All 3-D project CAD drawings are set in AutoCAD to high VIEWRES (20,000) and FACETRES (10) levels. FACETRES controls the smoothness of shaded and rendered curved solids. VIEWRES controls the appearance of circles, arcs, ellipses, and splines using short vectors. The greater the number of vectors, the smoother the appearance of the circle or arc but unfortunately this also causes slower screen regeneration. For faster screen refresh rates these settings can be set lower.
The rendering process is what changes a 3D-wire frame drawing into a real life representation. The rendering process can yield photo-like bitmap files, active panoramic files or walkthrough animations. Materials are assigned to elements of the drawing object for rendering purposes. The materials are real-to-life assignments of what the various parts of the object are made of.
All CAD files available for download on this site have material assignments by "object" that exist in Accurender3 (the rendering program in use at RFA) standard material library. By assigning materials by Object properties the assignment "sticks" regardless of layer material assignments or moving the object from layer to layer.
When materials in standard libraries are found not to be an accurate representation of a real life objects being created then custom material files can be imported. Material files that are in use at Radio Free Asia for rendering drawings are also available for download on this site. The files are made available in the JPEG format in both High-Resolution (640x480) and Low-Resolution (320x240).
A decal is a bitmap that is "positioned" on an object like a sticker. While decals are a quick way to do precise drawings, they have the disadvantage of being flat in a non-static render media (i.e. animations or panoramas). For best results use a combination of drawing the raised surfaces and still use decals for added detail. Decals files that are in use at Radio Free Asia for rendering drawings are also available for download on this site. Material and Decals bitmaps files are named in a descriptive way to match their content.
Decals and Materials JPEG files (both high and low resolution) used in 3D Project drawings can be found on this sites FTP section in the Directory for Materials, Textures and Decals: ftp://techweb.rfa.org/pub/3d-project/Materials-Textures-Decals
