GETTING STARTED

GUIDE

NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE

LET’S GET
STARTED

RENDERING IN VECTORWORKS
RENDERING IN VECTORWORKS GUIDE

© 2017 Nemetschek Vectorworks, Inc.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Renderworks Cameras............................................................................................................................................ 5
Placing a Renderworks Camera.............................................................................................................................................................5
Editing the Camera View........................................................................................................................................................................5
Creating Viewports from Renderworks Cameras...................................................................................................................................7
Renderworks Camera Effects................................................................................................................................. 8
Render Mode..........................................................................................................................................................................................8
Exposure................................................................................................................................................................................................9
Bloom...................................................................................................................................................................................................10
Vignetting..............................................................................................................................................................................................10
Depth of Field.......................................................................................................................................................................................11
Basic Render Modes.............................................................................................................................................. 12
Wireframe.............................................................................................................................................................................................12
OpenGL................................................................................................................................................................................................12
Fast Renderworks................................................................................................................................................................................13
Final Quality Renderworks...................................................................................................................................................................13
Hidden Line..........................................................................................................................................................................................14
Custom Renderworks and Styles........................................................................................................................ 14
Rendering Resolution...........................................................................................................................................................................14
Creating a Renderworks Style..............................................................................................................................................................15
Anti-Aliasing..........................................................................................................................................................................................15
Shadows...............................................................................................................................................................................................16
Textures................................................................................................................................................................................................16
Colors...................................................................................................................................................................................................16
Indirect Lighting.................................................................................................................................................... 17
Enabling Indirect Lighting.....................................................................................................................................................................17
Editing Indirect Lighting Settings..........................................................................................................................................................18
Artistic Renderworks............................................................................................................................................ 19
Artistic Renderworks Styles..................................................................................................................................................................19
Shaded Polygon...................................................................................................................................................................................20
Renderworks Backgrounds.................................................................................................................................. 20
Applying a Renderworks Background..................................................................................................................................................20
Creating a Renderworks Background...................................................................................................................................................21
Lights...................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Directional Lights..................................................................................................................................................................................22
Point Lights...........................................................................................................................................................................................24
Spot Lights............................................................................................................................................................................................24
Ambient Lighting...................................................................................................................................................................................25
Applying Textures................................................................................................................................................. 26

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 Applying Textures.................................................................................................................................................................................26
Scaling Textures...................................................................................................................................................................................28
Creating Textures.................................................................................................................................................. 29
Stone Texture.......................................................................................................................................................................................29
Glass Texture........................................................................................................................................................................................30
Brick Textures.......................................................................................................................................................................................31
Backlit and Glow Textures.................................................................................................................................... 32
Backlit Texture......................................................................................................................................................................................32
Glow Textures.......................................................................................................................................................................................33
Image Props........................................................................................................................................................... 34
Creating Image Props...........................................................................................................................................................................34
Decal Textures....................................................................................................................................................... 35
Creating a Decal Texture......................................................................................................................................................................35
Solar Animations................................................................................................................................................... 37
Projectected Sections........................................................................................................................................... 38
Exporting an Image File........................................................................................................................................ 39

4 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

RENDERING IN VECTORWORKS

Introduction If you were holding a physical camera and taking a picture of the
house, this is where you would be standing. Now, we want to aim
Welcome to the Renderworks Getting Started Guide. This guide the camera at the middle of the front porch of the house.
was designed to give you as much experience as possible, with
the most important tools, in an order that makes sense. However, 4. Click a second time on the middle of the front porch. This will
the order in which you go through this guide does not matter. All
chapters work independently of each other unlike the other
Industry Series guides, where you should complete each chapter
in order. Feel free to jump to a particular chapter if you would like
to learn about a particular topic or follow the chapters in order.
Just be sure to open the accompanying exercise file at the
beginning of each new chapter. The first chapter will cover
Renderworks Cameras.

set the look-to point for the camera.

Renderworks Cameras If you look in the Object Info palette, you will see the
Renderworks Camera object is selected.

Placing a Renderworks Camera

Before we place a camera, let’s take a look at the model. In this Editing the Camera View
file, we have a main house then a pool and a small patio and
front porch. Next, we edit the view of the camera we just created and review
some of the Renderworks Camera settings.
1. First, go to the Visualization tool set.
1. In the Object Info palette click the Activate Camera button.
2. Click on the Renderworks Camera tool.

3. Click once, below the pool to set the location of the camera.

5 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

This will change our view to show what that camera is looking 9. Use the camera Height slide to increase the height of the
at. This view is almost what we want. You’ll notice it doesn’t look camera slightly.
like a rendering. That is because we created the camera in a Top/
Plan view and the render mode in Top/Plan is Wireframe. There Again, you will notice the look-to height does not change. Next,
are two places where we will need change the render mode, so let’s adjust the look-to height slightly.
that the camera will render in OpenGL instead of Wireframe.
10. Using the Look To Height slider, adjust the look-to height
2. In the Object Info palette, scroll down and click on the Render until you can see a little be more of the sky.
Mode pulldown menu.
We do not need to adjust the camera distance or focal length
3. Choose OpenGL from the list. for this camera. However, note that the camera distance
physically moves the camera forward or backwards and the Focal
4. Now, change the current render mode by going to View > Length, zooms in or out. Also, you will generally not change the
Rendering > OpenGL. perspective to much. The default Normal Perspective setting is
okay for most views.
The first time you render in OpenGL it will take a while for the
geometry calculate. However, after the initial render, switching 11. Click OK to save the view changes.
between other render modes and OpenGL will be much quicker.
Now, let’s place another Renderworks Camera. However, before
5. Go back to a Top/Plan view. we do we want to make sure we deactivate this camera first. If we
do not deactivate the camera before changing our view, we will
6. With the Renderworks Camera still selected, click Activate actually change this camera’s view.
Camera in the Object Info palette.
12. In the Object Info palette, click the Deactivate Camera
The camera view now renders in OpenGL automatically. This is button.
because we set that rendering mode for the camera in the Object
Info palette. Now, we want to adjust this view just a little bit. 13. Now, press the X key on your keyboard twice to deselect the
Renderworks Camera.
7. Click on the Fine Tune Camera View button in the Object Info
palette. Next, let’s adjust our view.

The view is currently a little off-center. Let’s adjust the view so it is 14. Activate the Walkthrough tool in the Visualization tool set.
looking straight on at the building.
We are going to use the Walkthrough tool to move inside the
8. Using the camera Move Left / Right slider, adjust the position building.
of the camera until the house is straight on in the view.
15. In the Tool bar, switch to the Gamer mode.

The Gamer mode allows you to use your mouse and the W A S
and D keys to move around in the file.

16. Click once any within the document window to use your
mouse to change the direction of your view.

As you can see, if you move your mouse around your view
changes, but your position is fixed. To move we need to use the
W A S and D keys. We are going to move into the second floor of
This will move camera in relation to the look-to point. You will see the house. You will see the front entrance to the left of the pool.
the control handle for the look-to point, stays in exactly the same
spot. Now, let’s adjust the camera height. 17. Using the mouse, point the view directly at the house.

6 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

18. Press the W key to move forward a little bit. Adjust the view until the chair, table and couch are in view. Now,
we need to create another camera.
19. Now, use the A key to move to the left until the door is in view.
25. Activate the Renderworks Camera tool.

26. Now, click anywhere in the document window to place the

camera.

The location of the camera does not matter, because were are
going to match the camera view to our current view, next.

27. In the Object Info palette, click the Match Current View
button. The camera has now taken the current view.
The Z and C keys will adjust the view height.
28. Click the Activate Camera button.
20. Use the Z key to move up to the second floor.
You will see that the view does not change, but the render mode
Now, let’s move into into the building. does change from OpenGL to Wireframe. This is because the
camera is set to a Wireframe render mode again.
21. Use the W A S and D keys as needed to move into the
building through the second floor window above the front 29. Change the Render Mode pulldown for the camera to
entrance. OpenGL in the Object Info Palette.

30. Now, change the current render mode to OpenGL, using the
Render pulldown menu in the Tool bar.

Creating Viewports from Renderworks Cameras

We now have two Renderworks Cameras. One showing an
interior scene and exterior scene. Next, we will link these
cameras to sheet layer viewports.

1. Go back to a Top/Plan view.

Once inside we need to strafe to the right.
You will see we have the two cameras, Camera-4 and Camera-5.
22. Use the D key to move to left.
2. Select the first camera we created.
23. Now, use the mouse to look at the left side of the couch.
3. Now, click Activate Camera.
24. Then, use the S key to backup slightly.
The first view we set up will be shown.

4. Now go back to a Top/Plan and repeat this for the second

camera

As you can see, Renderworks Cameras make it very easy to

quickly navigate back to places in your document without having
to use the Walkthrough tool every time. In addition to adding in
navigating your document, Renderworks Cameras can also be

7 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

attached to viewports. The viewport will be placed on the same layer as the first
viewport. We now have our exterior and interior renders.
5. Make sure you have the interior Renderworks Camera
selected and go to View > Create Viewport.

A dialog will appear, asking if you want to link the selected

Renderworks Camera to the viewport.

6. Click Yes.

7. In the Create Viewport dialog, click on the Create on Layer 18. Update the exterior viewport.
pulldown menu.
19. Go back to the Cameras design layer and switch to a Top /
8. Choose New Sheet Layer. Plan view.

9. Set the Sheet Number to My Renderworks Cameras, then You will notice that the Renderworks Cameras are no longer
click OK and OK again to create the viewport. present on the design layer. This occurs when you link a
Renderworks Camera to a viewport. To edit these cameras, we
A new sheet layer will be created with the viewport on it. Currently need to go back to the viewports.
the viewport is showing in Wireframe. This is because it needs to
be updated. 20. Navigate to the My Renderworks Cameras sheet layer.

