based files or jpg images, I think it is just a scaling issue when using these files outside of a pdf program.

Graham

Have seen this before. The visibility of lines varied as I zoomed in and out. As I was just playing around I did not pursue it any further. Try printing the plan to see if the lines are really there. Also, when the pdf file was created the resolution may have been set really low to keep the file size down. My pdf converter allows this to be set from 72 dp up to 1,200 or higher for print level production publishing.

Graham

Have mixed feelings on in-home presentations like that. Certainly if you do not have an office then there is no choice. All our presentations are done at the studio where everything is setup to work correctly. Undoubtedly this type of presentation leads to many questions concerning materials. In the studio I can just reach over and show them the real thing or an alternative.

The other thing I have found is that most people's home screens are so far of colour calibration that they can make your design look really awful, especially if you are focused on the interior design elements. May undermine your effort.

Graham

Without stepping on a hornets nest you are putting together a system that is in the top say 5% group as it relates to consumer type machines. If cost is not an issue then why not, go for it and enjoy the ride. If cost is an important consideration then a good understanding of your needs is required. I run on systems that have at best 20% of this horsepower without any problems whatsoever and no complaints. However, I do not have a need to run camera views with shading and line smoothing. Always work with vector views even during client presentations, its just easier to see the structure this way. I then have Raytrace's prepared in advance when we wish to see how things look with lighting and textures.

Next step up is Xeon processors and multi-graphics card configurations.

Graham

Could be on the edge in creating a new product!!!

A concrete precast plank or module, prewired say 1" below the surface, foam insulation below to keep the heat on the desired surface. Install where desired, on-grade or above, Connect together and enjoy the warmth and snow melting, decks, walkways, balconies.... Not dissimilar to a prewired gypsumboard (drywall) panel for radiant heat ceiling applications in electrically heated homes (if they are still around).

Graham

I was thinking the same thing just after I pressed "Post". In slab heating would be ideal, deck could be used all year round, especially when there's a hot tub.

Graham

Interesting application. Did you have to do anything special with the construction or concrete mix to address potential expansion/contraction issues or upheaving through freeze/thaw cycles?

Could be a bit cool on the feet in the morning but the mass could be a nice heat retainer in the evening.

Graham

Agree Doug, I may have been a bit liberal with that term. It was intended to describe in general the process of taking the primary data such as vectors, textures, etc., (all those 1's & 0's) and performing whatever computations are necessary to build the image we see on our monitors. I have in my mind viewed this as the rendering process regardless of whether or not the rendered image is present in 2D or a 3D simulation. I guess one could argue that as we see the 3D image on a monitor that it is in reality a 2D image, there really is no depth (3rd dimension) capability in the monitors we use.

This probably won't resolve the terminology issue but hopefully it will help in interpreting my thoughts.

Many Thanks,

Graham

A method for users that do "Not" require framing details.

Change framing material definition to "Glass", "100% Transparency".

Float any object into place.

Use "Material Regions" to reconstruct finish around object.

Graham

Hi Joe. Saw that last night in your posting, will definitely give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

Graham

We are all in complete agreement on this. Unfortunately there appears to be no global way to handle this. One must first create an opening using say the pass-through tool, place the object into the opening and then go to the other side of the wall and patch it with something. I usually just float in a partition set to the same material and thickness of the finish. You would need to test this as it may have a negative effect on material lists or some other function you require.

There are some other work around methods described in recent posts on wall niches. But they also have limitations and some negative impact on other automated functions.

I was hoping that there was a setting in Material Regions tool that would allow you to toggle on/off the wrap around an opening function, but apparently this is not available.

Looks like it's up to the programmers.

Graham

Have the same issue. Integrated HD4000. A6 fine, A7 freeze (Assertion Failure). Have 8GB ram. Even tried reducing resolution to lowest setting & 256 colors. Still freezes. Updated all drivers, played with core settings, nothing worked. Pretty sure as Tech has reported that there is some software glitch. Will wait for their fix before spending $$$. Fortunately affected computer is a backup.

Graham

That's what I thought from playing around with it. It seems to disengage if you move the region away from the wall but it must be an inch or two away. Otherwise it snaps back and recognizes the opening.

Graham

Apologies for being such a "Pest".

Is there a way to toggle the Material Regions tool so one can either have it recognize an opening or disregard it? 

