BIM Coordinator Program (INT) April 22, 2024

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About Archicad's documenting tools, views, model filtering, layouts, publishing, etc.

Sun Settings in 3D Documenting - EDU

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hello people, first of all sorry if this is a solved problem in the forum, but i couldn't find it.

So, I'm preparing plan drawings with 3D Document but i think there's no option for the sun's angle or fill or whatever.

I'm using the Educational version, maybe that's why but idk.

Any solutions?
10 REPLIES 10
Barry Kelly
Moderator
That is odd - the full version has some shadow settings.
The EDU is the same software as the full version it is just the licence key that is different and the files are saved as EDU files.
Otherwise there should be no difference as far as I know.

Try turning the shadows off and then on again.
Maybe someone else with EDU can have a look.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thank you. I've already tried turning on and off, it's still the same. It's not very bad with the default settings but it'd be good to do some changes.
Eduardo Rolon
Moderator
If I remember correctly, sun shadow direction is based on how it was in the 3D Window at the moment you created the 3D Doc. To adjust the sun angle in the 3D Doc:

1. right click and select 'Open Source File" this should open the 3D Window
2. In the 3D Window right click and select "3D Projection Settings" and Edit the Sun
3. Right Click in the 3D Window and select "Redefine 3D Document" and choose the correct one.

-----
FYI the EDU and Commercial versions have the same features.
Eduardo Rolón AIA NCARB
AC27 US/INT -> AC08

Macbook Pro M1 Max 64GB ram, OS X 10.XX latest
another Moderator

Anonymous
Not applicable
Thanks but that only worked for perspective views, not for plans. I'm in a hurry with my work right now so default options are OK for me.

But it'd be good to know how to change sun and shadow settings, especially the opacity of shadows for 3d plan documents.
Eduardo Rolon
Moderator
Type of shadow is controlled by 3D Doc settings as shown by Barry.

To change sun position for 3D floor plans you need to edit the Location setting for the project and then update the 3D Floor Plan Doc by selecting "redefine"
Screen Shot 2014-05-24 at 11.41.12 AM.png
Eduardo Rolón AIA NCARB
AC27 US/INT -> AC08

Macbook Pro M1 Max 64GB ram, OS X 10.XX latest
another Moderator

Eduardo Rolon
Moderator
after changing and redefining
Screen Shot 2014-05-24 at 11.45.42 AM.png
Eduardo Rolón AIA NCARB
AC27 US/INT -> AC08

Macbook Pro M1 Max 64GB ram, OS X 10.XX latest
another Moderator

Barry Kelly
Moderator
ejrolon wrote:
Type of shadow is controlled by 3D Doc settings as shown by Barry.
Yes but notice in my screenshot I can change the shadow fill type and pen colours.
For some reason in Patrick's EDU version he can't.

ejrolon wrote:
To change sun position for 3D floor plans you need to edit the Location setting for the project and then update the 3D Floor Plan Doc by selecting "redefine"
In perspective/axonometric then you can also change the sun position in the '3D projection settings' but you must redefine your 3D document.
Not sure if this will affect the 3D doc from plan - don't have Archicad to test at the moment.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Barry Kelly
Moderator
Barry wrote:
In perspective/axonometric then you can also change the sun position in the '3D projection settings' but you must redefine your 3D document.
Not sure if this will affect the 3D doc from plan - don't have Archicad to test at the moment.
Yes it does.
Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Eduardo Rolon
Moderator
About the missing shadow settings I just saw the problem and it does not look like a bug.

When you create a New 3D Doc from a Perspective you can turn shadows on but the setting items are not available until you change either "Cut or Uncut Elements" item to any other option that is not "Own Surface Colors/Shaded"
Eduardo Rolón AIA NCARB
AC27 US/INT -> AC08

Macbook Pro M1 Max 64GB ram, OS X 10.XX latest
another Moderator

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