10. Move the viewport to the right of the page area and then, click 21. Double-click on one of the viewports.
on the Update button in the Object Info palette.
22. Choose Camera from the Edit Viewport dialog and click OK.
The viewport will be rendered in OpenGL. Now, let’s link the
exterior Renderworks Camera to a viewport. A dialog will appear, letting you know that you can edit the linked
camera or delete the camera if you want.
11. Use the Layers pulldown menu in the View bar to activate the
Cameras design layer. 23. Click OK.

12. Switch to a Top/Plan view. You will see in the Object Info palette, that the Renderworks
Camera is selected. You can edit the all of the camera settings
13. Select the exterior Renderworks Camera. from this view.

14. Click Active Camera in the Object Info palette. 24. Click the Return to Viewport button in the upper right corner
of the document.
15. Now, go to View > Create Viewport.
In the next chapter, we will cover Renderworks Camera effects
The dialog will appear again, asking if you want to link the using these two viewports.
Renderworks Camera to the viewport. You can check the Always
do the selected action option, however it is a good idea to leave
the option unchecked as you may not always want to link the
Renderworks Camera to the viewport.
Renderworks Camera Effects
16. Click Yes, to link this camera to the viewport.

17. Choose the My Renderworks Cameras from the Create on Render Mode
Layer pulldown and click OK.
Let’s start with the two viewports we created in the previous
chapter. These viewports are currently rendered in OpenGL.

8 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

OpenGL will not show Renderworks Camera effects so we need quality you can get, however it will be good enough to see the
to change their render mode. camera effects were going to apply.

1. Select both viewports. 1. Double-click on the exterior viewport.

2. In the Object Info palette, scroll down and click on the 2. Choose Camera and click OK.
Background Render pulldown menu.
3. Go ahead and click the Don’t show this dialog again, option
3. Under Renderworks Style, choose High Quality Render. and click OK.

We will go into more detail on the different Renderworks modes The Renderworks Camera is selected and the camera view
and Renderworks Styles later. For now we will just use this will be displayed in OpenGL, since the camera set to OpenGL.
predefined Renderworks Style. Let’s check the settings for this Before we adjust the Exposure setting, a quick note about
style. exposure in renderings. ISO Film Speed and Shutter Speed are
not exactly the same as they are with film. These effects can
4. Go to the Resource Browser. easily brighten a view, but there is a limit to how dark you can
make a view without modifying the lighting. So, let’s use the
5. Click on the Home icon, to make sure you are looking at the lowest ISO and Shutter settings to create a darker, rainy day look.
active document.
4. In the Object Info palette, scroll down to the Camera Effects
6. Scroll down to the Render Styles section. section and enable the Exposure setting.

7. Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click on (Mac), on the High 5. Set the ISO Film Speed to 50.
Quality Render Style and choose Edit.
6. Then, set the Shutter Speed to 1/1000 s.
8. In the Edit Renderworks Style dialog, switch to the Options tab.
7. Click the Return to Viewport button.
You will see that the option for Camera Effects is enabled. Now,
let’s render these viewports before we adjust the camera effects. Before we update this viewport, let’s duplicate this viewport and
adjust the exposure of the duplicated viewport.
9. Click OK to exit the Renderworks Style dialog.
8. Use the Ctrl + click + drag shortcut (Windows) or Option + click
10. With the two viewports selected, go to the Object Info palette + drag shortcut (Mac), to duplicate this viewport and place it
and click the Update button. below the original.

9. Double-click on the new viewport.

10. Choose Camera and click OK.

If you look at the exposure settings in the Object Info palette,

you will see they are the same as the original. Let’s increase the
shutter speed to create a brighter, day view.
This render mode will take a little while to finish. The amount of
time will vary depending on your machine’s hardware. Once the 11. Change the Shutter Speed to 1/250 s.
render completes, move on to the next step.
12. Click the Return to Viewport button.

13. Select both of these viewports and click Update in the Object
Exposure
Info palette.
Now, let’s take a look at the various camera effects. The High
Quality Render Style we are using, will not produce the highest When the renders complete, you will see the first viewport now

9 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

has a rainy day look. The sky is now a darker gray. The other comparison to the duplicated viewport with a 25% Bloom effect.
viewport is now extremely bright in comparison. These two,
drastically different lighting effects we achieved, by just changing 6. With the duplicated viewport selected, click Update in the
exposure not actually changing the light at all. Object Info palette.

As the viewport renders, you may notice that it does not appear
much different from the orignal viewport. This is because bloom is
not applied until the very end of the rendering process. When the
render completes, you will the bloom effect. A 25% bloom setting
will give you a nice bright halo effect.

Vignetting
Now, let’s take a look at vignetting. Vignetting creates a circular
darkening of the image to its edge. We will go ahead and change
the camera effects on the same viewport.

1. Double-click on the viewport with the bloom effect.

Bloom
Next, we will go over bloom. Bloom will add a glowing halo 2. Choose Camera and click OK.
around the brightest areas of the render. We will use the interior
viewport to show the bloom effect. Let’s start by duplicating this 3. In the Object Info palette, first set the Bloom to 0%.
viewport.
4. Set the Vignetting Intensity to 80%
1. Use the Ctrl + click + drag (Windows) or Option + click + drag
(Mac) shortcut to duplicate the interior viewport. The intensity, controls how dark the vignetting will be. We will
leave the vignetting offset alone. This setting will just offset
2. Place it below the original. vignette effect from the corners toward the center of the image.

3. Double-click on the duplicated viewport and choose to edit the 5. Click the Return to Viewport button.
camera.
Now, let’s duplicate this viewport, so we can create a second
4. In the Object Info palette, under the Renderworks Camera example.
Effects section, set the Bloom to 25%.
6. Use the Ctrl / Option + click + drag shortcut to duplicate this
5. Click the Return to Viewport button. viewport.

Let’s leave the original interior viewport alone. We will use this for 7. Place it to the right of the original.

10 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

8. Double-click on the new viewport, choose Camera and click 7. Using the Gamer mode, press the W A S and D keys to adjust
OK. the view as shown.

9. For this, viewport, set the Vignetting Offset to -50%.

A positive offset will move the vignetting away from the center of
the image. A negative offset will move the vignetting in towards
the center. So a negative offset, will create a keyhole effect.

10. Click the Return to Viewport button.

11. Select both of these viewports and click Update in the Object
Info palette.
In general you will want the view to be pretty close to an object
when using depth of field.

8. Once you have adjusted the view, click the Return to

Viewport button.

9. Next, duplicate this viewport using the Ctrl / Option + click +

drag shortcut, show we can create a second example.

When the render completes, you will see the first viewport with a 10. Place it to the right of the original viewport.
vignetting intensity of 80% and an offset of 0, has slight darkening
around the edges. The second viewport has a much more 11. Double-click on the viewport, choose Camera and click OK.
extreme vignetting effect. The negative offset brought the dark
effect in towards the center of the image. 12. Change the F-Stop to F/2.2 and click Return to Viewport.

We will keep the same focus distance for this viewport, because
the objects we want in focus are about half a meter away from
Depth of Field the camera.
Finally, let’s take a look at depth of field. Depth of field is the area
in which objects appear relatively sharp, while the rest are blurry. 13. Select both of the viewports and click Update in the Object
We are going to adjust the f-stop and focus distance of this last Info palette.
viewport.

1. Double-click on the viewport, choose Camera and click OK.

2. First, in the Object Info palette, set the Vignetting Intensity

and Vignetting Offset to 0.

3. Check Depth of Field and set the F-Stop to f/20.0.

When the renders complete, you will see we have two very
4. Then set the Focus Distance to about 0.5m. different renders. The first, viewport is focused on the bowl and
the rest of the image is not too out of focus. This is because we
Now, let’s adjust the view of the camera. used an f-stop of F/20.0. The other viewport is quite different. The
f-stop setting of f/2.2 caused most of the image to be out of focus.
5. Click the Activate Camera button in the Object Info palette. Just the bowl is in focus in this render.

6. Activate the Walkthrough tool in the Visualization tool set. In the next, chapter we will go over the different render modes.

11 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

Basic Render Modes The first option is Detail. This will increase the overall quality of
the render. However, this mainly affects curved geometry. So
switching from high to low will not cause a noticeable change
Wireframe in this document. For most files, a Medium or High setting is
recommend.
We will start with the default render mode, Wireframe. Wireframe
is the default render mode for Top/Plan and all 3D views. 6. Set the Detail to High.

1. In the View bar, click on the Saved Views pulldown menu and
choose the 2.0 Renderworks Modes.

2. Activate the Walkthrough tool in the Visualization tool set.

3. Use the Gamer mode to move around the model in Wireframe.

You will see, Wireframe is the fastest render mode. For, most
files, there will be no delay when navigating in this mode.
However, no shading or textures are visible in this render mode.
Next, we have several options. Let’s start with textures.
4. Use the Saved Views menu, to return to the 2.0 Renderworks
Modes, view when finished. 7. Uncheck the Use Textures option.

This option will turn off all textures and just show the fill color
applied to the objects.
OpenGL
OpenGL will create good-quality rendering previews that are fast 8. Now, uncheck Use Colors as well.
and interactive. Before we talk about OpenGL in more detail, let’s
see how to change render modes.

1. First, go to View > Rendering.

You will see you can choose from all of the available render
modes in this menu. You can also use the Render Mode pulldown
menu in the View bar.

