Screwy Shadows... what's going on???

[rbrodie]

Be aware that the BACK FACE (-) of a surface does not block a light source.

The Raytraced Views (not rendered with Open GLare) recognize a surface from either side when it comes to shadows, but there is really a + side and a - side to each surface. Of course, we hope this is a "right handed thumbs up" in the CAD world!

Man, this is interesting!

How can I learn everything there is to know in the next 5 seconds!!!

Wish I could plug into some Matrix chip before dinner.

[lbuttery]

Chief Ver X1 is expected to have the "Instant Guru" feature

Lew

[Allen42acj]

No problem that I can think of..

[rbrodie]

No problem that I can think of..

Allen, what I seem to be discovering regarding parapet walls is that if one places a rail wall along the top edge of a roof, then it is impossible to have any solid parapet wall portion directly underneath that length of rail wall... because the rail wall will automatically remove the solid wall portion.

So if a solid parapet wall portion is desired along the top edge of a roof, along with a decorative rail design to be placed directly above the solid parapet portion, then one has to instead create a polyline solid rail configuration to achieve this kind of design. (Please see pic attached.)

At least I THINK that my thinking is correct, but maybe I am missing a better way to do this?

Thanks.

[rbrodie]

Robert,

-Open a new plan, re-adjust your render settings under preferences, save it as your default profile (art>templates)

-Adjust lights icon will not appear when you’re in “render view” instead go to 3D> Adjust lights>select any light>adjust.

Chiefer, I think my problem may have been a corrupted file --- and that was causing my "Lighting Specifications" yellow light-bulb icon (in full render overview) to get screwed up so that there was no choice of changing altitude and degree of shadows.

I think what may have caused this file corruption was the fact that I was drawing polyline solid parapet walls at the top of the roof --- but creating a camera elevation of the building WHILE THE PLAN WAS ON LEVEL 1. Thus the polyline solid parapet wall appeared on Level 1, whereas it was being place in the elevation drawing on Level 3 (at the rooftop).

[COLOR=blue]At least this is what I believe may have caused the corruption.[/COLOR]

I re-created a more simplistic replica of the same design file which happened to have the corrupted yellow light-bulb icon, BUT THIS TIME MAKING SURE THAT MY PLAN WAS AT THE ROOF LEVEL BEFORE USING THE CAMERA TO CREATE THE ELEVATION FOR DRAWING THE POLYLINE SOLID PARAPET. (Please see pic attached of the simplistic replica where everything seems to work great with my shadow issues.)

And so far so good... and I have continuously been able to adjust the azimuth of my shadows. (Hope this is really the reason that my file got screwed up.)

[Chiefer]

THanks for sharing your discovery...I learn something today,

[Allen42acj]

Rob
There has been post on how to do that..
To early to remember how..Depending how much you need to do ,rails might be longer..

[Allen42acj]

A bit of caffeine and things are much clearer

[rbrodie]

A bit of caffeine and things are much clearer

Yes, I see what you mean in your picture... however, for a project where the rail wall's newel posts are NOT to go all the way down to the top surface of the roof is my true goal (as previously shown in the pic above (e.g. the pic with the rooftop stairway going between the 2 rooftop levels).

So unless I am missing something in Chief (and of course being a Newbie I realize that I may indeed be missing something), I myself have only been able to create the type of parapet that I truly want with polyline solids (which polyline solids created the pic above).

Nonetheless, I sure wish there was a faster way for me to create the parapet that I want... simply because creating polyline solids and then moving them carefully into position takes much, much longer.

Thanks to everyone for all your comments.

[Allen42acj]

Is this one you use a lot?Do you have a detail I might be able to make you a rail symbol..

[rbrodie]

If anyone would like to see how my yellow light-bulb icon is corrupted (e.g. the icon that appears during full camera render overview which normally produces the LIghting Specifications dbx... but instead in this fils produces an "adjust lights" list), I have uploaded here.

Thanks!

Robert

[rbrodie]

Is this one you use a lot?Do you have a detail I might be able to make you a rail symbol..

Yes, I will be using this kind of parapet a lot.
Will the uploaded file help you see what the section looks like?
Wow, that would be great.
Don't even know what a "rail symbol" is yet... still wading through the training videos while preparing for a job that will use this type of parapet.
Thanks Allen!

[Allen42acj]

If this is close enough,import with the wizard as millwork.
Set you railings as panel=use it as the panel..You need to set the size of the posts and off set them..

[rbrodie]

If this is close enough,import with the wizard as millwork.
Set you railings as panel=use it as the panel..You need to set the size of the posts and off set them..

Thanks Allen. Have downloaded it to do my first wizard thing --- but have to be gone for most of day ---will get back to you if I get stuck. But seems like what you have sent me will work very well.

[COLOR=blue]In the meantime, I do have another question before I study what you have sent me: it seems in your attached picture that the lower solid parapet wall portion is not as thick (e.g. 10.25 inches) as the posts themselves... [/COLOR]
[COLOR=blue][/COLOR]
[COLOR=blue]So can this "non-similar wall and post thickness" be easily adjusted by me at my end -- or would I need to first alter the "rail symbol" in the zip before using the wizard? (Am I suddenly trying to go thru the Advanced Doorway in Alice in Wonderland, or are we still in Newbie-ville?)[/COLOR]
[COLOR=blue][/COLOR]
[COLOR=blue]Thank you for all your continued interest in this parapet issue.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#0000ff][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#0000ff]Robert[/COLOR]

[Allen42acj]

Your welcome
It might be better to make a new symbol the thickness you want it..You can try different wall thicknesses as railings..
For a railing(top part)I just drew one and exported it,and then got rid of the post in Turbo Cad..Imported back as a symbol..