Richard McCarthy

I think the spirit of this forum is to foster an environment for positive critiques and sharing. It is not the spirit of this forum to bash people for their languages, grammar, or ethics or even race. We are professionals, would you use such languages to other professionals? You have to remember, many people in this forum are NOT native english speakers. Many of you have taken for granted the language skill you acquired automatically since birth is something that other people have enormous difficulty in acquiring. It takes enormous courage to break out of their own comfort zone/language/cultural bubble to speak in another language they are completely unfamiliar with, uncompetent in, that they feel uncomfortable to use. Thus it is for many of us to welcome them, and POSTIVIELY encourage them to break out of these bubbles, to interact with us, and to partake in the community. WE CANNOT FORCE PEOPLE TO TALK. Posting their own images I think will encourage them, to eventually partake in the forum. Posting negative comments about their language skill, will only discourage people to partake in this community. So I hope it is with fair judgement and a lot of patience that everyone in this forum would give to each other, to make this forum what it is today, a GLOBAL, professional, and positive CGARCH discussion forum.

Did you press "tab" ?

Sounds like a hardware problem. What brand is your monitor? Normally, you don't need to install driver for monitor - it should just work properly out of box, let you pick the correct resolution. If you have a wide screen monitor, set it to the HIGHEST NATIVE RESOLUTION (should be in your monitor manual under hardware specification section). Basically, it sounds like you have a wide screen monitor, but you run it in the incorrect 4:3 resolution hence it makes circle looks like ellipse. If you set it to the correct native resolution (either 16:9 or 16:10), it should be the proper perfect circle, and square will be square. Some proper 16:9 resolutions : 1280 × 720 1366 × 768 Some proper 16:10 resolutions : 1280 × 800 1440 × 900 1680 × 1050 1920 × 1200 2560 × 1600 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_display_standard

You could also try using massing to curtain wall conversion method. Then adjust the glazing panel family to suite. The problem ofcourse is to laid out individual panels and the brackets or fixings that fix it in place. Techically, I think it is doable, if you can somehow make those panels family as "scheduable" in Revit. It would definitely a nightmare to do it by hand panel by panel, but I think a bit of creative thinking using UV unwrapping programs to "laid" out the curtain wall form flat, then draft in the details of each panels is the method I would go for.

I don't think Level head can have flip control on it. The way around it is to use parametric visiblity function to toggle it. eg. Set up two sets of level head however you want it, select the first group > element property > graphics tab > visibility , then the button besides visibility (square button)> add parameter. Call it "Up" level head (or whatever you want), and do the same for the other group except name it "down" level head. Save the Family as family parameter as oppose to Shared parameter. Now once you start using the new level head, you can goto level head's element property menu, edit > and then select either up or down.

You need to right click on your view on a sheet, and goto element property of the view, and then tick "Crop View", "Crop Region Visible" and "Annotation Crop". You can also turn off Grid on that particular view by > View Properties > Visibility/Graphics Override > Annotation Categories > Grid.

Hmm Ernest, I think it is futile exercise to go in-house/in-source. The market force is for outsourcing, you can't go against market force. There is simply nothing you can do short of electing an ultra-conservative president who start setting up tariff on everything to keep things "in-source". Even then I doubt it will work, this topic is already been explored countless times by the economists in various articles and scenerios. The only thing I think you can do, is to actually SPEED UP the outsourcing. The world right now is trying to achieve global economic equilibrium, If the economy of third world countries actually caught up to the same level, it means their salary and wages will be the same, and without the distinct "person to person" advantage offer by the local providers. But that is not happening right now, and the longer the the first world countries resist the market force, the longer the pain it is going to be for everyone in this transitional period. Ofcourse, there is the third scenerio, to be able to compete at this level, and you still wish to keep it all in-house/in-source....you REALLY have to streamline your business, that basically means more automation on EVERY LEVEL. Even the cheapest labourer can't compete against a robot that works 24/7 and only eats electricity. Ofcourse, the problem is the initial upfront cost with the robot itself. In this particular industry (Arch Viz), there is no robot, "robot" translate to more automation, more use of script, pre-built libraries, and eventually, it will all lead to the magical MAKE-ART BUTTON!! !! What can I say, that's just the theoretical trend. Humour me. And that brings to my other topic I have previously posted. http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/29542-impression-autodesk-2009-danger-cg-arch-industry-disappearing-14.html

