VHampton

Thanks for the tip Chopsaw. Dermot's and Brian's posts gave some indication on how to attain the desired look. Am making minor tweaks to the settings, and am almost there. ...per the original post the "Edge smoothing while idle" option is what threw me. I saved a custom icon on the toolbar to make it easy to turn on and off. I personally like stronger shadows for Vector elevations, but do appreciate that the 3d standard views were immediately so good that it almost negates the need to Ray Trace. .....Change can be scary, but it's always invariably for the best. Thanks Dermot and Brian for the tips.

Appreciate this thread. The new camera options have been slightly confusing, and as per the original post...I too thought that the edge smoothing feature was a bug at first. I often do exported screen captures of both standard view and vector views, and the images looked more like an impressionist painting, rather than in X8 where the jpeg exports by default it seems, are clean and crisp. I think I may have solved this now by always keeping edge smoothing off?? And I toggled the hardware edge smoothing to the maximum. (This feature seems seems to have been invented for folks who might be using a low grade video card). Secondly.... I am still trying out how to get a better shadow option in the new release. Does ambient occlusion have anything to do with this? X8 may have had less of a photo-realistic view in pre Race Trace cameras, but the shadow lines seemed a tad sharper. The views seem to now have a much softer washed out tone Anyway...very pleased with the new release. The Living Area finally staying put seems to be the best fix yet. Just need some guidance on these new camera settings. Thank you.

Hey Robert, Thank you very much! This is awesome. Really appreciate your time in outlining the step by step on how to do this. The Bonus catalogues seem to be full of all sorts of amazing fixtures, and how this one object is still missing from the basic inventory is unusual. ...I bet it would take the programmers only a short while for them to add this to the library. Thanks again! Val

Hi All, I did some research in the symbol related area of the forum. Apparently Chief has yet to develop a square recessed light in the library, which is quite surprising given the huge popluarity in LED square lights these days. I could be wrong, but the threads made no reference on where to find one, only suggestions that you make your own. Anyway.... The attached plan shows 2 lights with data sources. A third (square symbol) is home made. I did my best to assign the correct "emissive" properties to it, the same way that the library content has, but it still won't emit any light. Just a soft glow. This isn't a huge deal, but I was hoping someone might have a quick answer on whether or not one can create a symbol which behaves like a light. Thanks in advance! Lighting Symbol Test Plan.zip

Thanks to both Ed and Brian, and Dermot. The download seems to have been the solution. That said, I undid the not recommended RayTrace implant from X8 into X9...by reinserting the proper X9 RayTrace folder. Then we downloaded the Virtual C install. It now works wonderfully. . Not having seen the full ability of the new X9 RayTrace process, until I finally had it working....I was mistaken. It streams noticeably better than all previous releases. At the end of the day, I greatly appreciate the resolve, and hope that anyone who runs into this issue will go with the Chief resolution and not my method. I am not a programmer and never plan on becoming one, even if I know my way around PCs. My time is better spent drawing houses! All the best, Val

Thanks for the message Ron. It's helpful to hear that it's not just a quirk on my machine alone. The failure for the RayTrace engine to start could be just about anything, including a simple NVidia setting. ....And again, by no means did I post my bush fix as a way for others to follow. Windows 7 is like having an old car, where you can get under the hood and do a bit of tinkering if you know what you're doing. ...Anyway, problem solved, even if it's not recommended!

Totally agree Brian. But I finally had to do my own troubleshooting after exhausting each and every step. For what it's worth, the RayTracing results are equal to, if not better than the X8 release. Very crisp. However unorthodox a fix this this may have been, I agree not to try this without the understanding that it could backfire. It's still much better than getting an error message though. My computer is only 12 months old and it's definitely not a hardware deficiency. Have lots of ram, and 4gigs on a video card. This alone should run circles around most laptop set ups ....thank you very much for looking into this. Like you said, don't try this at home.

It's a faulty program install. Hopefully an easy fix. I'll stop whining in about 15 min.

Thanks Graham. This is good to know. According to the lengthy troubleshooting checklist which I followed, apparently if all else fails, it's an anti-virus setting. This seems seems strange, because X8 works just fine. Things that make you go hmmm?

Thanks again Perry. It's only been a few weeks since the beta download. Sorry to sound like a teen age girl. Will look into the 745 and see what's up with that. Appreciate your time.

I'm glad that you haven't. Thanks again though. My video card is a GeForceGTX745 with 4 gigabytes of muscle. ie...4G Oh well. Back to X8. ....This latest version only seems to have stair rail options, and so far, ...that's all I can see, other than the camera settings and line work options are more intricate. ...Not so sure that the beta upgrade is worth the hassle, especially when this kind of stuff happens.

Thanks Perry. I went to update the driver and Windows deemed it up to date. I may be wrong. For whatever reason X8 can spew out Ray Traces like nobodies business. X9 is still a mystery.

Hi All, The new version has a glitch when attempting to Ray Trace even something as simple as four walls and a base cabinet. Have tried all the possible fixes and it won't get past go. Anyone else? Is there a setting somewhere? Thanks in advance. Val

Awesome. Thank you! You guys rock. Am very glad to see this. The pool water looks incredible when it has a reflective quality. Was getting nervous about starting a new house with the beta, but so far it's rock solid. ...Just need to figure out where the new features are hiding. I did not see the other thread, so thank you for taking time to point this out!!

This may be premature, since X9 is still in beta version. But mirrored textures are not available. I always use mirrored slabs for swimming pools. This is an awesome feature of X8, and I would really hate to see this not make it into 9. It seems that the preferences options between each version are somewhat different, so with any luck this is just a beta version issue.

if it can be built, it can be drawn, There's nothing that the program can't make. Post the plan and we will ultimately generate a ten page thread about why everyone has a different work-around. More importantly... You'll also get your answer!

My community reputation is apparently neutral. so therefore I must be a Swiss member. That said, you have now been bolstered to 12 points and are well on your way to being in with the in crowd.

When it comes to any large plan files....Turn off the undo re-do feature in your general preferences. The plan should operate with zero lag time. If you feel the need to be indecisive, keep the "un-do's" down to one.

Thanks to everyone! Really appreciate the quick replies, and tips on the separate text style. Never once read the manuals, which always made for very good paperweights. Have a great weekend, and all the best in the holiday season!

Is there a setting somewhere to change the layout sheet text (for the viewport)? The deafult style is what it is, and for the past umpteen years, I just suppress the label, and type in the text. Thank you in advance if anyone has a quick answer.

Thanks guys. That's what I thought. I have always used the sizes on elevations, and then add my own text callout for window number. Guess that the dual call out for the plans and elevations will need to go in the suggestion box. Much appreciated. All the best, Val

Are window labels in elevation and plan view able to show both the Call-out and the sizes? Since using the schedule, only the call out appears. Thanks in advance for any guidance. Much appreciated, Val

The one problem I've always had with dormer walls is that they show up in plan view just like Samson drew. When you draw the actual dormer wall, it migrates into the room and gets confusing in plan view. The "fake wall" using polyline solids works in those conditions where you need the wall to show in 3D but not on your floor plan. Using two different poly-line solids, you can have one with siding and one with sheetrock (interior and ext.) I hide the solids on the attic level so that they don't show up in the floor plan drawing.

Johnny's idea, ...but less post modern.