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Modeling
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Shell tool resolution

Anonymous
Not applicable
When creating a shell tool with a curve, I ended up have the magic wand setting at a low resolution, I think around 16. Is there any way to increase this existing shells resolution without replacing it with a new object?
Thanks!
11 REPLIES 11
Barry Kelly
Moderator
The magic wand has no effect on the resolution of a shell.
In the attached image I had 2 different magic wand settings and the curved profile (was half of a long, flat ellipse) is identical.

The only resolution we can control is the resolution around the rotation axis of the revolved shells.

The resolution of the actual shell profile is all automatic based on what GS thinks we want. This was much worse than it is now during beta testing. We had a slight win to get the reolution improved but still it would be better if the user could set it.
Each curve in a profile has its own minimum and maximum number of segments based on a maximum deviation away from the true curve. I believe tha max number is set to 36. Hence small radius curves don't look to bad (look at the pointy end of the shell in this image) where as the flatter curves can look terrible and visually segmented as in this image.

There is a way of changing this but involves modifying registry values (Windows OS - there is an equivalent in Mac).

WARNING: modify registry values at your own risk.

These values can be changed and will affect what you see on that particular machine only.
I haven't played with them extensively but the tollerance value seems to be the most productive.
The lower the value the smoother the resolution of your profile.
i.e. the smaller the deviation from the true curve.
The existing shells will not alter straight away but will if you move or edit them in any way. Re-building the 3D view does nothing.
The image attached here has a tollerance value of 100 (which is the default).

The problem is as soon as the file is opened on another machine they will see the shell resolution set as with the default settings unless that machine registry has been modified as well.
So all machines that will open the file need to have the registry set the same - otherwise your model can change dramatically.
I stress I would not recommend doing this.
We need GS to implement an adjustable tollerence setting in the shell tool itself.

Barry.
shell_res.jpg
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
The registry keys.
There is an equivalent in Mac but I am not familar with that.
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
The same shells as in the previous image but with the registry value set to 10.

Of course this increases the polycount for the shell (from 4224 to 7486 in this case) which would probably be the reason why GS have set the limits as they have.

Barry.
shell_res_10.jpg
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
That's great! Thanks, I will play with that.

Kind of a side question, is this also how I would have to change settings to increase resolution with curved section within a complex profile?
Barry Kelly
Moderator
I haven't see a registry value for that.

The complex profiles seem to use the magic wand setting.
If set to "Best Match" it ignores all the settings and uses a maximum deviation of 1mm.
This will give the illution of a smooth profile i.e. no lines on the facets.

If you set it to "Linear" you can control it a little - the smallest deviation you can set is 1mm anyway so no difference there or you can set the number of segments in an arc/circle.
The problem with setting the magic wand to "Linear" is that your complex profiles will now show lines on all the facets.

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
David Maudlin
Virtuoso
mjkoarch wrote:
Kind of a side question, is this also how I would have to change settings to increase resolution with curved section within a complex profile?
One thread on this issue is here:
Custom Profile

David
David Maudlin / Architect
www.davidmaudlin.com
Digital Architecture
AC27 USA • iMac 27" 4.0GHz Quad-core i7 OSX11 | 24 gb ram • MacBook Pro M3 Pro | 36 gb ram OSX14
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thanks for the thread link.
I was afraid that it was controlled by the magic wand tool as this thread suggests. It would be nice to be able to draw in section and 3d with actual smooth curves!
Mike96
Advocate

@Barry Kellycan you please explain where exactly we should change the registry entry?

I know you don't reommend it.

But I'll do it anyway.

ArchiCAD 25

Windows 10

That was so long ago I can't remember what the settings actually do.

But if you open your Registry Editor and look for these keys, I think these are the ones you are after.

 

BarryKelly_0-1659608180526.png

 

 

But remember it will affect only your machine.

Open the file on another machine and the shells will be as they were before.

 

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
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