Topic Title

I am wanting to be able to print in large format, at least a 20"x30" print, Datacad generated models. Datacad 11 doesn't seem to support the texture mapping in perspective mode to print direct to a color plotter or export to PDF during printing, and o2c doesn't allow a great enough resolution, about 5x7" seems it's best, when exporting the allowed BMP's.

What are others doing to obtain a quality rendering?
Something I am missing in the software?
Third Party product suggestions?

Thanks for your response in advance,

Have you tried using a Photo software program after generating your rendering... That's what I have done in the past with Virtual Reality...

I had come across the same situation with rendering. If you want to render the images so they look good, you will need other software. You might want to look into getting SketchUp. They have a demo version you can download and see if it is what your looking for. Its very easy to use. all you have to do is import a .DWG file from DataCAD.

Hello:

Have you considered o2c Interactive! which DataCAD sells? (It is a $200 download or for the CD-ROM.) It takes o2c to a much higher level, and it definitely renders high resolutions with raytacing. The best thing about it, is that it has what are essentially GTV's for material schemes. It also does batch rendering.

I have o2c interactive, and sketchup,
o2c is okay and not a problem at higher resolutions,
Sketchup is great! everyone should have this program,

but the one I use for all rendering now is "Piranesi"

http://www.informatix.co.uk/piranesi/index.shtml

it takes your datacad model and turns it into a work of art,
even at about $700 I can't recommend it high enough,
it has easily paid for itself.

I have other architects contacting me to render their projects.

you might check out their demo

We have been using DataCAD's Visual Reality (first released with v8) and Visual Image for post editing. VR allows very high resolution (customizable) and multiple output formats (tga, tiff, bmp, jpg, ras, etc. )

Another method is to input into Microsoft Powerpoint and use the custom sheet output and specify you own, but this is only presenting a finished rendering.

DataCAD Plus includes DC_Vis (Arcon-based) though I prefer Visual Reality for ease of use and flexibility in output.

Lightworks produces some very realistic images (...it's in the lighting!) and is starting to appear bundled into several CAD systems - Spirit12 (German DataCAD), Revit, Archicad...

Hope this helps.

I also use Visual Reality for high quality renderings. I find the quality in VR to be significantly better than what I am capable of with O2c. I use O2c all the time for the modeling phase - it works great and it seems so seemless with DataCAD compared to VR. But the final output of VR is so much better. The problems with VR are the controls are somewhat bulky and you have to export everything from DataCAD for VR separately. Also it is a decade old program.

Wouldn't it be nice to have the seemlessness and ease of use of O2C combined with the quality of VR? Hopefully that is in the works.

Hi.

I also use and like VR/Renderize for my renderings.

A couple of the areas that I think o2c falls short in actually doing "renderings", is not being able to tweak and save the views in order to get everything just right ... then be able to easily go back to those exact views, or the ability to easily control the position of the sun in order to cast shadows that look best for the rendering. Also, it is much easier to deal with adding your own materials and textures. The intent for scaling VR/Renderize materials and textures is to size things to "look good" for the picture, not necessarily to "real" scale. Also, VR/Renderize makes it easy to add trees, people, cars, etc. ... that I often scan in from newspaper inserts, my real photos, etc. I do use actual 3d models of cars, which takes more time to get to look decent, since it is nearly impossible to get "flat" car images to look right and to cast decent shadows. My renderings always seem to look pretty "blah" until these scale figures, trees, etc. are added, which really brings the project to life. Take a look on my web site for a few of the renderings that I have done.

In my opinion, o2c is great as a "study tool", but does not cut it as a rendering tool ... and I haven't researched any other high-end rendering tools, since I am happy with the results of VR/Renderize.

Once I get my house model and lot where I want it in DataCAD I export to trueSpace. I apply textures (I use actual product photos from the manufacturer or photos I’ve taken) to my DataCAD model. I then add trees, plants, cars, etc that I have saved as "templates" pre-textured.

You can't beat a good third part program; I can set up different lighting, camera angles, animation/flythroughs, etc.

TrueSpace is pretty affordable when compared to 3DStudio or Lightwave. And because I’m importing my DataCAD model I don't have to worry about trying to get an accurate model from trueSpace.

Renderise Live is fine for this. With modern hardware, it crunches out pictures that are probably beyond its creators' wildest dreams. It defaults to 640 x 480 but I usually export 6400 x 4800 TGAs, which take about one minute to produce. I don't know why DataCad doesn't still provide this gem. O2C is a valuable asset but isn't in the race when it comes to the serious stuff.
I wouldn't particularly recommend it but it may be possible to use a low res o2c picture by running it through Genuine Fractals.
Bear in mind also the end use. I have produced stuff for 60" wide printing and this was ex Geniune Fractals but I still kept it down to 9000 pixels wide for print at 150 dpi, which turns out to be more than enough.
Things can get a bit serious in the file management department if you're not careful

You still use RL? I couldn't get it to do much more than the equivalent of cardboard mockups, had trouble making a decent animation, couldn't do lights. I think VR is MUCH better, although a long learning curve. I have often stated that I wish MMadura could just buy the old software and tweek it a bit & include with DataCAD. As long as the old program works, I'm sticking with it. Could you provide a link or image of a sample of your RL work?

[quote="DBrennfoerder"]You still use RL? I couldn't get it to do much more than the equivalent of cardboard mockups, had trouble making a decent animation, couldn't do lights. I think VR is MUCH better,

I think there is a bit of a problem with nomenclature here. RL is the rendering package within the VR suite. maybe you mean Renderstar, a programme not for the fainthearted? I can send you my latest. It is 400k so PM me if you are interestested.

You're absolutely right, I forgot completely that the old program was RenderStar

Hi Nick.

Renderise Live is fine for this. With modern hardware, it crunches out pictures that are probably beyond its creators' wildest dreams. It defaults to 640 x 480 but I usually export 6400 x 4800 TGAs, which take about one minute to produce. I don't know why DataCad doesn't still provide this gem. O2C is a valuable asset but isn't in the race when it comes to the serious stuff.

I also export my final renderings at a much higher resolution than the default. I did a test awhile back, and even found that if the final prints are to be small (something printed on 8-1/2"x11", for example), the amount of detail is better if I export large, then reduce it using photo software, than if I export directly to the final image size.

I also cannot understand why VR/Renderize is not still part of the DataCad package.

Hello Steve:

I also cannot understand why VR/Renderize is not still part of the DataCad package.

Well...it's hard to sell a program that doesn't "exist" anymore -- I don't think the company exists, either. So, it's not supported, and I doubt that it would be legal -- other than that, it's fine!