Missing materials with Microstation V8 XM

[Maxwell Foley]

I'm using Microstation V8 XM and am not an experienced user. With this said, when i've tried applying materials to a 3d model and saved those changes i end up losing much of those material applications. What could be the potential causes for such an occurance? What should i be conscious of when 3d modeling in microstation to avoid this problem?

[northern monkey]

Hi there, as a Microstation user myself I'll have to warn you that despite what Bentley tell you, the mapping and rendering capabilities are very primative. Like a lot of software out there, the example renders you see in their marketing material are a million miles away from what can be realistically achieved in a sensible time frame.

 

I don't want to be all doom and gloom but I spent a good 12 months experimenting with Microstation when I started at a new practice. Whilst being a very capable modelling tool I found the rendering extremely frustrating and unpredictable. With numerous problems such as you've found when applying materials and setting up lights, cameras etc. The system often appears to have a mind of its own, and doing the same task twice often resulted in different results which never lends itself to user confidence!

 

I do still use Microstation (well actually I use Bentley Architecture, but Microstation's tools underpin this) but export the models once built to 3ds max and tinker with them in their. Not the cheapest option but will save you a load of time in terms of learning kerb and testing. Plus there quite a few free programs out there for you to export into that may be worth a try.

 

Sorry I'm not much help with your problem, would recommend checking out the Bentley forums (http://discussion.bentley.com) if you are set on using Microstaion for both aspects of the process. Hope this helps.