A few questions prior to purchase... - Capture

SoMidwest

New Member

Posts: 0

2/16/2012 8:45 PM

Greetings! First & formost, congrats on having the easiest to use and best looking visualiser! (My opinion) I am have a few questions about importing DXF geometry into a scene: *Is it possible to import more than once into the same show file? The only way I get an import to happen where I can actually then edit the file is through the "Open" command, but when I try to do this again, it starts a new document. Granted I am on the demo version, but I want to know about importing under s full license. There will be instances when I will need to import multiple sets of geometry at different times. Please advise if this is possible. * Applying Materials to imported Geometry. in my rudimentary testing in the demo version this all imported geometry does not seem to be able to have a material applied nor does it have a base color that can be changed. These import tests were done by creating dxf's out of Vectorworks 2009 in the binary format. These were imported into Capture 2.7.9 on Mac OSX 10.7.2 Cheers! I look forward to your replies and working with your software int he future! Robb

Lars Wernlund

Staff Member

Posts: 2158

2/16/2012 10:00 PM

Hi Robb,

There are two paths for importing - either use File / Open (which can only be done once as you have pointed out), or using File / Extract (which can be done multiple times). If you use extract, the extract is opened in a separate window from which you can drag and drop (using the red "arrow" button) objects into your "base" project.

Capture is not capable of reading materials from DXF or DWG. If you want to do this, you need to use the 3DS or OBJ file formats. Applying materials to imported geometry is not possible - it needs to be there on import.

SoMidwest

New Member

Posts: 0

2/24/2012 8:06 PM

Great, Got a chance to play around with this a bit more. Very Nice! I wish that we had the ability to map textures inside of Capture on imported geometry because no matter how I export or tinker with the settings I can't get the mappings to transfer through correctly. I've actually found, for purposes of demoing, that simply redrawing the geometry in question with in capture is quicker, but this would not be true for more detailed geometry. Please advise or give a step through for moving mapping correctly from app to app. Ideally I am looking to capture to replace a few different steps in my work flow. I'd like to use it for less intensive renders that focus on lighting, because lets face it, most rendering apps out there do a terrible job of lighting control, but I am not ready to give up my work flows inside of vectorworks. I've got too many years of blood sweat and tears in there! But ideally a workflow that would not make you have to redo drawings multiple times is what I am after! Does Mega Lite still distribute in the USA? I have a order form filled out and sent a email to Arturo but have not heard back. Perhaps they are busy with the trade show in Austin? Cheers! Robb

Lars Wernlund

Staff Member

Posts: 2158

2/27/2012 9:38 PM

Hi Robb,

Getting geometry into Capture with materials can be tedious. The main reason for this is the fact that the formats available and usually don't support all aspects of the authoring software. For instance, Sketchup supports double sided surfaces (different materials on both sides), which neither 3DS nor OBJ does. Personally I've had the best results with OBJ, but I have little experience with Vectorworks.

The ability to apply materials to imported geometry is a feature that is scheduled for our next version 2.8.

The Mega guys and girls are certainly our dealers, yes they might be busy with the show, but they are usually quick!

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