HP just released a new a new 30-bit Colour LCD monitor that offers ONE BILLION COLOURS! HP's 'colour-critical' LCD Thursday 12 June 2008, 1:59 PM Posted by Charles McLellan One of the key products introduced at HP's 'Connecting Your World' event in Berlin earlier this week was the 24in. DreamColor LP2480zx, a 30-bit (10 bits per primary colour channel) LED-backlit monitor featuring HP's DreamColor Engine technology (first seen in a number of printers last year). HP's 24in. DreamColor 2480zx sells for 2,299 euros and is shipping now. The DreamColor brand is designed for graphics professionals, who require accurate and consistent colour across a range of devices. HP has a close relationship with DreamWorks Animation, which clearly has a pressing need to ensure that the artistry of its animators — most recently seen in Kung Fu Panda (premiered at Cannes and released in the UK on 4 July) — is reproduced faithfully through the production chain, from graphics workstation to movie theatre or living room. According to HP, technical types at DreamWorks had been reduced to scouring eBay for old high-end CRT monitors, such was the expense of existing 'colour-critical' LCDs. The Dreamcolour 2480zx offers blacker blacks, programmable white and a range of preset colour spaces: an optional calibration kit (colorimeter and software) is also available. With its billion-colour gamut, CRT-class black, programmable white and six factory-calibrated colour spaces plus one user-programmable space, the 2,299-euro DreamColor LP2480zx does the job for about a quarter the price of previous solutions, according to HP. http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10008426o-2000331760b,00.htm HP DreamColor LP2480zx LCD display Date: June 10th, 2008 Author: Ryan McLaughlin Manufacturer: HP Categories: Displays, Reviews Tags: display, DreamColor, HP, LCD, LP2480zx Ever since LCD displays came out, professionals in the Video and photographic industries have not readily adopted them because they were not very good at displaying true colors. Over the years they have gotten better, but not until today did they have something to get really excited about. Today HP announced their new Dreamcolor LP2480zx LCD display. Features * 30-bit and one billion colors * 6 Built-in industry standard color spaces. * HP DreamColor Engine * DisplayPort 1.1, HDMI 1.3, (2) DVI-I, analog, component, S-video, and composite inputs * HDCP support for protected content “The HP DreamColor LP2480xz is the first display to be introduced under the HP DreamColor Technology initiative, a two-year technology collaboration between HP and DreamWorks Animation. The initiative aims to deliver accurate color that remains consistent from application to application, device to device and medium to medium.” Features The display has 30-bit color accuracy (10-bits per color channel) and can display over 1 billion colors. This is a huge step forward from the current LCD displays which are only have 24-bit color accuracy and can only display 16.7 million colors. The native resolution for the DreamColor LP2480xz is 1920 x 1200 pixels. Having industry standard color spaces built into the monitor means that no matter what content you are working with you can quickly and easily switch to the best color space. The color spaces that are available are NTSC, SMPTE, sRGB, Rec. 709, Adobe RGB and DCI. The ability to switch color spaces is what gives the DreamColor LP2480xz the ability to show so many colors. As you can see from the charts below a typical LCD monitor covers very little of the colors that are visible to the human eye, but by using different color spaces the DreamColor LP2480xz can show much more of those colors. Even with all the color spaces there is still quite a bit of the visible color spectrum that is not visible in this display. lcd_colors.jpg Colorspace colors The DreamColor engine and the RGB LED backlight is what makes all the colors possible. The RGB LED backlight uses HP Tri-color LED Backlight and gives you a greater amount of control over the the white point and luminance. With the use of the backlight you can make changes to the white point with no loss in the dynamic range. The DreamColor engine provides accurate color management and color space remapping The DreamColor LP2480zx DisplayPort 1.1, HDMI 1.3, (2) DVI-I, analog, component, S-video, and composite inputs. Inputs 1 Inputs 3 Inputs 4 Design When you first see this LCD you are not going to think that it is very special. It looks very similar to any other display you would find on a store shelf. It is a 24″ widescreen with dimensions of 16.7 to 20.67 x 22.24 x 10″ and a weight of 27.5 lb. It is almost entirely black except for the base of the stand which is silver. When asked why they choose 24″ as the size, HP responded by saying that it strikes a good balance because if it were any bigger you would either have to move your head a lot to see everything, or you would have to push it so far back on your desk that the text would be too small to read. On the front there are six buttons. These buttons include the power button and all the controls for the color spaces and other