I'm still working on the second alpha build (the latest isdownloading now along with beta 2 SW), but today I took the risk ofdoing a real job on a deadline using PhotoView to directly compareagainst Hypershot in terms of workflow.
Today's job was to design an electronics enclosure system for 4different systems, with 3 variants of each (so 12 options). Theenclosures were plastic, with standard switches, some customswitches and displays, along with LEDs.
Overall impression - compared to Hypershot Photoview is far betterfor this kind of work because of the link into SolidWorks down tothe face level. In Hypershot you need to paint up the model beforehand. The PhotoView interface is also better I think for this kindof work, and the materials for plastics are far more comprehensive.
General production level view handling is better in Hypershot, butPhotoView offers the 80/20 solution in that it is fine for 80% ofthe work (which this was).
Render quality was good, renderspeed, faster than Hypershot (but Iwas restricting the render quality to the lowest and the secondlowest - go higher than this and Hypershot wins).
The quality of the render was on a par with Hypershot, arguablybetter as the lighting solutions were more suitable (Hypershot'sstudios can be a bit overpowering somtimes and you need to tweakbrightness a lot). I would have liked to tweak the gamma inPhotoView but it wasn't working. As all the visual were posted inPhotoshop anyway to boost the colours and contrast this is notreally a big issue for most pros - you get the know when Photoshopwill be a better option than endless tweaking at render stage.
Alpha channels - I like it that all renders have this ON (Hypershotyou need to turn it on - and I always forget). What I don't likethough is that the ground plane is made part of the Alpha - so forlow shots you see the horizon line and plane in the Alpha - I thinkyou should only see the shadows on the ground plane.
Also I would like to see a way to turn off the ground plane andshadows on the ground plane.
Backgrounds - well Hypershot wins hands down here. Having done thistoday we need to get this resolved before release.
LEDs and light materials in PhotoView are excellent - Hypershot'ssolution to this is tricky to say the least - this alone saved me30-40 mins today.
Texture handling. Again non existent in PV, and possible inHypershot. I sometimes map the LCD display to the face in therender but today this wasn;t an option anyway so it was Photoshopedin. To be honest I prefer to PS these details in anyway as I canchange them if needed, or simply swap display text messages out toshow a sequence of use for the product without having to re-rendereach stage.
Stability, no problem apart from one file that crashed PV everytime it tried to open. Rather than ignore this today or mail off tosupport I decided to work through it.
What I normally do in these situations is check the file in SW forerrors - none in this one, and the tree was OK as well. Next Iexport the assembly to Parasolid STEP and IGES and re-import thentry again from those files.
Parasolid version still crashed PV.
STEP crashed PV.
IGES worked.
I'll let the engineers figure that one out.
Incidentally the same files that crashed in PV worked fine inHypershot.
So end of the day, 24 4MB renders complete, photoshop tweaked,added to a presentation and pdf'd off......only to spend 1 hrtroubleshooting the pdf that is corrupt on the customers machine!
(Not PV related but I have had a few errors recently with pdfs fromSolidWorks produced from drawing sheets (usually shaded sheets) viathe File.Save as pdf command. The errors are picked up in AcrobatReader as error of Form, Type 3 font or pattern. I don lt use Type3 fonts, the page has no form so does SolidWorks add some form ofpatterning in shaded drawing views?)SolidworksPhotoview 360
Today's job was to design an electronics enclosure system for 4different systems, with 3 variants of each (so 12 options). Theenclosures were plastic, with standard switches, some customswitches and displays, along with LEDs.
Overall impression - compared to Hypershot Photoview is far betterfor this kind of work because of the link into SolidWorks down tothe face level. In Hypershot you need to paint up the model beforehand. The PhotoView interface is also better I think for this kindof work, and the materials for plastics are far more comprehensive.
General production level view handling is better in Hypershot, butPhotoView offers the 80/20 solution in that it is fine for 80% ofthe work (which this was).
Render quality was good, renderspeed, faster than Hypershot (but Iwas restricting the render quality to the lowest and the secondlowest - go higher than this and Hypershot wins).
The quality of the render was on a par with Hypershot, arguablybetter as the lighting solutions were more suitable (Hypershot'sstudios can be a bit overpowering somtimes and you need to tweakbrightness a lot). I would have liked to tweak the gamma inPhotoView but it wasn't working. As all the visual were posted inPhotoshop anyway to boost the colours and contrast this is notreally a big issue for most pros - you get the know when Photoshopwill be a better option than endless tweaking at render stage.
Alpha channels - I like it that all renders have this ON (Hypershotyou need to turn it on - and I always forget). What I don't likethough is that the ground plane is made part of the Alpha - so forlow shots you see the horizon line and plane in the Alpha - I thinkyou should only see the shadows on the ground plane.
Also I would like to see a way to turn off the ground plane andshadows on the ground plane.
Backgrounds - well Hypershot wins hands down here. Having done thistoday we need to get this resolved before release.
LEDs and light materials in PhotoView are excellent - Hypershot'ssolution to this is tricky to say the least - this alone saved me30-40 mins today.
Texture handling. Again non existent in PV, and possible inHypershot. I sometimes map the LCD display to the face in therender but today this wasn;t an option anyway so it was Photoshopedin. To be honest I prefer to PS these details in anyway as I canchange them if needed, or simply swap display text messages out toshow a sequence of use for the product without having to re-rendereach stage.
Stability, no problem apart from one file that crashed PV everytime it tried to open. Rather than ignore this today or mail off tosupport I decided to work through it.
What I normally do in these situations is check the file in SW forerrors - none in this one, and the tree was OK as well. Next Iexport the assembly to Parasolid STEP and IGES and re-import thentry again from those files.
Parasolid version still crashed PV.
STEP crashed PV.
IGES worked.
I'll let the engineers figure that one out.
Incidentally the same files that crashed in PV worked fine inHypershot.
So end of the day, 24 4MB renders complete, photoshop tweaked,added to a presentation and pdf'd off......only to spend 1 hrtroubleshooting the pdf that is corrupt on the customers machine!
(Not PV related but I have had a few errors recently with pdfs fromSolidWorks produced from drawing sheets (usually shaded sheets) viathe File.Save as pdf command. The errors are picked up in AcrobatReader as error of Form, Type 3 font or pattern. I don lt use Type3 fonts, the page has no form so does SolidWorks add some form ofpatterning in shaded drawing views?)SolidworksPhotoview 360
