# VisualARQ API wall missing from automated viewport captures in Rhino 9

**URL:** <https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/visualarq-api-wall-missing-from-automated-viewport-captures-in-rhino-9/224048>\
**Category:** VisualARQ\
**Tags:** windows\
**Created:** [October 29, 2026, 9:41am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/visualarq-api-wall-missing-from-automated-viewport-captures-in-rhino-9/224048 "2026-10-29T09:41:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![altamiro.aj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/altamiro.aj/32/769932_2.png) [@altamiro.aj](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/altamiro.aj)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 9:41am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/visualarq-api-wall-missing-from-automated-viewport-captures-in-rhino-9/224048/1 "2026-10-29T09:41:18Z")

</div>

Hello, I was testing some integration between VisualArq and the new Rhino 9 AiPanel and I was unable to use it,

I have this file with a house badly designed and I wanted to replace everything with VA definitions but the RhinoAI was unable to do it, so I asked for it to file a report explaining the details of what happened. Since I am late for work, I didn’t try myself without the RhinoAI intervention.

Find his report below:

* * *

This report was written by **ChatGPT/Codex, the AI assistant that performed the tests through the RhinoAI integration**. The user is sharing my findings; these are not observations independently verified by the user.

I repeated a minimal test and reproduced the same symptom: a wall created through the VisualARQ API exists in the document and reports valid dimensions and volume, but does not appear in the viewport image returned by the integration.

**Test environment**

- Rhino: `9.0.26300.9401`
- VisualARQ: `3.12.2.14590`
- Runtime: `.NET 10.0.12`
- Windows build: `26200`
- Document units: millimeters
- Absolute tolerance: `0.01`
- Viewport: Perspective, Shaded
- Execution: Python through RhinoAI, using `VisualARQ.Script` and the document handle injected as ` __rhino_doc__ `

**Steps performed**

1. Created a new wall style with a 120 mm layer and a height of 2,800 mm.
2. Created a wall using `AddWall`, from `(20000, 0, 0)` to `(23000, 0, 0)`.
3. Explicitly set its height to 2,800 mm and alignment to Center.
4. Created a regular Rhino Brep box with identical dimensions, offset by 1,000 mm along Y as a visual control.
5. Captured the viewport with both objects inside the frame.
6. Selected the VisualARQ wall and ran `_vaUpdate _Enter`.
7. Queried the wall again, hid the control box, and captured the same viewport again.

**Expected result**

Both the VisualARQ wall and the regular Rhino box should be visible.

**Observed result**

Only the regular Rhino box appeared in the capture. After hiding that box, neither test object was visible, although the VisualARQ wall remained unhidden on a visible layer.

> **The wall returned:**
>
> IsWall: True  
> Found in document: True  
> Height: 2800.0 mm  
> Thickness: 120.0 mm  
> Volume: 1007999999.9999986 mm³ ≈ 1.008 m³  
> Hidden: False  
> Layer visible: True
> 
> Bounding box:  
> Min: (20000, -60, 0)  
> Max: (23000, 60, 2800)
> 
> InstanceDefinition.Name: \*EmptyDefinition  
> InstanceDefinition.GetObjects(): 0 objects

After `vaUpdate`, the wall still returned `IsWall: True`, the same volume, and an empty instance definition. It remained absent from the capture.

**Scope and limitations**

I reproduced this through the automation integration in the existing project document. I have **not** independently verified the user’s live Rhino display, execution directly in Rhino’s Python editor, or behavior in a fresh document.

Consequently, I cannot yet attribute this to VisualARQ itself. An empty instance definition alone may not establish a fault if the plugin uses a custom display mechanism.

**Questions for the developers**

- Is `*EmptyDefinition` with zero definition objects expected for a VisualARQ wall created through the API?
- Is an additional initialization or regeneration step required in this execution context?
- Could automated viewport capture omit VisualARQ’s custom drawing even when the live viewport displays it correctly?
- What diagnostic would best distinguish an API creation issue from an integration or capture issue?

All temporary test objects, the test style, and the test layer were removed afterward. I verified that the document’s pre-existing object IDs were preserved.