Reference manual

Copyright ã 2010 Maticad s.r.l.

All right reserved

Maticad s.r.l. reserve the right to make any modifications or improvements to their
products whenever they believe necessary. This publication describes the state of the
product at the time of printing and in no way can it reflect the future product.

Any information contained in this manual can be subject to modifications without prior
warning or communication.

Maticad s.r.l. cannot be held responsible in any way towards third parties for
exceptional damages, side-effects, accidental, direct or indirect or as a consequence in
connection with or deriving from the purchase or the use of this product.

DomuS3D and Maticad are registered brandnames by Maticad s.r.l.

All other brand names and products or registered trade names belong to the respectful owners.

Release 2010 R.2 - March 2010

SUMMARY

FORWARD ....................................................................................................................... 1

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................2
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................................3
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PROGRAM INSTALLATION ...............................................................................4
UPDATING INSTRUCTIONS FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS ..........................................................................7
MANAGEMENT OF THE HARDWARE KEY .............................................................................................10
Installation of a USB key .......................................................................................... 10

INITIAL OPERATION AND CONFIGURATON SETTINGS .............................. 12

STARTING THE PROGRAM ...................................................................................................................13

THE RIBBON FOR THE COMMAND MANAGEMENT.............................................................................14
DYNAMIC MANAGEMENT PAN AND ZOOM ......................................................................................18
CONFIGURATION OF THE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT .........................................................................19
“LIVE!” WINDOW ..............................................................................................................................33
Projects...................................................................................................................... 33
Catalogues................................................................................................................. 34
Online E-Learning ................................................................................................... 37
MANAGING THE COMPONENTS AND PREVIEW WINDOW ......................................................................39
SELF-SAVING FUNCTION ....................................................................................................................43
INTEGRATION WITH EURECA2008...................................................................................................44
How is the integration ............................................................................................... 44
How to use ................................................................................................................. 45

CREATION OF A NEW PROJECT ........................................................................... 48

NEW PROJECT ....................................................................................................................................49

ENTERING CUSTOMER AND PROJECT INFORMATION ..........................................................................50
ROOM LAYOUT DRAWING: MANUAL DRAWING ..................................................................................57
Draw Group .............................................................................................................. 57
Modalities of selection of 2D entities ....................................................................... 63
Status Bar .................................................................................................................. 64
Modify Group ............................................................................................................ 66
Layer group ............................................................................................................... 68
Use of handles (grip)................................................................................................ 69
Contextual menu - Functionalities ............................................................................ 70
ROOM LAYOUT DRAWING: RECTANGLE .............................................................................................73
ROOM LAYOUT DRAWING: ONE-ROOM...............................................................................................74
INSERTING MORE ROOMS ...................................................................................................................78

I
 WHEN THERE ARE MORE ROOMS IN A PROJECT, THERE IS JUST ONE ACTIVE AT A TIME. THE ACTIVE
ROOM IS THE ONE WHERE THE TILLING FUNCTIONS OPERATE. IN ORDER TO ACTIVATE OTHER ROOMS

JUST CLICK TWICE INSIDE THE ROOM TO BE ACTIVATED.LOADING CAD FLOOR LAYOUT IN DXF

FORMAT .............................................................................................................................................79

LOADING CAD FLOOR LAYOUT IN DXF FORMAT ..............................................................................80

MODIFIES TO BE APPLIED TO THE ROOMS ...........................................................................................82
Menu for the context changes to the room................................................................ 82
Modify functions to the room geometry .................................................................... 84
Modify functions of the room corners ....................................................................... 94
PROJECT CONTEXT MENU ...................................................................................................................96
PROJECT CONTEXT MENU ...................................................................................................................96

THE VIRTUAL NAVIGATION WINDOW.............................................................. 98

NAVIGATION ....................................................................................................................................100
Selecting destination areas while dropping tiles/panels ........................................ 100
Modification of the field of view (FOV) of the camera .......................................... 101
Navigation quality ................................................................................................... 101
Viewing Shader materials and finishings ............................................................... 102
Anti-aliasing effect .................................................................................................. 102
Viewing of the sky map ........................................................................................... 103
PERSPECTIVE VIEWS OF THE ROOM ..................................................................................................104
How to generate a perspective view ....................................................................... 104
How to get a perspective view from above ............................................................. 106
Perspective views management .............................................................................. 107
Removing hidden lines ............................................................................................ 109
DEFAULT VIEW ................................................................................................................................110

INSERTION OF OBJECTS AND FURNISHING ELEMENTS ........................... 112

FREE SHAPE OBJECT DRAWING .........................................................................................................113

How to draw an object ............................................................................................ 113
INSERTION OF FURNISHING ELEMENTS .............................................................................................114
How to insert furnishing elements into the room ................................................... 114
INSERT FURNISHING ELEMENTS IN NAVIGATION VIEW ......................................................................121
INSERTION OF GROUPS .....................................................................................................................122

PANELS ........................................................................................................................ 123

How to create a new Panel ..................................................................................... 126

How to create a Laying Plan .................................................................................. 133
How to create a repetitive module for the laying ................................................... 136
How to work in the Panel........................................................................................ 137
How to store a Panel............................................................................................... 139

II
 How to modify a Panel ............................................................................................ 139
How to export the content of a Panel ..................................................................... 141

TILING.......................................................................................................................... 142

“CLASSICAL” ROOM TILING .............................................................................................................144

How to do the tiling ................................................................................................. 144
Environment tiling................................................................................................... 144
Floor tiling .............................................................................................................. 145
Walls tiling .............................................................................................................. 147
COVERING AREAS AND PERIMETERS.................................................................................................148
How to draw a polygon ........................................................................................... 151
How to tile an area or a frame ............................................................................... 153
Creating tiled layers................................................................................................ 153
Tiles available within a wall ................................................................................... 154
How to modify the tiling of an area or a frame ...................................................... 155
COMPLEX CUTS (WATER-JET) AND ROSETTES...................................................................................158
DIRECT INSERTION OF THE FLOOR ....................................................................................................160
CREATION OF VERTICAL TILINGS .....................................................................................................162
DYNAMIC TILING IN ADVANCED NAVIGATION .................................................................................167
Tyle by Dragging&Dropping panels in navigation window .................................. 167
Tile by Dragging&Dropping single tiles in navigation window ............................ 167
Drag& Drop of tiles on a single area ..................................................................... 169
Shower corners automatic tiling procedure ........................................................... 172
Modify the alignment of grouts ............................................................................... 173

STANDARD RENDERING VIEWS AND IMAGES MANAGEMENT ............... 177

MATERIALS .....................................................................................................................................179
How to create a new material ................................................................................. 179
How to modify a material ....................................................................................... 181
How to delete a material ......................................................................................... 182
How to assign a material ........................................................................................ 182
How to add a material to the library ...................................................................... 183
How to load a material from the library ................................................................ 183
How to modify the optical parameters of a tile ...................................................... 183
How to trace back the informative data of a laid tile ............................................. 184
LIGHTS.............................................................................................................................................186
How to insert lights ................................................................................................. 186
How to duplicate a light .......................................................................................... 189
How to modify lights ............................................................................................... 189
How to delete lights................................................................................................. 191
CREATING A PHOTO-REALISTIC RENDERING IMAGE ..........................................................................192

III
 CREATION OF A MOVIE FROM THE VIRTUAL NAVIGATION.................................................................195
Creation of a movie from the standard window of navigation ............................... 195
Creation of a movie from the realistic rendering window of navigation (quick
navigation). ............................................................................................................. 199
OBJECTS VISIBILITY .........................................................................................................................203

ADVANCED RENDERING ....................................................................................... 205

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................206
LIGHTS MANAGEMENT .....................................................................................................................208
Natural light (sun light) .......................................................................................... 208
Artificial light .......................................................................................................... 213
Light diffused by doors and windows (Portal light) ............................................... 219
MANAGING MATERIALS, TEXTURES AND EFFECTS............................................................................221
Materials for objects and furnishing elements ....................................................... 221
Managing materials while inside a project ............................................................ 221
Managing materials from application database .................................................... 234
Materials for tiles .................................................................................................... 235
RENDERING THE SCENE ....................................................................................................................237
RENDER JOB ....................................................................................................................................245
PANORAMA 360° .............................................................................................................................248
TALKIMAGE .....................................................................................................................................250
SURFACE FINISHINGS .......................................................................................................................253
Scheme of available tile finishings.......................................................................... 253
How to manage the “advanced” materials ............................................................ 255
Material used to hide the walls from the outside.................................................... 259
Material with the only color parameter.................................................................. 260
Colored glass material ............................................................................................ 262
Material for tiles ..................................................................................................... 262
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF CALIBRATION OF THE RENDERING .............................................................265
KITCHEN PROJECT: USE OF NATURAL LIGHT .....................................................................................268
MANAGEMENT OF THE INDIRECT LIGHT PARAMETERS .....................................................................274
Photon management................................................................................................ 278
THE PHOTO EXPOSURE PARAMETERS...............................................................................................284
TIPS & TRICKS .................................................................................................................................287

ESTIMATE ................................................................................................................... 290

CRITERIA TO CALCULATE THE QUANTITY OF MATERIAL...................................................................292

VARIABLE FACTORS IN THE ESTIMATE: WASTE, DISCOUNTS, INCREASES ..........................................295
DISPLAYING AND MODIFYING THE ESTIMATE ..................................................................................298
FIXED COMPONENTS OF THE ESTIMATE ............................................................................................302
LINKED CODES .................................................................................................................................303

IV
 EXPORTING THE ESTIMATE...............................................................................................................304

PRINTOUTS................................................................................................................. 305

CREATE ON PAPER ...........................................................................................................................307

CREATE ON WEB ..............................................................................................................................310
GRAPHIC PRINTOUT OF THE PROJECT................................................................................................311
Printout Panels, Modify Tiling, Navigation windows ............................................ 311
PRINTOUT OF THE PROJECT ESTIMATE ..............................................................................................313
PROJECT SUMMARIZED PRINTOUT ....................................................................................................315
PRINTOUT OF THE BASIC ARCHIVES ..................................................................................................316
PANEL SHEET PRINTOUT ...................................................................................................................317
PRINTOUTS OF IMAGES .....................................................................................................................318

3D TILES ...................................................................................................................... 320

DESIGNING WORKING TOPS ..............................................................................................................322

Creation of the insertion grid ................................................................................ 322
Insertion of 3D tiles in the grid ............................................................................... 324
LAYING 3D TILES IN A PANEL ..........................................................................................................326
ALIGNING THE WORKING TOP GROUT TO THE ONE OF THE WALL TILING...........................................327

PHOTO-3D ................................................................................................................... 328

Creation of a new Photo-3D project ...................................................................... 329

Selection Management ............................................................................................ 334
Creation of a new image ......................................................................................... 335
Visualization of the furnishing elements ................................................................. 336
Photo-3D projects management ............................................................................. 336

OTHER FEATURES ................................................................................................... 338

EXPORTATION AND IMPORTATION OF PROJECTS ...............................................................................340

How to export a project .......................................................................................... 340
How to export a project in DXF format.................................................................. 340
EXPORTATION AND IMPORTATION OF PACKAGES .............................................................................341
IMAGE MANAGEMENT ......................................................................................................................342
How to generate an image ...................................................................................... 342
Creation of a rendering job .................................................................................... 344
How to use an image taken by scanner .................................................................. 345
INTERIOR DECORATIONS: ASSOCIATION WITH TILES, PANELS, PROJECTS.........................................347
How to generate or display an Interior decoration................................................ 347
APPLICATION OF IMAGES ON SURFACES ...........................................................................................349
How to assembly a picture with a frame ................................................................ 349
How to create a carpet for floor (Persian type) ..................................................... 352

V
 How to apply an image behind the glass of a window ........................................... 353

EDITING OF IMAGES ............................................................................................... 356

THE CLIENT / SERVER VERSION ....................................................................... 362

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROGRAM INSTALLATION ..................................................................................366

Server Installation ................................................................................................... 366
Client Installation ................................................................................................... 368
OPERATING SESSION MANAGEMENT ...............................................................................................372
Projects.................................................................................................................... 374
Database Backup .................................................................................................... 377

APPENDIX ................................................................................................................... 380

A. RECORD-TRACING TO IMPORT INTERNAL PRICE LIST DATA .................................................381

B. RECORD-TRACING TO IMPORT CUSTOMER DATA ...................................................................386
C. DXF STRUCTURE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW FURNISHING ELEMENTS ...............................388
VertexWeld .............................................................................................................. 391
MeshSmooth ............................................................................................................ 391
Checking number of faces ....................................................................................... 391
Original Point ......................................................................................................... 392
Objects color ........................................................................................................... 393
Objects orientation .................................................................................................. 393
Purge Object ........................................................................................................... 393
Layers’ name & Block’s name ................................................................................ 393
Inserting step ........................................................................................................... 395
D. HOT-KEY SUMMARY TABLE.........................................................................................................396
E. LAYING SCHEMES LIBRARY .........................................................................................................400

VI
 FORWARD

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1
Introduction

The Reference Manual is a general guide including all the necessary

information that enables the users to work with the program.
The manual is structured per functions, according to the logical
sequence of the designing realization phases, starting from the most
common operations up to the most advanced ones.
The fundamental aims of this manual are the following:

4 To illustrate the hardware and software devices necessary to be able

to work with the program;

4 To provide the right instructions for a correct installation;

4 To provide a brief description of the purposes of the package and its

general potentialities;

4 To illustrate in detail the several functions available and the operating

commands for their execution.

It is also important to have DomuS3D® compatible with both Windows

Vista™ and Windows™ XP operating systems
DomuS3D® is available in two versions:
4 Single licence (also called stand-alone licence): it is the normal
single user licence that requires a hardware key in order to perform.
The program can be installed on multiple computers but only if you
have the dongle inserted, the program will start and run.
4 Client/Server Licence: it is an installation that normally meets the
requirements for multiple workstations by sharing one database
installed on a server machine. This installation requires a connection
to multiple computers either through a local area network or through
a geographic network supporting Internet, provided it is high
performing in terms of efficiency and speed of data transfer.

The program is characterized by optional modules that can be also

purchased later on and enabled by an unlocking code supplied
upon purchase. These modules will be identifiable by the
symbol shown aside.

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Hardware and Software requirements

The hardware and software elements that are necessary to get a

correct working of the program can change according to the type of
use of the operator: planning with a customer, planning of rooms and
multirooms, realization of movies, rendering, etc…
Anyway the minimum configuration suggested for the use of the
program is the following one:

Requirements

Components Requirements

Windows® XP (SP2 o superiore) -

Operating system Windows® Vista - Windows® 7 x86 (32
bit) and x64 (64 bit) version
CPU Dual Core and Quad-Core processor

2 GB (Recommended 4 GB for the 64 bit

RAM
(x64) Operative system).

Any graphics card provides basic

functions. In order to have a smooth and
efficient navigation, we suggest you a
high-performance graphics card that
supports DirectX 9.0c or higher, with at
least 128 MB RAM (see in the website
Graphic Adapter under the heading Requirements, -
http://www.domus3d.com/it/Public_Area/
Info_Area/requisiti.html - list of graphics
cards recommended). Some functions
are available only if the card supports
the Shader Model 3.0 (Pixel Shader and
Vertex Shader 3.0).

In order to install the program and to

DVD Rom load the catalogues related to the
materials and the libraries of elements

Printer Color, Windows® suitable

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Instructions for the program installation

The program has a hardware key protection (dongle) to be locked to

the special port situated behind your pc. There are two different types
of key: the one for the parallel port and the one for the USB port:
Parallel port keys are out
of production and the USB
port version is the only
type of device issued with
new licences. In any case,
DomuS3D® keeps the
compatibility also for
parallel port keys. For those who are in possession of LPT keys is
always possible to request a replacement with USB keys, also
because the LPT port is no longer present on most last generation
personal computers and laptops.

In order to go on installing the

program:

1. In order to do the installation

correctly it is required to have
the rights of the Administrator
user.
On turning your computer on, if
it does not require any
authentication (login operation),
the only configured user
possesses the aforesaid rights.

2. Insert the CD-ROM and

wait for the automatic
launch of the graphic
menu where your have to
select the “Install” option.

The other two functional

buttons are the "Browse
DVD" button and the
“DomuS3D®
Presentation” button: the
former allows the My Computer window of the operating system to
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 be opened in order to display the DVD content, whereas
the latter provides access to further screenshots where
the 5 different operational steps of the program used to
achieve a complete project will be shown, also
supported by videos enabled by the function button you may see
here aside.
Once you click the button for installation, the following screenshot
will ask you to choose a
language among the
different options available.
Although more languages
are listed in the interface,
the procedure acts as a
preventive check on the
characteristics of the
installed operating
system, and according to
the "International
Options" it offers the only languages available for installation.

3. At the end, before starting the program, insert the hardware key to
the suitable port: If there are more than one port of the same kind, it
is not relevant which one will be chosen.

If an earlier version of
DomuS3D® is installed on the
computer, the installation
procedure can detect it by
submitting an appropriate
information screenshot. This
means that the installation will
be effected as an upgrade of
the previous version. For
further details about this
modality, see "Instructions
for upgrading from previous versions" on page 7.
In this case, an extra function is available "Backup - Restore": You
may use it to make a backup copy of all data in the existing program.
Utility may be used either before the upgrade (in order to have a
backup copy) or even after the installation in order to make regular
backups. The stored data can be restored ("Restore" operation)

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bearing in mind that the restore operation overwrites completely
the current situation which is completely driven off in order to be fully
substituted by the data installed during the "Restore" operation. That
is, in order to avoid loss of data, it is NOT possible to merge (that is,
effect the "merge" between) the Restore content with what already
installed. Therefore, it is necessary to pay great attention before
making a Restore and, if you are not sure, we recommend to export
the packages of the former projects. Actually, the packages of the
project may be imported at any time in the current version of the
program, provided it is an identical or a later version compared with the
one from which the exports have been done.

Once the program has been installed, it might be necessary to upload

the catalogues of some specific manufacturers. There are two
possibilities in order to upload the catalogues of manufacturers: by
downloading them either from the Live! page, if you have the
permission upon payment of an annual download fee, or from special
CDs. If CD catalogues have to be installed, they can be uploaded in
two different ways:

4 through the enforcement

procedure that starts
automatically when you
insert the CD-ROM in the
drive. It is preferable to
use this installation mode
once the program is
closed.

4 From the program through

the Database à Upload catalogue command, by selecting the file
Catalogue.zxadb from the CD drive.

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6
Updating instructions from previous versions

If you are doing the upgrading from version 4.0, 5.0 or 5.5 or 6.0,2008
or 2009 to 2010 before starting the updating procedure, please make
sure to have the key updating code. In fact, the Supplier of the
program should provide this code together with the
installation/updating Cd-Rom. If you have not received it, you should
contact the Supplier of the updating kit: as, in order to generate the
updating code, it is
necessary to give the key
code of your dongle,
before contacting the
Supplier you should get
this information related to
your own installation
from the ? à
Information about…
menu, that shows this
code in the dialog-box
that appears.
You can alternatively
select the Strumenti à Verifica
codice chiave… command (in
some earlier versions you may
find the command in the File
menu). If it is impossible to
deduce the key code even this
way, you should contact the
Supplier of the program to get
further indications about that.

ATTENTION:

If you have a program version earlier than version 4.xx, it is necessary

to previously do the upgrade to version 4.0. You should apply to the
Supplier of the program to get all information about it: indeed, it is not
possible to do a direct updating from versions 1.xx and 2.xxand 3.xx to
version 2010.

