Problematic wall niche and more

[marlem2000]

I started working on a wall niche thinking I wouldn’t have any problem but the more I walk, the more doubts I get.

Here they go a good bunch of questions related to this:

 

- If I remove the frame of the wall niche I get a brown texture that I want to replace by the one I used on the floor of the room. How can I expand that one inside the niche?

- Then, is it possible to change the color of the wall niche inside (not the whole wall)?

- The same way, is it possible to change the color of part of the wall?

- Now related to the cross section view, it’s almost impossible to select some objects because there are other elements in front of them. How can I do that? And, at the same time, why some objects aren’t visible in this view?

I know; too many questions. Sorry!

[Bob-Roraback]

Don't remove the frame Marlem just change the width to 0. Then you can specify a material of your choice

[marlem2000]

42 minutes ago, Bob-Roraback said:

Don't remove the frame Marlem just change the width to 0. Then you can specify a material of your choice

I did but I keep on getting the same problem

[Kbird1]

7 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

- If I remove the frame of the wall niche I get a brown texture that I want to replace by the one I used on the floor of the room. How can I expand that one inside the niche?

- Then, is it possible to change the color of the wall niche inside (not the whole wall)?

- The same way, is it possible to change the color of part of the wall?

- Now related to the cross section view, it’s almost impossible to select some objects because there are other elements in front of them. How can I do that? And, at the same time, why some objects aren’t visible in this view?

I know; too many questions. Sorry!

 

 

Where to start ? 

 

Turning the Frame Off in the Niche should just leave you with a drywalled opening , ( See TV Niche below)  so I suspect you wall definition may not be standard if you are seeing brown (probably the Framing?) however, for the desk area I would not use a Niche , but a Doorway with no Frame and use the Room Settings in the "Room" to apply floor coverings (carpet) etc, to match the Main Room and also to lower the Ceiling in the Makeup Area "Room" over the Desk. ( lower the Ceiling with an AIRGAP above the Ceiling Drywall so the Roof isn't effected.)

 

Wall Elevation Cameras only see what is in the room they are in, so it's possible you won't see objects in other Rooms , the View may also be back-clipped and thus you don't see objects outside the back-clip distance, however the Cross section view (pic no#2) is reversed ( niche should be on right not left) so I think you took it from the wrong side ?

* the strange Triangular lines in this view also tell me that you have not pulled the camera far enough past the surface of the wall..... those are actually the wall surface geometry triangles showing.

 

- Yes you can change the color of the Niche in the Material DBX ( probably says Drywall by default )

- Not all objects will be easily selectable in Elevation , you'd need to be more specific but I think you mean the Desk ? if the Cross section is through the desk? it will be very hard to select , best thing to do is in Plan View shorten the Desk surface so you see the End of the Object in the Elev. Camera then you can select it easily.

- Depending on the Material/situation you can use Wall coverings, Material Regions or even thin 3D Solids to put different materials on a Wall.

 

 

  

       

 

If you need the plan to look at let me know........

 

Mick.

 

.

[marlem2000]

13 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

however, for the desk area I would not use a Niche , but a Doorway with no Frame and use the Room Settings in the "Room" to apply floor coverings (carpet) etc, to match the Main Room and also to lower the Ceiling in the Makeup Area "Room" over the Desk. ( lower the Ceiling with an AIRGAP above the Ceiling Drywall so the Roof isn't effected.)

 

 

Hi, Mick! Many thanks for your help! Honestly, I don’t know exactly what you did with the doorway and the room view. I only work with this one to apply changes directly to the room and I understand I must work only with the doorway in this case.

The only thing I can do with it is just fill the hole left with a 3D Solid but I understand this is not the correct way to do it.

Talking about ceilings in the doorway (room specification) I’m lost.

Then, in the case of the wall coverings, I think they only can be applied on the sides (interior and exterior).

 

 

13 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

If you need the plan to look at let me know........

 

Sure! If you can share the plan to take a look it will be welcome. I guess I'll discover many new things.

