Interior Vector Elevations Issue

[UEvrWndrY]

Hi All, 

 

I am hoping someone smarter than myself may be able to shed some light on an issue I am having.  I have searched through the forums and knowledge base and cannot find anything on this issue already posted.

 

I am having some trouble with my interior colored vector view elevations.  I am a very new CA user, so it might be something very simple I am missing!

 

I am using CA X8 on an older, but not totally decrepit HP laptop. Intel i5 and Windows 10 w/ Intel 4000 Graphics, with drivers up to date. Kitchen and Bath design so all of my drawings are interior view based.

 

My issue is this:

 

When I create colored vector view elevations, views that are facing Up or "North" and Down or "South" as you look at the computer screen are perfect.  Views that are created Left or "West" and Right or "East" are significantly darker.  So much so it is to the point that you cannot make out some specific details such as the indicative grout lines on a custom back splash.  It is not an issue when the vector view is in B&W, only color.  The simple work around is to produce the views in B&W, but I need my custom comments and leader lines to be colored for certain documents and when you select the B&W vector, these colored comments go B&W also.

 

I cannot for the life of me figure out why.  It may just be my computer, but unfortunately the only other computer I currently have access to is an old XP machine that will not run CA, so I cannot test the theory.  The issue is uniform across all plans.  I have even downloaded some of the users plans posted here on the forums to see if it was the same on plans created by other users and it is.

 

I am attaching *.jpg images of the elevations as well as the plan they are from.  Notice on the "Left" view it is almost impossible to tell that there is a brick pattern in the back splash. Does anyone else have this issue?  Any advice would be appreciated!  It is bugging me and it will bother me to submit these drawings to a client with these noticeable issues.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Hannah

Station View Kitchen.plan

[DMDesigns]

Hello Hanna,

 

See if this helps.  And find many more ways to do cool stuff at ChiefTutor.com

 

 

--Dave

 

p.s. Happy Easter

[glennw]

Hannah,

 

I have a bit of a different take on this than Dave.

 

I believe that it is the Shading Contrast setting that is causing the problem - in the same dbx and panel as Dave was on.

This will cause different "auto shading" depending on the direction the material faces.

Set the Shading Contrast to zero and you will see your white tiles with the grey grout, as they were defined.

 

In elevation, notice the shading on the green (and white) round pendant lamp - it is darker in the middle and lighter on the left and right sides.

If you use the Adjust Material Definition tool and click on the green section and open the dbx for Twill Fog, set the shading contrast to zero, you will see the effect - there is no shading applied and the color becomes uniform. Ditto for the white material.

 

This is an automatic function that Chief uses in Vector views to distinguish faces that face different directions and have the same material.

 

I have sent in a request to have an option to turn this "feature" off because when it is applied to colored vector view elevations, each elevation will have this auto shading applied with the result that some elevations will be lighter/darker than others.

There is no other way that I know of to turn this auto shading feature off, other than to do it on a material by material basis.

 

In your plan, it is particularly noticeable on the surfaces that face left and right.

I note that you say the ones facing north and south are perfect - but I don't believe they are perfect - they are just not as bad as ones facing the other directions.

Open any of those elevations and change all the materials  Shading Contrast to zero and you will be surprised at the results. 

[MarkMc]

 

The simple work around is to produce the views in B&W, but I need my custom comments and leader lines to be colored for certain documents and when you select the B&W vector, these colored comments go B&W also.

 

You can have both and keep them live in the plan.

Attached screenshot-  This has two of the same views but with different layersets, one over the other. First sent to layout using plot lines, the used copy and past in place- dragged the side of the pasted layout box past the first one so it is easily selectable later, then changed the layerset-to get multiple colors for the text I put them on different layers. If this is something you will do all the time add the layersets to you default plan.

 

Except for details I keep notes on a seperate page so not something I'd likely use but since you are considering that the colors cabinets and such in vector view will vary depending on materials this may be a better option.

[UEvrWndrY]

Thank you all for your input.  Both of the material editing methods suggested will allow me to work around and make the elevations more uniform, so much appreciated!  It is sort of a shame though that I will have to edit every item on these walls though, I was hoping it was just an easy setting I had wrong somewhere! I do hope that CA will listen to Glenn's request and put in a feature to turn of the shading universally.

 

@Mark, I had not discovered that I could do that yet so thank you for that tip.  I do actually prefer to look at elevations in black and white, so I will set up some layer sets and see if I can get those overlays to work as you have.

 

Thanks much!

[TheKitchenAbode]

I have played with this way too long. I have isloated this down to what I believe is the problem. It appears that the Adjust Sun funtion for some reason is not connected to the Vector View or Glass House. Works fine in Std, Duo and Technical, Painting and Water Colour.