2. Click on the Render Mode pulldown in the View bar.

The same render mode options are available here. This will disable all colors as well. So we currently have no
colors or textures. On more complex models, this will speed up
3. Go ahead and choose OpenGL from the list. navigation while in an OpenGL render mode. Combinations of
these two options on and off can also create interesting renders.
As we mentioned previously, the initial OpenGL render will take
some time, but after that switching from any other render mode to 9. Go ahead and re-enable Use Textures and Use Colors.
OpenGL will be very quick. Now, let’s take a look at the OpenGL
render options. 10. Now, uncheck Anti-Aliasing.

4. Go to the View > Rendering > OpenGL Options. Anti-Aliasing smooths the edges of objects. Depending on your
screen resolution, this option may make little to no difference or a
5. Move the OpenGL Options window off to the side so we see major improvement on the smoothness of objects.
the changes as we modify the options.
11. Uncheck Draw Edges.

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You can see the edges are on all of the objects are now gone. 1. Click on the Render pulldown menu in the View bar and
With this option disabled, objects appear a little more natural, but choose Fast Renderworks.
tend to blend into each other.

12. Re-enable the Draw Edges option.

13. Now, set the Thickness to 2.

14. Then, change the Thickness to 3.

15. Finally, back to 1.

The thickness option will increase the pixel width of the drawn
edge. The next option is the Crease Angle. A Crease Angle of 70°
is the default setting.
When the render completes, you will see that overall, the
16. Set the Crease Angle to 1°. render may appear lower quality than OpenGL, however, the
transparencies, shadows and reflections are now more accurate.
The lower the angle, the more lines are drawn. You can see the You would use fast Renderworks, to get produce a quick render
render became much darker. Generally 50 or 70 is a good crease will editing objects or even lighting in a file.
angle.

17. Set the Crease Angle back to 70°. Final Quality Renderworks
18. Next, enable the Use Shadows option and set the Quality to Final Quality Renderworks will render with a much higher detail
High. level. textures, transparencies, geometry, will all be shown in
more detail.
OpenGL, shadows will give you a fast, interactive representation
of shadows in the file. So you can adjust lighting and see the 1. Go to View > Rendering > Final Quality Renderworks.
changes is shadows live. In addition to the Quality setting, there
is also a On Ground Only option for OpenGL shadows.

19. Toggle the On Ground Only option on and off.

You will see the shadows disappear and reappear. You may be
wondering why you do not see the shadows on the Site Model.
This is because, On Ground Only, is referring to the ground plane
and not the ground of the Site Model. This site model is sitting
above the ground plane, so we do not see any shadows. In most
cases, you will want to leave this option off.

20. Uncheck the On Ground Only and Use Shadows options. This render mode will take much longer to complete. As the
render completes, you will notice the edges of objects are much
21. Click OK to exit the OpenGL options dialog. sharper. This because Anti-Aliasing is enabled in the Final Quality
Renderworks mode. Also, textures their shaders are rendered to
a higher level of detail. You will see the bump map on the pool
wall and the water give the objects more depth. As well as the
Fast Renderworks reflections in the window are more apparent.
Fast Renderworks is fast render mode that will show, shadows,
textures and transparencies, but at a low detail level.

13 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

Hidden Line 8. Then, enable Sketch Hidden Line Results.

Hidden Line, hides the edge lines of objects that are behind other 9. For Sketch Style, choose Quick and click OK.
objects, which gives a solid appearance.

1. Go to View > Rendering > Hidden Line.

Sketch is applied overtop of the Hidden Line render. When the

render completes, you will see the Sketch Style give the render,
more of a hand drawn effect.
As you can see Hidden Line does not show any textures or
shadowing, but does hide lines to give a solid appearance to Coming up in the next chapter, we will cover Custom
objects. Renderworks and Renderworks.

2. Now, go back to the View menu and under Rendering, choose

Line Render Options.

As you can see there are a few options. We are not going to Custom Renderworks and Styles
cover all of the settings at this time. However, let’s a look at the
Smoothing Angle option. This setting will reduce the number of
lines drawn. The edges around the pool are a good example. If Rendering Resolution
you increase the Smoothing Angle, it will reduce the number of
lines drawn around the pool. In the previous chapter, we did most of our rendering on
the design layer. When using more detailed render modes,
3. Set the Smoothing Angle to 30° and then click OK. such as Final Quality Renderworks, Custom Renderworks or
Renderworks Styles, it is best to create a viewport and render
When the render completes, you will see the lines around the on a sheet layer. This is because you have limited control over
pool, no longer appear as thick. This because less lines were the rendering resolution on a design layer. It is controlled by your
drawn. Let’s take a look at some of the other Line Render screen resolution and zoom level. So, let’s create a sheet layer
options. viewport.

4. Go back to View > Rendering > Line Render Options. 1. Go to View > Create Viewport.

5. Uncheck Generate Intersecting Lines and click OK. 2. In the Create Viewport dialog, click on the Create on Layer
pulldown menu.
The Generate Intersecting Lines option, draws edges where ever
two objects intersect. When the render completes, you will see 3. Choose New Sheet Layer...
that the walls touch the ground, the lines are no longer drawn.
4. Set the Sheet Number to Custom Renderworks Styles.
6. Go back to View > Rendering > Line Render Options.
5. Click OK and then OK again to create the sheet layer and
7. Re-enable Generate Intersecting Lines. viewport.

14 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

6. Move the viewport to the right of the page area. 6. In the Object Info palette under Background Render choose
My Custom Renderworks Style.
7. Go to Tools > Organization.
7. Click the Update button to render the viewport.
8. Switch to the Sheet Layers tab.

9. Select the Custom Renderworks Styles sheet and click Edit.

You will notice the viewport will update much faster than it did on
The resolution of a viewports is controlled by the sheet layer the design layer. This is because the fixed 72 DPI resolution is
DPI setting. You can see that the sheet layer we created, has much less than the resolution on the design layer.
defaulted to 72 DPI. In general, 72 DPI is good for on screen
viewing of your render. However, if you plan on printing or
exporting the render or it is a larger render you will want to
Anti-Aliasing
increase the DPI. Increasing the DPI will increase render times.
Now, let’s adjust this render style. If you look at the edges of
10. Leave the DPI set to 72. objects, you will see they are very jagged. This is aliasing. Let’s
enable the Anti-Aliasing option to improve the edges.
11. Click OK.
1. In the Resource Browser, locate the My Custom Renderworks
Style, right-click or Ctrl-click on the style and choose Edit.

Creating a Renderworks Style 2. In the Edit Renderworks Style dialog under Options, enable the
Renderworks Styles are predefined Custom Renderworks Anti-Aliasing option.
settings, that can be quickly applied to a viewport or on the
design layer. Let’s start by creating a Renderworks Style. 3. Now, switch to the Quality tab.

1. In the Resource Browser, click on the Home icon. 4. Set Anti-Aliasing to High.

2. Now click on the menu button below the Home icon. 5. Click OK to save the changes.

3. Choose, New Resource in… and choose Renderworks We want to compare the changes to the style from the original
Style… settings. So let’s duplicate this viewport.

The Edit Renderworks Style dialog will appear. You can see there 6. Use the Ctrl / Option + click + drag method to duplicate this
are multiple tabs with many options. By default, many of the viewport.
Options are disabled and all the Quality settings are set to Low.
So, let’s create a Renderworks Style with the default settings. 7. Place the new viewport to the right of the original.

4. Name the Style, My Custom Renderworks Style. 8. Now, with the new viewport selected, click Update in the
Object Info palette.
5. Click OK.

15 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

When the render completes, you can see the Anti-Aliasing option 1. Edit the Renderworks Style again.
cleared up the jagged edges and drastically improved the quality
of the render. 2. Re-enable the Shadows options.

3. Now, disable Textures.

4. Click OK.

5. Update the viewport on the right.

Shadows
Now, let’s turn off the Shadows option and see the effect on the
render.

1. Right-click or Ctrl-click on the My Custom Renderworks Style

in the Resource Browser and choose Edit. When the render completes, you will notice a few things. First,
of course the textures are gone and we just see the fill colors of
the objects. You will also notice the transparency on the windows
2. Under Options, disable Shadows and click OK.
is gone. This is because transparency is texture shader. Without
textures, there is no transparency or reflectivity. Also, you will
Now, update the first viewport. Remember that both of these
notice the tree now shows as two intersecting planes. The tree
viewports are using our Renderworks Style. However, they will
is an image prop, we will go into image props in more detail in
not display the changes to the style until we update them.
a later chapter, but an image prop is essentially just a texture
applied to a 3D plane, so with textures disable, they are not
3. So with the viewport on the left selected, click Update in the
visible.
Object Info palette.

6. Edit the Renderworks Style again.

Let the render complete. You will notice all of the shadows are
gone. You may see what appears to be a shadow on the front
7. Re-enable Textures.
wall but this is actually a reflection from the texture.

Under Textures, you will see some additional options, Blurriness,

Displacement Mapping, Caustics and Grass. These options
enable specific shader options for textures. Currently, the textures
in our file are not using any of these texture shaders. So enabling
these options will have no effect.

Colors
Let’s move on to Colors. Disabling colors is a little different than
just disabling textures. Colors will not only disable the fill colors
Textures of objects, but if you leave textures enabled will also disable the
color of textures.
Next, let’s disable textures.
1. In the Edit Renderworks Style dialog, disable the Colors option.

16 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

2. Click OK. disabled in our Renderworks Style.

3. Now, update the viewport on the left. 6. Edit the Style.

7. Enable the Colors option.

8. Also, enable the Fullscreen Preview option and click OK.

9. Now, update the viewport.

The fullscreen preview option will allow you to see a low detail
preview of the render early in the rendering process. Allowing you
make a lot of small changes to the render faster.

