advanced rendering for AutoCAD
Here's the latest version of the new stuff. If you're interested, try it at your leisure and let me know what you find. It's a work in progress, so please be kind. We'll likely have some bugs and certainly have some missing features.
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Some highlights:
Standalone renderer which accepts input from Rhino, Sketchup, Obj and FBX.
Plugins for AutoCAD and other CAD applications.
Online material and plant libs.
Single advanced engine with fewer compromises and biases. Similar to current hybrid engine but noisier.
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AccuRender Studio is 64 bit only and will not run on 32 bit machines.
On older machines, the installation may require updating .net versions which can be a lengthy process. Windows 10 is recommended (but not required.)
The AutoCAD plugin can be run with or without a recent version of nXtRender loaded.
If you run the plugin without nXtRender, you will get only AutoCAD information in the ArScene file. If nXtRender is loaded some conversion of nXt information will occur.
Instructions:
1. Download and install AccuRender Studio.
2. Open an AutoCAD session.
3. Load the correct .net AccuRender Studio plugin for your version of AutoCAD by typing netload at the command prompt (not appload!) and navigating to
c:\program files\AccuRender Studio. The plugin versions are:
ArStudioAcadPluginR19.dll (AutoCAD 2013-2014)
ArStudioAcadPluginR20.dll (AutoCAD 2015-2016)
ArStudioAcadPluginR21.dll (AutoCAD 2017)
ArStudioAcadPluginR22.dll (AutoCAD 2018)
You should only have to do this step once. The file will be demand loaded after that.
4. Optionally load nXtRender (by typing nxt at the command line, for example).
5. Type arstudio at the command line to run the command. It will inform you if the correct version of nXtRender was found. If not, an update from RenderPlus may be required.
Tags:
So I've got a functional in-AutoCAD product now. If you want to take a look at it use the download link at the top of this page. Grab the latest nXtRender product here for best results in grabbing and converting nXt data. It's doing a pretty good job at it now.
Type nXt if you want to grab your legacy data (you should only need to do this once.)
Follow the netload instructions above.
Type arstudio to see the in-AutoCAD product. I will update the instructions above to reflect this as well.
Let me know what you think.
Does it work with Autocad 2008
No-- it requires 2013 or newer.
Could the command for accurender studio be shorten to, "ARS" instead of "arstudio" ?
No-- the native commands will remain long and unique so they don't interfere with other people's software or commands. You can easily alias a command in your version-- just google it you'll see a tutorial. Also, the newer versions of autocad have type-ahead so you generally get the full command by typing "ars".
Roy,
I loaded ArStudioAcadPluginR22.dll (AutoCAD 2018) and what I got was a little unexpected. A quick & total crash of Autocad 2018 :(
Error message attached.
JP
When you say you loaded it what do you mean?
For example:
I typed arstudio at the command line which (something I've never done before)
I typed arstudio at the command line which has worked before.
I netloaded the thing and it failed on netload.
Roy,
To be precise, I netloaded the .dll as you describe above, which seemed to go OK. No obvious problems at this stage. When I typed the "arstudio" command, Acad crashed with the previous error message. The crash was immediate & terminal.
I tried this in various situations - with and without nXt loaded, and with and without drawing contents. The results were the same.
I am running Acad 2018 on Windows 10 64bit. I have been running nXt without problem for some time.
JP
Further investigation reveals that the same happens with AutoCAD 2018, 2017 & 2016, but not 2014.
JP
My platform is 2018 w/ WIndows 10 so I'm pretty confident it's running fine generally.
Try updating ArStudio. Easiest way to do this is to run the standalone version from your Start menu and allow it to update when it asks.
Roy,
Did that - both the initial download & the updated versions present the same result.
JP
Does the standalone run?