Before starting the update installation, it should be specified that the

installation MUST be absolutely done in a different folder (e.g.

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C:\Program Files\DomuS3D2010) from the one where the previous
version is saved. Actually, the update procedure consists of installing
the program first (like a normal installation) and then at the end
recovering all data (tiles, panels, pieces of furniture, projects) from the
previous installation and, once updated, insert them in a new folder in
order to have them available as before. The previous installation is
therefore not affected and it may be available and operating, just in
case you want to use it. However, in order to recover space in the hard
disk, it is recommended to uninstall the previous installation after a few
weeks during which the complete functionality has been verified even
on former projects.

In order to go on with the program updating:

1. Verify that the hardware key is correctly connected to the special

port. Starting the current version and making sure that it runs
correctly is the best verification. Then close the program: the
program must not be running when doing the upgrade. In order to
install the program correctly, it is required to have the rights of the
Administrator user, since it’s necessary to have his writing rights
and possibility of operating on some resources that are strictly
required.

2. Insert the DVD and wait for

the automatic launch of the
graphic menu where you
have to select “Continue”,
and “Install DomuS3D®
2009” on the second window.
The installation procedure
detects the presence of the
previous version and
automatically gets ready for
its updating.

3. When the program queries if

you want to make a backup
of data in the present version, it’s good to answer positively, unless
you have not enough space on disk. Indeed, backup may result
useful in case the updating procedure should, for any reason, fail or
not be completed in successful way.

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8
At the end of the upgrading process you will be asked to restart the
PC: if you want to run the application immediately, it is necessary to
comply with this request. On the contrary, if you do not intend to work
with it immediately, you can restart the computer even later on.
When you first launch the program you have just installed, the
message shown aside will appear alerting the user that the installed
key belongs to a previous version of the program and therefore it must
be updated so that the program may run regularly.
If you have an upgrade code, which
you may usually find written in a hard
paper document accompanying the
shipment of the installation package,
an affirmative answer shall be given:
then a dialogue box will appear where
you must enter the code in the Enabling code field, which allows you
to upgrade the hardware key.
The upgrade of the hardware key to a particular version is a "definitive"
operation and therefore it must be made only once for each version. It
should be no longer repeated, even if you reinstall the program.
Assuming you want to reinstall the program on a new computer, you
should NOT install the previous version and then repeat the update
process, but only the latest version can be and must be installed.

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9
Management of the hardware key

The hardware key is now the only device that enables the user to the
use of the program: it formally represents, in every respect, the license
of the software and it also contains all the information related to the
version and the enabled modules. The program can be installed on an
indefinite number of Personal Computers, though the only Personal
Computers that have got the hardware key will be allowed to its
functioning. Loosing it means the loss of the entire software
package, its damaging may compromise its working to such a point
that it will be necessary to require its replacement. We therefore invite
the user to keep it with great care and to not leave it unattended if the
computer should be located in a public site, to keep it away from
heating and electro-magnetic sources and finally to avoid shocks and
falls.
But the hardware key has a great advantage in terms of operating
flexibility: through it, it’s possible to enable the use of the program on
several PCs by simply unlocking it from one of them and locking it to
another one. Of course, it’s not possible to contemporary use the
program on two PCs with only one key, but it is allowed to work with
the program installed on two or more PCs in different times and even
in different offices by simply carrying the key with you.

Installation of a USB key

The USB key, contrary to the parallel port one, can be locked and
unlocked when the PC is
turned on. When inserting it
for the first time, the presence
of a new hardware device is
detected by the system.
Then the computer asks for
the drivers installation: specify
that you have these drivers
and find them on the
installation Cd-Rom of the
program in the special folder
called Eutron. Into this folder

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10
you will find the utility SDI.EXE(Smartkey Driver Installation) that
allows the drivers manual installation of the key.
When the driver installation wizard searches for the folder containing
the driver to be installed, select the SKEYUSB.INF file included in the
<Cd-Rom>:\ Eutron.

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11
 INITIAL OPERATION AND

CONFIGURATON SETTINGS

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12
Starting the program

In order to start the program select the name of the application

from the Start à Program menu or If you have created a link
on the Desktop, you can start the program by double clicking
on the icon nearby.
As soon as you start the program, the program shows an active Live!
Mask: it’s a web page that can change according to the possession of
an active internet connection.

If one has it, the page is directly loaded from a reserved area in the
website www.domus3d.com: as it is a web page it is always changed
and updated, as it happens, for instance, for the news area.
If one hasn’t an active internet connection a very similar static page is
created, but it isn’t changed and contains no graphical elements or
messages that can be updated.

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The RIBBON for the command management

The new DomuS3D® version presents a new application interface,

completely redesigned to allow higher productivity. The new toolbar
has been designed in order to be 100% compatible with the operating
system Windows Vista™, following the settings of Office 2007™ and of
many other Microsoft™ applications.
The new toolbar (technically its name is Ribbon) allows you to easily
access commands that otherwise they could stay hidden between
various levels of the menu and toolbars.

The new structure simplifies the individuation of needed commands

and helps the user recognizing some features that otherwise could
stay hidden for most of them. This is possible because with DomuS3D®
all commands have been grouped (in Tabs) depending on their
typology, in order to be easily identifiable from users. As well as with
the click of mouse, you can activate the different cards of Ribbon with
the central wheel of mouse.
With the Home button you can display the standard menu to
access immediately to commands of more frequent using,
such as New, Save, Print…

Let’s try, for example, to describe the different Tabs available when the
layout window is open:

Home

There are key commands regarding

Live! section of the program and
language settings.
Layout window

There are commands about walls/floor modification, furnishing

elements management, covering and tiling, photo2d, modular
furniture...

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CAD

There are commands about design and modifications of 2D entities.

Virtual 3D

There are commands about management materials, lights and 3D

viewings, button to start the navigation.

Tools

There are tools as zoom, information about point, distance and

dimensions, estimate and printouts.

Database

There are quite all commands related to database management.

Indeed, it is possible that you will not find all commands in

the Tabs on the Ribbon; this is because available
commands are so many, and available space in Ribbon is
limited. So, in order to be able to see all commands, you
can click Home button, and the command Menu. This way, you’ll
access all available commands, which structure is the same users up
to previous versions already known. This menu, is, of course, much
more technical.

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The Ribbon can be hidden too, to
gain space on the screen. Pressing
the right button close to his title bar,
you can select command Minimize
the Ribbon, in order to close Ribbon
automatically every time that you
move the mouse outside its area.

When you
need to
select a new command, you just
have to move the mouse over the Tab name, in order to activate it
again.

Other useful commands available here are Save button, Undo (cancel
last operation), Redo (repeat last operation), Open project, visible at
the top/left of the title bar.

Finally, remember that now the ‘Information About’ command is at

the top/right of the Ribbon. It is the green button you can
see in this image. The information mask contains
useful information about license code, together with other useful
buttons. Among them:
4 Summary: used to
open the electronic
manual of the
program;

4 Tutorial: is used to
open the E-Learning
platform, where you
can find very useful
movies regarding the
most important
features of the
program. We’d like to warmly suggest you to have a look at them, in
particular way to those users which are just starting using the design
application, and are still not experts enough (the movies represent, in
fact, the first day of program training). In order to access to online

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16
 training, you need to have a internet ADSL connection available. A
final notation on the Ribbon is the command which allows to open
the mask concerning the information on the program, which is
located in the upper right side. The mask that appears contains
useful information on the licence, plus a series of buttons including:

Among the other available functional buttons, the one which

visualizes the events occurred in the program (that is, technical
information), the one which visualizes a summary of the hardware
configuration you are working on (System Info), the one which
opens the folder where the program has been installed and finally the
two buttons to navigate the site of the product and to send an e-mail
to help service. Help advice are given upon signature of the fee for
service assistance. For more information, please contact the
producer.

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17
Dynamic management PAN and ZOOM

When operating in the Layout window it is possible to make dynamic

movements in the planning area (PAN) keeping the central wheel of
the mouse pressed and moving the mouse itself. The cursor becomes
a hand and the effect obtained with the movement is the simulation of
having taken the working sheet and of being able to move it as if it was
a virtual table.
Besides it is possible to make dynamic “ZOOM IN” and “ZOOM OUT”
simply rotating the wheel of the mouse.
Rotating the wheel forwards one can make the ”ZOOM IN”, gaining the
effect of making the particulars bigger, on the contrary rotating the
wheel backwards one obtains the “ZOOM OUT”, that is the opposite,
with a consequent show of far off details that were previously not to be
seen. It is to be said that the dynamic zoom described here happens
having as a centre the centre of the starting scene, so it is not
important where the cursors in the scene.
If one has to make a far particular bigger in the planning window it will
be necessary to make first a PAN to bring this particular at the centere
of the window and then to make a ZOOM IN.

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Configuration of the operating environment

The Options command,

to be activated from the
Home button, allows to
outline some general
settings that influence the
way of execution of the
program.
The dialogue window
opening is made up of
different thematic
subsections that can be
entered through a click
on the high sign with the
name. Here is to be seen
in detail the operative
contents of each group of
settings.

General

r Show tiles in wireframe mode

It allows to have a quicker and less details presentation of the
applied tiles: enabling such a box the tiles are displayed with full
colours counted as middle tone of the real tile.
This option could be useful for projects of wide surfaces to be tiled
(for example big stores, airports…) where a simplified display of the
tiles makes the elaboration lighter and quicker.
r Advanced items selection

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19
 It allows the user to make a more direct and detailed choice in the
search of the tiles in the database, specifying more data fields like
series, manufacturer, format, code, etc…
A different selection interface for more expert operators is then
used.
r Calculate the detailed estimate
Two are the types of estimates as regards covering materials:
4 Standard: this method of calculation tends to have a degree of
approximation according with the material used. More precisely, if
less than half a portion of the entire tile surface is used, then the
remaining part is used elsewhere (if conditions apply); if a portion
equal to more than a half is used, then the remaining part
constitutes the waste and is not reused (even if an opportunity
may occur). Obviously in this way the waste percentage provided
does not cover accidental breakages that may inevitably occur
during material installation, so you should always consider a
small additional waste percentage that when an estimate has
done the user can easily set at his sole and unfettered discretion.
4 Detailed: in order to activate this modality you must click on the
checkbox for this option. In this modality, the program calculates
the exact area covered by each type of material (tile, parquet
flooring, linoleum, etc.) and according to it, it gives the exact
number of tiles needed to cover the area as if there were no
waste.
r Enable sound support
It allows to activate/deactivate the listening of audio support
messages that leads the user with advices about how to work in
specific operative contexts. In order to hear the audio messages it’s
obviously necessary to have an audio card and the connected
audio boxes (or earphones).
r Show dynamic tips (Tooltips)
Enable/disable the display of short messages when the mouse
cursor touches sensitive areas such as controls and design
elements (e.g. walls).
r Management (opening and saving) of External Project Files
The stand-alone version offers the opportunity to break free from
the use of the database as to project files. The checkbox allows
you to choose whether to save the projects in the database
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20
 application (traditional method used in earlier versions) or to use
external files (.pjp extension) that can be saved in any folder in
your own computer or somebody else’s in the network. In this
configuration, a double-click on a project file allows you to run the
program by uploading the selected project
r Continuous perimeter Tiling
When this option is enabled, the tiling work on the walls of a room
can be done so that, once at the corners of each wall covered with
tiles, we suggest you to proceed to the next wall using the
remaining parts of the tiles that must be cut as shown in the picture
on the right. If this function is disabled, at any corner the next wall
is covered by restarting from the whole tiles (see picture on the
left).

In the Technical installation section, you can set three operational

choices regarding the output of print techniques. The following image
shows the graphical effects obtained by activating the single printing
options:

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21
4 Original tiling level: the starting points of the single tiling (the
symbol “«” identifies the origin and development from right to left,
whereas the symbol “»” shows the development from left to right) and
their level as to the corner of the wall are indicated. In the previous
image, where an example of tiling with two vertical strips (identified
with tiles under the number 5) can be seen, the red arrows highlight
this option.
4 Element level: enabling this option the levels of any piece of
furniture placed against the wall will also appear in the technical print
fixing. In the image above the blue arrows indicate the levels of both
the sink and the mirror.
4 Numbers of tiles in technical prints: with this option the tile
schematic representation (shown in black and white) goes together
with an automatic numbering that links an identification number to
each type of tile. Next to the representation of the tiled surface, a
scroll shows the graphic and personal details of each tile. It may
happen that the numbering appears to be a cumbersome presence:
for this reason you can disable it in order to obtain a more essential
print.
In the Text section, using the special buttons, it’s possible to set the
kind of font, font size and standard colors, both of the dimensions and
of the texts. It’s anyway possible to change the standard values any
time one activates the insert functions of dimensions and texts.

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22
In the Print section the
Company personal
information button lets the
dialogue box to be opened
allowing to enter personal
data concerning the
Company: data appears
automatically in the print
scrolls.
In this version, fields have
been added for registering telephone number, fax, e-mail and tax
number.
For those who customize their print-outs, the TAGs to be used in order
to place new information in the template XML files are:
@USER@TEL@
@USER@FAX@
@USER@EMAIL@
@USER@PIVA_VAT@

By inserting in the appropriate spaces, a second company name, then

pressing the button New, it is also possible to create a second
reference for printing (useful where there are two different company
names, or different company locations with different addresses). For
each one, a different logo can be used for the print-out. Actually, you
can change the single image used during the composition of print-outs
by a double click with the Mouse left button on the image you want to
replace: in this way you can customize your installation with your own
logos. The button Open program folder allows to open the My
Computer window that contains the folder to install the program. It can
be useful if it’s necessary to do the manual maintenance.

Measures

It allows to set the Unit measure one wants to work with (millimeters,
centimeters, meters for the metrical system; inches, feet for the Anglo-
Saxon system), the number of decimals one wants to use for each
listed unit measures.

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23
In the
upper right
part there
are the
settings
concernin
g the
standard
values of
the
parameter
s that define the grid displayed in the Layout window:
activate/deactivate of the grid (Activate) and the dimensions in mm. of
its coordinates (range X and range Y)

Grid set of points at a constant distance splitting the work

window and helping visually positioning the objects

Pitch minimum value of the mouse pointer movement on the

working window, taking as reference the orthogonal axis
system whose origin is represented by the first point
defined in the drawing of the room layout; it also defines
the minimum movement an object can undergo while
visually being positioned with the cursor. The S key
allows to enable/disable the movement of the cursor
according to the pitch of the grid when an object is at
cursor

Axis segments at a constant distance that split up the outline

of the work window

Besides that you can find the following two fields: Curves splitting
string necessary to create niches, arches and curvilinear walls and
Incremental rotation Step (+/-), a value in sexagesimal degrees that
represents the dynamic rotation angle when cursor elements are used
and both the + and - .keys are pressed.

Layout

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24
 This section allows to outline some typical elements of the layout.
Background color of the Layout window, width color of the walls of the
active room, as far as the Group Colors is concerned. Under the
Walls group you may find two fields where the standard height and
thickness of the room walls can be set. These are the values used by
the program when creating the project: these values can be changed
at any stage of the project.
Under the Lights group you can choose to visualize the lights in the
layout (through a graphic schematization) and their standard height.

Virtual navigation and Rendering

As to virtual navigation, it must be said that in the earlier versions of

the program two types were available: standard, low quality and made
with an OpenGL technology, and advanced that provides higher
graphics quality requiring sufficiently high-performing graphics cards.
Starting from the 10.0 version, the standard version is discarded, as a
simplified view modality has been implemented when low-end graphics
cards are used that do not support full motion.
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25
This kind of navigation is the one that assures a better graphic
rendering, it even supports transparency and reflection in real time and
allows to move constantly inside the environment through the mouse
or space navigator. This requires a certain power for the graphical
elaboration, that’s why among the hardware requirements we advice
graphic cards with at least 128 MB memory on board, (for further
information see “Hardware and Software requirements” on page 7).
Nonetheless even among the graphic cards with such requirements
there are some powerful ones and some less powerful ones. That’s
why, activating this kind of navigation, there is the further chance to
activate/deactivate some optical parameters that need a certain
elaborative power. If you are not sure to have a graphic card powerful
enough we advice to enable at first just the r Transparency and try to
navigate inside a middle difficult project. If everything works fluently in
the movements it’s possible to activate also the r Reflection option.
Try then to navigate an environment with some mirrors and check how
fluently it moves. If everything works right and you have a graphic card
with at least 256 MB ram on board you can even try to activate the r
Shader and finally the r Shadow: both of them in fact, help to obtain
a virtual navigation of a quality very next to photorealistic rendering. It
may happen to be compelled to deactivate sometimes some of these
parameters (generally Shaker and Shadows) when with some very
complex projects the fluency of movements is less performing. The
option r Anti-aliasing improves image sharpness by reducing the
aliasing effect (segmentation of oblique lines). You can adjust it
through a horizontal scroll bar that enables three quality levels: low -
medium - high: to an increase in quality it corresponds a decrease in
performance as to speed and fluidity of movement, which clearly
depends on the characteristics of the hardware installed (graphics
card).
r Movements in wireframe mode

It activates a solely wireframe mode of scene viewing while in

movement: as soon as we stop, the scene gets back to its normal
position. This option can be very useful when you use a computer
with a not really performing graphics card in order to navigate more
easily.
r Wireframe
can only enable a wireframe navigation mode when you have a
hardware configuration that allows the use of an advanced

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26
 navigation: Generally, this requirement occurs whenever the
graphics card or graphics mode of the program are not compatible
with DirectX specifications. It can also be enabled whenever the
normal navigation is little fluid or very slow, a problem which may
get stronger when dealing with projects on not adequately
performing machines. You can dynamically enable and disable this
option, directly from the browser window, using the F7 key.

r Predefined Animations
It allows the use of a continuous movement whenever a
request to view the scene from one of the predefined
command by the same name in the dialogue navigation
window is enabled. When this option is not enabled, the
new display appears immediately, without any
simulation of the movement.
r Opening navigation window to load the project
it allows to automatically open the navigation window together with
the layout window when loading a project. Even in this occasion if
one works with particularly complex projects it could be useful if the
navigation window doesn’t open at once, as the generation of the
scene, before displaying, could require some time (even if just a
few seconds) that one could not be willing to wait for, if not just
before having made a change. It is always possible to open such
window through the special functional keys. It is as well possible to
interrupt the generation of a scene in the navigation window using
the key ESC .

r Display of the outer walls

it allows to activate or deactivate the display of the outer walls and
of the width of the outside main walls of the rooms while navigating.
One of the facilitations of virtual navigation, in fact, is to be able to
leave the room keeping on seeing inside the room, because the
walls that would avoid its sight, are temporarily hidden
automatically by the program.
In the image on the left it is to be
seen how the display of the inside
of the rooms would be impossible
if this setting was activated.

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27
 In the two images on the right one
can see the effect with the visible
walls (high) and with the invisible
walls (down). In such cases, for
instance, the display of the outer
walls could be more appreciated.
Anyway there is an alternative
chance that can be used keeping
the display of the outer walls
active: the one that allows to “hide
the walls one by one” (see
“Errore. L'origine riferimento
non è stata trovata.” at page 87)
and to have consequently the chance to keep on watching inside
the room without
losing sight of the
walls in their most
realistic structural
representation, so
as it is in this last
image.
r Panoramic image
size
The numerical value appearing in this field
and editable via drop-down menu, shows
the pixel size of images produced by the
360 Panoramic view function that generates a panoramic video
clip scene from the current point of view. So, if you want to have a
high-dimensional video clip, you must choose a higher value (e.g.
1024). What has been here specified, it also applies to the "Create
panoramic view ..." inside the dialogue box that is used to
generate image rendering.