[GeneDavis]

Your wall behind the desk niche is not like Mick's.  His is a "built" wall, by that I mean framed, so that finish surfaces (drywall with whatever finish is wanted) can be applied.  Yours looks like a single-layer something, which is why you get the lines.  And it is not the way a builder would build it.

[marlem2000]

57 minutes ago, GeneDavis said:

Yours looks like a single-layer something, which is why you get the lines.  And it is not the way a builder would build it.

 

Exactly, GeneDavis. This is the reason why I'm interested in finding out the proper way to do it.

[Kbird1]

5 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

in the case of the wall coverings, I think they only can be applied on the sides (interior and exterior).

 

Hi M, yes I think Gene is correct , it appears you have made 1 thick Wall?  eg 600mm rather than two walls at 100mm (2x4) like in you were drawing a Closet. you will see the difference in construction in my Pics above....

 

This may also explain your question about the Wall Coverings as you aree correct it can only be applied to either side ( or both) not the End, as you can see in my Pics there is a 100mm wall on the end too.

 

So make your Walls thin eg 50-100mm ..................

 

No Doorway shown                                       Doorway shown     

*Doorways can be hard to select in plan view once the frame is turned off

             

 

 

PLAN FILE : (default Chief Template Plan) :  M2000 - Forum Plan.plan

 

Mick

[marlem2000]

1 hour ago, Kbird1 said:

 

This may also explain your question about the Wall Coverings as you aree correct it can only be applied to either side ( or both) not the End, as you can see in my Pics there is a 100mm wall on the end too.

 

So make your Walls thin eg 50-100mm ..................

 

 

I don’t know if I understood correctly the plan. Is it just a good amount of walls together? In that case, it’s possible to apply different covers on each one but I don’t know if this is the right way to do the work.

[Kbird1]

2 minutes ago, marlem2000 said:

I don’t know if I understood correctly the plan

 

Looks right from here    or is something not working? 

 

* share your plan if needed , just make sure the plan is not open in Chief when you try to attach it to the Post, it also needs to be < less than 14mb in size.

 

Mick.

[marlem2000]

3 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

 

* share your plan if needed , just make sure the plan is not open in Chief when you try to attach it to the Post, it also needs to be < less than 14mb in size.

Here it goes. What is strange for me is I though the process would be more complicated. I could build those walls by myself but I didn't think about it.

test.zip

[Kbird1]

26 minutes ago, marlem2000 said:

Here it goes. What is strange for me is I though the process would be more complicated. I could build those walls by myself but I didn't think about it.

test.zip 7.93 MB · 0 downloads

 

Looks good to me , or is there an Issue?

 

I see you didn't lower the Ceiling above the Desk though........ so you can place the lights.....

 

                                                                           Open the Room DBX

    

 

 

 

 

Plan............ M2000_test.zip

 

 

Mick

 

[marlem2000]

23 minutes ago, Kbird1 said:

 

I see you didn't lower the Ceiling above the Desk though........ so you can place the lights.....

 

         

 

Right. I was planning to cover the hole up with a 3D solid and then adding the lights but I was not sure about the proper method so I  left it.

[Kbird1]

26 minutes ago, marlem2000 said:

Right. I was planning to cover the hole up with a 3D solid and then adding the lights but I was not sure about the proper method so I  left it.

 

Well a solid would work too , but you can check the plan I uploaded to see what I did too.

 

* the Lights will snap right to a Ceiling though which is one advantage.

 

Mick.

[marlem2000]

11 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Well a solid would work too , but you can check the plan I uploaded to see what I did too.

 

* the Lights will snap right to a Ceiling though which is one advantage.

 

Mick.

 

True! I didn't know how to do it but I think I have found the way. As always, tons of thanks, Mick!

[Kbird1]

Looks fine , you might have to play with the lights though --- see the light ring around them? perhaps they are just too bright , but the light looks like it is blaeeding into the ceiling so the light maybe a little too high/low ie buried partially in the ceiling/solid material.

 

M.