menus. Because a lot of professionals like to use their displays in the dark, these buttons light up so you can easily use them when all the lights are off. Using the OSD you have control over the Color Space, Brightness, Color Temp, Reset to Factory Cal., Reset to Last, Black Level, Overdrive, Custom Scaling, Crop (L-C-R), PIP Control, Auto Adjust, H Position, V Position, Clock, Clock Phase, Hue, Saturation, and Language. These settings can also be adjusted via the USB interface using color calibration software. Buttons OSD Underneath is where you are going to find all the inputs. Included are a DisplayPort 1.1, DVI-I (2), analog, component, S-video, and composite inputs. There is also another USB port down here. This one is used to provide the connection to the computer and power the other 4 USB ports. On the right side of the display there are four USB ports. All the USB ports are USB 2.0 Side The base is fairly basic and provides the usual adjustments. It can tilt, swivel, pivot and change height. Here are the ranges for each adjustment: Tilt range: -5 to +35 degrees; Swivel range: 45 to +45 degrees; Height adjustable: 3.94″ range; Pivot rotation: 90 degrees. Front low Front high Front angle Performance Like I said before, looking at the display when it is turned off is not going to reveal anything special. In fact, you may dismiss it as being an over priced consumer LCD. You actually need to turn it on to see why it really shines. When you do turn it on you are going to be surprised, it also helps to have another LCD to compare it to. In the pictures below you can see the monitor being used in several different situations. The first picture is of the DreamColor LP2480zx being used with Digital Photography. Notice how close the monitor displays the true color of the objects and the color chart. The reason there is a slight difference is because the monitor is set to full color, so what you see here is actually the worst it will get. The next picture shows it being used for video where the monitor is serving as a HD-SDI broadcast monitor. Photography Video Next, I have a few pictures with the monitor next to an Apple Cinema display. The two monitors are attached to an Apple Mac Pro workstation with a Y splitter for the video. This ensures they are both receiving the same video signal. You can clearly see the difference in the color. When showing Black and White pictures the Apple display looks like it is blue when compared to the Dreamcolor LP2480zx. Even when showing color, the Apple display is more saturated and the colors are not true to life. Apple Cinema compare 1 Apple Cinema compare 3 Apple Cinema compare 4 Apple Cinema compare 5 The next picture shows the DreamColor LP2480zx displaying dark pictures. With a contrast ratio of 1000:1 this monitor does a really great job, even when you are dealing with dark subjects. I would love to try out this monitor with Doom, I might actually be able to tell the monsters apart from the dark. I am very impressed by the color quality and features in the DreamColor LP2480zx. It clearly out performed other monitors. I Think we can all agree that this is a huge step forward for LCD technology. Warranty and Support The DreamColor LP2480zx comes with a decent warranty and service plan. It is three years parts, labor, and on-site service. 24-hour, 90-day, toll-free technical support. Replacement options may include second business day on-site service, or next business day direct replacement, at HP’s sole discretion. With direct replacement, HP will ship a replacement display product directly to you. Using the prepaid shipping labels provided, return your failed display to HP in the same packaging as the replacement. Obviously, Certain restrictions and exclusions apply. You should always see your product warranty or contact HP Customer Support for specific details. Conclusion As I mentioned above the Dreamcolor initiative, also includes printers. When you pair up the DreamColor LP2480zx with a DreamColor printer you will have a complete publishing system where you can go from raw source to printed material and get the results you want every time. No more having to print out multiple copies of something just so you can tweak the colors. This alone will save publishing companies a lot of time and money. I can highly recommend the DreamColor LP2480zx for any professional who works with video or photos. In fact, I would go so far as to say this is a necessity. At $3499 the price is too high for consumers, but professionals will appreciate the price because they know that other displays like this one cost between $15,000 and $25,000. As time goes by, the prices will come down and then we can all have one. I cannot wait to get one of these for myself. I am so impressed with the Dreamcolor LP2480ZX that I am going to give it my Editors Choice Award. As always compare prices before purchasing. http://www.justechn.com/2008/06/10/hp-dreamcolor-lp2480zx-lcd-display Official specs here : http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/382087-382087-64283-72270-444767-3648397.html I guess if all these claims are true, this is it, this is the winner!