As to the setting of the right side column concerning the

rendering, two different types are available:

Advanced it is a mode using an optional program

module (it may be purchased on request), which allows
to obtain images in photorealistic rendering whose
quality is much higher than what can be achieved with a
traditional standard engine. If the licence provides it, the

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28
 setting is automatically enabled at the first run of the
program giving the possibility to use the advanced
rendering engine. The availability of advanced rendering
engine influences the advanced navigation and may
therefore benefit from a sustained improvement (see
"THE VIRTUAL NAVIGATION WINDOW" on page
98). If this option is enabled, the Default display is also
available which represents the setting choice of standard
photographic exposure (Preset), with which the dialogue
box opens to create rendering.

If this option is enabled, the Default display is also

available which represents the setting choice of standard
photographic exposure (Preset), with which the dialogue
box opens to create rendering. If this option is disabled
and not selectable, it means that the licence does not
have the advanced rendering module. If this option is
disabled and not selectable, it means that the licence
does not have the advanced rendering module. For a
further check, you can verify the list of modules enabled
and available in the Hardware key section from the
Options window.

Standard it is the mode that has used the traditional Web browser
engine since its earliest versions
The Joints section allows you to once you have the rights to enter
them. in order to highlight even more clearly the grid formed by joints in
the tiled areas. Actually, it can sometimes happen that as for the poor
contrast between the tile colour and the joints, or the choice of fixing
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29
with zero joint, or special lighting situations, some views do not make
sufficiently clear the presence of joint lines among tiles. By activating
the "Highlight joints" checkbox you may obtain more pronounced joint
lines. By using the Opacity parameter the marking impact degree can
be determined, where 100 is the maximum and 10 the minimum; the
effect 0 is obtained by disabling the aforementioned checkbox. The
effect is visible both at navigation and in rendering: you may
dynamically enable or disable it by the F9 function key.

The setting in Options is absolute and represents the state of the

program when a new project is opened, whereas the change made by
the F9 function key is local and limited to the current work. In any
case the effect that occurs at rendering time is connected/bound to the
current state that has been set. If you render through the RenderJob
function, the joint highlighting effect is NEVER applied. In these cases
you can use a manual management application by overlaying the file
with the single grid (.png file type) on the rendering image that was
produced.

Hardware key

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This section allows you to manage optional enabling modules with the
possibility to effect entitlements once you have the rights to enter them.
On the left side you may find the list of the enabled modules, whereas
on the right the identification code of the key and the field in which any
codes may be typed by pushing the Enable button to allow you to enter
optional functions.

Registry

This section allows to make changes to the operating variables of the

program that are contained in the System registry. As it is about basic
settings for the well working of the program it is advised to make
changes only if one is sure of what one’s doing. Inconvenient
manipulations could compromise the right functioning of the system.
Clicking on the variable name its present value is displayed. In order to
change it, click on the Apply button that is able to edit the variables.

Events

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31
This section allows you to view events occurred during the processing
of the program. This is a technical section with specific information
which may be useful in certain technical contexts to understand the
origin and cause of any not regular behaviour. The Send a file button
automatically forwards the file (provided the Internet connection is
enabled) to the Maticad technical support.

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32
“Live!” Window

As already said at the beginning of the current charter (see “Starting

the program” at page 13) the Live! Window opens when starting the
program.
If one has an active internet connection a dynamic web page appears,
it belongs to a reserved area of the site www.domus3d.com. In this
case there are elements in the page that will be modified and updated
exactly as it happens for the web sites.
If one hasn’t an active connection another institutional static page,
very similar to the other one, will be loaded.
The Live! Pages have to be navigated exactly with the same
techniques of a browser: There are buttons Back and Forewords to
be able to scroll the already visited pages, and there is a list of the
pages in order to be able to enter them directly clicking on the name.
Below there is a personal notify area where, in the on-line version,
messages from the manufacturer may appear.

Projects

In the Projects page, opening like an home-page, there is a functional

area where it is possible to activate the main commands to start the

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33
planning, both to realise new projects, panels or displayer boxes, and
to open already saved projects from the modify project area.

Catalogues

In the Catalogues page it is possible to check and, if enabled, to

download the updating of the catalogues of tiles, panels, furnishing
elements, that are realised and kept updated by the various
manufacturers.

The consultation of the catalogues happens considering

the ones that have already been installed, so if some
manufacturers or series weren’t listed it’s just because
they are already present in one’s own installation.
The consultation happens through a menu: type, element,
manufacturer series.
There are some manufacturers that require a previous
authorization, so the lock symbol appear.

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Clicking on the button “SEND REQUEST”, an
automatic require is sent to the manufacturer
who will weight up the require and if the applier
is a person or a well known firm, he will
manage to enable the consultation of his own
catalogue for the applier.
The user will
receive a
personal
message to
inform him that
the
consultation of
the catalogue
has been
authorised, or if
not, that it has
been refused.
For each manufacturer it is possible to display the list of all the series
and collections that can be selected one by one through the special
tick box, or through the button Select all.
The button Deselect all allows to delete all the eventually made
selections, while the button Add to cart confirms the choice of the
selected series, listing them in a virtual cart waiting for further
selections before downloading the required material.
It is always possible to check the situation of one’s own selection
entering the page CART.
Here it is still possible to modify the selection deleting it completely
through the button Empty cart, or deleting the single items through a
click on the symbol .

In order to proceed with the

download, you need to accept the terms of use by clicking on the "yes"
box. The button Import selected elements allows to activate the
downloading of the selected items present in the cart.

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 A symbol on the toolbar
of the operating system will appear
during the downloading and a message
notifies the beginning of the downloading. Besides, you can see the
download state of progress via the
Transfers command of the
Live! group in the toolbar. A
dialogue box opens showing the
current status.
Once the download is complete, a
notification message on a green
background alerts the user the
required elements are ready to be
installed. By clicking on the Install
elements link the installation is processed.

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 Online E-Learning

Training has always been one of the factors that enhances a business.
This is even truer in those areas where you need highly qualified
personnel, capable of giving an adequate emphasis to a service, such
as design planning, where high working knowledge is very important.
DomuS3D® allows the user to take advantage of various services such
as technical assistance, catalogue shared management and also
training. Although you may find trained staff who can make a
customized “tailored” training even at the Customer premises both in
Italy and abroad, Maticad suggests you to take part in the customized
courses only after having completed the online training. It is the first
training unit which was made to satisfy both the expert users and those
who come to interior design for the first time. After the online training,
you can pursue an individual path (if necessary) which will give
prominence to design aspects whose main aim is to provide this
essential service to final customer.

You may enter the E-Learning form from the homepage

of the program by selecting the "Online videocourse"
link.

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 Although the screen size and resolution of graphics cards grow higher
as technology evolves, it can happen that space available to view
video clips may be insufficient: May it occur, we suggest you to reduce
temporarily the Components windows and Preview Program. You
may achieve it by clicking on the symbol shown in the image aside. If
you want to lock the window again, just enable
it again (by placing the mouse on the
Components tab and/or Preview card) by
clicking on the same symbol.
Although we suggest you to lock them in
position always visible as you need to use them
frequently while working on the project - as their use by the drag&drop
technique drastically speeds up the process - it is also true that they
may be "uncomfortable" during online training stages. It is important to
know how to hide them temporarily in order to save space on the
screen (actually, this 'technique' could also be useful even when the
project is over, when you had to navigate it with the customer: it may
be possible to have an even larger window).
Once you select the videoclip from the menu in the
functionality to be explored, you can start using the control
bar available
at the bottom of the
window, where you can
find other controls such
as pause the video,
rewind and watch a
portion. In order to return
to the video select list,
you can use the Back button, whereas to close the E-Learning section
and go back to the homepage of the program, you can select the link:
Click here to return to the LIVE PAGE.

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Managing the components and preview window

Beside the planning window you can find the windows Components
and Preview that surely make quicker the choice and the introduction
of project elements in the working area.

The window Components allows to display

the content of the tiles, panels, furnishing
elements, materials, photo 2D, rooms
catalogue. Selecting the button the related
argument
expands
allowing
to display its content. Through the
button , likewise, the argument is
closed again.
You can make researches among
the component database, as in
any search engine, by typing a
keyword. By clicking on the button
indicated below the list of all items
that include that word in their
description will appear. To clear
the selection and return to see the
complete list, click the button.

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The Data about the Tiles
is made up of:
Manufacturer,
Series/Collection, Format.
By clicking the Mouse
Right button on the
Pieces of the furniture of
the component tree, you can select one of the possible sorting
methods available listed in the contextual menu.
The Data about the Panels is made up of : Manufacturer,
Series/Collection.

The Data about the

Furnishing elements is
made up of : Type,
Manufacturer. By clicking
the Mouse Right button
on the Pieces of the
furniture of the
component tree, you can
select one of the possible
sorting methods available listed in the contextual menu. On the left the
checkmark indicates the currently set mode.

The structure of the Materials is made up of a first Type (Solid it

means that the material is not a tiling image but optical parameters
applied to the surface, such as for example, reflection, transparency,
etc., while the type Texture entails an image used to tile the surfaces it
is applied to) and a subtype tipically tending to identify the family of the
materials (for example wood, marble, metal, etc.).
The structure of the Photo2D elements is made up of a type and a
subtype that assemble the components according to the homogeneity.
The Photo 2D elements are 2-dimensional images without outline and
typically photographical that can be distributed in the 3-dimensional
environment and even in the navigation phase, they can rotate
automatically remaining always perpendicular to the objective that
frames them. So there is no problem if the 2D image has no depth, it is
able to produce correctly the shadows in the photorealistic
elaborations.

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The structure of the rooms, finally, is to be found in the list of rooms
geometries that can be created by the user and saved in this list, so as
they can be easily deleted. This type of element makes the distribution
of multirooms environments much easier and can this way drag in the
working area, new environments bringing them near the already
present ones in a very easy and intuitive way.

The windows Components and Preview may be enlarged or

restricted, placing the mouse near the border: when the mouse
changes to indicate the possibility to resize the window , just click on
the left key of the mouse and drag this way the border.
It is even possible to hide such windows using the button high
on the right, giving this way more space to the planning
window.
You can also release the two windows from their standard position.
May it occur by an erroneous operation, or at least if you want to bring
them to their initial position, it can be done as follows.

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 Suppose you want to restore the
Components window to its original place,
click and hold down the Left Mouse
button on the title bar of the window. In
this way the window is docked and as you
move the mouse a blue rectangle
simulates the new position. The program
displays some blue arrows inside the
program window. By moving the cursor
over any highlighted arrows, the window
cursor stops in predetermined areas. The
centre-left arrow brings the Components
window back to its standard location.

Similarly, the centre-low arrow allows the repositioning of the Preview

window to its standard position.

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Self-saving function

In case of black-out or of irregular switching off of the machine one is

planning on, as well as for a not correct closing of the program, a self-
saving function, always active, once the program opens again, allows
to check the unusual closing and to suggest a way to regain the project
updated to the last temporary saving that the automatic program has
made.
Anyway what the program has tried is more likely to end well, so it is
always advised to do what the program request.

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Integration with EURECA2008

EURECA2008 is the database of the plumbing sector, characterized

by nearly 550 brands (growing number), more than 3,000,000 articles,
165,000 images, 135,000 commercial and technical annexes.
Every brand is represented by individual cards article, characterized by
technical and commercial information, regularly updated and enriched
with new attachments (images aesthetics and technical data sheets,
certificates of compliance, and maintenance manuals, assembly
instructions, list against and otherwise) provided by the
manufacturers. Every brand is represented by items in production,
from the output of production and those off-list for at least a year.
EURECA2008 is operating for the help distributors, retailers,
manufacturers and professionals
is available at the web site:
www.eureca2008.net, or through a
device called IdroBOX (installed at
the customer's) useful for further
integration in the process of
updating Automatic scales, for
quick consultations or data
extraction and characterization of
Catalogs imagine or website.

How is the integration

EURECA2008 and DomuS3D® can be integrated if its active form

(optional). It should be noted, however, that the integration between
the two platforms can only be used in DomuS3D ®, a set of advanced
features for design that are inspired by the contents of the
database. Access to this content, however, is not provided with the
module DomuS3D ®, but is to be activated directly through the service
providers EURECA2008. So for the integration of platforms possible,
you must have:

4 A suitably configured license of DomuS3D® 2009

4 Activation of a fee with the service provider EURECA2008

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We recommend that you contact Maticad for further and more detailed
information on technical and commercial conditions on the integration.
NOTE: there are different levels of access to the database, structured
according to the fee myself, some of the commands may be bound
(available or not) the type of user profile that the customer has
activated with the provider of database.

How to use

The current integration between EURECA2008 and DomuS3D ®

provides a number of features that connect the platform design and
database.

Automatic search database: If the

preview window of the components, you
press the right mouse button over the
Preview of the furnishing, there are two
commands:
4 Information Online
This command opens in a direct way,
the details of the selected item (if available in database) in this way,
with a click you have access to all technical and commercial
information, including price, if the user profile of the expected
EURECA2008.
4 Technical sheet online
This command opens (if any) and print
design with technical information for
installation. This is the design of health
care in 2D, with different dimensioning of
the connections, etc…

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Automatic search project: automatic search in database and direct
part in the previous pages, it can also be activated once the furnishing
elements has already been included in the project. From the layout
window, pressing the right mouse button on the item, in the context
menu are available the same commands mentioned above. The
following image is an example of a technical sanitaryware, on the
following pages, however, we will have the opportunity to see the
information page on.

Estimate with NON-GRAPHICAL elements: If you intend to complete

the estimate with graphic elements that are not present in the
DomuS3D ® catalog, but they
are in EURECA2008, there is a
mechanism of import of the
article and its related price.
From the Live page you can go
to the "EURECA2008”.
Once inside the database, you
can search the article you want
by following the system's own
selection criteria (see the manual online to further the search
mechanisms available). From the list of all articles that match your
search criteria, please indicate what is the required code. It has access
to details of the selected.

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As you can see, the
technical sheet
presents all the
necessary
information to both
the administrative
staff note the details
for sale, in fact
replacing all
previously printed
documentation that
employment should
be shelves full of design offices. Now, all this information is just a click
away.
If you select the link
DOMUS3D shown in
the picture (although,
that has already
opened the project of
destination) the
article is included in
those specified-ties,
at the start of the
internal project
budget.
We must always
remember that these
articles are not
removed from the
estimate if you were
to select the Initialize
and Recalculate
command.
We therefore suggest
to use the
Recalculate only if
you intend to
maintain the items placed in a non-graphic.

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 CREATION OF A NEW PROJECT

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New Project

The realisation of a
project can be starter
both using “New”
command from the
“Home” menu and
namesake buttons of the
Live! Page in the
“Project” area.

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Entering Customer and Project Information

To go on with this function, select the New project... command from the
File menu, indicating the type of project you want to make, single
room, multiroom, free hand drawing, etc…
The program shows
several dialog-boxes
allowing the input of
information
associated with the
new project, data will
then be used in the
various displays and
printouts as well.
The project is
automatically
assigned a univocal
code that the user
cannot modify, which, in addition to identifying the project, also
identifies the related financial estimate.

Apart from the Customer name and Project date, all other information
is optional and may even be entered only partially and/or later, with a
special data updating function.

In the case of an existing customer whose data are already in the

customer information file, these data may be automatically recovered
and associated with the project in progress through the Load button,
after specifying all of his data in the appropriate fields.
If the customer has not yet been included in the archive, you can do
with clicking on Insert button, after you enter all your information in the
appropriate fields.

Project

Customer name name or corporate name of the customer the

project is made out to;

Address customer’s address;

Town name of the town where the customer is

domiciled or has his address;
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County abbreviation of the county;

ZIP code Post code;

Tax no. customer's tax code number;

VAT Number customer's V.A.T. registration number;

Phone customer's telephone number;

Fax customer's fax number;

Project description free description of the characteristics of the

project (it can be used for later functions of
querying and searching)

Code project code number automatically assigned by

the program;

Project internal code code identifying the project: it can be manually

entered by the user, or, if left empty, it is
automatically generated by the program;

Designer code code of the designer in charge of the project;

Designer name name of the designer in charge of the project;

Currency it indicates the current currency of the amounts in

the adjacent fields;

Gross amount it indicates the gross amount of the project

estimate according to the price list costs and
without any discount; if it is a new project or a
project made time ago but without doing the
estimate calculation, this field is set to 0;

Net amount The net, total amount of the project estimate is

indicated in it: this is the amount to be paid and it
keeps into account the possible
discounts/burdens. If it is a new project or a
project made time ago but without doing the
estimate calculation, this field is set to 0;

Project date opening date of the project, automatically

assigned by the system;

Validity date date of validity of the financial offer associated

with the project;

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Delivery date expected delivery date of the supply;

Estimate calculation mode it determines the price list to be used during

estimate calculation;

Customer

Select the Customer... button to check if a customer’s name already

exists in the customer information file.
After questioning the
Customer database in
the customary
manner, the
Customer window
displays the detailed
information on the
customer at issue.
Confirmation of the
identified name
automatically transfers
all the information to
the project in progress.

Discounts

Select the Discount... button to set

at a general project level, the
discounts/burdens standard
parameters for the estimate
calculation (for seeing how to use
these data see “ESTIMATE” at page 290).

Waste [%] percentage of waste or increase in the calculation

of the quantity of material for possible defects,
breakage, or cuts that may occur while laying;

Price type it can take on values from 0 to 9 and it defines

the percentage of discount/burden (obtained from
the associated table of the price list) to apply to
the basic price of each product; it is an alternative
to the following discount/burden fields;

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Discount 1 [%] first discount percentage in cascade generally
applied to the basic price of all the estimate
items;

Discount 2 [%] second discount percentage in cascade generally

applied to the basic price of all the estimate
items;

Discount 3 [%] third discount percentage in cascade generally

applied to the basic price of all the estimate
items;

Fixed discount flat rate discount on the total estimate;

Burden [%] percentage of burden applied generally to all the
items of the estimate;

Fixed burden flat rate burden on the total estimate;

Grade indicates the quality grade of the material (1 = top

grade; 2 = second grade; ... ).

Payments

Select the Payments...

button to set the
parameters related to
the payment terms
agreed with the
customer.

Gross amount in this field the gross amount of the project

calculated in the estimate is indicated: it is the
total amount of the project according to the prices
of the price list without discounts;

Net amount in this field the net amount of the project

calculated in the estimate is displayed: it is the
real amount to be paid and it keeps into account
the discounts or burdens if any;

Soft VAT indicator that can be assigned from the table, that
establishes if the customer has the right to a soft
V.A.T. rate;

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Paym.type code-Payment type it indicates the type of payment
agreed with the customer (from the table);

Payment code – Payment it identifies the payment terms agreed with

the customer (from the table); it corresponds to
the code used in the Company Information
System and it is an alternative to the three
following fields;

Fixed expiry it indicates the fixed day, in the month, when the
payment terms expire;

No. installments it indicates the number of installments the

payment is divided into;

First expiry it indicates after how many days from the issue
date of the invoice the first installment is due;

Instal. interv it indicates how many days of interval are fixed

between the installments;

Bank ref. - Bank it gives the ABI and CAB code numbers of the
bank (bank routing coding) the payment is to be
made through;

Goods deliv. code – Goods delivery it can be assigned from

the table, it determines the type of delivery of the
goods agreed with the customer.

