Can't run "Create Advanced Photo"

[AndyWas]

Hi,

I am running Sweet Home 3D 3.4 on 32-bit Linux installed locally (not webstart). When I try to use "Create Advanced Photo" I have the arrows circling for a few seconds in the preview window, then stops. No error messages or similar, just nothing happens.

I saw in the blog that this plugin is superceded as of 3.4 as the functionality is in core product; however without the plugins I can't get this dialog from Tools or in 3D Tools > Create Photo.

The GPU is Intel 855GM, using the intel_drv module. I don't expect performance to be great but do expect it to work - normal 3D rendering from 3D Tools menu is fine if it has plenty of time.

Any ideas where I may be going wrong?

Thanks,
Andrew

[AndyWas]

Update: Increased max. memory to 2GB (total physical memory on PC) but makes no difference.

[hansmex]

Andrew,

As of version 3.4 the plug-in AdvancedPhoto doesn't work anymore.

The functionality of this plug-in has been integrated into SH3D itself with the introduction of version 3.0. So you don't need the plug-in anymore. If you still want to use it, you will have to use an older version of SH3D, but be warned that some elements designed in version 3.4 won't be rendered correctly in the older version(s) or with that plug-in.

Hans

[AndyWas]

Hi Hans,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I see that some "Advanced..." settings are in 3D View > Create Photo - they are the same are they? Also looks like the location & orientation settings are now in Modify Compass. But how do I access the fine-tune settings for lighting, surface effects, glass transparency etc. - are they now controlled in other dialogs too?

Thanks,
Andrew

[hansmex]

Andrew,

This kind of basic info can be found in the User Guide and the Help section in the program. So, let me be very brief:

Create photo - you found that already.
Change compass - you found that also.
Modify furniture / Modify walls - gives the option to change between (Unchanged,) Matt and Shiny.
Light - has been added as furniture models called Light and as (some) Lamps that carry light; both have a dial to set the light level of the individual light source.
Room lights can be disabled in the Create photo dialogue.
Transparency or other surface effects are not available, but you can use transparent textures.

Hans

[AndyWas]

Hi Hans,

Apologies for not RTFMing properly... [#-o]

A final question...what has happened to the "silk" rendering setting, or does that now correspond to "Unchanged" shininess? Some of the effects people got in screenshots in the thread on the Advanced Rendering plugin looked fantastic.

Andrew

[hansmex]

Andrew,

The Matt-Shiny settings in the old plug-in were global settings, affecting everything in your design. Although they had their use during testing, they were replaced by Matt-Shiny settings for every individual wall, ceiling or furniture model.

As the word says, Unchanged means the model settings aren't changed, which may result in rather shiny models, if the model itself has "shiny" surfaces.

If you build your model with care, and spend some time refining the settings (and lighting!!), you should be able to build much better models with version 3.4 than you could with, say, version 2.6 (or even 3.0) and the plug-in.

Hans

[Puybaret]

The best quality always uses the settings matching Silk option.
The third quality always uses the settings matching Shinny option. If you prefer the rendering of the third quality but want a better quality with less noise, the trick is simple: create an image twice as large (or more) and downsize it with an image application.