Is there a quick way of getting shadows into a 3D view?

[Anonymous]

I want to use normal 3D views for a presentation but was wondering if you could somehow get some sort of shadow effect without going into photorender mode?

TIA!

[Barry Kelly]

Not if you are using the OpenGL engine.
Switch to the Internal engine and then in the 3D windows setting dialogue you can turn shadows on.
Barry.

[Anonymous]

But then I get a pixellated picture with Internal?

I have tried it with Open GL and it gave me decent shadows but it took 30mins. Thats not quick lol!

I did Internal, Shading, Analytical with all shadows and contours on.

[Anonymous]

I've confused myself...

So in Internal, if I make the picture Analytical then I don't get the rasterized pixellated look. But it takes forever to download.

Anything I can switch off to make it move faster?

[Dwight]

With all due respect, you did NOT get shadows with Open GL. Shaded surfaces, perhaps - nothing was cast.

Yes, calculated shadows in Analytical Internal Engine views take a long time if there are many polygons in the scene. If you need shaded, vector images this is the option.

Many people feel that a simple rendering is faster than the analytical 3D with shadows.

Not a satisfying situation. I am again disappointed that while Open GL coding allows for the calculation of cast shadows, Graphisoft has not implemented this aspect.

[Anonymous]

As I said i confused myself Dwight. I don't know why I said I was getting shadows with Open GL. I meant Internal.

Photo rendering is probably faster but I am having the usual 'No memory' problem despite upping my ram, adding a graphics card and only marqueeing a section. I think its probably going to be quicker to throw the 3D Open GL image into Photoshop and create my own shadows.

I agree - if all the buttons are there, how hard would it be to implement a code to get shadows into a GL...

[Dwight]

If these images are taking so long, what excessive polygons can there be?

Usually this is:

— spanish tile roof
— 3D trees with leaves
— a corrupted or impossible 3D object - see report for warnings....

Try a rendering without the objects.....

[Anonymous]

Its my trees. Plus a vehicle. When I take them out, it takes minutes instead of decades to load. So I will play with this...

The other thing I have just realised is that none of the textures are coming through. Either the standard AC ones or my imported ones. Is there a way of resolving this?

[Dwight]

No textures in the Internal Engine.

The right hand giveth, the left hand taketh away.

In this case, the numerous subtleties can overwhelm a newbie. Even once you have studied the descriptions and limitations of each rendering method, they don't have meaning until you are frustrated enough to scream, already!

[Anonymous]

Dwight wrote:
In this case, the numerous subtleties can overwhelm a newbie. Even once you have studied the descriptions and limitations of each rendering method, they don't have meaning until you are frustrated enough to scream, already!

You can say that again.

Sometimes, I feel like some mad scientist trying to mix just the right ingredients to make the potion of eternal youth only to find I've stuffed it up and managed only to make cordial.

But sometimes I've managed to get the mix just right, only to find I forgot to right down the stupid ingredients and I can't remember the combination again.

Oh well - its off to Photoshop with my drawings...

Thanks for all your help.