You can see with colors disabled and textures enabled, the color
of the textures gone, but their transparency, reflectivity, or bump
remains. This gives us, what is known as a white card rendering.
There is a predefined Renderworks style called, Realistic Colors
White that creates this effect as well.

In the next chapter, we will cover indirect lighting which is one of

the keys to achieving a realistic render.

When the render completes, you will see the overall render is
fairly dark. It is hard to make out the detail of the shelves, since
Indirect Lighting no light strikes these directly, no shadows are created. Let’s edit
our Renderworks Style and enable indirect lighting.

Enabling Indirect Lighting 10. Edit the Renderworks Style again.

Now let’s talk a little bit about indirect lighting. Interior renderings
11. First, under Ambient Info, choose Off.
are more difficult to properly light than exterior renders. For the
exterior renders we only had a single Heliodon light source. This
We do not want any ambient light for this render.
lit the exterior renders without any additional lights or lighting
options. So or interior renders we need to enable indirect lighting.
12. Under Lighting, enable Lighting Options.
1. Using the Saved Views menu in the View bar, navigate to the
13. For Indirect Lighting, choose Exterior, 3 Bounces.
Renderworks Camera Interior view.

Even though we are rendering an interior view, we are going to

2. Go to View > Creative Viewport.
start with the Exterior, 3 Bounces option. This, mode will render
faster than the Interior, 8 Bounce mode for these examples. Now,
3. Place the viewport on the Custom Renderworks Styles sheet
for Environment Lighting, we first need to set a Renderworks
layer.
Background. The Environment Lighting will come from our
Renderworks Background.
4. For Rending, under Renderworks Style, choose the My
Custom Renderworks Style and click OK.
14. Switch to the Background tab.
5. Move the viewport below the other viewports.
15. Check the option for, Apply Renderworks Background.
Before updating the viewport, let’s re-enable the Colors option we
16. For Renderworks Background, choose HDRI Day.

17 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

This background will simulate a nice sunny day outside. Next, we adjust the number of bounces.
need to adjust some of the Quality settings.
5. Edit the Renderworks Style again.
17. Set both, Indirect Lighting and Environment Lighting to
Medium and click OK. 6. Under Lighting, change the Indirect Lighting to Interior, 8
Bounces.
Again, we want to compare our changes, so first let’s duplicate
the viewport. 7. Click OK and then update the viewport on the right.

18. Use the Ctrl / Option + click + drag shortcut, to create a

duplicate of this viewport.

19. Place it to the right of the original.

20. Now, update the duplicated viewport.

This render will take significantly longer than the previous render.
We are trading render time for quality. Let the render complete.
You will see that the render is now much brighter than the render
on the left. Not only did increasing the number of bounces solve
the splotchy problem, but also it gave us a much more realistic
interior render. Properly lighting an interior scene, generally
requires a medium or high quality setting for Indirect and
When the update completes, you will see we now have a brighter Environment Lighting. As well as turning the number of bounces
render with more definition. However, we also have a some up to 8. So, let save this as a separate Renderworks Style.
splotches in the corners of objects and where the walls intersect
the ceiling. This is caused by the amount of bounces as well as 8. Right-click or Ctrl-click on the Style in the Resource Browser.
the quality settings for both Indirect and Environment Lighting.
9. Choose Duplicate.

10. Name the new style, My Custom Interior Renderworks Style

Editing Indirect Lighting Settings and click OK.
Let’s improve this render by first, turning up the quality settings
for both Indirect and Environment Lighting. Now, we know that this style is good for an interior rendering
in this file and most likely in other files as well. Renderworks
1. Edit the Renderworks Style again. Styles can be imported into other documents or even saved in a
Template file for later use.
2. Increase both the Indirect Lighting and the Environment
Lighting to High. So let’s see how far we have come. Let’s compare the original
High Quality Renderworks Style to our updated Interior Style.
3. Click OK.
11. Right-click or Ctrl-click on the High Quality Render Style in the
4. Select the viewport on the left and click Update in the Object Resource Browser.
Info palette.
12. Choose Edit.
When the render completes, you will see that it is better, but just
turning the quality up did not completely solve this problem. In You will see that Indirect Lighting was set to Normal, 4 Bounces
order to completely fix the splotches in the corners we need to and under Quality everything was set to High. We didn’t need all

18 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

of these settings turned to High. Simply, increasing the number rendering.
of bounces, enabling Environment Lighting and increasing the
quality of just the lighting effects was all that was needed. 1. Go to the Saved View menu.

One last thing on Environment Lighting. The majority of light for 2. Choose the 2.2 Artistic Renderworks view.
this render is coming from the Renderworks Background. If you
disable the background the render will be much darker.

13. Edit the our new My Custom Interior Renderworks Style.

14. Under Background, uncheck Apply Renderworks

Background.

15. Then, under Lighting set Environment Lighting to None and

Click OK.

16. Now, select the viewport on the left.

17. In the Object Info palette, click on Background Render,

then under Renderworks Style, choose the new My Custom
Interior Style.

18. Click Update.

You will see two examples here. These are both set to the Artistic
Renderworks mode, just with different style setting. They are not
using a Renderworks style, however you can use artistic styles as
Renderworks styles. So let’s create one.

3. In the Resource Browser, right click or ctrl click in a blank spot

and choose New Renderworks Style in… and click OK.

In the Edit Renderworks Style dialog, you can see at the top,
You can see how much of a difference the Environment Lighting there is an option to change the Type. You can choose either
makes for this render. Simply, by disabling the Renderworks Realistic or Artistic.
Background we have created a completely different interior
render. 4. Choose Artistic for the Type.

In the next chapter we will talk about Artistic Renderworks modes. Artistic Renderworks Styles only have two tabs, Artistic Style and
Background. Let’s start with the Background.

5. Switch to the Background tab.

Artistic Renderworks Generally, if you apply a background, you should use the HDRI
White background. Depending on the Artistic Style you choose,
most of the other backgrounds, will not appear properly.
Artistic Renderworks Styles
6. Enable the Apply Renderworks Background.
Next, we are going to look at Artistic Renderworks. Artistic
Renderworks will create a hand-drawn or artistic look for a 3D
7. Then, choose HDRI White from the Renderworks

19 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

 Background pulldown menu. the bottom viewport in a Shaded Polygon mode.

8. Now, switch to the Artistic Style tab. 1. Select the bottom viewport.

The various style options, here all essentially create a Hidden 2. In the Object Info palette, set the Background Render to
Line render with added effects. Shaded Polygon.

9. Toggle between a few of the styles to see the different looks 3. Now, Update the viewport.
available.

You will notice the preview will change to give you an idea of
what each style will look like. Depending on the Style selected,
you may have additional options to adjust the style. Let’s create a
Cartoon Artistic Style.

10. Choose Cartoon from the Style pulldown menu.

11. Name the style, Cartoon Artistic Style and click OK.

12. Now, click on the top viewport.

13. In the Object Info palette, scroll down to Background Render Shaded Polygon will give you a similar effect to OpenGL with
and under Renderworks Styles, choose the Cartoon Artistic textures turned off and draw edges turned on. However, this
Style we just created. mode uses shading instead of shadows, so it can create an
interesting Artistic render. In most cases, you would use OpenGL
14. Update the viewport. or even Artistic Renderworks to create a similar look as this
render mode, does take a longer to render.

In the next chapter, we will be discussing Renderworks

Backgrounds in a little more detail.

Renderworks Backgrounds

Applying a Renderworks Background

Now, let go over Renderworks Backgrounds in a little more detail.
Generally, Artistic Renderworks renders, do not take very long.
Renderworks Backgrounds can include clouds, colors, images, a
They will take about as much time as a standard Hidden Line
physical sky, or panoramic image files, as well as lighting effects.
render. When the render completes, you will see the Cartoon
Artistic Style, shows textures, colors and edges. So it will looks
1. Go to the Saved Views pulldown menu.
similar to OpenGL with Draw Edges enabled. However, the
textures, transparencies and reflectivity are much more accurate
2. Choose the Renderworks Background Saved View.
in this mode.

On this sheet layer, we have two viewports. The viewport on the

bottom, is not using a Renderworks Background. The one above
Shaded Polygon it, is using a Renderworks Background. That is the only difference
between these two renders. The blue background color and all of
Next, we will go over the Shaded Polygon modes. Let’s render

20 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

the additional light, are coming from the Renderworks tab.
Background. Let’s go ahead and add a Renderworks Background
to the bottom viewport. 10. Make sure, Apply Renderworks Background is checked.

11. Then, for the Renderworks Background choose HDRI Sky

Sunset.

12. Set Environment Reflections to From Current Background.

13. Now, switch to the Lighting tab.

14. Make sure Environment Lighting is set to From Current

Background.

15. Rename the style to Quick Render - Sunset and click OK.

We do not need to re-apply this new style to the viewport

because we just renamed the edited and renamed the style,
instead of duplicating it. You can check the Background Render
mode for this viewport to confirm it is set to Quick Render -
Sunset.

16. Now, click Update to render the viewport.

3. Select the bottom viewport.

4. In the Object Info palette, scroll down until you see RW

Background.

If this viewport was using a regular render mode, you would

be able to choose a Renderworks Background here. However,
you will notice that the option is grayed out. This is because
the viewport is using a Renderworks Style and Renderworks
Backgrounds are set within the a the style settings. Let’s find out, When the render completes, you will see the feel of this rendering
which style this viewport is using. is now completely different than the one above it. All we did was
change the Renderworks Background to get this effect.
5. Click on Background Render.