Shipment

Select the Shipment… button to

enter the consignee address of the
supply, in the event it does not
correspond to the customer's
address.

Name name or corporate name of the consignee of the

supply;

Address address of the consignee of the supply;

Town name of the town of destination of the supply;

County abbreviation of the county;

ZIP Postal code.

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Miscellaneous

Select the Miscellaneous... button to

enter information of a general nature
concerning the project.

The fields inserted in this window can

be filled in directly or recovered by
searching in the associated tables
selecting the relative search button
with the LH Mouse.

Note

Select the Note... button to access,

through the Project estimate # xx,
the display and modification functions of the project estimate, naturally
after the project has been completed and an initial material calculation
command has been already run.
(see “Estimate” at page for the meaning of the contents of the field
Project estimate # xx).

Interior decorations

It is possible to associate interior

decorations images to the project.
The images can be generated both
by the program and as real
pictures. Choose the Interior

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decoration button to access the layout, insertion, printing and deletion
of the Interior decoration images functions, through the Interior
decorations project # xx window.
Once data have been all entered in the dialog-boxes, the program
sends you back to the main data insertion dialog-box that is the
Projects window. Here it is possible to confirm the insertion of all data
(with the OK button) and pass on to the function of drawing the new
plan of the room.

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Room layout drawing: Manual drawing

After entering the project’ data, it opens the Plan where you can
proceed with the design of the geometry of the peripheral
compartment.
This is the standard way to design the floor plan, making use of
functions typical of CAD programs for drawing two-dimensional
geometric entities such as lines, arcs, circles, polylines. To realize the
design of a plan need to create a polyline is drawn as a single entity,
and assembling and stitching together several individual entities
present in the design and then generate a space or an object by
extrusion.
In order to access to the CAD Tab it’s enough to activate the card
available in Ribbon and select the commands related to the needed
geometric entity assembled on the ground of their functions

Draw Group

Let us see the commands available in this group:

Line

It allows you to draw a line indicating the starting and final points.
There are different ways to insert the points for the drawing of 2D
entities:
4 Through the selection of the left mouse button inside of the layout
window to indicate a generic point (in case using snap).

4 Through the right button and the selection of one of the

contextual menu’s commands, detailed location with
mechanisms such as delta, coordinates point, etc…

4 By typing the values in the given boxes

(dynamic input) that they are displayed on
the screen.

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 In order to move from a share (editable unit) to another one it’s
necessary to use the button TAB .
The specified share of the second
point includes the possibility to
indicate the value, in degrees, of the
angle that the line forms with the axis
of abscissa in clockwise direction.
The use of the commands is simplified by messages shown on the
screen, that suggest to the user which operation must be
accomplished.
While tracking the ORTHO mode can be enabled allowing you to
draw horizontal and vertical lines. You can enable and/or disable
this mode either by clicking the O key or by clicking
with the Left Mouse on the function button of the status
bar shown by the arrow in the image aside.

Circle

It allows you to draw a circle using one of the three

available modalities:
4 Center Radius: draws a circle given a point (the
center) and the radius. Once introduced the first
point, the radius can be set both dynamically
clicking a second point, and typing it’s numeric
measure inside the provided dynamic field,
confirming with the ENTER key ◄┘ .

4 2 Points: draws a circle that passes through

two points. The two points have to be the
ends of the diameter.
4 3 Points: draws a circle that passes through
three points belonging to the circumference.

The way to insert the points is the same described

in the Line command.

Arch

This command allows you to draw an arch using one

of the three modalities available:

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4 Tangent-Point-Radius: draws a tangent arch to a line available in
the layout window. The tangent point has to be one of the two
extremes of the line, and it is, at the same time, the starting point of
the arch. After the introduction of the radius length, the command can
be terminated specifying the width of the angle.

4 Point-Point-Radius: draws an arch that

extends from the starting point (1) to the
final point (2), where the curvature is
determined by the value of the radius,
indicated or by the last point (3) or typed
on the dynamic input.

4 3 Points: draws an arch through the

introduction of three points where the first and
the third ones are the endpoints of the arch.

Polyline

A polyline is made of a
sequence of segments
connected to create a unique
object. In order to draw a polyline,
after we have selected the related
command available in Ribbon, it’s
enough to indicate the initial point
and afterwards the final points of
the other segments that composed
it.
You can create straight line’s
segments, arches or a combination of
both. Typing the right mouse button
while the command is still active, the
contextual menu with polyline options
appears where there is also the Arch
command that allows you to draw an
arch indicating the final point. By

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selecting Arch the program allows to create arches tangent to the
previous element of the same polyline.
In order to come back to the “Line” tracing mode, you can right click
the mouse again: in the
contextual menu the
alternative function to the
current one (in this case
“Line”) will be available.
The function Stop allows you
to stop drawing the entity.
After designing at least three
points of the polyline, if you
select its first point the polyline closes automatically.
Similarly, the Close option of the contextual menu joins the last point
of the polyline with the first one.

Once the polyline is closed a dialogue’s window appears on

the screen which contains the following commands:
4 Create room: it allows you to create a room from the selected
polyline.
4 Create object: it allows you to create an object from the extrusion of
the polyline.
4 Stop: it allows you to conclude the command without doing any other
operation.

If you choose the option Create room the polyline

of the beginning is eliminated.
You can create a room subsequently too, provided
that you have a polyline available in any case: if
you have it, you can right click the mouse and
choose the Create Room command.
For completeness of information should be said
that it is possible to create a room starting from an
open polyline, as well: in this case the command
automatically closes the polyline by joining its
extreme points.

Polyline from selection

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 The Polyline from selection button allows you to obtain a
unique polyline from the selection of more entities. In order to
join entities between them, it’s necessary that the endpoints of
the single objects coincide with those of the adjacent objects.
In succession the list of the objects that can be joined between them to
create an unique polyline:

4 lines

4 arches

4 open polylines

Text

You can enter a text in the drawing by the appropriate

command. Once the command has been enabled, in
sequence the insertion point, the text height in the
current measurement unit
(e.g. cm), the inclination
angle are required. All these
values can be specified
either by clicking on the left
mouse button, or by typing
numeric values in the fields
next to the cursor request.
At this point a dialogue box
opens where you can insert the text content.
What’s more, you will be able to edit some
of the characteristics defined above. You
can also choose the font - among those
installed and available on Windows - the
style (regular, bold, italic, bold italic) and the
color.
You can edit a text you have already
entered: by clicking the right mouse button on the text entity, you will
enable the contextual menu that offers the possibility to move its
position, delete it or create a duplicate. Using the Properties option
you can redefine all the features, including content, by using the same
"Text" dialogue box by which it has been created.

Level

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 You can enter dimensional levels between two specified
points, as well as perform the room
automatic dimensioning. Once the Level
command has been enabled, a
dialogue box opens where you
can choose the parameters in
order to define its graphic
aspect. On the left column the
"Terminal Type" choice options
define the type of graphics
assigned to the line ending, indicating the
distance between two level points. Here aside all
the available possibilities are shown.
The "Type of alignment" options determine the
level
development direction and,
consequently, the numerical
value of the required distance
is equivalent to the length of
the dimension line. As the
picture aside clearly shows,
when the dimension between
two points along an oblique
direction is shown, the
horizontal and vertical levels
show the projection of the two
points along their respective orthogonal directions.
The "Level Fonts" button allows you to select the type of
character among those available in Windows as well as the
size and color.
The "Draw reference lines" checkbox allows
you to enable/disable tracing the side lines that
are perpendicular to the level line and start from
two level points, that indicate their exact position.
You can edit a level dimension: by clicking the
right mouse button on the text entity, you will
enable the contextual menu that offers the
possibility to move its position, delete it or create

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a duplicate. By using the Properties option you can redefine all the
features through the same "Level setting" dialogue box by which it
has been created.

The Automatic levels function allows

an automatic dimensioning of the outer
space assets. The dialogue box
appearing when you enable the
command allows you to define the
distance of the level lines compared with
the wall levels and their internal or external position.

Modalities of selection of 2D entities

There are many modalities of selection of entities. It’s possible to

select objects singularly with the pointing device or drawing a window
of selection around them.
For the selection/non selection of more entities with the left mouse
button it’s necessary to keep pressed the SHIFT button.
The selection window allows you to specify two opposite angles to
define a rectangular area. All the objects entirely included inside the

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selection window are selected. Concerning the elements not entirely
inside the selection window, they are NOT selected if the selection is
made by dragging the cursor from left to right (sample of the left), while
are selected if the selection is done by dragging the cursor from the
right to the left (sample on the right).

All the selected entities are represented with sketched lines; including
“center” point related arch and circle.
If you want to unselect all the selected entities you can use the ESC
button, while in order to remove from the selection one or more objects
previously selected, it’s necessary to keep pressed the SHIFT button
together with the left mouse button.

Status Bar

While you are working, it’s possible to activate and deactivate the
orthogonal alignment and the snap modality, whether to display or to
hide the grid, as well. In order to temporarily activate or deactivate
these functionalities you can select the buttons of the status bar
through the left mouse button. Moreover
selecting with the right mouse the fourth status button, you can set
the actives Object snap. They can be very useful in the drawing steps
of rooms.
The using of snap makes more efficient and faster the drawing
because it allows to specify accurate positions on the objects already
inserted in the layout window, for ex. To draw quickly a line that it
passes through the centre of the circle or through the midpoint of the
polyline
segment.
In step of a
polyline
drawing, after
having shown
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at least the first two points, all active snap on the entity itself are
recognized.
By default, a mark and a description are displayed when the cursor
moves on a position of a snap of an entity 2D.

In the following table you can find available snaps together with their
graphic reference and description.

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 Symbol Description

Snaps to the endpoints of lines,

Vertex
arches, polylines.

Snaps on any closest point you

Close point can find on lines, arches, circles,
polylines.

Snaps to medium point of

Mid point
referenced entity.

Snaps to perpendicular point

Perpendicular given by drawing line and target
line.

Snaps to the center of a circle or

Center
radius.

Snaps to the tangent point

Tangent referenced by drawing line and a
given circle or arch.

Snaps to the crossing point

Intersection
given by entities intersection.

Modify Group

The commands described later on

allow you to modify the principal
geometric characteristics of the
given entities (lines, arches and
circles):
4 Rotate: it allows you to apply a rotation to the objects around a
rotation center to be defined. Once the rotation point has been

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 selected, the object (or objects if multiple selection) is coupled to a
cursor and by moving the mouse it can rotate interactively.
Alternatively, you can type the numeric value of the rotation angle.
4 Scale: it allows you to enlarge
and/or reduce the geometrical
elements. Once the element has
been selected, you are asked to
indicate the point at which to make
the rescaling. The next request is
the scale factor.
4 Mirror: it allows you to create
a mirror copy of the selected
geometric elements with
respect to an axis of
symmetry to be defined.
Once the element has been
selected, you are asked to
indicate the first point of the
axis of symmetry: after a click and by moving the mouse, you can
dynamically see the specular copy moving towards the position of
the second point. A second click determines the final positioning of
the specular copy.
4 Trim: allows you to break objects until the intersection point. The
command requires the selection in sequence of the cutting entity
(that it defines the cutting border) and the object to trim. Lines are the
unique cutting entities allowed. If you start the command having
previously selected one entity (line), this is considered as the cutting
object; therefore only one click will be requested: the one on the
element that has to be cut.
4 Extend: allows you to indicate an entity towards which extend an
object. The first selection indicates the target object while the second
the entity to extend. Both entities must be lines. If you start the
command having previously selected an entity (line), this is
considered as the destination object, therefore only one click will be
requested, the one on the element that has to be extended
4 Fillet: joins two lines with an arc tangent to them of the specified ray
of the user. The fillet ray coincides to the ray of arc that it joins the

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 items. If you set the fillet ray = 0, the items connected will be
extended until their intersection.

4 Chamfer: joins two lines with a diagonal. After having shown the two
entities that must be smoothed, you will be asked the distance from
the chamfer you want to cut the lines to.

In the case of overlapped entities, when selecting one of them with the
left mouse button, a selection window allows you to specify
which entity you want to refer to. Moving the cursor on the
name of an entity available in the list, will highlight it in the
layout window, making it easier to understand which
selection you’re going to make.

Layer group

The commands described below allow you to create and

manage Layers in order to gather certain types of
elements in different layers. In this way groups of
entities are shown and hidden by simply turning on and/or hiding
and/or freezing the layer to which they belong.

4 Layer Management: it allows you to open the same name dialogue

box containing the list of layers. The active layer is marked by the
symbol. The active layer is the one to which entities are assigned at
the time of their inclusion in the project. In order to enable a layer
different from the current one, you need to make a double click on
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 the left mouse button on the
icon. You can create a new
layer by using the button:
you can assign a different
name to a layer by a double
click on the left mouse button
that allows you to enter the
Edit filename mode. You can
delete the layer selected by
clicking the button. You can
turn off a layer by a double
click on the left mouse button
on the icon of the layer you
want to shutdown. When the layer is off, the icon will appear: all the
project entities belonging to this layer are not visible. In order to turn
back to the layer, click twice the left mouse button on the icon: The
hidden entities become visible again. You can "lock" a layer by
clicking twice the left mouse button on the icon. When a layer is
locked, it is represented by the icon: In this state all the entities
belonging to it are still visible but not selectable, and therefore not
modifiable. In order to unlock the layer again, click twice the left
mouse button on the icon.
4 Move to the current layer: you can assign the current layer the
element or elements previously selected. In order to move a group of
elements from one layer to another, you
must first enable the layer. Then, select the
elements you want to move and finally click
on the function button. If you enable this
command without selecting anything, an
error message reports "No entity selected".

Use of handles (grip)

2D Entities can be modified

acting on handles too. These are
represented with some blue

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circles into significant points of the selected entity. Dragging them you
can stretch and rotate such objects.
Acting on the handles of a line it’s possible to resize it indicating the
new width and angle in the dynamic input field.
Another option to do the same is
to move a line selecting it
wherever in its length. Selected
objects can be moved indicating
destination point.
Dragging a point that it is on the circumference
of a circle you can modify the dimension of the
ray; for a detailed measure use the input box.
The indicated distance is measured by the
centre of the circle and not by the selected
point.
The dragging of the central point of a circle
allows you to move the entire entity.

The same result can be obtained acting on an

arch, with the difference that, dragging the
handles located at the ends, it’s possible to
resize the width keeping the radius unchanged.
Similarly, you can manage an arch with the
difference that dragging one of the endpoint of
the arch it’s possible to change the opening
arch, leaving unchanged the radius of the
curvature.

Contextual menu - Functionalities

Other functionalities are available in the contextual menu of each

single visible entity selecting the object with the right mouse button.
The first set of available functions on all 2D entities includes the
following commands:
4 Move: allows you to move the selected object to a definite distance
from the original position and to a definite direction compared to it. To
move objects accurately you can use coordinates, snap or dynamic
input.

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4 Delete: removes the selected entity from the drawing. In order to
delete more entities, after having selected them, you press the DEL
button of the keyboard.
4 Copy: allows you to create copies of the
selected object to a definite distance from
the original position and to a definite
direction compared to it. To move objects
accurately you can use coordinates, snap
or dynamic input.
4 Offset: creates a new entity with the
same shape of the one selected, to the distance specified in dynamic
input. Offset of a circle or an arch creates a bigger or smaller circle or
arch, depending on the specified value of the offset.
4 Rotate: rotates the selected object
around base point. The axis of
rotation goes through definite base
point and it’s parallel to the Z axis
(vertical to screen). To rotate the
objects accurately you can specify the angle of dynamic input.
4 Scale: allows you to reproduce the selected entity bigger or smaller
than the original one. To scale down an object, you must specify a
base point and a scale factor. If the scale factor is bigger than 1, the
object is enlarged, if the scale factor is from 0 to 1, the object is
reduced.
4 Mirror: creates a mirrored
entity referred to the
selected one, and also
referred to the linear axis
you will specify. This
command is also useful for
creating symmetrical
objects, because you can
quickly draw half of the object and replicate the mirrored, missing
half.

Other features are available in contextual menu depending on the

selected entities. In case of a line, you can find Trim and Extend that

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will be applied considering the selected entity respectively as a cutting
object and as destination.

The Explode command is a peculiarity of polylines only.

The selected polyline is divided into the simple entities
(typically lines and arches). Exploding an entity can be
useful when you need to modify its components
separately.
Three important features available within a polyline (right
clicking on it) are Create room, Create object (see at
page 60) and Create complex format. This last
command allows you to use the available
geometry in order to save it as a complex format
of a tile in database.

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Room layout drawing: Rectangle

Simplified mode to quickly draw the layout of only

one room having a rectangular or square shape;
this function requires to enter the two dimensions
of the room sides.

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Room layout drawing: One-room

This way of tracking the plan was the standard method used in the
early versions of the program. The main feature of this mode is to
provide a guide and sequential tracking of the individual geometric
entities that define the perimeter of the room, without any possibility to
interrupt the sequence, which must be closed by returning to the
starting point. This function allows the program to define and introduce:

4 the shape of the room plan;

4 the length expressed in mm. of the single walls;

4 the height of the single walls expressed in mm. (with the possibility of
indicating different heights as well, in the case, for example of
mansard roof);

4 possible presence of walls out of square;

4 possible presence of curved walls (walls forming arches or niches)

Activating this command

a new Layout Window is
displayed. Through this
window it is possible to
trace the perimeter of the
environment to be
elaborated. The drawing
of the layout made
through this graphic
interface should start
from a corner of the room
and go on tracing in sequence the closed perimeter of the room with
the possibility to define linear and curved sections in their specific
modes. By convention, we suggest to start from the left lower corner
and trace the perimeter in clockwise direction. Before start tracing the
layout you must set the Wall height value: it can vary and can be set
one for each corner, so that it is also possible to manage mansard
roof.
The working areas for this kind of operation are the following:

4 The area to trace an horizontal or vertical

line: first of all you have to set the numeric
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 value corresponding to the length of the wall wanted to be traced in
the special Wall length box. Then click on the arrow button
representing the tracing direction of the line with respect to the last
point inserted.

4 The area to trace an oblique line knowing the

values of lengths along the two orthogonal
projection: first of all you have to set the
numeric values of the horizontal and vertical
dimensions necessary to define the oblique
line in the special Horiz. and Vert. boxes.
Then click on the arrow button representing
the tracing direction of the line with respect to
the last point inserted.

4 The button must be always used to trace the

last wall that closes the layout: actually, instead of manually tracing
the last point coinciding with the first one, you have to close the
polygonal through this button.

4 Through the (Undo) button you delete the last point inserted in
order to re-define, if an error occurs, length and/or height of
previously set walls. This operation can be repeated in sequence up
to delete all walls, going back to the first point inserted.

4 The (Arch) button allows to trace

curvilinear walls in two possible
typologies: arc or niche. The arc
circumference joins up in tangent way
with the last side traced, whereas the
niche has, in its starting point, a tangent
perpendicular to the last side traced.
The left or right directions can be
defined by positioning on the starting
point of the arc/niche according to the
direction of the tracing. The example
aside shows the four possible cases. In order to set parameters
necessary to trace the arc or the niche, you
have to indicate, in the special New arc
window, the length of the curving radius and
the amplitude of the arc expressed in
degrees.

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4 Select the (Orthogonal point) button to
build a wall perpendicular to the last one
traced. After having selected the
command, indicate the following
information in the boxes of the Diagonal
Point window:

4 Wall length (in mm.);

4 Wall height (in mm.);

4 Rotation direction: select the direction, between the two
possible, the wall has to be traced towards with respect to the last
one traced.

