mrscott

Scott, Of all the people...I was counting on your for the answer! You let me down Bro!

Kidding of course. I'll post the suggestion in the proper area of CT.

Thank you both for replying,

Joe, is there a way to see which one are linked to which plan? Most of my notes and details are from a plan I DO want to remain associated with the Layout so being able to see the file association from a Project Browser of sorts, would be great.

Thanks,

I'm trying to use an existing LAYOUT but without the links to the previous plan. The attached is the file shows the link I would like to delete. I would think a button "Remove plan reference" would not be much to ask, but then again may it's there and I am just not seeing it.

Thanks,

Got um!

A silly fundamental question for you guys...I cannot locate the "Shiny Stainless.jpg" denoted in Graham's file (see attached). I am also questioning my the whole texture thing. I can locate a material Metal Stainless, (Rough, Brushed and Polished) but when using them they look more "Black than the SS appliances in my home. When I check my system Texture folder it is empty except of the "Metal001" that was in Mick's folder. Is this how it is supposed to look? The loading and use of textures and materials does not appear to be working as smooth and as automated as I think it should.

Graham,

At 25 cores the cpu's are running at 100% so, my logic is to set the default to 20 cores allowing me ample power to multi task with very little Degregation of my system. Short of portability of my system between work locations, I am more than pleased with the investment. She rocks!!!!!

I wonder what would happen if you turned the road layer on.

Yup! Dang Trees!

Thanks Scotty.

Did you see my email and Dropbox question?

How about this one? When I add a road Polyline it cuts a whole in my terrain parameter (TP) and all I see is the hole. What happened to my road?  Also, when I attempted to change the thickness of the TP look what it did the vehicles wheels and body (they shifted and did not return when I reverted back to the original TP thickness. Weird Chit man!

That did it! Funny part is I knew how to do it but have been so engrossed in other aspect of CA that that one escaped me.

Thanks Gavin!!!!

I have already placed Electrical and HVAC fixtures throughout my plan and would like to change the material from Bronze to white plastic. Is there a way to do this? I tried Group Selecting them but that won't work.

Thanks All for your help,

Graham,

To your point. What I can do is set my Raytrace CORE usages to 24 (Dual E5.2620.V3) CPU's to 12 (Single E5.2620.V3) CPU.

24 cores (Dual CPU's) - 1:18 Minutes

12 cores (Single CPU) - 1:59 Minutes.

See attached Raytrace speeds.

Didn't change anything and just said ignore about the texture. I'm not much of a Ray Trace guy any more and certainly don't know all the ins and outs. I present almost all of my projects with video now and the few (crappy) RT's I do seem to be more than good enough for my clients.

 

I've got my Xeons Overclocked to about 3.2 Ghz, that may be the slight difference in our Ray Trace times.

I forgot I turned the point light on on one of the sconces. My second pass was 1:26. I can't overclock these E5.2620.V3 CPU (per Intel). I may try a few tweaks at some point. For now, I am happy to be back in business.

The missing texture file will not create any problems. I got these from the forum. Here it is.

 

Thanks Kirk for sharing.

Thanks Graham. What is weird, and something I am only now noticing, is there is no texture file associated with my plan. Will investigate after I get this foundation project completed. Thanks again!

Very nice Larry the Cores do make a difference. Without the shadows is quicker.

Did you have issues loading Graham's file (Texture missing)? I'm thinking I may have an issue with my settings. When I look in my user directory under CA I see no texture of zip files. (See attached)

Scott - You've identified correctly the techniques I used. Point lights, those vanity wall sconces, require a bit of playing around with to create a similar look without actually having them set as a point light. Just changing them to a spot light will not be good enough. In this example I just turned them off. Increase the glass luminance to make it look light and then aimed a 3d light directly at each one to make the wall behind appear brighter. It's important to turn the shadows off on these so you do not get the sconce shadow showing up from the front facing light source. You can then adjust the 3D lights drop off rate and beam angle to get the desired amount of glow behind the sconce.

