Rendering

Determine the settings and save the rendered view in a file in the Rendering dialog box.

Image size

At the default setting, 1 x window size, the image will be saved at the size of the working window. You can change this value if necessary. Suitable factors are values between 2 and 4. A factor of 0.5 will shrink the image to half its size.

If you wish to select another size, clear the field x window size. Select a size from the list or enter the desired size in the field (width x height).

Indirect lighting

Select this checkbox when you want the rendering to take the reflection of indirect light off surfaces into account. This method is particularly suited for rendering interiors. First, open an interior view in the model window by flying inside the model, for example. Indirect lighting requires a direct light source, for example light coming from outside or a light component. You can adjust the intensity of the environment lighting to higher than when rendering the outside. Under Environment lighting, select Intensity = 25, for example.

The software calculates the reflection of indirect light off surfaces and generates a rendered image based on the calculations.

The calculation takes some time. You can limit the calculation time by determining when the calculation will end. The calculation will continue until one of the limit values is reached:

• % energy used - The calculation will continue until a certain amount of the energy from the light sources has been distributed in the environment. Enter the percentage value in the text field.

• seconds passed - The calculation will continue until a certain period has elapsed. Enter the time in seconds in the text field.

A preview image is refreshed in the model window in the course of the calculation. The progress of the calculation is displayed on the status bar. If you interrupt the calculation by pressing the Esc key, the rendering will use the results achieved so far.

The calculation is a one-time operation. The result is not stored in the model, but it will be available for as long as the model or project is open. If you want to use an existing calculation result, select Use previous solution.

Select one of the following as the rendering quality:

• Best quality - Materials, lights and background are taken into account. Transparency is calculated. Stark color contrasts are softened.

• Medium - Materials, lights and background are taken into account. Transparency is calculated.

• Fast - Materials, lights and background are taken into account. The transparency will not be calculated.

Environment lighting

You can use a lighting method based on an environment image in the rendering process. The prerequisite is that an environment light (light type: environment) has been added to the model and the light is on. You can add an environment light from the light library or load a studio (Default) with an environment light into the model.

Add a Light
Load Studio

You can switch the lighting method on and off by selecting or clearing the Environment lighting checkbox.

Select an environment image with the File button. The default folder ../system/lw/hdr. The environment images provided by the software supplier can be found in the folder. The folder holds both hdr files as well as jpg or png files for previewing them. Select a hdr file. If you want to use your own environment images, you can save them in the same folder.

An environment image can be any panoramic image suitable for the purpose, but a hdr image that is created specifically for this purpose will produce the best lighting. An environment image can also be an image which produces a photographic studio style lighting.

You can adjust the most important shading properties of the environment light using the following sliders:

• Saturation - The saturation of the light provided by the environment image. At a value of 0, the saturation is the same as in the original image. Negative values up to -1 reduce saturation. At -1, the light color is purely in gray scale. The values from zero to one increase the saturation of the original environment image.

• Intensity - Individual to each hdr environment image. You can find the intensity through trial and error. Try values between 1 and 20 first. You can also try a value under 1. When you are rendering an interior, and Indirect lighting is selected, you can select a higher value for the intensity of the environment lighting, for example 25.

• Nr of samples - The most essential parameter. The rendering precision of shadows can vary between 0 and 8,000. Values below 100 produce fast but rough and lined shadows. High values are better suited for the final rendering, but the render time may be long, depending on the hardware performance. The software supplier's recommendation for the preview precision is, approximately, 100, while 500-2,000 is recommended for the final render.

Other shading properties can be edited with the Advanced button. The button opens the Light edit dialog box.

Light Shading Properties

By default, an environment image is not displayed as the background image of a rendered model. If the resolution of the image is sufficiently high, it can also be used as a background image. If necessary, you can add a background to the model from the background library.

You can also add an environment image to the model using the function Set Environment.

Set Environment

Stop before saving

Select this checkbox, when you want to edit the exposure of the view after rendering, before you save the file. Adjust the exposure with the Min and Max sliders. Once you have made the desired modifications, save the view in a file using the Save button.

When the checkbox is unselected, the rendered view will be saved directly into a file. Determine the file name and save location before rendering by using the Image file button.

Render

Click the button to activate rendering. The following options are available when saving a view:

• The rendered view is saved directly into a file when Stop before saving is not selected. Determine the file name and save location before rendering by using the Image file button.

• When Stop before saving is selected, you can edit the exposure of the view after rendering before you save the image by clicking the Save button. Adjust the exposure with the Min and Max sliders. The Save button will be available once you have determined the file name and save location using the Image file button.

Image file

Determine the file name and save location before rendering/saving a view. The following file types are available:

• JPEG Images (*.jpg, *.jpeg)

• PNG images (*.png)

• BMP images (*.bmp)

• PostScript files (*.ps)

• TGA images (*.tga)

• TIFF images (*.tif, *.tiff)

• HDR files (*.hdr)

Select Save to return to the Rendering dialog box.

Save

The button is available when Stop before saving is selected and you have determined the file name and save location with the Image file button. You can adjust the exposure of the image with the Min and Max sliders before saving.

Quit

Close the dialog box and return to the modeling mode.

Note

• The settings will remain valid until you change them by selecting the Save Rendered View function again. The same settings are used when you render a model with the Draft > Render function.

Render a Model