6. Then, under Renderworks Styles, note which style is

checked. Creating a Renderworks Background
You may have noticed, that the HDRI Sky Sunset background
The Quick Render - No Background style is being used for this does not completely fill the background. The HDRI Sky
viewport. So we will need to edit that style. backgrounds, only contain the top part of the image they don’t
contain anything below the horizon line. There are a few ways to
7. Locate the Quick Render - No Background style in the fix this, you can adjust the angle of this view, choose a different
Resource Browser. Background or even make your own background. So let’s make a
new Renderworks Background.
8. Right-click or Ctrl-click on the style and choose Edit.
1. In the Resource Browser, click on the menu button under the
9. In the Edit Renderworks Style dialog, switch to the Background Home icon.

21 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

2. Choose New Resource in… and then select Renderworks When the render completes, you will see it looks very strange.
Background. The bright green color, we used has created a chromakey
background. If you export this rendering to an image file and
We are going to create a Chroma Key background. bring it into a photo editing software, you can easily select that
green color and make it completely transparent. This will make it
3. Name the Renderworks Background, Chroma Key easy to replace the background with any image you would like.
Background.

4. Then, for Background choose One Color.

5. Click the Options button. Lights

6. Click on the Color pulldown and choose a bright green color.

Directional Lights
7. Click OK and then OK again, to create the Renderworks
Next we are going to cover lighting. Lighting is extremely
Background.
important to producing quality renderings as you have seen
with the Indirect and Environmental lighting from the previous
The green color may appear to be a little strange, but will explain
chapters. We are going to start with Heliodons and directional
why we chose this color shortly. Before that, we need to edit our
lights.
Renderworks Style and apply the new background.
1. Go to the Saved Views menu in the View bar.
8. Locate the Quick Render Sunset style in the Resource
Browser and edit it.
2. Choose Setting up Lighting - Heliodon and Directional Lights.

9. Switch to the Background tab and for Renderworks

This will take us to an OpenGL rendering of the model. Let’s take
Background, choose the Chroma Key Background we just
a look at the lights in this file. The easiest way to control lights, is
created.
by using the Visualization palette.

Now, we need to adjust some of the reflection and lighting

settings, so the green color from our new background doesn’t
affect our render.

10. Switch to the Quality tab and set the Max Reflections to 0.

11. Then, under Lighting set Environment Lighting to None.

12. Finally, rename the style, Quick Render - Chroma Key

Background and click OK.

13. Now, update the bottom viewport.

3. Go to the Window menu.

4. Under Palettes, turn on Visualization.

The Visualization palette will open. You can see there are quite
a few lights in this file, but only one is currently turned on. This
light is a Heliodon. You can think of a Heliodon as an advanced
directional light. However, since the Heliodon is only available in
Design Series versions of the software, we are going to focus on

22 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

directional lights. 15. Move your cursor to the left and right.

5. In the Visualization palette, click on the checkmark in the On As you move your cursor, you will see the direction the light is
column to the left of the Heliodon to turn it off. coming from changes.

16. Click a second time to set the direction of the light.

17. Now, click once on the other control handle and move your
cursor up and down.

This will change the angle at which the light is coming from. You
can use more than one directional light object, but generally only
one should be used for exterior lighting.

18. Select the directional light object, then in the Object Info
palette click on the Color.

19. Choose a bright red color and click OK.

When you turn off the light, the objects will go dark.

6. Now, minimize the Visualization palette and move it out of way

for the moment.

7. Go to the Visualization tool set and activate Light tool.

8. In the Tool bar, make the first mode, Directional Light mode
active.

9. Click once in the bottom right corner of the document to place

the directional light.
Generally, you will not want use this extreme of a color, but it
10. In the Light Preferences - Directional Light dialog, leave the does clearly show the effect that adjusting the light color will have
default settings and click OK. on the render.

Our model is now lit again, but depending on your preference 20. Edit the color of the light again.
settings you may not see the light object.
21. This time choose light, yellow and click OK.
11. Go to Tools > Options > Vectorworks Preferences…
22. Now, try a light orange color and click OK.
12. Under the Display tab, make sure the Display light objects
pulldown is set to Always and click OK.

In the bottom right corner of the document you should now be

able to see both the Heliodon and the directional light we just
placed.

13. Select the directional light object.

You will see two blue control handles.

14. Click once on the bottom control handle.

23 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

Adding a little yellow, orange or even blue will enhance the 7. Select the first point light.
lighting effect.
8. In the Object Info palette, click On.
23. Finally, go ahead and delete this directional light, as it is no
longer needed. This give us some additional light in the hallway and across the
stairs. A quick note about light in OpenGL. A maximum of eight
lights will show, when in OpenGL. So when initially setting up
your lighting, make sure to turn off any lights that you do not
Point Lights need. If you need more than eight lights, you will need to render
Next, we are going to take a look at Point Light Objects. in a Renderworks mode.

1. Go to the Saved Views menu and go to the 3.3 Setting up 9. Select both of the point lights.
Lighting - Point Lights.
10. In the Object Info palette, click Off.
This will takes us inside the model, looking up a stairwell. In the
ceiling on the left, we have geometry representing recessed
lighting.
Spot Lights
2. Use the Pan tool, from the Basic palette or your middle mouse Next up, are Spot Lights. Spot Lights are similar to directional
button / Spacebar to pan up slightly, so you can see both lights, in that will emit light in one direction. Let’s change the first
recessed lights. Point Light to a Spot Light.

3. Now, activate the Light tool in the Visualization tool set. 1. Select just the first point light.

4. Switch to the Point Light mode. 2. In the Object Info palette, for Kind change it from Point to Spot
and choose On.
A point light will emit light in all directions from the point where it
is placed. You will see the first recessed light, already has a Point 3. Click once on the blue control handle and move your mouse
Light in it. around.

5. Click once in the center of the other recessed light to place the As you move you mouse, the direction of the light will change.
point light. You can use this control point to set the direction of the light or
enter the Pan and Tilt angles directly, in the Object Info palette.
6. In the Light Preferences - Point Light dialog, enable the Soft
Shadows options and click OK.

The light emits evenly from that point in all directions. You can
see shadow on the wall created by the grating along the stairs.
The first Point Light is off at the moment. Let’s turn it on.

4. Click once anywhere to change the direction of the light.

5. Now, in the Object Info palette, scroll down and set the Tilt to
90°.

This will point the light straight down. Generally, spot lights work

24 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

well for recessed lighting. However, you can see here that the This will give you a nice effect of light coming down from the
light is not showing against the wall. This is because the spread ceiling. This method, is much easier than trying to use a Point
and beam angles are a little too low. We can adjust those values Light in conjunction with a reflective texture to replicate this effect.
in the Object Info palette.

6. With the Spot Light selected, set the Spread and Beam to 90°.
Ambient Lighting
You can see that the light now hits the wall and shows on the We have show Ambient Lighting briefly before, but now we will go
stairs as well. We set the spread and beam the same angle, so over it in more detail. First, let’s switch to a different view.

1. Using the Saved Views menu, switch to the 3.3 Setting up

Lighting - Set Lighting Options view.

2. Turn off any lights that are still visible.

We no longer want to see the light objects anymore. So let’s

adjust that preference setting.

3. Go to Tools > Options > Vectorworks Preferences.

4. Under the Display tab, change the Display light objects to

the edge of the light is a little harsh. Let’s adjust the Spread angle Only in wireframe
to soften or fade the edge of the light.
5. Click OK.
7. Start, by setting the Spread to 100° in the Object Info palette.
6. Now, go to View > Set Lighting Options...
You will see the edge is now softer, sort of fuzzy. Now, let’s
decrease the beam angle to make the effect even more apparent. Here we can adjust the Ambient settings. Ambient lighting will
universally increase or decrease how bright objects appear.
8. Set the Beam angle to 80°.
7. Move the Lighting Options dialog off to the side of your screen,
The fade is now much more natural. so you can see more of the model.

Repeat this process for the other light. 8. Now, drag the Brightness slider to the left to 0%.

9. Set the Kind to Spot and turn the light on. At zero, everything except for the Blue Renderworks Background
is completely black. There is a small amount of the light coming
from the background hitting the fencing next to the stairs.

9. Now, slowly scroll up to 100%.

10. Point the spot straight down, by setting the Tilt to 90°.

11. Finally, set the Spread to 100° and the Beam to 80°.

25 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

This will give even bright light on everything. Normally, you do Ambient Occlusion is essentially, emulating effect of indirect
not want to heavily use Ambient lighting for renderings. It is lighting set to a high number of bounces. So this is quick way to
preferable to add additional light sources or indirect lighting, to achieve this effect, but for best results use indirect lighting in a
get a more realistic render. Renderworks mode.

10. Go ahead and reduce the Ambient lighting to about 60%. In the next chapter, we will be working with an exterior landscape
scene and take a look at textures.
Next, let’s take a look at Ambient Occlusion. First, let’s switch to a
different view, to better show off this effect.

11. Click OK to exit the Lighting Options dialog.

Applying Textures
12. Go to the Saved Views menu and choose the Setting up
Lighting - Ambient Occlusion view.
Applying Textures
This is a similar view, but both colors and textures have been
Here we have an exterior landscape render. This render is
disabled in the OpenGL render options. You can see it is very
already pretty good, but there are a few issues, that we will
difficult to see the difference between the objects. Unless there is
resolve.
light creating a shadow, most of the stairs and the hallway blend
into each other. We can use Ambient Occlusion to improve this
1. Start by going to the Saved Views pulldown menu and choose
render.
the 1 - Applying Textures.
13. Go to View > Set Lighting Options…
This is simply a closer view of the fire pit from the previous view.
As you can see the stones for the fire pit, do not have a texture.
14. Again, move the dialog off to the side and then Enable
Let’s apply one now.
Ambient Occlusion.