4 Select the (Diagonal) button or the

(Diagonal at 1 meter) button to build an out
of square wall when the delta X and delta
Y of the new point with respect to the
previous one are not known. By selecting
the command, indicate the following
information in the boxes of the Diagonal
point dialog-box:

4 Distance from the previous point in

mm.: this is the distance between the penultimate point drawn -
P1 -, and the one being inserted - P3 - (D1 distance)

4 Diagonal on 1 meter (in mm.): this is the distance between the

two points that are one meter away from the last point drawn
(P2) and that are: one on the last wall traced and the other on the
wall being drawn.;
4 Wall length (in mm.): D2 distance;

4 Wall height (in mm.): it is the height of the ceiling in

correspondence to the corner being inserted;
4 Rotation direction: select the direction, between the two
possible (clockwise and anticlockwise), the wall has to be traced
towards.

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4 Select the (Angled posit) button to
build a wall of which you know the length
and the angle with respect to the
previously traced one. After having
selected the command, indicate the
following information in the Angled posit.
window:
4 Value of the angle (in degrees): it is
the corner that the wall forms together with the previously traced
one;

4 Wall length (in mm.);

4 Wall height (in mm.);

4 Rotation direction: select the direction, between the two
possible (clockwise and anticlockwise), the wall has to be traced
towards with respect to the last one traced.

In the central part of the dialog window there are two

numeric fields regarding the Origin offset: each new
point traced makes these fields update by indicating the distance from
the first origin point. This is a service information that may help
understanding if some error has been made during layout tracing.
In the lower part there is finally the “Automatic floor
dimension” That enables the automatic tracing of the dimensions of
the walls in the Layout window (see “Level” at page 61).

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Inserting more rooms

Supposing to introduce further rooms in the project area, to extend the

planning for example to a whole flat, it is possible to do it from the
Layout window in two different ways.

4 By the Polyline button into the CAD ribbon: the same command to
create a new room (see “Room layout drawing: Manual drawing” at
page 57). Creating a new room next to the previous, remember that,
your line will be the internal wall and thickness of the wall will be
external of the shape. So, to create a second room with the same
thickness, we suggest to draw the polyline starting from the external
line related the thickness of the previous room. In the example shown
in the picture above, you can see the sequence of dots that compose
the second room having two walls and a half in common with the
existing one.

4 An alternative way to insert rooms in the planning area is to select

Rooms from the Components tree on the left, and to select a
geometrical figure from the graphic list displayed in the Preview
window. The geometrical figure must be as similar as possible to the

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 one to be represented, in order to adjust it through the commands
that allow to modify the room.
4 Once the room has been taken and dragged in the planning area it is
possible to make the cursor shift among the edges of the geometrical
figure through the P key in order to place the cursor on an edge
meaningful for the insertion.
If then this room has to be placed adjacent to another one, one can
see that coming with the mouse cursor closer to the sides of the
already laid room, the cursor object tends to have automatic
rotations trying to adjust the other room.
Besides, if the two edges have to coincide, it can happen that
coming closet with a correct rotation, when reaching the edge the
rotation changes all at once in an unwanted way.

It is possible to avoid it coming closet to the edge paying attention

to move adjacent to the side along which the rotation is correct.
So the program considers the direction of approaching the insertion
point and keeps the rotation blocked allowing the correct placing.

When there are more rooms in a project, there is just one active at a
time. The active room is the one where the tilling functions operate. In
order to activate other rooms just click twice inside the room to be
activated.

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Loading CAD floor layout in DXF format

If architects or designers send you layout already drawn with other

CAD programs in neutral universal DXF format, you can import such
technical drawing directly from the window layout, thanks to the
command of the main menu Import/Export à DXF import plan.
As in that moment you can not open a new project
(and therefore the Layout window) without having to draw
a room, we recommend you to overcome this problem by
drawing a fictitious space and then delete it once you open
the Layout window. In order to delete the space layout just
drawn, simply click the right mouse button on the space
where there are no objects and select the Delete
command from the
contextual menu that
appears.
After importing the DXF drawing, keep in mind that this is
just a set of geometric entities (mostly lines) that have no information
typical of the entity composing a "room". In order to provide this
information by grouping together lines which help to create a closed
polyline of any space, we must rebuild and/or define rooms by either
Polyline or Polyline selection commands available in CAD group: in
particular, in order to apply the command Polyline selection by
selecting directly the geometric entities from the DXF layout just
loaded, you first need to have the just uploaded picture "exploded",
that is you need to separate the entities that are grouped together. In
order to do this, click the Mouse right button on a drawing geometric
entity. Among the options from the contextual menu that appears you
may find is the Explode command. Once this is done, the geometric
entities forming the drawing are individually selectable and can be
used to compose the closed polyline necessary to define a new room.
Alternatively, if you want to reconstruct the room geometrically, you
can do very quickly using the Polyline command by tracing the
geometry of the loaded DXF file and with the help of the active SNAPs
which enable to dock automatically coupler points of the entity with
great accuracy.

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Among the commands available in the contextual menu, one enables
you to apply a scale coefficient to the imported CAD drawing. Actually,
the DXF file is not always from a program that is using the same unit,
so you should always check the size of the drawing that has been
loaded and possibly proceed with all the necessary rescaling with the
Apply a scale command.
In the contextual menu there is also a command which enables you to
define a new room by selecting lines of imported CAD files that define
the partition walls (Trace new
space command), or enter the
properties window.
Among the available options in
this window, it is possible to
delete or hide unwanted layers
(levels), edit colours, add more
construction lines to the available
layers.

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Modifies to be applied to the rooms

There is a high flexibility in resizing a room and in modifying the

perimeter outline. It is possible to identify two different groups of
commands: the ones that can be activated through the right key of the
mouse when the cursor is inside the room in a point where there is
nothing to be selected, and the ones that allow, on the contrary, to
change the geometry of the room.

Menu for the context changes to the room

Clicking with the right key of the mouse inside a room, there is the
special context menu to be seen

Furnishing element It refers to the window for the insertion of

furnishing elements.

Virtual Navigation It opens the virtual navigation window: if the

window is already open it is brought out.

New light It activates the insertion function of a new light

(electric bulb or spot light).

Apply environment coverings … It activates the wizard to chose the

panels for the floor and the covering.

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Modify floor tiling It opens the window “Modify tiling” with the floor
of the active room at disposal while modifying.

Delete floor tiling It deletes the tiling of the active room after
requesting a confirmation.

Delete floor materials It delete the materials on the floor.

Delete After confirmation request, it deletes the active

room from the project. If the operation is
confirmed the active room deleted (but the
furnishing elements are not deleted by this
command) and one of the other left rooms
becomes active automatically.

Move It allows to move the cursor room.

Rename It allow to digit a name for

the active room.

Undo It deletes the last

operation made..

Redo It activates again the last just deleted operation.

Save project It saves the project. It is recommended to save

the project every now and then to make sure the
work that has been done till that moment,
reducing this way the number of operations that
could get lost in case of an accidental black-out,
even If the “disaster recovery” function should
avoid this chance.

Repeat last command It repeats the last command made.

Estimate It activates the estimate calculating.

Ceiling The program inserts automatically the ceiling on

all the rooms of the project, unless all the walls
are of the same height. The submenu of Ceiling
has two functions: Hide / Display in order to
activate and deactivate the ceiling display (for
example if one wants to generate a photorealistic
image from above). In fact if watching the room
from above, in the “virtual navigation” window the
ceiling is automatically hidden, in the generation

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 of photorealistic images it’s necessary to use this
command to hide it. Il comando Elimina
materiali serve a rimuovere eventuali materiali
(texture) assegnati al soffitto.

Zoom video It allows to make zoom operations listed in the

submenu: It allows to make zoom operations
listed in the submenu: zoom max makes the
project area as big as the screen; zoom allows to
make a part of the area bigger defining with the
cursor the two points of the enlarging rectangle.

Add components This function allows to

add the active room in the
list Rooms from the
group of Components.
After activating the command a name is
requested to call this room.
Both from the list of the
Components and
directly in the Preview
window it is always
possible to delete a room
clicking with the right key
of the mouse on the
element and then Delete
has to be selected.

Modify functions to the room geometry

Much more articulated are the changes that can be applied to the room
geometry.
First of all it’s to be noticed that going with the cursor on the inner side
of a room wall the side is highlighted and the information about its
length appears.

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The outer widths of the walls are not active entities: as far as the
management of the rooms geometry (theme of this paragraph) is
concerned, the reference active entities are always the inner walls.
Clicking on the right key of the mouse on an inner wall the context
menu Wall appears.

In the first line of the menu title there are the

dimensions, length and height of the wall.
Move Activating the function
the wall is taken by the

cursor. Moving with the

mouse, besides the
blue lines that simulate
the geometrical
expansion, even the
distances between the
new position’s edges
and the ones of the starting situation are
highlighted.
It is possible to type the value of the expansion
distance, considering to avoid editing the
underlined dimension. In order to change the
dimension to edit, use the TAB key. As it is to be

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 seen in the second image
it is possible to “move”
one wall free and to gain
such results. Through this
function it’s easy to
enlarge or narrow the
room dimension.

Width This function allows to vary the wall width. The

appearing window shows the current value of the
width. It’s not
possible to
change the width
of the inner walls
where both surfaces are inner to two adjacent
rooms. In the menu, in fact, it turns out as not
active. In such cases, in
order to enlarge the
width, one has to move
temporarily one of the
two rooms in order to
separate the two adjacent walls that need to be
modified, then the new width has to be set to both
of them and then they have to be joined together
again through the function Move from the Rooms
menu.

Height it allows to set the height

of the two edges of a wall.
Conventionally, the right
edge is the one on the
right looking at the wall
from inside the room. The tick field Apply to all
walls allows to apply the current setting to all the
walls of the project. As the program generates
automatically the ceiling if all the walls have the
same height, enabling this selection it is even
possible to make sure the presence of this
architectonic element. It’s not possible to change
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 the height of the inner walls where both surfaces
are inner to two adjacent rooms. In the menu, in
fact, it turns out as not
active. In such cases, in
order to modify the
height, one has to move
temporarily one of the
two rooms in order to
separate the two adjacent walls that need to be
modified, then the correct heights have to be set
to both of them and then they have to be joined
together again through the function Move from
the Rooms menu.

Hide This command allows too hide temporarily a wall.

If the wall is already hidden, in the menu one can
see Display. Hiding a wall can be useful (related
the standard rendering engine) when generating
photorealistic images. In fact, if during the virtual
navigation it is even possible to go out of the
environment keeping on seeing inside of it (see
“Display of the outer walls” at page) during the
generation of
images with
photorealistic
rendering if one
wants to delete
the obstacle of
a wall in the
foreground that blocks the view inside, one has to
use this command. In the layout, a hidden wall is
represented by a single line that delimits the
room inner perimeter. Then it is always possible
to select it again through the right key of the
mouse in order to be able to display it again.

Split Through this command it is possible to split one

wall into two or more parts. This command can
be useful to modify quickly the geometrical
conformation of a room. Once the command is
active, in order to split, it’s necessary to define
the splitting point. . It is possible to click both with
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 the Lh Mouse and
to type the right
distance from one
of the two edges.
The edge of active
reference is to be
edited between the
two, with the underlined measures. In order to
activate the other one (cyclically) use the TAB
key. . When it is active start typing the first digit of
the measure you want use or to set: A dialog box
appears automatically to allow the numerical
measurements inserted. Please confirm with the
ENTER key, the split point is introduced. The
command remains active to allow the insertion of
any other matters: You can exit either by clicking
the right mouse button or with ESC key.

In this example one can see how easy it is to

deform a linear wall into a trapezoid shape,
introducing two split points and isolating the
displayed part of wall. Through the application of
the following function Move the wall can be
dragged outwards gaining this way the wanted
flexible deformation.
It is possible to delete the split point, an edge,
clicking on it with the right key of the mouse and
selecting the command Delete.

Create opening the logic of this command is to create an opening

in a wall in order to create a way into another
room. . Activating the command the following
window appears. It has common parts to the
management of doors and windows that are, in
this case, deactivated.
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 The necessary settings to define the opening are:
, that is the height from the ground, of the inferior
side. If the opening has to be a passage at the
floor level, then keep the elevation on zero. . If,
on the contrary, it’s an opening like a window,
then the value of elevation represents the height
of the inferior wall before starting the opening.
The Width obviously represents the horizontal
dimension of the opening, while finally, Height is
the vertical dimension of the opening The audio
symbol near some commands shows the
possibility to activate the listening of an audio
message that explains the possible operations to
be made. When the opening data are confirmed a
cursor rectangle
appears and simulates
the opening. Coming
closer to the inner
lines of the room walls
the cursor object
automatically gains the same exact width and
inclination of the wall and a couple of values
show the distance of the extremities of the
opening from the edges of the wall.
In order to finish the setting of the opening it is
possible both to click with the Lh Mouse and to
type the exact distance from one of the two
edges. The reference edge that can be edited is
the one whose measure is underlined.
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 . In order to activate the other one (cyclically)
use the TAB key. When it is active start typing
the first number of the measure that one wants to
set: a window opens automatically to allow the
introduction of the wanted number. Confirming
through the ENTER key the opening is placed.

It is possible to make specific

operations clicking with the right
key on an opening The function
Properties allows to access the
window Opening properties
again and to modify easily the
shape of the opening. One of
the properties that has not been
described jet, is the one to create a niche
enabling the tick box with the same name The
niche is a hollow in the wall width, so the program
considers it as an opening (not complete) whose
depth must be defined and that must obviously
not be deeper than the wall width. If, on the
contrary, one types a value equal or superior to
the wall width the program sets automatically the
depth equal to the width, even if it is represented
as not complete.

In this example the following complete opening

has been modified to create a niche for the
radiator. Inside a wall 40 cm. deep a niche has
been created with 0 elevation, 88,5 cm. width,
110 cm. height and 20 cm Then the room has
been tiled and a radiator has been inserted (see

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 “How to insert furnishing elements into the
room” at page 114). If a niche or an opening are
created in an already tiled environment, the new
surfaces are not tiled. . In order to have them tiled
just apply the covering of the environment again
after their introduction in the project.
New niche
Not to be confused with the real niche described
here above, this function, not properly called this
way, makes an “U” shaped extraction in a wall.

Activating the command there is the request to

insert the first point, then the second point has to
be introduced being able to introduce the width of
the niche as measure.

This second point signs the part of wall that can

be removed outwards or towards the inside of the
room. The transfer must not necessarily happen
along the direction perpendicular to
the side, even if it is obviously the
most frequent case. This operation,
opposite to the one of double split of the wall
followed by the moving, creates the two
sidewalls.

Cambia in arco This function

allows to
create a semi-circular wall transforming a linear
one. The command is very easy. Clicking on the
wall with the right key, select the command to
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 access the submenu Internal or External: The
position to be chosen is connected to the room.

Rename It allow to assign a name of

the selected wall.

Colour it allows to give a different

colour to the selected wall.

Materials It allows to apply a material to the selected wall.

A material can be made up only of optical
parameter or of textures the surfaces are covered
with (as to simulate, for example, wood walls in a
mountain hut).

Modify tiling It activates the opening of the window with the

same name, it can be entered also through the
menu Modify à Modify tiling…

Delete tiling It allows to delete, after confirmation, the tiling

that has been previously applied to that wall.

Sloping rof It allows you

to create attic rooms by selecting the wall whose
height will vary in order to create an inclined
ceiling.

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 By enabling the command, the following dialogue
box will appear in which the level (B) Elevation is
the final height of the selected wall whereas the
level (D) is the current height of the room ceiling.
In order to determine the inclination percentage,
you may provide either the angle of inclination (A)
or the depth (B), i.e. the horizontal projection of
the inclined section. The thickness (E) is relevant
if you want to use special roof windows (Velux
type).

You can repeat this process on more than one

wall by choosing different inclination parameters.
In the case of adjoining walls, the program links
the different inclined surfaces along the bisector.

Modular furniture You can find

this command if
the "Modular
furniture" optional mode is enabled. A submenu
with two functionalities opens: View wall opens a
window where you can see a wall without tiles, so
that a composition of forms can be made (e.g.:
base and wall in a kitchen). Enable wall allows
you to assign the "enable” adjective to the
selected wall in order to host the composition of
modular furniture you need to perform.

Repeat last command It repeats the last command made.

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Zoom video It allows to make zoom operations listed in the
submenu: zoom max makes the project area as
big as the screen; zoom allows to make a part of
the area bigger defining with the cursor the two
points of the enlarging rectangle.

By pausing with the mouse cursor on a partition

wall, a small window (tooltip) will appear for a few
seconds with information on the wall size (length).

Modify functions of the room corners

Besides the many changes described till now, that

can be applied to the conformation of the rooms, it
is even possible to work directly on the edges of the
single walls. Clicking with the right key of the mouse
on one of the edges (the edges of the active room
are highlighted through a green square) the context
menu appears; it’s displayed here on the right, with the following
disposable functions.

Move It allows to identify the edge with a cursor and to

set with a certain freedom
of work a different
placement for it. Dragging
the edge with a cursor the
measures of the distances
from the two fixed
reference edges are highlighted. In order to
support the use of this function, in most cases the
option ORTHO is at disposal and can be
activated through the O key

Such a key activates and deactivates cyclically

the following options: at the first click it blocks the

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 horizontal direction and activates the possibility of
typing the measure of the distance horizontally
towards the fixed reference point. At the second
click it blocks the vertical direction enabling as a
consequence the chance of typing the measure
of the distance vertically towards the fixed
reference point. In both cases just start writing
the first number of the value that indicates the
distance so that the special window opens. It has
to receive the measure in input. Confirming
through the key ENTER, the edge is placed in its
new position.
Delete The selected corner is deleted and consequently
the two adjacent edges connect themselves to
the deleted one.

Repeat last command It makes the last made command again.

Zoom video It allows to make zoom operations listed in the

submenu: zoom max makes the project area as
big as the screen; zoom allows to make a part of
the area bigger, defining with the cursor the two
points of the enlarging rectangle.

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Project context menu

During the planning in the Layout window there is a set of functions at

disposal clicking with the right key of the mouse on any area outside
the one occupied by the rooms

The Project menu allows:

Furnishing element It recalls the window for the insertion of furnishing

elements.

Virtual Navigation It opens the virtual navigation window: if the

window is already open it is brought out.

New light It activates the insertion function of a new light

(electric bulb or spot light).

Estimate It activates the estimate calculating.

Undo It deletes the last operation made.

Redo It activates again the last just deleted operation.

Save project It saves the project. It is recommended to save

the project every now and then to make sure the
work that has been done till that moment,
reducing this way the number of operations that
could get lost in case of an accidental black-out,

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 even If the “disaster recovery” function should
avoid this chance.

Dimension It activate the funciton to create a dimension.

(see “Dimension” at page).

Text It activates the inserting function of a text, that

can be a note, a post-it, etc.
Printout It recalls the printout function of the Layout
window

Project technical printout… It activates the function that allows

to generate the Project technical printouts

Repeat last command It repeats the last command made.

Zoom video It allows to make zoom operations listed in the

submenu: zoom max makes the project area as
big as the screen; zoom allows to make a part of
the area bigger defining with the cursor the two
points of the enlarging rectangle.
Options It recalls the Options window for the
configuration of the operating environment (see
“Configuration of the operating environment”
at page 19).

Properties It recalls the window for the insertion of the

Project data.

