Electrical symbols preview/2D vs. 3D

[Richard_Morrison 394]

I think I'm having a brain fart here, but some of my electrical symbols in the Library show the 2D plan preview, while others are 3D previews only. I would like to generally see the 2D plan symbol, with the 3D preview below. I can find no place to set this, nor to change lights that are 3D only at the moment to a 2D view. (I'd like to see what this is going to look like in 2D (like we can with switches and outlets), but I can't find out until I actually place it. I KNOW that we used to have a 2D only display available, and I'm not sure what the difference is between various of my symbols, except that some are probably from older versions. Is there any way to get the 2D views back?

[Dermot 438]

I believe the lights will always display a 3D preview and other electrical objects will display the 2D.

[Richard_Morrison 394]

I'm not sure it's that easy. See this from the Core Library. Some objects have a 2D preview, and some have a 3D preview. I can't figure out where these different preview types are being set.

[Dermot 438]

Yes, some of those exhaust fans have lights and some don't. 

 

Currently, you can't change this default behavior.  I'm not sure if we should have the ability to specify the preview type, or if we should just always show the 2D for all electrical?

[Richard_Morrison 394]

Dermot, I have bunch of recessed lights that show as 2D in the preview, yet are clearly tagged as lights in the Options. I can't figure out why THESE can have 2D previews but others don't.

[Dermot 438]

Without the actual library I can only make guesses.  The object has to actually have light sources in order to show the 3D preview.  If you open the specification dialog, the program can automatically add a single light source for you if you marked it as a "light" in the Open Symbol dialog.  Once you have added light data, I'm not sure if there is an easy way to remove it.

[Richard_Morrison 394]

Dermot, there is full light data in the recessed can that I showed above, similar to other 3D lights. So, I don't think that adding light data is what triggers the 3D preview. It's getting the preview some other way. 

 

[Dermot 438]

Two of your lights don't actually have any light data until you open the specification dialog and click ok.  The program will then automatically add a default light source to them.