[marlem2000]

3 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

Looks fine , you might have to play with the lights though --- see the light ring around them? perhaps they are just too bright , but the light looks like it is blaeeding into the ceiling so the light maybe a little too high/low ie buried partially in the ceiling/solid material.

 

M.

I know. I'm getting big fights with lights since I don't know how to set them. By default (tilt angle: -90º,) they look like in the pictures. I can't notice much difference between 2850 lumens and 100; I don't know why. I always try to play with the standard view and physically based one but they both are totally different and that messes me up.

[Kbird1]

4 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

I know. I'm getting big fights with lights since I don't know how to set them. By default (tilt angle: -90º,) they look like in the pictures. I can't notice much difference between 2850 lumens and 100; I don't know why. I always try to play with the standard view and physically based one but they both are totally different and that messes me up.

 

Yes it's best to do a SAVE AS version of the Plan if you really need PBR ,eg My Plan_PBR , as the lighting and even material properties can need to be quite different as well as the Sun Lumens. Chief Balances the sunlight against the Interior Lights ( no I don't know why )  but Chief sets the sun to maximum by Default which is 100,000 Lumens whereas you can probably get away with 500-5000 lumens depending on the scene.

 

 

There is this KB Article have you seen it ?  Under the Green Tools button on the right, you can also download the KBA as a PDF.

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00777/working-with-lighting.html

 

or these Videos

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2426/physically-based-rendering-technique.html?playlist=102

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2430/light-sets.html?playlist=102

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/70/rope-lighting.html?playlist=102

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/83/advanced-materials.html?playlist=102

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/10210/material-properties-how-to-import-set-the-pattern-visualize-in-3d.html?playlist=170

 

Mick.

[marlem2000]

10 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Yes it's best to do a SAVE AS version of the Plan if you really need PBR ,eg My Plan_PBR , as the lighting and even material properties can need to be quite different as well as the Sun Lumens. Chief Balances the sunlight against the Interior Lights ( no I don't know why )  but Chief sets the sun to maximum by Default which is 100,000 Lumens whereas you can probably get away with 500-5000 lumens depending on the scene.

 

 

 

Talking about lights is complicated. I’ve been checking some of the links you sent and making tries in Chief Architect but the result is not clear.

For example, I’m working on a ship cabin design but I don’t know why the first room of the suite is dark and the second one is full of light in the physically based view.

Then, I think my graphic card is not working properly. I love night views but when I click on “toggle sunlight” the preview screen becomes totally black (it only happens with this option) and I need to remove the camera and open it again.

There are so many questions about lighting… Maybe it would be better to talk about this in other post in order to avoid a mess for users...

[SusanC]

Hi Marlem,

There is a great series of videos on Ray Tracing on the Chief Architect website under Training Videos.  See attached screen shot to know what to look for.  The series is really well done and will help explain how this all works and how to get good settings for the lights.  The woman who narrates it also teaches for Chief through their One on One Personal Training program.  

I agree with Mick, if you want to play around with the Ray Tracing, make a copy of your plan so you can adjust lights.    

Good luck and let us know how it goes!    

Susan

[Kbird1]

11 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

For example, I’m working on a ship cabin design but I don’t know why the first room of the suite is dark and the second one is full of light in the physically based view.

 

Chief is probably seeing the 2nd area as a different Room and by default Chief only lights the Room the camera is in by Default , do you even have light(s) in the second area? ( where the bed is ).

 

It is possible your GTX 960 is struggling with PBR and it can not do  PBR-RTRT I think  ( PBR is the same as X12 , PBR-RTRT (Real time Raytacing) is in X13/X14 but the Videocard must support RTX from Nvidia , which the 960 does not have , you need a 2000,3000, or 4000 Series Videocard for that.

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03146/identifying-the-shader-model-of-your-graphics-card-in-windows.html

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00106/troubleshooting-3d-camera-view-display-problems-in-chief-architect.html

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-01025/message-your-video-card-is-unable-to-provide-optimum-3d-performance.html

 

M.