2. In the Resource Browser, click on the Home icon.

As you can see Ambient Occlusion has added shading that
naturally occurs when there are two surfaces next to each other.
3. Click on the Resources pulldown menu and choose Top Level.
Let’s adjust the strength and size of this effect.

4. Scroll down to the Render Textures section and locate the

15. Go ahead and increase the Strength to 100%.
White Gray Rock RT texture.
This is a little too strong. Let’s reduce the strength and adjust the
5. Click and drag this texture onto one of the top stones.
size as well.

6. When one of the top stone extrudes highlights in red, release

16. Set the Strength to 40%.
your mouse button to apply the texture.
17. Then, set the Size to 0.1m.
The texture will be applied to the extrude. This is one way of
applying a texture.

This is much better. It really brings out the edges objects.

26 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

You can also apply a texture to a selected object, by simply 16. Select the object.
doubles clicking on the texture in the Resource Browser.
17. Then in the Object Info palette under the Render tab, make
7. Use the Shift key to select two of the top stone extrudes. sure the Texture is set to Class Texture.

8. Now, double-click on the White Gray Rock RT texture in the 18. Now switch to the Shape tab.
Resource Browser.
You will see this object is in the Firepit–Mortar Class.
The texture is applied to both of these extrudes. Now, let’s apply
this texture to the rest of the stone extrudes. 19. Now, go to Tools > Organization.

9. In the Basic palette, activate the Select Similar tool. 20. In the Classes tab scroll down and select the Firepit-Mortar
Class and click Edit.
10. In the Tool bar, click on the Preferences button.
21. In the Edit Class(es) dialog, go to the Other tab.
11. Make sure only Class and Object Type, under Other Attributes
are checked and click OK. Other is used for texturing anything that is not a wall or a roof.

12. Now, click on one of the stone extrudes to select them all. 22. Check the Texture / Surface Hatch option.

All of these stones are in the same class, so they were all 23. Then click on the Texture thumbnail and choose the Stone
selected. Next, we will use a third method to apply a texture to Mortar texture.
the rest of these extrudes.
24. Click OK and then OK again.
13. Go to the Object Info palette and click on the Render tab.
You will see the texture was only applied to the top of the object.
14. Click on the Texture pulldown menu and choose the White This is because, this object has multiple parts, that can be
Gray Rock RT texture from the list. textured individually.

25. In the Object Info palette, Under the Render tab click on the
Part pulldown menu.

The overall class is currently set to Class Texture, but the sides
are set to None. You can set each side to a different texture or set
the Sides part to use the Overall texture.

26. Choose Sides from the Part list and then click the Revert to
Overall button.

All of the fire pit stones now have a texture. These 3 methods are
the most common ways to directly apply a texture to an object.
You can also apply textures by Class. Which will allow you to
quickly apply the same texture to any object in a particular Class.
So let’s go ahead and do that now.

15. First will go the Navigation palette, then in the Classes tab,
set the Firepit-Stones class to invisible.

The stones will disappear. Now, have another extrude that

represents the mortar between the stones. Now, the top bottom and sides will all use the overall texture,
which is currently set to Class Texture.

27 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

Scaling Textures this sand texture is a little large for this object. This is even more
noticeable if you switch to the second mode of the Attribute
Next, let’s go over how to scale or map textures on objects. Mapping tool.

If you scroll down in the Render tab of the Object Info palette, you 9. In the Tool bar enable the Original Repeat mode.
will see mapping options. We will start with the texture scale.
You can now see the repetition of the texture over the whole
1. With the extrude still selected, click and drag the Scale slider to object. Let’s scale this texture.
the right and left.
10. Click once on one of the corner control handles and move
As you move the slider the texture will resize. your cursor inwards.

2. Set the scale back to 1. This will reduce the size of the texture. The smaller we make this
texture the more noticeable the repeating pattern becomes.
You may have noticed that at a scale of 1, the texture appears
to have a clear repeating pattern. You may think this is incorrect
and scale the texture to adjust the pattern. However, you should
always do a quick Renderworks render to confirm the actual
pattern of the texture.

3. Go to View > Rendering > Fast Renderworks.

As the render processes, you will see the pattern we saw in

OpenGL disappears and now we have grainy mortar look. You
do not need to wait for this render to finish, just switch back to
OpenGL to stop the render. 11. Click a second time to stop scaling the texture.

4. Go back to View > Rendering > OpenGL. 12. Now, click once on one of the middle control handles.

There are additional mapping options in the Object Info palette, 13. Move your cursor down slightly, until to rotate the texture.
but there is a more direct method of mapping textures. We are
going to use the Attribute Mapping tool to map the sand floor 14. When it is at about a 25° angle, click a second time to
below the fire pit. complete the rotation.

5. First, set the Firepit-Mortar class to invisible in the Navigation The pattern effect, is much less apparent when the texture is
palette. rotated slightly. Go ahead and use the corner control handles to
scale the texture to about 0.5. Both the Floating Data Bar and
6. With the sand floor selected, in the Basic palette activate the the Object Info palette will indicate the scale of the texture. You
Attribute Mapping tool. can also clicking inside of the control handles to adjust where the
pattern starts. However, this does not make a big difference on
A dialog will appear asking you to change the map type. this type of texture.

7. Choose Plane and click Yes. So let’s take a look at our changes.

By default the Attribute Mapping tool also started with the texture 15. Switch to the Selection tool in the Basic palette to disable the
applied to the sides of the object. Let’s choose the top of the Attribute Mapping tool.
object.
16. In the Navigation palette, set the Firepit-Mortar and Firepit-
8. Click once on the object to choose the top plane. Stones classes to visible.

We now have a small sample of the texture showing. Currently, 17. Now, render in Final Quality Renderworks, by going to View >

28 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

 Rendering > Final Quality Renderworks. Texture.

Here we have multiple Shaders. Let’s start with Color. The most
common Color Shaders are a single color or image. We will use
a single color.

9. Click on the Color pulldown menu and choose Color.

10. Click the Edit button.

11. Now, choose a dark gray color.

For a stone texture, we do not need to add a Reflectivity or

Coming up in the next chapter we will go over creating a texture Transparency Shader, but we do want to add a Bump Shader.
from scratch. Bump will create an effect, that will give the texture more depth or
appear more 3D.

12. Click on the Bump pulldown menu and choose Noise.

Creating Textures 13. Now, click the Edit button.

There are several noise patterns available. Generally, Turbulence

Stone Texture or Wavy Turbulence will work well for a rocky effect or even
water.
We are going to create a new stone texture from scratch. Let’s
start by turning off all other objects, so we can focus on a single
brick. 14. Click on the Pattern pulldown menu and choose Wavy
Turbulence.
1. Start by rendering in Wireframe, by going to View > Rendering
> Wireframe. By default, a Bump Shader will just apply a shading effect to
make the texture appear more 3D, but we can add displacement
mapping to actually generate 3D geometry.
2. In the Navigation palette, set the Class Options to Active only.

15. At the bottom of the dialog, set the Displacement Mapping

3. Now, make the Special Brick Class active, by click to the left of
Height to 0.01m, with a Detail set to Medium.
the Class name in the Navigation palette.

If you look at the preview, this setting appears a little extreme.

4. Next, go to View > Set Renderworks Background and
choose None.
16. Change the Height to 0.001m and change the Detail to High.
5. Render in OpenGL, by going back to View > Rendering >
OpenGL. That looks a little better, let’s enable the Self-Shadowing as well.
This will let the displacement create shadows.
We now have just one brick visible, that does not have a texture.
Now, let’s create a stone texture. 17. Check the option for Self-Shadowing and click OK.

6. In the Resource Browser, right click or Ctrl-click in a blank area 18. Click OK again to create the texture.
and choose New Resource in…
19. Now, select the extrude.
7. Choose Renderworks Texture from the list.
20. In the Object Info palette under the Render tab, choose the A
8. In the Edit Texture dialog, name the texture A New Stone New Stone Texture from the Texture pulldown.

29 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

As you can see, the extrude just shows a gray color. We do not We want the glass to be smooth so we need to disable the Bump
see the bump or displacement mapping. This is because OpenGL Shader.
does not display these texture attributes. You must render in a
Renderworks mode to see these Shaders. 5. Click the Bump pulldown menu and choose None.

21. Go to View > Rendering > Final Quality Renderworks. Now, let’s add some reflectivity and transparency to the texture.

As the render starts to process, you will see the Color and Bump 6. Click on the Reflectivity pulldown menu and choose Glass.
Shader, but you still do not see the displacement mapping. This
is because displacement mapping is not enabled in Final Quality 7. Then for Transparency, choose Glass as well.
Renderworks. We need to use the Custom Renderworks mode.
This will give you a very basic glass texture.
22. Press the Esc key twice to stop the render.
8. Click on the Edit button for Reflectivity.
23. Go to View > Rendering > Custom Renderworks Options...
You will see there are multiple settings. You can adjust the edge
24. Under Textures, enable the Displacement Mapping option and and center color as well as add blurriness to create a frosted
set the Displacement Mapping to High. glass look. However, blurriness does need to be enable in the
Custom Renderworks options and it will significantly increase
25. Click OK render times.

26. Now, select Custom Renderworks from the Render pulldown 9. Leave the settings at the defaults and click OK.
menu in the View bar.
10. Now, click on the Transparency Edit button.
When, the render completes you will now see the Displacement
Mapping. It looks like create a contoured 3D surface. Here you can edit the Transmission percentage. 100% is
effectively invisible and 10% is almost solid. For the Index of
Refraction, glass typically has a value of 1.5.

11. Set the Index of Refraction to 1.5.

The Color option, will allow you to tint the transparency. Next,
we have Blurriness, which has a similar effect to the Reflectivity
However, all we did was create a texture with Color, Bump and Blurriness option. Absorption Color, will cause the texture to
Displacement Mapping Shaders. appear closer to the chosen color as you increase the amount of
light hitting the texture.

