Rendering

Commands: RENDER,  SHADEMODE

Rendering is the process of generating an image from a 3D model. The model contains the geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting and shading information. The result is a digital image which can be saved as a raster image file: bmp, jpeg or png.

Rendering in BricsCAD is based on the Redway3d rendering engine. By default the rendering engine will try to leverage the hardware on the graphics card. If experiencing problems, please switch off the RenderUsingHardware user preference. It is recommended to install the most recent drivers for your graphics card. The IsRedSdkHardwareRenderingSupported user preference reports if Red SDK hardware rendering is fully supported and the initial value of RenderUsingHardware user preference is set accordingly.

Setting the render preferences

  1. Open the Settings dialog.

  2. Under Program Options expand the Rendering settings category.

Render using hardware: Choose User software only (slower) if hardware rendering fails.

Lighting units: (not implemented yet) Web lights can be created only if the LIGHTINGUNITS system variable is set to 1 (American lighting units) or 2 (International lighting units).

Texture map path: The TextureMapPath user preference defines the search path for texture map images. In the BricsCAD program folder exist three subfolders under Textures, each containing a number of texture files of the same name. Images in folder 1 have a size of 256 x 256 pixels, folder 2 contains images of 512 x 512 pixels, images in folder 3 have a size of 1024 x 1024 pixels. If the Diffuse map setting of a material uses the image name only (not path), you can control the quality of a rendered image by setting the TextureMapPath user preference to folder 1, 2 or 3.

Rendering tools

Icon

Tool Name

Keyboard

Description

Render

render

Photorealistic rendering using materials and lights

Hide

hide

Hidden line view (*).

If the previous shademode option was 2Dwireframe, wireframe representation is restored if you zoom or pan. If the previous shademode option was other than 2Dwireframe, the hidden line representation is kept until a different shade mode is chosen.

Shade

shade

Shades the entities between the polygon faces. Curved surfaces are segmented.

2D Wireframe

shademode + 2

Wireframe representation

3D Wireframe

shademode + 3

Wireframe representation

Hidden

shademode + H

Hidden line view (*)

Flat

shademode + F

Shades the entities between the polygon faces. Curved surfaces are segmented

Gouraud

shademode + G

Shades the entities between the polygon faces. Curved surfaces are smoother and more realistic

Flat + Edges

shademode + L

Combines flat shading and wireframe lines and curves

Gouraud + Edges

shademode + O

Combines gouraud shading and wireframe lines and curves

Materials

materials

Opens the Drawing Explorer - Materials

Light List

lightlist

Opens the Drawing Explorer - Lights

Sun Properties

sunproperties

Opens the sun properties editor

Geographic Location

geographiclocation

Opens the Geographic Location dialog

 

(*) Set the  DISPSILH system variable On to display silhouette lines instead of a polygon mesh for curved surfaces.

 

Hidden line of a cone, a cylinder and a sphere with DISPSILH Off (left) and On (right).

 

To render a viewport

  1. Do one of the following

  2. Click the Render tool button () on the Rendering toolbar.

  3. Type render in the command bar, then press Enter.

The Render dialog displays:

  1. Click the OK button.
    The view is rendered.

The background of a rendered view is defined by the Background property of the view.

To save a rendering to a file

  1. Do one of the following

  2. Click the Render tool button () on the Rendering toolbar.

  3. Type render in the command bar, then press Enter.

The Render dialog displays.

  1. Click the File radio button (1) on the Render dialog.

  1. Type a name for the output file in the name field (2).

  2. Click the browse button (3).
    The Render Output File dialog displays.

  1. Select an output folder in the Save in field.

  2. Click the Save as type list button and select an image file type: bmp, jpeg or png.

  3. Click the Save button.
    The Render Output File dialog closes.

  4. Type the desired resolution for the output file in the Width and Height fields (4).

  5. Click the OK button to create the file.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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