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 THE VIRTUAL NAVIGATION WINDOW

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In the project phase the Navigation window is as
useful and important as the Layout window
where it is possible to explore the space
represented in three dimensions and understand the current status of
the project.
If the computer you are working on is equipped with an enough
performing
graphics
card, you
can
configure
the
navigation
by
activating
parameter
s such as
Transparency, Reflection and Antialiasing. The active Shader
requires high performing cards. Actually, each parameter requires
more computer resources and during the configuration process it is
possible to say that everything was all right when you can notice fluid
movements while getting into the scene. Obviously, this fluidity also
depends on greater or lesser weight of the individual project, but just
because of this the user can reduce or increase the quality of
navigation according to the different situations.
A further level of downward adjustment of the quality for a more fluidity
consists of enabling, if necessary, the "Movements in wireframe
mode" option. When this option is enabled, the scene visualization is
skeletal, that is "in wireframe” while we move. Then the scene returns
in full colour as soon as we stop.
Finally, only if you have graphics card with elementary features (for
example, little performing computers only for Office Automation or
even laptops and netbooks with integrated graphics chips on the
motherboard) you may be "forced" to use the last stage of
simplification, by activating the "Wireframe" option. In this way you can
only have a “Wireframe” navigation mode.

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Navigation

The navigation function represents the state of

the art for a simpler, more interactive and
dynamic interaction: it offers a number of extra
functions for the fixing and modification of tiles,
panels and pieces of furniture. It is possible to
navigate the room not only using the mouse
but also with a particular hardware device,
called Space Navigator (or Space Pilot in the
professional version). It is a 3-dimensional
Joystick which enables fluid movements in space,
leaving the mouse free for other modifications to
be made to the project. Space Navigator is
essential for those designers who want to optimize
the productivity in the different drawing phases,
thanks to the new direct project mode in 3D being
able to use both hands at the same time for movement (Space Pilot)
and designing (Mouse). For further information on this product, you
can refer to the manufacturer’s web site: http://www.3dconnexion.com.

Selecting destination areas while dropping tiles/panels

When dropping with the

Select destination area
button enabled, the
system highlights the
area you are over with
the mouse. This means
that, releasing over that
area, you will apply the
new scheme only on that
portion of the project,
and not the entire
floor/walls.
This new selection
mechanism is also useful
in order to pick up the
correct area, open it in the front-view window, and modify its laying

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scheme. If you stop the mouse over the needed surface, then press
the right mouse button, you’ll see a context menu referred to that area:
select Modify tiling in order to access the front-view window (be
careful: if you’re navigating from outside the room, it is possible to
interfere with the hidden wall. It is hidden, indeed, to your view, but it’s
still in front of you, hence the system could put you through this area,
which is not the needed one. To solve this situation, move again the
observer and step inside the room before right clicking again).

Modification of the field of view (FOV) of the camera

During the navigation, can be comfortable to use a control

command that allows you to simulate the functionality of a zoom
in a camera, in order to open or close the angle of view.
Suppose, for instance, to be inside a small
room and you want to view a wider scene
without being able to move backwards: so
you can use this functionality.

Navigation quality

In order to make the virtual walk more and more realistic, you can
adjust the graphic quality of the scene shown in the navigation window,
also considering the hardware performance you are using through the
following effects:
4 Advanced Shader manager for tile products
4 Anti-aliasing

4 Viewing of the sky map

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Always remember, anyway, that such effects are available only if you
have processed the Advanced Rendering engine module.

Viewing Shader materials and finishings

A particular attention goes to the viewing of tile finishings applied to the

environment areas (the power of the graphic card may be relevant in
being able or not to use this effect).
With this new version you can have a preview of what you already gain
within the Advanced Rendering even in the 3D Navigation Window.
The graphic quality is not as good as the real render, but effects like
shaders and tile borders can now be seen even while moving in the
3D. You can have such effects only with tiles which have already been
prepared with high quality materials (typical of the advanced rendering
engine, hence available only in the case that this module has been
activated).
The map of roughness allows the viewing of structured or relief areas
of product. In order to better understand the meaning of these maps,
please refer to the chapter in this manual called Advanced
Rendering. Following one is an example of a map of roughness in the
navigation window (the image could be unclear in the paper version of
the manual, so we suggest you to have a look at the electronic PDF
file).

Anti-aliasing effect
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In order to improve the graphic viewing of the image, the new release
can include Anti-aliasing effect too while navigating (the power of the
graphic card may be relevant in being able or not to use this effect).
This effect (as better explained in the section about the advanced
rendering engine) allows you to improve the clearness of the image
reducing the effect of aliasing (segmentation of the oblique lines).
It can be
activated
inside of
the
Options
window,
together
with other
parameter
s already
known like
transparency, reflections, shadows, and it can be regulated through a
slider with 3 different levels: low – medium - high.
The increase of this parameter to the high quality causes the loss of
performances in speed, that can depend on the characteristics of the
available hardware (graphic card).

Viewing of the sky map

This effect represents the

external viewing of the sky,
the sun and the horizontal
line. This effect allows us to
reach more realism while
navigating, in order to
simulate even outdoors
through windows available in
the room.

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Perspective views of the room

Since the early versions of the program - now considered obsolete

although still available - an alternative way to open windows in 3D
views has been the one that will be described in this paragraph. For
completeness’ sake we add these notions, although it should no longer
be necessary to go back to this mode of operation which is to be
discontinued in future versions of the program.

How to generate a perspective view

In the Layout window,

from the namesake
ribbon

select the New View

command in the 3DView
group (or you can use
the F4 function key) to
enable the generating
function of a new
perspective view.
This opens a work
window that allows to position the observation point (eye) and the
direction the eye looks towards (focus).

This work window is divided into four operating areas:

4 the top left area contains a front view representation of the room and
the tools to determine at cursor the height of the observation point. It
is possible to set the height from ground both of the eye and focus by
entering their dimensions in the special Eye dimension and Focus
dimension fields.

4 the bottom left area contains a representation in plan of the room and
the tools to determine at cursor the position of the observation point
(eye) and of the focus that helps in defining the shot direction;

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4 the top right area represents a kind of Preview of the perspective
image: this is updated by clicking with the LH Mouse at any point
inside it;

4 The bottom right area contains the command keys to set the
parameters of the perspective view.

The two areas on the left show:

4 In bleu, the view cone describing the portion of the room that will be
shown in perspective;

4 The observation point represented by a red square on the vertex of

the view cone, it simulates the observer’s eye. The position of the
observation point can be hooked at cursor and modified by keeping
the RH Mouse pressed;

4 The point of view (focus) indicates the direction of the sight and then
of the shot. The position of the point of view can be hooked at cursor
and modified by keeping the LH Mouse pressed.

By proceeding as illustrated above, it is possible to position, in relation

to the plan (bottom left area) and in relation to the height of the room
(top left area), the observation point and the point of view in relation to
each other, to get the desired shot.

As already said, once this operation has been completed, in the top
right area it is possible to get a Preview of the perspective view in wire
frame mode. The preview view may be completed by the
representation of any inserted elements by pressing the LH Mouse
into this window.

The bottom right area allows to modify some parameters that affect
both the type of view and the optics applied:

Type of view

Perspective a perspective view of the defined portion is

returned;

Axonometry an axonometric view of the defined portion of the

room is returned;

View parameters (attributed with the Assign key)

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Distance it indicates the distance expressed in mm. of the
section plan from the focal point;

Aperture it indicates the aperture expressed in mm. of the

section plan (and consequently of the cone of
view);

Eye level it indicates the elevation expressed in mm. of the

observation point;

Focus level it indicates the elevation expressed in mm. of the

point of view.

Fix views

Each button indicates a pre-fixed position of the generation parameters

of the view: by pressing one of the buttons, the observation point and
the point of view are automatically positioned as indicated on the
button pressed. The central button allows to bring back the view cone
to the initial position.
The Fill color button allows to modify the background color of the
three windows of the creation of the view.
The button allows to position the observation point outside the
room by reducing the vision of the room (zoom out).
The button allows to bring the shot of the room back to the
maximum available area of the window (zoom max).

When the best shot has been chosen, by selecting the OK key you
generate a new view by opening a new window which is automatically
assigned a progressive identification number xx, with this number it
takes the name of Perspective view # xx.

How to get a perspective view from above

In the Layout window, from the namesake

ribbon by selecting the Perspective from above
command from the 3DView group, a new
window opens showing a perspective view from above, having an
observation point over the space and an opening angle that will show
all the room outer walls.

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Please note that in the Perspective view windows the graphic
symbols of the included elements are displayed in "wireframe" that
shows only the object outlines.
Whereas, to get a real image of the same objects, that also
shows the surfaces and colors, it is necessary to get to realistic
rendering through the Navigate function.

Perspective views management

Perspective views represent the frames of a

virtual film, that through the subsequent realistic
rendering phase, allow visually to show the
worked out room.
It is then
important, during
the study phase
for the choice of
the best shots, to
be able to store
those considered
more significant
so that it is
possible to
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access them in any other future work session or in a second time
within the same session. For this reason the program provides a very
easy and efficient management of perspective views.
After having created a perspective view (see “How to generate a
perspective view“ at page 104) select the Views management
command from the View menu: the Views dialog-box is automatically
open.
The Views dialog-box is composed as follows:

4 a View Name field where to insert the name which is intended to

save the active view with;
4 a Views fields where all the stored views are listed;

4 a View Preview field where, if activated, it is possible to display the

view selected in the Views field..

In the bottom part of the dialog box there are five buttons that are
associated with the following functions:

Save current this function allows to

save the active
perspective view; enter
an identification name in
the View name field and press the button with
the LH Mouse. If you want the view to be
automatically generated each time the project it
belongs to is opened, activate the Generate at
loading choice.

Modify name this function allows to modify the name of a view.

Select, from the list of the stored views, the one
you want to modify the name to, enter the new
name in the View name field and then press the
Modify name button with the LH Mouse.

Generate this function allows to open a view previously

stored. From the list of the selected views, select
the one to be generated and then press the
Generate button with the LH Mouse

Delete this function allows to delete a view previously

stored from the view list.

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Quit this function closes the Views dialog-box and
confirms all the operations eventually done.

N.B. The Views management command can be used in

any work window, and allows to store the perspective
views. It may be useful to run this command to save
the current view during a “virtual walk” so that to be able to
generate later on a photo-realistic image of that perspective
shot.

Removing hidden lines

This function, that can be applied in the

perspective views framework only, allows the
momentary generation of the active view, always in
wire-frame mode, without displaying all the lines that are covered by
other surfaces of objects that are more out in front.
Select the Removing hidden lines command in the Perspective view
window from the set of commands in order to get a perspective view
with hidden lines. What has been obtained through the Removing
hidden lines command can be printed via the Print command in the
menu by clicking on the Home button.
This kind of display is only a temporary view that disappears as soon
as some operations that involve the automatic regeneration of the view
are carried out (e.g. zoom or modification of an element).
The view achieved by means of the Removing hidden lines
command can be printed by means of the Print command in the
activated dialog window.

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Default View

From the Navigation window you can choose some Default Views by a
function command in the "3D Views” group.

Among the various

available options you
can also find "Top View"
which is dynamically
more evolved than the
"perspective from
above" command
described in the previous
paragraph.
The transition from one
position to another can
be managed through an
animation if, this mode is
enabled in Options.

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Reference manual
111
 INSERTION OF OBJECTS AND

FURNISHING ELEMENTS

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Free shape object drawing

The program permits to draw and insert in the room three-dimensional

objects or elements in masonry that may, on request, also be tiled
using ordinary tiling panels..

How to draw an object

It is possible to build objects with any kind of profile, even curvilinear.

From the Layout window you can use a CAD menu command. A
prerequisite to draw an object is to create a closed polyline; you can
then make the outline object either through the Polyline
command (see page 60) or, alternatively, by assembling single
geometric elements together and creating a polyline via the
Polyline selection command. (see page 60).
For a detailed description of the of CAD command group, see
"Drawing the floor plan: Handheld" on page 58.

In order to draw rectangular and circular

profiles, you can also use the functions of the
Draw menu commands from the window
plan belonging to the Piece of Furniture group.

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Insertion of furnishing elements

Inserting furnishing elements into the room has the twofold objective
of:

4. achieving a realistic rendering of the room in its completeness;

5. automatically inserting in the financial estimate all the elements, in

addition to the tiles, that may be sold to the customer.

These elements, each one identified by a description and by a graphic

symbol, have the following features:

4 These elements, each one identified by a description and by a

graphic symbol, have the following features;

4 rappresentare tipologie di oggetti in modo generico, senza

necessariamente far riferimento ad un prodotto di mercato specifico.

The choice of objects wished to be used for interior decoration is aided

both by appropriate descriptive search keys, and by tools to display the
associated images, especially if there is more than one symbol for the
same object and the description given does not allow univocal
identification.

Positioning objects in the room is possible both on the plan and in any
perspective view; the second case is, however, more complex than the
first one therefore it is recommended to work on the plan, provided the
correctness of the object elevation in the perspective views has been
verified.

How to insert furnishing elements into the room

Working from within the Layout window, there are three possible ways
to activate the insertion function of furnishing elements into the project:

4 by dragging (drag&drop) the element, picked by cursor from the

Preview window after a search and selection inside the
Components tree.

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4 by using the Inclusion into the project right function button
from the Pieces of furniture group of the Layout ribbon it
leads you to the following dialogue window:

The dialog window that opens, allows to do selections according to

several search criteria:

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4 Search through code or description of the element is done by
enabling the Details box, entering the appropriate text in one of the
above said search fields and then pressing the Search button. It is
possible to use the “*” and “%” jolly characters
4 A search in alternative to the previous one but disabling the Details
box, is the search by typology, manufacturer and destination.
Each time one of the values among the three is set, automatically the
list of items satisfying the criteria set is updated.
By enabling the Preview box, the items listed in the current selection
area can be displayed. If the point of view is not good, it is possible to
rotate the object displayed in Preview through the two Rotation special
buttons that are under the preview window.

The Elevation and Rotation boxes that are above the preview
window, allow to respectively set the height from the ground and the
angle of insertion in plan according to the classic trigonometric
measurement standards in clockwise direction.

By enabling the box below on the left – Automatic insertion of

materials -, the program inserts the chosen element together with the
possible surface materials (wood, marble, metal, etc.) assigned to it.

By enabling the Automatic dimensioning box, the elements having

overall dimensions are loaded in plan complete with dimensions.
These kinds of elements are typically the pieces of modular furniture
such as kitchens and bathroom furnishings.

By activating the Out of measure box, the

program allows the subsequent access to the
Dimensions & rotation window, through this
window it is possible to:

6. for the specific product, modify the size

standard parameter of the element;

7. define the elevation expressed in mm. of the

element with respect to the floor (see “Elevation of the element”
at page);
8. define the anticlockwise rotation of the element (see “Rotation of
the element” at page).

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Selecting the OK button from the Dimensions window to confirm the
choice and any modifications, the program makes the symbol
corresponding to the chosen object available at the cursor in the
Layout window.

Before final positioning, it is still possible to carry out the following

operations related to the object at the cursor:

4 rotation and elevation of the object;

4 alignment with a chosen surface;

4 elevation with respect to a reference object

4 modification of the insertion point;

4 visual positioning;

4 precise positioning through a reference system.

Rotation of the element

4 press the + key to obtain progressive anticlockwise rotation. The
rotation angle is defined in the Options (see page).
4 press the - key to obtain progressive
clockwise rotation. The rotation angle is
defined in the Options (see page).
4 press the R key to obtain a single
anticlockwise rotation equal to the value in
degrees given in the Rotation box. In the
Rotation window that appears, it is possible
to:

4 indicate any numeric value in degrees

regarding the rotation;

4 Indicate the value of the rotation angle

used when using the + and - keys .
Such a value will be saved even for insertions or rotations of other
furnishing elements;

4 introduce an elevation value representing the distance off the ground,

in height, of the object do be positioned. The personalization of the
angle is maintained also for further insertions.

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Elevation of the element
4 press the R key to obtain an elevation with respect to the level of
the floor equal to the value in mm. given in the Rotation box
4 press the H key to obtain an elevation with respect to a previously
inserted reference element; in this case it is necessary to select the
element chosen as reference with the LH Mouse (the RH Mouse
cancels the function of relative elevation).

Alignment of the element

4 Press the A key to obtain automatic alignment of the origin of the
element with a surface or with another element previously inserted; in
this case it is necessary to select the wall chosen as reference with
the LH Mouse (the RH Mouse cancels the function of alignment).

Modification of the insertion point

4 Press the P key to obtain the modification of the insertion point.
Each time this key is pressed, the cursor goes above an adjacent
angle of the rectangle that limits the furnishing element.
4 press the O key to go back to the initial origin of the furnishing
element

Visual positioning of the element

The element can be moved inside the room by dragging it with the
mouse and defining its position visually, even with the possible support
of the grid beneath (if it is active). When the element is at cursor, the
S key allows to enable/disable the grid.

After carrying out the necessary operations, by pressing the LH Mouse

the element at cursor is positioned at the point where it is at the time of
clicking.

Precise positioning of the element through a reference system

There are several procedures through

which it is possible to establish the point
for positioning the element precisely
within the room; access to the specific
functions occurs by activating the Pick

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window with the Rh Mouse while the element is still at cursor

Each option requires, with different means, identifying one or more

significant points as a reference system with respect to which the
positioning of the element can be defined. Significant points mean
specific points in the room belonging to walls or other elements
previously inserted.

It should be remembered that positioning the element at a point

identified by the procedures given below, means making the origin of
the element, identified with the mouse pointer, coincide with this point.

Near the element is positioned at the nearest

significant point to the one where the mouse
pointer was positioned before activating the Pick
window.

1 Point the element is positioned at the significant point

indicated with the LH Mouse.

Point + Delta the element is positioned at the distance (x, y)

expressed in mm. from a significant point
indicated with the LH Mouse.

2 Points having chosen two significant points with the LH

Mouse, the element is positioned at the distance
expressed in mm. (Line Distance window) from
the first of the two selected points along the
directrix identified by them.

3 Points having chosen three significant points with the LH

Mouse so that the first of these represents the
origin of the system of orthogonal axis defined by
the other two points, the element is positioned at
the coordinates given through the Plan Position
window related to the system of axis now defined.

2D Point the element is positioned at the point identified by

the value expressed in mm. of the co-ordinates
given through the 2D Point window.

Perpendicular the element is positioned at the point belonging to

a chosen line identified by the perpendicular

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 projection on this line of another significant point
chosen with the LH Mouse.

Mean point the element is positioned exactly halfway along a

line indicated with the LH Mouse.

Intersection the element is positioned on the intersection of

two lines selected with the LH Mouse.

Continue allows you to continue the command performing

as if the menu had not been recalled.

Cancel it allows you to abort the command performing.

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Insert furnishing elements in navigation view

The advanced navigation window now allows to place furnishing

elements in 3D directly. As in the layout, it is possible to drag one of
the elements from the components tree (preview toolbar), and move it
within the 3D perspective, being helped by the system when snapping
to a wall (rotating the element if needed).
With the yellow
bounding box related to
the object’s dimension,
will be enable the yellow
line if the object is
correctly attacched to
the wall.), Is possible to
refer to the dimension
related the corner of the
wall to check the
position and directly digit
an exactly value; In this
way is possible to move
horizontally the
elements. Use the
“Properties” window to move it vertically.
If you need to move the element again
(to delete it or change its elevation), it
will be enough to click the right mouse
button over it, and select the referring
command.
Using this command (or even other
features) it may happen that the
navigation window does not refresh
automatically; in this case you can
force a refresh for it by clicking the button in the Toolbar, or
selecting command ViewàUpdate from the system menu..