12. Click OK and OK again to create the texture.

Glass Texture
Now, let’s create a reflective glass texture. We will just edit this When the render completes, you see the glass texture on the
same texture. extrude. The object does look a little odd. This is because there
are no objects around it to reflect. When creating glass textures it
1. Right-click or Ctrl-click on the A New Stone Texture in the is best to have other objects.
Resource Browser and choose Edit.

2. Rename the texture, A New Glass Texture.

3. Click the Edit button for Color.

4. Click on Standard Vectorworks Colors and choose a light blue

color.

30 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

Brick Textures 15. Choose Color and click OK.

Finally, let’s create one more type of texture. We will create a In the Set Image Size dialog, you will see there are two white
brick texture next. handles. We will use these to determine the size of an individual
brick, which is about 1.2m.
1. Edit the texture, A New Glass Texture.
16. Drag one of the handles to the the end of a single brick.
2. Rename it, A New Brick Texture.
17. Then drag the other handle to the opposite side of the brick.
For the Color Shader, we are going to choose an Image.
18. Now, set the Feature Size to 0.2m and click OK.
3. Click on the Color pulldown and choose Image.
The preview now looks much better. Let’s see how it looks.
4. Choose Reuse an Image From Another Resource and choose
Brick Wall Color and click OK. 19. Click OK to create the texture.

5. Click OK again in the Edit Image Color dialog to accept the The texture is applied to our single stone, but it does look a
defaults. little odd. Let’s replace this object with something a little more
reasonable.
6. Go ahead and set both the Reflectivity and Transparency to
None. 20. Delete this extrude.

Now, let’s apply a bump image shader. 21. Activate the Rectangle tool in the Basic palette.

7. Click on the Bump pulldown and choose Image. 22. Draw a rectangle that is about 0.35m wide.

8. Click Reuse an Image From Another Resource. 23. Then, move your cursor over top of the Rectangle.

9. Choose the Brick Wall bump and then OK. 24. When it highlights in red, click once to activate the Automatic
Push/Pull mode.
You will notice the image is slightly different from the original brick
image. This is a displacement map image. There is shades of 25. Move your cursor up until the extrude is about 0.27m and
white and black. The whiter areas will be higher and the darker click a second time to create the extrude.
areas will be lower.

10. Set the Displacement Mapping Height to 0.02m.

11. Set the Detail to High and enable Self-Shadowing.

12. Click OK.

When the preview updates, you will see that it does not look
correct. This is because we are currently showing a very small
object in the preview window. 26. Now, in the Object Info palette, under the Render tab, choose
A New Brick Texture from the Texture pulldown menu.
13. Increase the Obj Size to 1m.
27. Zoom in a little so we can see the detail of the texture.
Next, we need to adjust the size of the image, with will represent
the actual size of the bricks. 28. Finally, go to View > Rendering > Custom Renderworks.

14. Under Size, click the Set by Image button. When the render completes, you will be able to really see the true

31 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

effect displacement mapping can have on an object. 3. Switch back to an OpenGL render mode.

This object is a symbol. So in order to edit or apply a texture to

the objects within the symbol, we must first, edit the symbol to
access the geometry.

4. In the Resource Browser, click on the Home icon to make sure

you are looking at the active document.

5. Now, scroll down to the Symbol Folders section, open the

Sconces folder and locate the B10.5 Candelabra 60W symbol.

6. Right-click or Ctrl-click on the Symbol and choose Edit 3D

In the next chapter, will cover some more advanced texture Component.
options, such as backlit and glow.
7. Zoom in on the objects.

You will see, we have Sweep representing the bulb and a Point
Light object within the Sweep. Let’s take a look at these objects
Backlit and Glow Textures in OpenGL.

8. Go to the Render pulldown menu in the View bar and choose

Backlit Texture OpenGL.
Now, let’s take a look at Backlit textures.
The Sweep that represents the bulb is solid, there is not a
transparency applied to the texture on the blub.
1. Go to the Saved Views menu and choose 3 - Glow and Backlit
Shaders.
9. Render in Fast Renderworks.
This will bring you to a view of a lighting fixture. It contains a
light object, and geometry representing the bulb and outer glass
housing. Let’s render this view and see what the object looks like
currently.

2. Go to the Render pulldown menu in the View bar and choose

Custom Renderworks.

When the render completes, you will see the glow of the light as
well as the transparency and reflectivity of the outer glass
housing.

Now, we are seeing light through the Sweep. This effect is

caused by a Backlit texture. Let’s see how this works.

10. Select the Sweep and go to the Render tab in the Object Info.

You will see the Sweep is using the Lamp Material RT texture.
Let’s edit this texture.

32 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

11. Click on the menu button to the right of the Texture pulldown You will see that the entire bulb is now bright white. The texture
menu in the Object Info palette. itself is now, emitting light.

12. Choose, Edit Lamp Material RT Resource… 2. Click OK to save the changes.

13. An edit dialog will appear and the bulb now appears in a 3. Click the Exit Symbol button in the upper right corner.
preview state. At the bottom of this dialog, you will see that the
option to Update When Values Change is enabled. This means Now, let’s turn off all of the lights in this document, so we can see
that as we adjust the texture settings, this preview will update. just the light being emitted by this Glow texture.
If you look at the Reflectivity Shader, you will see it is set to
Backlit. 4. Go to the Window menu, then under Palettes, choose
Visualization.
14. Move the dialog off to the side, so you can see the preview.
5. In the Visualization palette, uncheck all of the lights.
15. Set Reflectivity to None.
You will see there is no longer an light in this file. Now, let’s
render in Fast Renderworks.

6. Minimize the Visualization palette.

Before rendering, let’s turn off the glass housing, so we can just
see the bulb.

7. In the Navigation palette, set the Electrical-Devices class to

Invisible.

8. Now, choose Custom Renderworks from the Render pulldown

The sweep for the bulb now appears solid. So you can see the in the View bar.
Backlit Reflectivity Shader, is allowing you to see the light through
the bulb.

16. Set the Reflectivity back to Backlit.

Glow Textures
There is another way, to get this type of effect. Using the Glow
Reflectivity Shader, we can get similar, but slightly different effect.

1. In the Edit Lamp Material RT dialog, set the Reflectivity to

Glow.

So you can see, the entire bulb now glows, without any lights
turned on in this file.

In the next chapter, we will show you have to create an image

prop.

33 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

Image Props 8. Now, go to the Model menu and choose Create Image Prop…

9. Choose to Import an Image File and click OK.

Creating Image Props
10. Navigate to the Campfire-unlit image file.
Next, we will cover image props. In previous chapters we had a
few trees that were image prop objects. In this example file, the 11. Select the file and click Open.
fire in our fire pit is also an image prop. You will need to download
the Campfire-unlit image file for this chapter. The Image Prop Options dialog will appear. We will start by
editing the Mask Options.
1. Go the Saved Views menu in the View bar and choose 4-
Image Props. 12. Under Mask Options, choose Use Mask… and then click
Create Mask…
It is a little dark, so let’s go ahead and turn on our directional light
object. 13. Choose Reuse an Image From Another Source.

2. Either expand the Visualization palette or if you have closed 14. Then, choose This Prop’s Color and click OK.
the palette, go to Window > Palettes > Visualization.
15. For the Source For Mask, choose Transparent Color and
3. Enable the directional light. then click OK.

The Create Transparent Color Mask dialog will appear. Here,

we can choose the color we want to be transparent. There are
two previews, one of the source image and the other of the
transparent color mask. Currently, the transparent color is set to
black. However, the background for the source image is white.

16. Click once on the white background of source image.

4. Minimize the Visualization palette.

You will see the fire Image Prop. Image Props are based off of
a texture. This is simply and image based texture, that has a
transparency mask. So we do not see the background of the
image. In addition, this particular Image Prop also has a Glow
Reflectivity Shader.

5. Go to the Render pulldown in the View bar and choose Fast

Renderworks.

You will see the warm orange glow around the sides of the fire pit. You will see the Transparent Color, is now white.

6. Switch back to an OpenGL render mode. 17. Click OK and OK again to create the image prop.

A bright lit campfire, does not make sense in the middle of the The image prop is placed in the document and shows as selected
day. So let’s delete this image prop and create an unlit campfire in the Object Info palette, but is not currently in view. Let’s zoom
image prop from scratch. in on the object.

7. Select the image prop and delete it. 18. Go to View > Zoom > Fit To Objects.

34 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

This will zoom in and center our view on the selected image prop. of this stone wall. The top stone on this wall is in a group, so we
You will see the image prop is far too large. Let’s edit the size of need to edit the group.
the image prop.
2. Double-click on the top stone to enter the group.
19. In the Object Info palette, set the Height to 0.55m.
We do not want to change the mapping for the stone texture that
When adjust the Height, the Width will also change. This is is already applied to this object. So let’s extract a surface from
because the Lock Aspect Ratio option is enabled. Now, let’s the end face of this object.
move the image prop into the fire pit.
3. Go to the 3D Modeling Tool set in the Tools Sets palette.
20. Click and drag the image prop into the middle of the fire pit.
4. Activate the Extract tool.
21. Once you get it close, you can use the 4 - Image Props
Saved View, to center your view over the fire pit again. 5. Enable the fourth mode, Extract Surface mode.

22. Once the image prop is in the center of the fire pit, set the Z 6. Move your cursor over the right side of the from face of the
height in the Object Info palette, to 0. object.