 

Given the speed of rendering you are now achieving you can now play around with different settings and see the effect usually with no more than 3  passes. That's only about 30 seconds and you will know the effect. Beats waiting an 20 minutes or more only to find out you need to make more changes.

 

Graham

Yes sir! It sure does. And to your point on Free time. I have so much to learn and big projects on the table. I just wish I wasn't so detail focused but this is a huge and complex program to master I want to do it right. You guys and gals on the forum a priceless resource I very much appreciate.

Thanks for all your help!!!!

A few people have asked so here are a few stats and pictures. System specs are in my signature.

Build cost $3500 ish

Just ran again. This time 30 passes, 26 minutes 28 seconds. 57 seconds per pass. Was doing some other work at the time, likely a smidge slower due to multi-tasking.

 

Graham

Okay, after running the RT and checking your settings I get what you are doing with the lights. I also noticed you changed the Sconce Fixtures from Point to Spot but have them off for your RT. I assume they were unnecessary so you left them off - correct?

Attached I see how you made the Sconce appear illuminated without actually using a virtual light source (bulb). The shadows behind the sconce come from the ceiling spots and the wall illumination comes from the spot directly in front of the Sconce.

The wide angle Spots shown on the second attachment are ceiling mounted at 134" -90 degrees so they point straight down, while the 4 point at the Sconces provide slight wall illumination behind each fixture.

Very cool...nice looking image and all 10 passes in 1 minute, 48 seconds.

Graham,

Without your texture and straight up Raytrace....

Graham, There is a missing textures in your file I do not have

C:\Users\Graham\Documents\Chief Architect Premier X7 Data\Textures\Stainless Steel Library_Mick.zip#zip:Shiny Stainless.jpg which don't have. I searched and cannot locate it on my system so I can only assume it is a personal added Texture.

Jon, "UDL" Lights? I assume you mean "Light sources"? If so, what type do you suggest, Point,  Parallel...to create ambient right? When I display all light sources I see two Parallel Lights in the Riverstone MB. If I delete them and turn off the Sun the scene goes Black. This is good as now I am beginning to see how CA is lighting the scenes. I also understand that once I add a light the CA ambient light is muted significantly.  Anyway, I just want to make sure I am applying your suggestions correctly.  

Thanks,

Just ran again. This time 30 passes, 26 minutes 28 seconds. 57 seconds per pass. Was doing some other work at the time, likely a smidge slower due to multi-tasking.

 

Graham

Graham,

At the risk of beating this horse to death. I have tried everything I can think of and my image looks nothing like yours. I would very much appreciate it if you would share your settings for this one scene.

I've done all of what you suggested (that I understand) but mainly turning off all lights. I changed all the bathroom lights to SPOT. My render times are great. currently but look at the image.

Thanks,

Some images to show my settings

It does make for a large number of choices but in the end I too think it will be worth the work. Most plans have similar uniquely configured so it makes perfect sense to have common attributes. Some subscribe to a much simpler method but I can't wrap my head around it.

DSH has some early X4 videos on Annosets on ChiefTutor.com

Perry,

Sounds like you and DSH are singing the same tune, and one I too am learning. From his video, Larry has done a lot of setup to position his Annosets for all his needs. One thing I am doing, right are wrong, is to make sure my annoset aatributes all have the correct setting s for CAD, Text, Callouts, etc. so when I am say on my 2nd floor framing annonset and want to create A CAD line it using a unique set of parameters with match layers. Probably overkill but it gives me complete flexibilty. 1st floor HVAC alll unique from the 2nd floor HVAC. Everything in it's place.

You should write a Rendering lesson! With all those adjustments I can't wait to see my system will do! I have think 24 cores at the same speed as your quad should really hum! I may write back for a few more tips.

Forget stressing the system! Sounds like you unlocked the key to high speed quality raytracing!

Thanks

Never setup "3D Spot Cameras". Hum!

No turning the plants and trees off!!!!! I noticed they were missing from the fence line.