Thanks,

Graham

You are absolutely correct Doug. There is a lot going on as to how objects & elements are being treated, rendering is only one of many considerations. My comments were not intended to imply there was anything wrong with the software. It was just to provide some possible insight as to how the rendering is being dealt with. I believe that this may be useful in cases where rendering is the primary objective. As with any of these manipulations one must always check thoroughly to ensure that any negative side effects are acceptable. As you indicate, forcing or using elements outside of their intended use will most likely result in unforeseen consequences. The most significant are likely the framing computations and the material lists as an example. I strongly recommend that users utilize the appropriate built-in tools wherever possible to ensure plans & designs are of highest degree of consistency and integrity. These manipulative techniques should only be used as a last resort.

This is purely conjecture on my part but I suspect that when one uses a predefined element such as a pass-through, door, window, etc. placed into a standard wall type that for rendering purpose the algorithms (software) see these as special items in order to adjust things so the wall surface does not extend into them. Possibly my use of the term Rendering Algorithm may be to blame for any misconceptions. Somehow out of all of the detail within a plan something has to determine what is to be rendered and what will not be rendered. To compute everything in its entirety, visible or not, would not appear to be the most efficient way to do it.

Graham

Thanks Joe, it's all in good fun!

I did suggest in another post that you use "(Almost)" in your heading.

Graham

For followers you may wish to jump over to the two new threads "Walls - A New Way of Building a Plan" & "Rendering Algorithms - They Define What You See". I think you will find many of the answers you are looking for.

Graham

For followers you may wish to jump over to the two new threads "Walls - A New Way of Building a Plan" & "Rendering Algorithms - They Define What You See". I think you will find many of the answers you are looking for.

Graham

The only instance I can see where you may wish the shelf to protrude beyond the cabinet face is for a microwave shelf in an upper cabinet.

Graham

I just posted a new thread "Rendering Algorithms - They Define What You See" in my attempt to explain at the software level what is most likely happening here.

Graham

There has been a lot of discussion lately concerning the placement of objects within wall cavities and how to get these to render correctly in a camera view. We have all floated an open faced cabinet into a wall and been disappointed that the wall is shown passing through the cabinet. Why should this be? The wall is there, the cabinet is there so everything needed to generate (compute) the view correctly is there. It's likely due to the Rendering Algorithms and the parameters the programmers set in order to maximize rendering times. 

Why spend time computing data when it is not within the cameras view, makes sense. This methodology is also applied to objects and predefined elements such as wall types. A standard interior wall type, drywall-stud-drywall, appears to have a default rendering plane, the drywall face. As such any element or object behind this rendering plane will not be computed, only objects in front are taken into consideration. This is why the wall extends into our open faced cabinet.

To get the object to render as we intend the rendering plane must be shifted further into the wall or better still disengaged. It's like setting the clipping in a camera view or a cross section elevation. You are defining a plane that determines what is displayed and what is to be ignored. Although Chief does not provide a specific setting for this you can with the Glass House tool see the effect. The rendering plane has been disengaged, all objects and elements are included in the rendering algorithms and as such they are visible. For speed and visual purposes they have restricted the format to monotone & lines.

So we do know that the capability is there. The challenge is how can we exploit this to get our renders correct. Obviously we need to somehow shift the rendering plane, but unfortunately there is no specific setting for this. Although this is true there is actually a relatively easy way to do this. For example, a standard interior wall type with 3 elements has its rendering plane defined by the exposed drywall surface. However a frame wall type with 1 element has its surface rendering plane defined by the stud face. With this wall type any object in front will be rendered correctly. Need to move the plane further back, just make the wall thinner. Need to disengage, make the frame material glass. With the Material Region tool you can now rebuild the drywall without altering the rendering plane as the polyline material will be considered to be in front and therefore rendered.

I am certain there are many other ways to manipulate this to our advantage. Looking forward to all commentary.

Thanks,

Graham

That's a great way to do it. It looks like most of the difficulties everyone is having with these niches or any other element that penetrates the cavity is related to how the software rendering algorithm's function. They appear to be set to only compute visible surfaces in order to speed things up. With a standard wall type with default finishes the surface for computational purposes is the drywall face, therefore any data concerning on object that lies behind this surface is not taken into consideration. Starting with a frame wall by default sets the stud face as the surface and therefore any element in front of this will be computed. As you can define the stud material as glass you now have an invisible/transparent wall, likely how they developed the Glass Shower Wall Tool.

Building a few standard wall variations as you have done and saving to the library takes care of everything and provides complete control over all surfaces and best of all every element is included in the rendering algorithm.

Should post your above description under a separate heading for all to see. "The Ultimate (Almost) Wall"     

I left "(Almost)" in there because I know that within a few minutes someone will identify a shortcoming with this technique. We just have to accept the fact there is no such thing as "Perfect". The best we can do is to continue to drive in the right direction down this never ending road.

Graham