3D view placed on layout is blank

[canvea]

Hi,
I have a problem with 3d views showing up as white/blank when placed on a layout. I have tried Fit frame to Drawing, Full Precision Preview etc and they are on Auto-update. If I right-click and pick "Open source view" it looks just as it should in the 3D window. They also appear blank when I publish, which is a big problem. Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug?

Thanks in advance for any response!

Archicad 23, Windows 10 Pro, graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro P4000

[Miha_M]

I once had a problem just like this one.
For some strange reason, without my interaction, the drawing's layer visibility had been changed to hidden.
Even after changing the layer to visible the publisher resulted in empty layouts. My solution was moving all drawings to the default Archicad layer, which is always on.

I hope your solution could be that simple.

[4dProof]

I think the randomly self-altering layout book layer combo is another bug all together. The OP is talking about the drawing's contents showing blank. If you "open source view", the 3d looks right, but won't show on the layout within the drawing frame.

[Minh Nguyen]

Hello,

Thank you for the report and I am very sorry about the bad experience!

Once in a while, we had a similar report like this one. But due to the lack of a reproduction method, so far we were unable to reproduce the issue. Our colleague made a checklist on what we need to pay attention to for the investigation:

• First, we would like to know the Archicad versions and OS you are using
• Are the drawings set to auto or manual update? If it’s manual, does setting to Auto solve the issue?
• Are they set Fit to Frame, Crop to Frame, or Manually Resize to Frame? Does changing on that setting help?
• Does it happen after a particular step (e.g. publishing, saving etc.)? Could you point out anything, after it changed?
• Does it happen in Teamwork only or on the Solo file too?
• Was there any recent operating system update?
• If it’s a Teamwork file, does it happen to everyone simultaneously?
• Does it happen to all projects on the same computer or only one?
• Are all graphic card drivers updated? Is the drawing missing from the published PDF/printed document?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best regards,

Minh

[4dProof]

thank you for your response Minh. I totally understand the difficulties in trouble shooting something that is so random and spotty. I have tried for years to find a consistent trigger for this issue.

-this has been an issue ever since 3d views have been able to be placed to a layout, as far as I can remember. I don't recall a version of Archicad that didn't have this issue.

-this issue happens with auto AND manual update. It is particularly frustrating when set to manual, as you go through the trouble to update drawings, publish, then realize your 3d views are blanks on the PDF set you are about to send to a client/contractor

-again, it happens consistently with all crop/resize/scale/fit settings

-No consistent step triggers this. Sometimes they go blank after updating. Sometimes they show blank immediately after placing. Sometimes they just appear blank after opening a layout.  There is no obvious trigger or consistent step leading to this issue.

-Teamwork and .pln equally

-I have been using AC for 15+ years, on every Mac OS and one Windows OS, and EVER AC release/build over that 1.5 decades, and it has happened, as I said before, since we have been able to place 3d views to layouts.

-For t/w local data, it does appear to work for some users and not for others, so it isn't tied to server data; but the fact that it happens in .pln, .pla, .mod files in equal measure would indicate it is somehow a local data issue anyway. It will work for one computer and not for another even when both computers have identical install, software, hardware, and OS configurations.

-It does not happen to all projects open in separate instances at the same time. It appears to be completely random.

-Graphic card drivers are across the board... and yes, it is missing from the published pdf or printed document.

Ultimately, this is an issue with releasing software with unresolved features and capabilities. I wouldn't mind if I simply had to save a .jpg/.png or place as a 3d document to get the perspective/axon onto a sheet. Those are viable work arounds that work consistently (even if they don't have a preferred graphic/appearance). It would be great to see GS whittle out all the shoddy half working "features" in order to get an authoring tool that was just a little more 'bullet proof'. I do a lot of consultation, helping users trouble shoot all kinds of things like this, and it does not reflect well on me or the tool I am trying to use when I have to tell a client "well, sometimes Archicad just sucks and craps all over your day like this". But that is often time the best I consolation I can give when things are so random and hit or miss like this.

[benjamin_chan1]

I've had this happen to AC25 with latest build

it seems to happen on Teamwork files more often than solo for me 

[benjamin_chan1]

I had it happen on a teamwork file just now, saved it as solo project, open and repair, problem fixed, but the 3D views resolution gets changed (and I have to resize them again) 

I have a feeling it's to do with different computer's monitors' resolutions - AC gets confused when switching between different users (on teamwork) resolutions

[Lingwisyer]

Check the Colour Setting in the Drawing Tool.

Not sure about being blank on publish... are you able to share the file, or a cut down file where the problem persists?



Ling.

[canvea · Accepted solution]

I discovered my desktop background also had issues (it was black, only displaying the photo behind the activated desktop icons), then I opened Task Manager and restarted Windows Explorer and voilá! Now the views are displayed correctly. So it seems there was an issue with my computer somehow.

[Lingwisyer]

Update your graphics drivers?

[4dProof]

I manage systems for a few offices. the biggest of which has nearly 50 users on various configurations. The issue persists or at least pops up on virtually all hardware/software/OS configurations, for virtually all builds of AC. The hard thing is, it works most of the time, but falls apart when I really need it to work (usually right before a deadline or a meeting)

[canvea]

Lingwisyer wrote:
Update your graphics drivers?

I did that as well, but it didn't work until I restarted Windows Explorer.

[ksjhawk]

Having a similar issue on Mac. In a teamwork file, I am able to see the 3D views in the layout, but two others are not on the same layout. Will check graphics cards, but any other ideas?

[Anonymous]

Looks like a persisting bug in Archicad. Archicad 24 on Windows 10 had exactly the same issue. Restarting Archicad helped.

canvea wrote:

Lingwisyer wrote:
Update your graphics drivers?

I did that as well, but it didn't work until I restarted Windows Explorer.

[4dProof]

thank you for confirming this is NOT a mac issue... tired of the frustration of dealing with the finger pointing at OS/Hardware as a scape goat

[4dProof]

this is apparently one of those "forever bugs" that we are just going to have to deal with, I guess. It's been an issue for as long as we've been able to place 3d views onto layouts. I hear all the responses deflecting this to an OS problem, but I can recreate it randomly on several computers. So far, the only solution I have found is to restart the computer, try again, then restart again, then try again, then duplicate or save as and open that file and try again, then throw my computer through the window out of pure rage and kick the wall until my toe hurts and I forget about my frustrations for a hot second... then go buy a new computer and repeat until it works again.

[Stuart Smith]

Can confirm this issue. Placing 3D views on layouts is unreliable. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. There is no rhyme or reason.

Our workaround is to only place 3D Documents, but often they don't look as nice, and take longer to update, so it's not ideal. Plus it's an additional step to save the 3D View, then create a 3D Document.

Graphisoft, please investigate this issue!

[Jp1138]

Just had this issue in latest Archicad 25 4013 SPA. It was a solo file and I only noticed when published layouts came blank. Restarting windows made the trick. Weird.

[designtech_julius]

Is this resolved with the Mac version?

I'm having issues with this on my mac with Monterey 12.3.1.

Seems that I have to use windows version until there is a fix