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Insertion of groups

The insertion of groups in the room is

through the Insert command in the menu
Group which is in the Furnishing Elements
group in ribbon.
When inserting a block you will be asked to explode it. The explosion
of the group allows to work on the single elements that build it.

After choosing the group, according to the

customary manner the program allows to access
the Rotation window, through which it is
possible to define:

9. the anticlockwise rotation of the group (see

similar Rotation of the element in “How to
insert furnishing elements into the room”
at page 119)

10. the elevation expressed in mm. of the group with respect to the
floor (see similar Elevation of the element in “How to insert
furnishing elements into the room” at page)

Selezionando il pulsante OK dalla finestra Rotazione a conferma dei

valori indicati, il programma rende disponibile a cursore nella finestra
Planimetria il gruppo scelto.

Before definitively positioning the group at cursor, it is still possible to

make some operations on it, as already described for the furnishing
elements positioning (see “How to insert furnishing elements into
the room” at page 119).

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 PANELS

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The panel is the model, related to a reference surface, for laying one
or more products for wall and floor tiling, products that can also have
different formats to each other; it represents the laying plan that will be
used to automatically tile the surfaces of the room.
It can be composed of several belts, each one will be associated with
the necessary information (format used, origin of the belt, height of the
belt, angle of rotation of laying) to allow the development of the entire
panel over the walls and on the floor.

Two types of panels are present in the database:

11. a standard panel, formed by the set of belts composed of neutral

tiles of different format, without any reference to specific products,
used generally as an example of geometric solution in the
arrangement of the tiles;

12. one or more customized panels, which may be generated both

directly and by associating to the standard panel the products
chosen each time and compatible with the formats present in the
single belts.

While preparing a tiling project, the designer may, depending on the

requirements expressed by the customer, re-use one of the
customized panels already present in the database, or customize, and
then store in the archive, a standard panel that already exists. He may
also directly create a new panel and then store it for subsequent re-
use.

Customizing therefore consists in associating general standard panels

with the specific products, identified both by the series and by the
desired color variant. It therefore becomes possible to use the same
standard panel as a laying plan for different products, provided the
format is compatible with the specific product intended to be used.

The Panel database also provides information on how each single belt
forming the panel develops:

4 origin of the belt in the panel;

4 number of elements forming it (for the vertical development);

4 angle of rotation in laying the components (for belts with laying at 45°
or 90°);

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4 type of laying used (side-by-side, alternated, chequered, etc.).

A single panel for tiling may be associated, when requested, with a

special panel for the floor as well, when you want to offer a solution
with a wall-floor matching product. In this case the coordinated panels
go to form the so-called compositions.

Finally, the panels can be catalogued according to the type of room

where they are proposed (bathrooms, kitchen, living room, ...), or
according to the type of use (floor, wall, ...). This allows a targeted
search in the database to be able to operate specific selections among
the existing solutions in relation to the proposals to be submitted to the
customer.

Concerning the methods of creating and using a panel we can

distinguish the following types:

Panel for wall tiling

It is the typical panel composed of several overlapping belts at

different heights that, as a whole, describe a laying plan with a fixed
height but which can develop horizontally in a uniform manner over
all the walls of the room; normally, even though it is not a
constraint, the belts identify products and/or kinds of laying different
to each other.

Panel for floor tiling

It is the panel composed of just one belt, where the tiles can be
different to each other in format and/or color; the “floor panel”
option activated allows to extend automatically the panel to the
entire room independently of the shape and contents of the drawn
layout.

Panel for border/decor

It is the panel, composed even of several belts, that represents the

model of particular decorations or borders that can be inserted in
combination with the types of above said panels; they are used in
particular, even though not exclusively, to draw borders or rugs on
floors.

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Panel for composition

It is the panel of fixed dimensions and shape that describes a

specially built composition putting together tiles of different shape,
color, design and format; the composition is usually placed over the
existing tiling, at a variable point in relation to the features of the
room and of the other elements in it.

By choosing the Panels item from the Database

command group, the commands to manage
the panel database become available; in
addition to the normal management functions, these
commands also offer the possibility, by
importing/exporting, to share panels made on different
workstations.

How to create a new Panel

Select the New... command from the Operation panel button to create
a non-existing panel in the database; the creation function goes
through 2 phases:

13. insertion of data describing the panel;

14. graphic composition of the panel.

By means of the
Panels window it is
possible to indicate all
the information of a
descriptive nature
distinguishing the
panel, the meaning of
the fields appearing in the Panels window is the following:

Description Field where a free description identifying the

panel can be inserted; in the case of a neutral
panel it may contain, for instance, references to
the format and to the type of laying, while in the
case of a customized panel it may contain the
name of the series used.

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Specification Field of free description containing, for example,
a more detailed definition than the first
description field; in the case of a customized
panel it can contain the color variant of the
product indicated in the first description.

Code Progressive code number automatically attributed

by the program to the panel being generated.

Version Progressive number automatically attributed by

the program to the panel generated by
customizing the standard panel, which in this field
has the 0 value.

Destination It can be assigned from the table, it indicates the

type of room where the panel could be preferably
used (e.g. bathroom, kitchen, ...)

Use It can be assigned from the table, it indicates the

type of main or exclusive use of the panel (e.g.
floor, wall tiling, ...)

Panel type It distinguishes the panel in function of its being a

standard/general panel (i.e. composed by neutral
tiles or white tiles only) or a customized panel
with specific products in the price list.

The above listed fields, as well as characterizing the panels from each
other, are useful references also when searching in the database.

Once the panel information data have been confirmed, the Modify
Panel # XX window is activated, showing:

4 all menus containing the functions for panels creation and

management;

4 a first active belt of a standard size (1m. x 1m.) where it is possible to

start inserting tiles.

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 As described above, a panel can
normally be split up into several
belts of variable height that, put
together, represent the model or
plan for laying. Due to obvious
needs of repetitive distribution
along all plane directions, the
panels for floor must necessarily
be composed by only one belt.
Defining the height of each single
belt also determines the overall
height extension of the panel
which is displayed by means of
the graduated scale appearing on
the right-hand side of the panel
and which shows, for each belt:

4 the dimension of the point of

origin and point of arrival;

4 the size.

By selecting the Panel

menu and then the Belts
command, the Panel Belt
window is activated, it
allows to insert and work
on the various belts
forming the panel. The
features of each belt are shown in detail in the section denominated
Panel Belts.
The command keys on the side of the list of belts allow to activate the
actions on the related belts with the following meaning:

New

It allows to insert a new belt at any point of the panel under

construction; to do this it is necessary to fill in with the information
requested by the New Belt window:

4 indicate with the LH Mouse the position with respect to the existing
belts reminding that the value of the Position box indicates the

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 progressive height in mm. reached in the panel and that the new belt
will be inserted immediately after the one highlighted;
4 indicate in the Dimension box the height dimension of the belt (in
mm.);
4 customize, if necessary, the name of the belt keying it in the Name
box;

4 change, with the Grout Color... key, the color of the grout (free color,
color materials median, labor materials color) previously set;

4 confirm all the parameters previously inserted with the OK key.

Size

It allows to modify the height dimension of the belt, highlighted in

the Panel Belts section, by keying the new dimension (in mm.) into
the Belt Dimension box, this causes automatic translation of the
starting point of all belts positioned at a greater height than the
modified one, so that there are not holes left in the panel and not
overlapping belts.

Width

It allows to modify the selected belt width and then, as a

consequence, to modify all the panel width: actually, a panel can
not have belts of different width.

Delete

It allows, upon confirmation, to delete from the panel the belt

highlighted in the Panel Belts window; this causes automatic
adjustment (translation downwards) of the starting point of all the
belts positioned at a greater height than the modified one.
N.B.: The Delete command works on all belts in the panel except
for the active one; to delete an active belt it is necessary to first
deactivate it, by activating another one

Empty

It allows, upon confirmation, to remove completely the contents of

the belt highlighted in the Panel Belts window, preparing it for other
tiles to be inserted.

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Activate

It allows to enable the insertion of new tiles in the belt selected and
highlighted in the Panel Belts window; the active belt on the panel
can be identified as it is delimited by two green horizontal lines.

Name

It allows to re-name the belt highlighted in the Panel Belts window

with the name you can type in the Belt Name box and which
replaces the one automatically attributed by the program.

Grout color

It allows to modify the color of the grout previously used in the belt
highlighted in the Panel Belts window.

Quit

It allows to go back to the Modify Panel window confirming all the

parameters that may have been set and displaying the variations
made.

After having completed the creation of the belts it is possible to start

inserting tiles.
It is important to remember to activate the belt where you are going to
insert the tiles, which can be done either with the Activate command
seen above or pressing the left button of the mouse twice after having
set the mouse pointer within the belt to be activated.

By selecting the Add Tile... command

it is possible to choose , from the Tiles
archive, the product to be inserted in
the active belt; this will be done by accessing the Tiles archive as
already described, to select the desired products.

Una volta scelta la piastrella da inserire, questa è resa disponibile a

cursore per essere posizionata all’interno della fascia. Le operazioni
possibili per poter posizionare la piastrella a cursore sono le seguenti:

4 rotation of the tile;

4 change of the tile insertion point;

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4 forced insertion of a tile;

4 visual positioning;
4 precise positioning by means of a reference system.

Rotation of the tile

4 Press the + key to obtain a progressive and repeatable
anticlockwise rotation with a default step (see “Configuration of the
operating environment - Measures”)
4 Press the - key to obtain a progressive and repeatable clockwise
rotation with a default step (see “Configuration of the operating
environment - Measures”)
4 Press the R key to obtain a single anticlockwise rotation equal to
the value in degrees given in the Rotation box.

Change of the tile insertion point

4 press the P key to change the tile insertion point, moving it onto the
adjacent corner of the tile in an anticlockwise direction (notice: this
action does not cause a tile rotation)

Forced insertion of a tile

4 In order to overlap a tile being inserted (and it is at cursor) upon

another one that is already in the panel (without having to previously
delete the one to be covered) press the I key while the tile to be
inserted is at cursor. This mode is particularly convenient when you
have to introduce a tile, for example a decoration, in a belt previously
filled with the “full” option of the Laying Systems (see “How to
create a Laying Plan”): actually, in this case, you won’t be able to
delete the single tile to be covered, as all tiles of the belt laid with the
above-mentioned automatism would be deleted.

Visual positioning of the tile

4 Press LH Mouse to fix the tile at the cursor at the point where it is at
the time of clicking, provided it is within the active belt.

Precise tile positioning by means of a reference system

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 There are several means to precisely establish the point for
positioning the tile within the belt; access to the specific functions is
made by activating the Pick panel window through the RH Mouse
while the tile is still at the cursor.

Each of the options present, except for the one concerning the
coordinates, requires identifying, with different means, one or more
significant points able to build a reference system with respect to
which to define the positioning of the tile. Significant points mean
specific points of other tiles previously inserted.
Positioning by means of the significant-point reference system can
not be applied if there is no reference point within the belt, that is to
say if you are inserting the first tile.

È opportuno ricordare che posizionare la piastrella

in un punto esistente significativo tramite le
modalità di seguito esposte significa far coincidere
l'origine della piastrella, individuata dal puntatore
del mouse, con detto punto.

Close the tile is positioned at the nearest significant

point to the one where the cursor was before
activating the Pick window with the RH Mouse.

1 Point the tile is positioned at the significant point

indicated with the LH Mouse.

Point + Delta the tile is positioned at the

point situated at a distance
(x, y) expressed in mm., from
a significant point indicated
with the LH Mouse.

2 Points Once two significant points

are chosen with the LH
Mouse, the tile is
positioned at the point
identified by the distance
expressed in mm.
(Distance in line window)
from the first of the two points fixed along the
direction identified by them.
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2D Point the tile is positioned at the point
identified by the coordinates
expressed in mm., given in the
Coordinates window related to
the entire panel. The value of
the coordinates must anyhow
identify one of the points included in the active
belt; the origin (0,0) is the bottom left point of the
panel.

Delta the tile is positioned at the

point identified by the
coordinates expressed in
mm. given in the
Coordinates window
related to the active belt; the origin (0,0) is the
bottom left point of the belt.

How to create a Laying Plan

After inserting the tile(s) in the belt, it is possible to automatically

propagate laying throughout the area according to certain criteria
established beforehand.
These automatisms are differentiated in relation to the greater or lesser
complexity of the plan to be obtained; passing therefore from the more
customary plans, composed of
a single tile or a group of tiles,
to customized plans, built up
step by step.
So, in the case of a single tile,
by selecting the Lay Tile
command from the Modify and
indicating the tile to be
propagated with the LH Mouse
we have, through the Laying Systems window, the following laying
plans:

Horizontal row the tile is automatically repeated for the entire

breadth of the panel to form a complete
horizontal row.

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Vertical row the tile is automatically repeated for the entire
height of the belt to form a complete vertical row;
this type of laying can be used in special cases
since its wall paneling sequence is not repetitive:
it is laid "only once" in the starting panel only.

Full the tile is automatically repeated to fill the belt

completely.

Full staggered … the tile is automatically repeated to fill the belt

completely, staggering the starting point of the
following row or column (respectively in the
horizontal or vertical direction as preferred) by 1/2
or 1/3 or 1/4 of the dimensions of the sides of the
tile format.

Repetitive the tile is automatically positioned in the same

combination along the entire extension of the
recurrent laying of the panel in the room. This is
the standard laying system used by the program,
which has to be reset after using a different laying
system.

Customized the tile is automatically repeated within the belt,

after having defined the two direction of repetitive
modular propagation. In order to define it, two
couples of point are requested:

4 The first couple of origin points: the first point indicates the starting
point and the second the arrival one. In this way the propagation
direction and a modular repetitiveness distance are defined along
this direction.

4 The second couple of origin points: the first point indicates the
starting point and the second the arrival one. the first point indicates
the starting point and the second the arrival one. In this way a
second propagation direction (that must be different from the
preceding one) and a modular repetitiveness distance are defined
along this direction.
Customized laying, along with the Define Group
command illustrated further on (see “How to
create a repetitive module for the laying” at
page 136), solves all the complex repetitive

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 laying problems not provided for in the pre-
existing automatic laying plans.

Single The tile is inserted in the room once only and it is

not automatically repeated in the belt

By selecting the
Automatic Laying
command from the
Panel menu, the
Types of laying
dialog-box becomes
available, through this
box it is possible to
provide all the
information that allow
to obtain one of the
indicated laying plans. In this window there are also some types of
laying already present in the Lay tile command.
The choice of the laying plan is made in the upper left part where there
is a drop-down menu through which you can choose the plan
typology, according to the number of present products and in the box
underneath you can scroll the single plans which graphic
representation appears in the nearby window on the right.
By choosing with the LH Mouse one of the laying systems provided,
both the types of tiles to be used and the images related to the laying
system selected are displayed.

The tile or group of tiles highlighted in yellow constitutes the minimum

unit of repetitiveness of the plan: all different formats forming this unit
are listed in the Component Tiles window where, by selecting one by
one the elements and pressing the Select tile… button, you can
choose the desired product to be associated with that component from
the Tile archive.

During the choosing phase the program also checks the compatibility
of the formats in relation to the laying system indicated.
Some laying plans in fact want the dimensions of the selected products
and gouts to allow the construction and modularity of the plan.
Some more articulated plans on the ground of their conformation
accept one single value for the grout.

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In the same window there are also the following two boxes:

Rotation

It allows to indicate the angle of rotation in degrees to be applied to

the laying plan. The most common values are, obviously, 0° and
45°, but it is possible to indicate any value, unless for the ability of
the layer to realize the laying with the same inclination.

Grout

It allows to indicate the dimension of the “grout” to apply: it is the

distance between two tiles. Among the more complex laying plans,
there are some of them that, because of the sum between the
dimension of tiles and grout, do not allow any grout value. In this
case, you have to stick to the correct values, otherwise the program
does not allow to proceed with the panel generation.

How to create a repetitive module for the laying

With the Define module command it is possible to identify a

group of tiles (enclosed or even partially intersected in the
rectangular area of the selection made with the LH Mouse) as a
module or repetitive plan inside the active belt. Once the function has
been activated, you have to
arrange, one by one, the
tiles that will then form the
repetitive module into the
panel.
Supposing you want to
define a module with the
tiles shown in the example
aside, first of all you have to
arrange tiles in such a way
to not leave empty spaces
between them when the
program does the
repetitiveness calculation.
That’s why you have to put
the missing tiles on the left
side of the panel. After that
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you can activate the Define module
function from the Modify menu.
After having selected the whole
group of tiles, you must set the two
couples of points, P0 and P1, that
allow to indicate directions and
distance of modular repetitiveness:
for each couple the first point
indicates the starting point and the
second the arrival one. It is very
important that the two directions indicated by the two couples of points
are not parallel to each other; otherwise you will not obtain anything.
Hereafter is the final result in this case.

How to work in the Panel

There are some specific functions available, that allows to do

operations during the creation of a new panel and when modifying an
existing one.

Belt height...
From the Panel menu it is possible to determine, in the special
Repetition Number box, the height of the active belt, in relation to
a multiple number or fraction of multiple, of a tile already positioned
in the panel. In fact, it is not compulsory for the two reference
points indicated with the LH Mouse to belong to the same belt
whose height is being modified.
Select with the LH Mouse, two points on a vertical axis and
indicate the number of repetitions to be given to the distance
defined by the two points.

Panel Width

From the Panel menu it is possible to determine, in the special

Repetition Number box, the width of the panel in relation to a
multiple number or fraction of multiple of a tile that is already in the
panel: the two reference points indicated with the LH Mouse may
belong to any of the belts in the panel.
To this regard it should be remembered that the defined width of
the panel represents the minimum basic module of repetitiveness
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 the program will use to tile the walls of the room or the object
surfaces.
Select with the LH Mouse, two points on a horizontal axis and
indicate the number of repetitions to be given to the distance
defined by the two points.
If in the panel, there are some decorations that have been inserted
in an automatic laying through the I button for the forced
positioning, it is good to use the corners of one of the tiles in the
decoration as unit reference for the repetitiveness that determines
the length of the panel.

Grout color...

From the Panel menu it is possible to modify the color of the grout
of the active belt.

Hide belt grout

From the Panel menu it is possible to hide the grout of the active
belt of the panel. To display the grout again, use the Grout color...
command.

Panel grout color...

From the Panel menu it is possible to

modify the color of the grout
homogeneously for all the belts in the
panel.
When you activate the command the
Grout color mask appears and allow to
work in three different ways:

4 Free color
It shows the mask with the standard colors of windows, that
allow the user to choose the one he wishes.

4 Labor material
It allows to apply a grout color, chosen among the labor
materials present in the database, to the active band.

4 Tile colors median

It allows to apply one specific color to from the color tiles
median inserted in the active band.

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Hide panel grout

From the Panel menu, it is possible to hide the grout all over the
panel. To display the grout again, use the Grout color... or the
Panel grout color... command

How to store a Panel

Once the operations of creating and modifying the panel and/or the
content of the single belts have been completed (see “How to modify
a Panel” at page), it is possible to store the panel into the right archive
to then be able to call it up as a ready solution.

The File menu offers the following possibilities for handling the panel:

Save panel

All the information, new or modified, of the current version of the

panel is stored, overwriting the previous version, if any.

Save as

It is possible to generate a new panel starting from an existing

panel that has been modified; this command allows to keep the
original panel and to create very easily other examples with new
names, thus enriching the list of solutions that can be offered.

Panel data

It is possible to make corrections to the panel information data only.