[marlem2000]

4 hours ago, SusanC said:

Hi Marlem,

There is a great series of videos on Ray Tracing on the Chief Architect website under Training Videos.  See attached screen shot to know what to look for.  The series is really well done and will help explain how this all works and how to get good settings for the lights.  The woman who narrates it also teaches for Chief through their One on One Personal

Many thanks for the links, Susan! I'll check them out in the upcoming days since I've been working with lights configuration and it's a bit messy.

 

2 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Chief is probably seeing the 2nd area as a different Room and by default Chief only lights the Room the camera is in by Default , do you even have light(s) in the second area? ( where the bed is ).

 

I have recessed lights in the dark area but they don't reflect enough. Probably they need a proper configuration. For the moment lights in the plan are too weak.

 

2 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

 

It is possible your GTX 960 is struggling with PBR and it can not do  PBR-RTRT I think  ( PBR is the same as X12 , PBR-RTRT (Real time Raytacing) is in X13/X14

but the Videocard must support RTX from Nvidia , which the 960 does not have , you need a 2000,3000, or 4000 Series Videocard for that.

 

I was checking my shader model and it seems it's enough for the programme. Maybe I should come back to version X12. Probably X14 is too much for my graphic card (and for me too!).

[Kbird1]

5 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

I have recessed lights in the dark area but they don't reflect enough. Probably they need a proper configuration. For the moment lights in the plan are too weak.

 

In Standard View the lights need to be set much higher that in PBR to show and real effect , but also in the pics above there is only a couple of small recess light i can see and no light coming from the exterior ( windows or Doors) so you may need to ADD Lights ( these are "invisible" lights in 3D ) to help illuminate the space better.

 

5 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

I was checking my shader model and it seems it's enough for the programme. Maybe I should come back to version X12. Probably X14 is too much for my graphic card (and for me too!)

 

Your card looks fine for X14 , I can see it supports Extended Formats too , which is also important for X13 and X14 , but as the 960 does not support RTX technology you could try turning off GPU Ray Tracing and see if views still go black.

 

If this is a Laptop? you should make sure that Chief is using the Nvidia Card not the Intel Graphics card and that it is using the best Driver for it (Ver. 526.86) too....  3rd Pic....

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03140/forcing-chief-architect-programs-to-use-a-specific-graphics-card-in-windows-10-11.html

 

 

 

      

 

M.

[marlem2000]

12 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

so you may need to ADD Lights ( these are "invisible" lights in 3D ) to help illuminate the space better.

 

 

 What do you mean with "invisible" lights? Maybe some hidden lights behind a forniture or something?

 

12 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Your card looks fine for X14 , I can see it supports Extended Formats too , which is also important for X13 and X14 , but as the 960 does not support RTX technology you could try turning off GPU Ray Tracing and see if views still go black.

 

The problem is that it's not posible to edit the GPU Ray Tracing in my case. I don't know why.

12 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

 

 

If this is a Laptop? you should make sure that Chief is using the Nvidia Card not the Intel Graphics card and that it is using the best Driver for it (Ver. 526.86) too....  3rd Pic....

 

 

 

My computer is not a laptop but it's old. In my signature you can check my hardware specifications.

[Kbird1]

4 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

 What do you mean with "invisible" lights? Maybe some hidden lights behind a forniture or something?

 

 

this can be done by navigating to 3D> Lighting> Add Lights      but since you can't see them in 3D cameras you can place them anywhere , more about it near the bottom here :

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00777/working-with-lighting.html

 

4 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

The problem is that it's not possible to edit the GPU Ray Tracing in my case. I don't know why.

 

I guess because your Card does not support it , so Chief has already disabled it.

 

4 hours ago, marlem2000 said:

My computer is not a laptop but it's old. In my signature you can check my hardware specifications.

 

I can see in the pics above your computer has (2) Graphics cards , so you do need to check the Render Tab in Chief and make sure Chief is using the Nvidia Card. Show me your Render Tab pls.

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03140/forcing-chief-architect-programs-to-use-a-specific-graphics-card-in-windows-10-11.html

 

     

 

M.