 

Graham

[dshall]

I have played with this way too long. I have isloated this down to what I believe is the problem. It appears that the Adjust Sun funtion for some reason is not connected to the Vector View or Glass House. Works fine in Std, Duo and Technical, Painting and Water Colour.

 

Graham

 

Graham,  I messed with it a bit.  Try opening the camera dvx and check SHOW SHADOWS.   I have a 3d vector with shadows,  I have a back clip cross section with no shadows  (I did not turn SHOW SHADOWS on),  and I have a BCCS camera with shadows on  (however very dark,  I did not spend time tweaking it.

[TheKitchenAbode]

Graham,  I messed with it a bit.  Try opening the camera dvx and check SHOW SHADOWS.   I have a 3d vector with shadows,  I have a back clip cross section with no shadows  (I did not turn SHOW SHADOWS on),  and I have a BCCS camera with shadows on  (however very dark,  I did not spend time tweaking it.

 

I know you can play with the shadows but the problem is as I mentioned that for some reason the adjust sun does not function for Vector view. Without this you can't even (balance) out the lighting to be even when shooting adjacent walls. This is why the lines in the tile show differently in the OP' elevations. You can test this by shooting an elevation at a 45 degree angle into a corner. In vector view one side will be of a different intensity than the other. Change view type to say technical, now you can go into the adjust sunlight and adjust the two sliders to get the light even on both walls.

 

Graham

[glennw]

In vector view one side will be of a different intensity than the other.

 

 

I am pretty certain that what I said in post #3 is correct and this has nothing to do with shadows. 

It has to do with the materials Shading Contrast setting.

Adjusting the sunlight in a Technical view has nothing to do with the original problem.

 

http://screencast.com/t/vAhNUs0Lh

[TheKitchenAbode]

I am pretty certain that what I said in post #3 is correct and this has nothing to do with shadows. 

It has to do with the materials Shading Contrast setting.

Adjusting the sunlight in a Technical view has nothing to do with the original problem.

 

http://screencast.com/t/kLg26vGYSKjx

 

I may be wrong but the fact that you can't adjust the sunlight in vector view is why you need to use your solution. As can be seen adjusting the contrast ratio does not correct for the difference in the overall wall colour between the scenes. This is because the sun angle is fixed and is striking the adjacent wall at an angle different that the other wall.

 

Graham

[glennw]

Graham,

 

As can be seen adjusting the contrast ratio does not correct for the difference in the overall wall colour between the scenes.

 

 

 

What do you mean by "between the scenes"?

[TheKitchenAbode]

Graham,

 

 

 

What do you mean by "between the scenes"?

 

The original poster showed several vector views taken from walls at right angles. The background wall colour displays at a different level of brightness. This is due to the sun angle being different. You can replicate this by shooting an elevation into the corner of two intersecting walls. You will notice that the wall color will be different. This is because the light used in the vector view is not striking the surfaces at the same angle. To overcome this you need to be able to adjust the angle and direction of the light source. In other view formats such as std, duo, technical, water colour & painting the sunlight adjustment works to provide this capability. From what I can determine this option does not function in vector or glass house views.

 

Graham

[glennw]

Graham,

 

The original poster showed several vector views taken from walls at right angles. The background wall colour displays at a different level of brightness. This is due to the sun angle being different

 

 

This effect is NOT being caused by the sun, shadows, etc.

It is being caused by the Shading Contrast setting which is Chief's auto shading (not shadows) in vector views.

I can do the same vector view as my vid with the shadows turned on - it makes no difference to what is happening.

 

You can replicate this by shooting an elevation into the corner of two intersecting walls. You will notice that the wall color will be different. This is because the light used in the vector view is not striking the surfaces at the same angle.

 

That is what I did in my vid.

What you say is correct.

BUT, the light used is Chief's auto Shading Contrast setting - not the sun or any other light source.

 

To overcome this you need to be able to adjust the angle and direction of the light source.

 

 

I disagree.

It has nothing to do with light sources.

The only way you can 100% overcome this effect is to change all the materials Shading Contrast to zero.

 

 

 

I have no problem displaying shadows in a vector view.

I can display shadows, adjust them, but it makes no difference to the root cause of this effect.

[TheKitchenAbode]

Glenn - Thanks for your detailed explanations concerning my observations and assumptions. It might be how I envision how these shadows/contrasts are determined  From my perspective they must be based upon some source of light, either the default generic sunlight or some other internal light source. The light source depending upon it's angle and direction would then determine the degree of shading/shadowing and it's angular direction. When the vector elevation is in color mode I assume based upon my former assumption that it would also impact on a colors intensity in respect to it's location in respect to the angular direction of the light source.

 

Not sure this helps to explain my thought process or it's validity. Just trying to understand this in order to obtain a better handle on how to get a desired appearance within realistic expectations.

 

Graham