Different print results from Viewport vs Layout Detail. Otherwise identical

djhg · October 14, 2018, 5:10am

When Printed from Layout, Va objects print with edge lines as set up:

Set up the same way, there are no lines when (below) the view is recreated and printed from a restored named floating viewport. Same print settings, same object settings, same layer settings.

Please let me know if this is intended, a bug, whether there’s a work-around, and whether it’s resolved in current versions of Va

enric · October 14, 2018, 1:50pm

Hi David,

This seems a bug, but I haven’t been able to reproduce it with VisualARQ 2.3. Can you send me a model saved when the active view was the one without visible edges?

Thanks,

Enric

aaronrdehaan · October 16, 2018, 2:31pm

Hi Enric,
Maybe you can help me out as well. I’ve been having an issue with the print quality from layout to pdf.

The first screen shot here is how the part I’m working on looks directly in the detail on the layout. I have the viewport display mode set to VisualARQ’s Hidden display mode. However, when I print to PDF using Rhino PDF, it seems to drop edges as shown below

My printer details are as follows:

I have tried a variety of DPI settings to see if that changes anything. It does change the output, but not for the better. I don’t know if this is a bug or an issue on my end. My currently running Version 2.3.2.12744 - (2018/10/11) on the most up to date version of Rhino 6. Yes I did download the version of VisARQ for Rhino 6.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Aaron

djhg · October 17, 2018, 5:10am

I will upload it in that condition within the hour. Note that the edges are anomalously missing in a print from a viewport. They are present, as they should be, when printed from a layout showing them in a detail view.

enric · October 17, 2018, 12:58pm

Hi David,

I’ve opened the model you sent, but I guess you’re using a custom display mode. Can you please export it to a .INI file and send it to me also?

Thanks,

Enric

enric · October 17, 2018, 1:00pm

Hi @aaronrdehaan,

Can you please try to print using “Microsoft PDF” or “CutePDF”? There are some known issues with the Rhino PDF" printer, as it is not really a printer and it doesn’t support all features.

Anyway, can you send me the model to visualarq@asuni.com?

Enric

enric · October 17, 2018, 3:57pm

Hi @aaronrdehaan,

I now see the problem: the object that is printing different has a display mode override. It seems you change it to Wireframe using the command SetOjbectDisplayMode.

Currently Hidden Vector Output doesn’t support per-object custom display modes. We’ll fix this issue in a future VisualARQ update.

Thanks,

Enric

djhg · October 17, 2018, 4:27pm

I don’t think this will have any bearing on what we are looking at, as the issue is present with Render View mode’s default settings as well. But here’s the .ini.file:
RenderedAmbientOcclusion.ini (11.5 KB)

aaronrdehaan · October 17, 2018, 4:19pm

Hi Enric,

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Yes, one object does have a display override to wireframe, however the objects that are printing differently do not have an object display mode override. I tried setting the one object back to its default display mode, and the rest of the objects still print differently than that of the layout. I attempted using multiple PDF writers, and the output is the same every time.

Best,

Aaron

enric · October 18, 2018, 7:58am

Hi @aaronrdehaan,

I’ve fixed the issue with the per-object custom display mode in VisualARQ 2.4.

Regarding the other object being printed differently, the problem is related to precision. If you print this PDF in a DIN-A3 paper, you’ll not be able to see the missing lines, as they are very small for a 600 DPI precision. Here is an example:

This is a capture of a PDF printed with VisualARQ 2.4, using Rhino PDF printer at 600 DPI:

As you can see, the object in wireframe is now correctly printed. Then, there are some missing lines. Lets take a closer look:

The missing line enclosed in a red rectangle is has a length (in paper units) of 0.01 inches which means only 6 dots. As it is curved, it has many smaller segments, probably shorter than 1 dot. In this case, our hidden vector output algorithm simply has ignored them. At the end, if you print this document on paper, it will look perfect, as you’ll not be able to see the missing line.

If you increase the DPI to 1200, here is the result:

It is better, but it will require 4 times more memory than at 600 DPI. And it you look closer there are still some missing segments.

If you try to increase it to 2400 DPI or more, you may reach a memory limit, and the print may fail.

In VisualARQ 2.4 we’re going to improve HVO (Hidden Vector Output), by using a new depth buffer with more precision. I will also try to not ignore very short lines, but I think then we might reach the PDF precision, as I guess it is using fixed-point precision.

In future VisualARQ version we have plans to create a command to export a layout to a DWG (or any other Rhino supported format). This command will be slower that a print, but the result will be much better, as it will use a Make2D-like algorithm.

Enric

enric · October 18, 2018, 9:24am

Hi David,

I tried with VisualARQ 2.3.3, and I cannot reproduce this issue. Are you still using VisualARQ 2.2?

Enric

djhg · October 19, 2018, 10:55pm

I will install an update for Va when I have a lot of time for troubleshooting and am again working with Va on a day-by-day basis. At the moment I am only returning to Va projects to print selected elements, and for that I’m using a version all the issues for which I have work-arounds - version 2.2.2, (issued in the spring of this year.)