7. When the face highlights in red, click once to select the face.

Creating trees, plants or anything that you do not want to model, 8. Click the green checkmark button in the Tool bar, to extract
is very easy with image props. Also, it is more efficient to use an the surface.
image prop for these logs instead of modeling each individual
log. Modeling each object will significantly increase both the A NURBS surface will be created. We need to move this surface
complexity of the file and how long it takes to render. away from the face of the main object slightly.

In the next chapter, we will look at Decal Textures. 9. In the Object Info palette, set the Y to 9.5564m.

Decal Textures

Creating a Decal Texture

Now, we are going to take a look at Decal textures. A Deal
You could also switch to a Top/Plan view and use Shift + Down
texture, can be thought of like a sticker that you put on top of
Arrow shortcut to Nudge the surface away from the face of the
another texture. Decals do not interfere with the mapping of the
object. Now, let’s apply the same base texture as the original
base texture, they are mapped independently.
object.

1. In the Saved Views menu, choose 5 - Decal Textures.

10. Activate the Selection tool in the Basic palette.

We are going to use a Decal texture to place a plaque on the end

11. With the NURBS Surface selected, go to the Render tab of

35 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

 the Object Info palette and choose the White Gray Rock RT 20. Name the Decal, Plaque Decal and click OK to create the
texture. decal texture.

Now, let’s apply a decal texture. Now, we need to use the Attribute Mapping tool, to adjust the
Decal texture mapping.
12. In the Render tab of the Object Info palette, click on the Add
Decal… button. 21. Activate the Attribute Mapping tool in the Basic palette.

13. Click Yes, in the Change texture map type dialog. 22. Click once on the surface.

14. In the Add Decal window, choose Reuse an Existing Image, 23. Click once on one of the corner control handles and increase
then click on the Texture thumbnail and choose Plaque1 Color. the scale of the texture to about 7.5.

15. Click OK. 24. Click a second time to set the scale.

16. In the Decal Options window, choose Image Mask, then click 25. Now, click in the center of the texture and drag it to the center
the Choose Image… button. of the surface.

26. Switch back to the Selection tool, to disable the Attribute

Mapping tool.

The decal will disappear. This is because we are currently in an

OpenGL render mode. OpenGL does not display Decal textures.
17. Choose Reuse an Image From Another Resource, then This We need to render in a Renderworks mode.
Decal’s Color and click OK.
27. First, click Exit Group in the upper right corner.
18. Now, choose Transparent Color and click OK.
28. Then, in the Render pulldown, choose Fast Renderworks.
19. Click on the white background of the source image, to set the
transparent color and click OK.

As the render processes, you will see the decal texture appear.
Decals are great for plaques like this, inscriptions, signs, graffiti,
really any time you need have an interruption in a main textures.

36 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

You can even place multiple decals on a single object. 7. First, if you do not see a background, go to View > Set
Renderworks Background… and the choose HDRI Meadow
Coming up in the next chapter, we will go over solar animations. background.

8. Click OK.

9. Now, render in Wireframe and then back to OpenGL to refresh

Solar Animations the background.

In this chapter, we will be covering solar animations. We will use

10. Now, in the Shape tab of the Object Info, scroll down and click
the Heliodon tool from the Visualization tool set, to create a solar
on the Solar Animation… button.
animation. If you do not have the Heliodon tool, this means you
have just Fundamentals with Renderworks. If this is the case, you
The Solar Animation dialog will appear. Here you can choose
will not be able to complete this section. Go ahead and move on
what to animate. The first option, Sun (using current view) will
to the next chapter now.
animate the movement of the sun from the current view. The next
two options, View (sun to layer plane center) and View (sun to
1. Switch to an OpenGL render mode, in the Render pulldown in
Heliodon center), will set the view to the location of the sun and
the View bar.
face either the layer plane center or the location of Heliodon. The
most commonly used mode is the first mode. You can also set the
2. Go to the Saved Views pulldown in the View bar and choose
day, month and time.
6 - Solar Animations.
11. Choose to animate the Sun (using current view).
For this solar animation, we want the only light in the file, to come
from our Heliodon object. So we are going to turn off all lights in
12. Set the day and month to today’s date.
this file.

3. Expand the Visualization palette, or if you closed this palette,

go to Window > Palettes > Visualization.

4. Uncheck all of the lights.

Now, let’s place a Heliodon.

5. In the Visualization tool set, located in the Tool Sets palette,

activate the Heliodon tool.

6. Now, click once anywhere in the document to place the

Heliodon.

13. Then, click the Export Movie tab.

The location of the Heliodon object will not affect the renderings. Some additional options will appears. Leave the Start Time set
If you look in the Object Info palette, you will see the Heliodon is to Sunrise and the End Time set to Sunset. Also, leave the Time
selected. So let’s create an animation. Interval set to 15 Minutes. This will render a frame, once every 15

37 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

minutes from sunrise to sunset. In this chapter, we are going to show how to create a projected
section. A projected section is a type of section viewport.
14. Uncheck the options for Show time of day and Show month
and day. 1. Go to the View menu and choose Create Section Viewport…

15. Then, click OK. 2. Click once to the left of the house as shown.

16. In the Compression Settings dialog, set the Frames per 3. Then, move your cursor to the other side of the house, hold the
second to 23.98. Shift key to constrain the cursor horizontally and click a second
time.
17. Then set the Quality to Very High (best quality) and click OK.

18. Choose to save the animation to your desktop.

This animation, will render fairly quickly. This is because we are

currently in OpenGL. The animation will use your current render
mode, when rendering each frame. Because OpenGL is a fast
rendermode, the animation is created quickly. If you were in a
Renderworks mode, this animation would take longer. Generally,
it is best to initially create an animation in OpenGL and then
choose a Renderworks mode, to create a higher quality
animation. This allows you to resolve any issues with the
animation quicker.
4. Now, move your cursor up vertically past the rear of the house
and double-click to create the section line.

5. In the Create Section Viewport dialog, click on the Create on

Layer pulldown menu and choose New Sheet Layer…

6. Set the Sheet Number to Projected Sections and click OK.

7. Now, click on the Render Settings… button.

8. In the Hidden Line Render Settings dialog, uncheck Sketch

Hidden Line Results and click OK.
19. When the animation export completes, navigate to your
Desktop and open the video. 9. Click OK again to create the section viewport.

You will see an animation from sunrise to sunset. The shadows

will move across the scene as the sun move across the
sky. However, the sky remains the same. This is because
our background is just an image. If you use a Physical Sky
background, the background will be animated as well.

Coming up in the next chapter, we go over projected sections.

Projectected Sections
Here we have a standard section viewport. Let’s adjust the

38 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

projection, to create a projected section viewport. 2. Under Export Area, choose Marquee and click the Draw
Marquee button.
10. With the section viewport selected, go to the Object Info
palette. 3. Click once, on the top left corner of the viewport.

11. Scroll down and click on the Projection pulldown menu. 4. Then click a second time, on the bottom right corner of the
viewport to specify the export area.
12. Choose Oblique Cabinet 45.
You may have noticed, we did not have any Snap Points at the
13. Now, click the Update button to render the viewport. top or bottom corners. If you set your viewport to and exact size,
you will want to make sure the Marquee is the same size as
When the render completes, you will now have a projected well. So let’s add a crop to the viewport, so we have exact Snap
section. Just one more quick tip. You may notice that you can Points.
see through this viewport. the solid white sections are actually
transparent. There is because the Section viewport has a Fill of 5. Click Cancel.
None.
6. Double-click on the viewport, select Crop and then click OK.
14. In the Attributes palette, set the Fill to Solid.
7. Activate the Rectangle tool.

8. Click once on the top left corner of the viewport.

9. Then, click a second time on bottom left corner of the viewport.

The viewport will now have a solid white fill.

In the next chapter, we will show you how to properly export your This will give us Snap Points to use when drawing the marquee.
renders to an image file.
10. Click Exit Viewport Crop.

11. In the Object Info palette, click the Update button to render
the viewport.
Exporting an Image File
12. When the render completes, go back to File > Export >
Next, will go over exporting images. As we have mentioned
Export Image File…
throughout this guide. It is a good practice to always use sheet
layer viewports for your final renders. Sheet layer viewports give
13. Choose Marquee again and click the Draw Marquee button.
you the highest level of control over the quality of the final render.
Let’s start with exporting this viewport to an image file.
14. Now, move your cursor over the top left corner, it will snap to
the corner of the viewport.
1. Go to File > Export > Export Image File…

15. Click once in the top left corner and then a second time in the
We are going to use the Draw Marquee option to set the export
bottom right corner to draw the marquee.
area for out image.

39 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide

Now, let’s look at the Resolution. This will, will be set to the last The image file will be created from the rendered viewport. You
used DPI setting. The image export DPI should always match the can navigate to your Desktop and view the image.
actual DPI of your sheet layer.

16. Click Cancel again.

17. Go to Tools > Organization.

18. Switch to the Sheet Layers tab.

You will see the sheet layer is currently set to 150 DPI.

19. Click OK.

20. Go back to File > Export > Export Image File…

21. Choose Marquee and click Draw Marquee again.

22. Draw the marquee.

Now, set the Resolution to match the sheet layer DPI.

23. Set the Resolution to 150 px/in.

Next, let’s adjust the file format. The default is JPEG. JPEG
provides a high compress level. So the image file size will be
smaller, but generally the image quality will be slightly lower than,
PNG or TIFF. For a final export PNG or TIFF is recommended
over JPEG.

24. Under Format, choose PNG.

25. Click the Update button to see the estimated file size.

We already updated our viewport, so you will want to make sure

both to the options at the bottom of the Export Image dialog, are
unchecked. These options can cause the viewport to require
re-rendering.

26. Click Save.

27. Save the file to your Desktop and click OK.

40 | Vectorworks Rendering Guide