The color accuracy of LCD monitor depends on the technology that goes into the PANEL. MAJORITY of the LCD monitors that are sub $500 are of "TN" type, which is the one that gave LCD a bad name in color due to dithering involved. TN panels are usually very fast, currently TN panels are usually at 2ms response time. The more expensive LCD panels are of IPS or PVA/MVA type. (Now they are usually called S-IPS (Super IPS) or S-PVA. They can display true color as compare to TN type panel but usually suffer from response time. Current PVA/IPS panel have typical response time of 6ms. So unless you plan to play a lot of FPS shooters, where frame rate is king, get PVA or IPS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lcd-panel-types.php Now, down to recommendation, currently, Samsung produce the majority of PVA type panel, while NEC are mostly IPS type panel. I would recommend Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 24" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor , since it is true PVA panel. The panel is actually made by Samsung, but bewares when you buy Samsung because they don't always produce PVA panel but a mix of TN and PVA. Another great site to read REAL professional reviews on panels is : http://www.tftcentral.co.uk They go into great details on color space and color correction for each of LCD panels they review. For example : http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_2408wfp.htm Happy hunting!

Excellent point, you hit it right on the head. That is exactly how I feel, our office use Revit as well, and I think that's exactly what's going to happen, with more and more modeling down inside BIM software (I know the arguement that Revit is still LARGELY limited in modeling complex organic geometries, and highly inefficient in doing that, but nothing is going to say that Autodesk might now include it in the next release to make things easier) Your point of "time efficiency" is exactly what I am thinking. If BIM (Revit) type software are taking away the hours of 3D artist, it is proportionally taking away the value of 3D artist as whole, any rational arch design firms / developer (with the current and oncoming housing slump, and the culture of profit driven/squeezing every last cent out of the poor souls they call it architects) would find it less and less apealing to send job to CG viz firms. It not only takes enormous time amount of time to externalize and liasoning with external contractor (the viz firm, from architect's point of view), and it slows down the whole design process if you are waiting for a preliminary CG rendering to be done by external contractor with uncertain time frame of getting it back. That's exactly the reason many firms now adopt to 3D BIM software, to be able to see it quickly in a fluid design process. And it is also increasingly difficult to convince architect/developer to discard their inhouse modeling and sent it to external contractor for rendering. If majority of the modeling work is already been "DONE" why should we sent all our hard work out to someone to press the magic render pretty button?? And honestly in today's world, in particular in this industry, everyone are all very well inform, and majority of the "interior" work for arch viz (furniture/fittings/entourage) that are not done from BIM can largely be bought for pennies from online libraries, so the "REAL HARD WORK" is just fine tuning camera angle and lighting solution / render style. Is that really all that hard ?

Autodesk Revit 2009 is supposely to come with high quality "pro" MR materials. And when you are designing in Revit, you are already assigning various objects its material properties (eg. walls - you assign different layers and its various material properties). And it looks like the MR included with Revit 2009 is very similar to Maxwell, a very simplified interface (sun position, rendering quality - low-med-high) but still let you control number of bounces and other settings. The setup you talking about are part of the worflow that is Revit - you are making a 3D building in the process of documentation. And I don't think you should bet on the assumption that architects don't have "time" to do these jobs. If the convergence of two trend - softwares becomes easier and CPU continue to follow the Moores law, it is far more logical to keep the job in house since it is easy to setup, and there is no distance or coordination required outsourcing it, and you get total control and responsiveness from the project without having to add the cost of waiting from external source. And to be honest, I think rendering is one the most gratifying part of the whole design process, you get to see your design come alive, most architect would love to do this part of the job if they are given the toolset required and if it doesn't have significant learning curve. And from the look of it, both of these conditions have been fulfilled.

I am not saying the programs are now so smart it can "make art" by itself. I am saying the toolset are now on the architect's pipeline, with far greater control and shorter design cycle. And the person driving it (architect) is not a someone who is clueless about art, like I mention in previous post, most architects are more than capable artist themselves, having to gone through rigorous selection process and atleast 5 years of intense competition in school (WITH significant portion devoted to presentation).

So, you believe ONLY Cg visualizer understand composition and has the skill and artistic abilities?? Jim, software will never take care of it. The inclusion of Mental Ray into autodesk softwares (maybe AutoCAD in the future) simply means the architect are now directly in control of the camera angle, while he himself has the absolutely freedom (ofcourse with respect to client) over the project, which means he can choose to change design at any point he so wishes if he wants to accomplish for certain artistic goal. This is not something afforded to CG artist, oh and I certainly don't believe architects are monkey with cameras

Watch that movie "One Hour Photo" and tell me if you still believe in it.