How to modify a Panel

By selecting the Panel menu, it is possible to bring

general modifications to it (see “How to work in a panel”
at page 136), whereas, by selecting the Modify menu it is
possible to enter the commands allowing to modify the
content of each belt. It should be remembered that in order
for the command selected in the Modify menu to be
effective, it is necessary that the belt have been previously activated.
For most of the commands of the Modify… menu, there is also a quick
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menu that is activated by pressing Ctrl + LH Mouse after having
positioned the mouse pointer upon the tile to be modified.

Delete tile

It allows to delete the tile selected with the LH Mouse; the delete
function stays active until it is deactivated with the RH Mouse
Notice: Deleting a single tile works only if the tile to be deleted has
been laid singly and not by automatic laying

Move tile

It allows to move the tile selected with the LH Mouse; positioning

occurs according to the customary rules after the Pick Panel
window has been activated with the RH Mouse (see “Precise tile
positioning by means of a reference system” at page).

Copy tile

It allows to copy the tile selected with the LH Mouse; positioning

the duplicated tile occurs according to the customary rules after the
Pick Panel window has been activated with the RH Mouse (see
“Precise tile positioning by means of a reference system” at
page).

Change tile

It allows to replace the tile selected with the LH

Mouse with any tile of a compatible format in
the database. After having chosen the tile to be
inserted, the program also allows to indicate if
the replacement must be:

Single only the indicated tile is replaced. But, if this tile

belongs to an automatic laying, then all tiles like
it, belonging to the same laying are replaced;

Belt all the recurrences of the indicated tile in the belt

are replaced;

Pannel all the recurrences of the indicated tile in the

panel are replaced.

Tile color

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 It allows to change the color of the selected tile with any of the
colors chosen through the Color panel. Changing color is only
possible on neutral tiles in the following mode:

Single only the indicated tile is modified;

Belt all the recurrences of the indicated tile in the belt

are modified;

Panel all the recurrences of the indicated tile in the

panel are modified.

Move group

It allows to move, within the active belt, the group of tiles enclosed
or even partially intersected in the rectangular area of the selection
made with the LH Mouse. The group will be moved to a point
identified by the distance defined throught the Delta x and Delta y
boxes with respect to the current origin of the group.

How to export the content of a Panel

Select the Export content... command

from the Panels group in the Database
ribbon to export the content of one or
more panels that are in database; After having entered the name of the
text file to be created, through the Save dialogue box, select the
panels.
The text file can be imported into any database and it is structured in
this way: the first line contains the names of the fields between
quotation marks and separated by a semi-colon. The following lines
contain, in order: the panel code, the tile code, the color variant, the
manufacturer code, and the number of tiles in the panel.
This file can be used for statistical purposes: for instance, it allows to
know which tiles are mostly used.

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 TILING

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Once the insertion and positioning of furnishing elements is finished,
the tiling phase can begin.

The program flexibility allows both to obtain very fast solutions, using
the automatisms present at various levels, and to propose customized
solutions by means of manual laying or modifications to the standard
solutions.

We here briefly remind you of the concepts that lie at the heart of the
automation of the tiling function:

15. all the surfaces belonging to the floor and to the walls inside the
room are normally tiled; there is however the possibility to singly
indicate the walls that are intended to be tiled;

16. the following elements located in the room are normally tiled
(unless the contrary is expressly indicated):

4 floor, walls, low walls;

4 steps, platforms, shelves;

4 flush-fitting bathtubs in masonry, exhibitor;

4 objects;

3. You can apply tiling using both tiles and panels previously saved;

4. these panels, usually differentiated in relation to the surfaces they

are destined for, may be associated in compositions directly usable
for completely tiling the room;

5. the chosen tiling automatically replaces any existing tiling on the

indicated surfaces.

The fixing of tiling materials can be done in several ways: from the
"classical" ones achievable through the working windows where you
operate with two-dimensional mode, always present in DomuS3D®, up
to the most dynamic and recent function, via drag & drop within the 3D
navigation. In the discussion of the different methods we will start with
the first then at the end of the chapter we will pass to those of greatest
interest in terms of simplicity and immediacy of use.

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“Classical” Room tiling

How to do the tiling

In order to carry out the tiling function it is necessary to decide:

4 which surface and elements to tile;

4 which panels or compositions to use for the tiling.

There are the following option into the “Wall”

command group of the “Layout” ribbon:

4 Environment tiling;

4 Floor tiling;

4 Walls tiling;

4 Objects tiling;

4 Rooms tiling.

N.B. All commands related to the different tiling functions

indicated above and described below can be activated both
on the plan (from the Layout window) and in any
perspective view (from the Modify View window).

It should be remembered that, unless otherwise indicated, the

extension of the tiling over the vertical surfaces automatically proceeds
in a clockwise direction; to modify the direction use the Tiling
direction command of the Miscellaneous menu before any other tiling
command related to vertical surfaces.

Environment tiling

By selecting the “Tile room” button into “Wall” command group of the
“Layout” ribbon, the wizard for the automatic tiling of the room starts.

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On the left
side of the
dialogue
box you
can
choose a
floor panel,
whereas
on the right
side you
can select
a wall tiling
panel. In this way, once the choices by the OK button have been
confirmed, the program provides to the room tiling and opens (if not
already opened) the virtual navigation window where you can check
the result of the operation.

Floor tiling

In order to tile the floor by using a panel from

among those you may find in the database,
select the Floor command in the Floor tiling
command group of the Layout ribbon.
The program prompts the user to select the panel to be applied.

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Then, through a notification in the message area
on the lower left side, you are prompted to select
the wall from which to start the tiling. Then you
must specify one of two corners of the indicated wall (point 1), in so
that the program can uniquely determine the fixing direction
(perpendicular to the top selected) and the exact pace where the first
tile must be laid (point 2).

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Walls tiling

If you want to tile the walls of a room by using a

panel from among those you can find in the
database, select the Walls command belonging
to the group of Tiling commands of the Layout ribbon.

The command prompts you to tile either each

wall of the room or just some of them, you must
indicate separately.

Moreover, as for the floor, it is possible to

establish both the corner of the wall from which the laying plan has to
develop, and the clockwise or anticlockwise direction of the
development.

When the selections are completed, it remains to indicate with the LH

Mouse, in response to the request appearing on the screen "Select
the vertex of the floor", the corner from which you want to start
laying.

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Covering areas and perimeters

By the Areas that can be tiled command

from the Tiling command group of the Edit
tiling window that you can enter through the
layout by clicking
the Right mouse
button on the wall
(or floor) to be
developed, a
command will be
enabled by which
you can create
areas where some
fixings can be
applied.
By activating the
command, the
following dialogue
box opens in which
five different ways of
tiling appear:

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Tile Area

Through this function you can create an area having

the shape and the size you like (whose drawing will be
made immediately after confirming the choices
regarding fixing by clicking the OK button) where a
tiling must be applied. At the bottom of the Tiling
areas window only the area Panel section is
enabled, whereas the Ribbon panel section is disabled. In the above-
mentioned section, you can make two choices:
4 Tile fixing: this option allows you the "full" fixing with a tile that can
be selected using the Select button; other possible settings concern
the colour and joint width as well as the fixing rotation angle.
4 Panel fixing: this option allows you to apply an area predetermined
panel. The panel can be selected by using the Select button.

On the right side of the section you can choose where

to place the fixing starting point:
4 in the middle of the area: you usually choose this
option when you want to achieve an effect of symmetry along the
opposite sides (e.g. rectangular areas);
4 on a vertex, that is on a corner of the area. The corner is the second
reference point introduced, necessary to delineate the area.

Tile Perimeter-Polygon area

Through this function you can create an area having

the shape and the size you like (whose drawing will be
made immediately after confirming the choices
regarding fixing by using the OK button) composed
of a frame and a central area. At the bottom of the
Tiling areas window both the Area panel and
Ribbon panel sections are enabled. For both sections you must select
the type and the fixing material. The detailed description on the
management of these sections is described in the "Area Tiling"
paragraph.
The section about ribbon prompts to define the
thickness of the perimeter area:

4 by clicking on the checkbox, you can define the

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 ribbon thickness from the tile vertical dimension (in case of Fixing
tile) or the panel height (in case of Fixing panel);

4 by setting the size.

Tile Perimeter-Surface area

By selecting this function it’s possible to completely

tiling a surface (for example a floor) using a frame with
an internal area.
Using this option it’s not necessary to manually draw
an area. Will be tiling all the surface available.

Tile open perimeter

Define an open broken line with the shape and size

as preferred and tile its outer or inner frame (or
perimeter belt) with the chosen panel:

4 select the Open perimeter Tiling command from the

Areas that can be tiled dialog-window;

4 Choose the panels to be applied to the belt;

4 Choose the starting point of the tiling development in the Tiling
Origin box;

4 Determine how high the surrounding belt has to be, by means of the
Belt height box, keeping in mind that:

4 activating (þ) the Panel box with the LH Mouse, confirms the full
height of the chosen panel;
4 deactivating the Panel box with the LH Mouse and keying into
the Belt height (in mm.) box, the dimension expressed in mm. of
the belt, determines the maximum portion of the chosen panel to
be used in filling the frame;
4 press the OK button;

4 draw the broken line, confirming its last

point with the End button (see “How to
draw an object” at page ) position the
mouse pointer on the side of the broken
line where you wish to draw the belt and confirm the position with the
LH Mouse.

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Tile closed perimeter

Define a closed broken line with the shape and size

as preferred and tile its outer frame (perimeter belt)
with the chosen panel:
4 Select the Tile close perimeter command from the
Areas that can be tiled dialog-window;

4 Choose the panels to be applied to the belt;

4 Choose the starting point of the tiling development, through the

Tiling Origin box;

4 Determine how high the surrounding belt has to be, through the Belt
height box, keeping in mind that:

4 activating (þ)the Panel box with the LH Mouse, confirms the full
height of the chosen panel;
4 deactivating the Panel box with the LH Mouse and keying into
the Belt height (in mm.) box, the dimension expressed in mm. of
the belt, determines the maximum portion of the chosen panel to
be used in filling the frame;
4 press the OK button;

4 Draw the broken line, confirming its last point with the Close button;

4 Finally, indicate by clicking with the LH Mouse, an inner or outer

point of the closed perimeter just traced to indicate the development
side of the belt thickness.

ATTENTION:

This kind of tiling, as all other areas tiled by this group of commands, is
made on a upper “layer” with respect to the traditional floor (or wall
covering), so, if you, later on, apply new coverings to walls or floor, the
new coverings will be applied to the layer underneath. You should then
remember, in case after a new tiling it is not visible, to manually delete
the upper coverings through the Modify à Tiling à Delete Tiling
command from the Modify Tiling window.

How to draw a polygon

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The operating procedures by which a polygon is drawn are the
same for all the commands Areas that can be tiled... that use
this function.
The polygon is drawn on a surface that usually is already tiled and
where the laying plan is used as a reference system for the vertices of
the polygon. The profile of the polygon is highlighted
by a dotted line that overlaps any panel beneath.
Once the command has been selected in the Pick
window activated with the RH Mouse, the following
possible alternatives are proposed:

Near the vertex is positioned at the

nearest significant point to the
one where the mouse pointer
was positioned before activating the Pick
window.

1 Point the vertex is positioned at the significant point

indicated with the LH Mouse.

1 Point + Delta the vertex is positioned at the distance (x, y)

expressed in mm. from a significant point
indicated with the LH Mouse.

2 Point having chosen two significant points with the LH

Mouse, the vertex is positioned at the distance
indicated expressed in mm. (Line Distance
window) from the first of the two selected points
along the directrix identified by them.

2D Point the vertex is positioned at the point identified by

the coordinates in mm. supplied by means of the
Coordinates window.

Delta the vertex is positioned at the distance (x, y)

expressed in mm. from the last point introduced.
Continue this command allows to close the Pick window
redisplaying the current state of the drawing.

Close this, compulsory, command allows to

automatically join the last point of the polygon to
the first one drawn and therefore to close its
profile.

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Undo this command cancels the positioning of the last
point, with the possibility to continue canceling
back to the first point inserted.

Cancel this command completely cancels the object

drawing operation.

On completing the drawing of the polygon with the Close (or End)
command, the window to select the panels to be applied to the drawn
polygon is automatically activated.

How to tile an area or a frame

Independently of the function chosen, the program allows to determine

the origin where to start the development of tiling. There are two
possible choices:

Center

The program starts the automatic expansion of the chosen panel

starting from the center of the area and of the surrounding frame.

Vertex

The program starts the automatic expansion of the panel starting

from a vertex that is always the second point of the traced polygon.
The expansion direction is always the one of the first side drawn,
that is to say, the one identified by the insertion of the first two
points. Anyway, the vertex can be changed through special
modification functions. The program sets, as the vertex, the point
that is the most to the left as regards frames, and the point that is
on top right side (watching at the screen) as regards the internal
area of the frame.

Creating tiled layers

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In the Modify tiling window, it is possible to
draw a tiled layer, using the command Tiles

layer available both in the ribbon (Tiling

group) and by pressing the right mouse
button wherever in the window.
You’ll have access to the following dialog
box where it is possible to decide whether to
draw a new layer with fixed dimensions,
rather than drawing with the mouse a
rectangular section on the wall. Like other
windows which
handle areas
that can be tiled,
it is possible to
select a tile or a
panel (that is an
already available
scheme) to be
used in order to
fill in the layer.
Moreover, if you
decided to work with single tiles, you can specify rotation and grout
colour for the new layer.

Tiles available within a wall

When you are in the front-view

window, you can ask the system to
list all items (tiles) included in such
wall.
You can find the correct command
(Tiles available in this wall) by
right clicking the mouse over the
wall. Band details window shows
the list of items available in the
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currently selected wall, together with their peculiar information (item
code, dimensions, manufacturer). In order to get to further details for
the item, double click left mouse button over its image, or select it and
press Data button.

How to modify the tiling of an area or a frame

It has been said above that the starting point of the tiling development
of an area or a frame, is determined at the moment of its generation.

It is however possible to change this setting, or to replace the panel

used with another one, by means of the two commands that can be
activated from the Modify ® Tiling menu of the Modify tiling # XX
window.

Modify tiling position

It allows to change the origin and orientation according to which the

panel chosen for the tiling has to develop.
As soon as the command is selected you are required to select the
tiling to be modified with the LH Mouse. After you confirm the
modification an arrow appears with the starting point in the position of
the origin of the tiling, and the direction equal to the one of the tiling
itself.
In order to modify the origin of the tiling you just need to click once with
the LH Mouse on the point you want as the new origin.

Using the right key of the RH Mouse it is even

possible to:

4 Indicate a specific rotation to apply to the tiling by

inserting the value in degrees and by confirming
the setting through the Apply key;

4 Modify the starting point indicating a corner of a

furnishing element or of a tile through the Pick
point button;

4 modify the starting point using the detailed

options (for expert users, Detailed button).

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 This way there are different options available to find the new point
and the new orientation of the tiling:
4 Center: the program automatically places the origin of the tiling at the
center of the first line of the polygon traced.
4 Vertex: by identifying two points, the program defines the line
according to which the panel has to develop; the first point also
identifies the origin
4 Direction + Origin: by identifying two points, define the line
according to which the panel has to develop. by identifying another
point, define the direction according to which the panel has to
develop with respect to the line; finally determine a point representing
the origin of the tiling.
4 Direction + Origin on X: by identifying two points, define the line
according to which the panel has to develop; by identifying another
point, define the direction according to which the panel has to
develop with respect to the line; determine a point representing the
origin of the tiling, this point will be projected on the horizontal axis
(X) of the reference line and will determine the origin of the tiling.
4 Origin: determine a point representing the origin of the tiling;

4 Origin on X: determine a point representing the origin of the tiling,

this point will be projected on the horizontal axis (X) of the reference
line and will determine the origin of the tiling. In this case you will only
get a horizontal transfer of the origin of the tiling.

Modify tiling panel

It allows to change the panel used to tile an area or a perimeter
and, at the same time, to set the origin and orientation according to
which the new panel has to develop:

4 confirm the tiling to be modified indicated with the LH Mouse;

4 by identifying two points, define the line according to which the panel
has to develop;

4 by identifying another additional point, define the line according to

which the panel has to develop with respect to the line;

4 identify a point, on the line, representing the origin of the tiling;

4 through the Selection type window, identify the new panel.

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Resizing an existing layer

Those layers you designed by the command: DrawàTiles layer, can

be resized in case you need to change their width or height. In order to
do that, right click the mouse over the layer, and select command Area
tiling resize. The selected area will appear highlighted by a green
square, quoted in the middle of each line. Click the left mouse button
on the side you want to move: keeping pressed the left mouse button
the layer will start modifying its dimensions, up to the value you need
to change to. Clicking again with left mouse button, you fix the new
dimension. If you want to be more accurate, instead of clicking in the
new position, while
dragging the layer
you can directly start
typing the new
dimension you want
for the underlined
section. Confirm it by
clicking ENTER
button.

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Complex cuts (water-jet) and rosettes

In the framework of
the areas and
perimeters covering
functions described
in the previous
paragraph, there is,
as a particular case,
the covering of
special areas of any
shape and size. The
application of this
kind of laying is a
typical case in the
marble, granite and
porcelain gres field,
where it is possible to realize particular decorations formed by figures
of absolutely free profile obtained by slabs of material cut through
special water-jet machines. In order to solve these problems, the
program is able to load the profile
of any closed area (closed polyline)
in DXF format (that is to say, made
by any CAD program), or in its FMT
format (complex format).
Just as in a generic area covering,
you have to choose the laying plan
to be applied to the interior of the
area and then, by confirming with
the OK key a dialog window
appears, there you can choose the
DXF file (or FMT if the other option had been chosen) to be loaded.
Once the file, which origin is the (0,0) coordinate it was saved with in
the CAD environment, has been selected, you have to position the
area on the plane you are modifying: the point where you click with the
mouse is the point where you position the area and it coincides with its
origin (0,0). The inserted area can be easily moved through the Modify
à Tiling à Move tiling command.

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 Another function that integrates the one just described is the one that
manages the more complex case of rosette decorations. It allows to
create “circular arrays” with tiled areas inside them. This means that
you will be able to duplicate an area according to a circular
development by defining the number of
repetitions,
the angle
wanted to
be covered
and the
rotation
center.
In the example aside, we chose to replicate the initial covering for 4
areas within a complete angle
of 360 degrees, that is to say
with a repeating angle of 90°.
On the contrary, in the picture
below, we chose to replicate the
area for 6 times within the
complete angle of 360°, that is
to say, with a repeating angle of
60 degrees.
It is then quite intuitive how it is
possible, thanks to these
functions, to realize even
complex rosette
decorations, by identifying
each original geometrical
area to be covered and
then replicate them in
circular way around the
same rotation center.

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Direct insertion of the floor

The laying of the floor in a space can even be made through the
window Modify floor of the room.
This way does not require the specific presence of ready laying plans
and allows a more speedy and dynamic modification of the laying that
has been carried out, grout and rotation value included.

Choose the Draw ® floor command from the Modify window. A mask
similar to the Types of laying present in the creating panel window,
will appear.

In order to apply the lay to the floor it is necessary to do what follows:

4 choose the laying type;

4 choose the tiles to be applied to the laying plan through the button
Select tile;

4 insert the thickness of the grout;

4 insert the degrees of the rotation angle to the laying;

4 at the end confirm the application by clicking the Apply button.

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This process avoids the creating phase of the panel. The selected
material is directly applied to the floor of the room; so it is possible to
modify the laying more quickly.
It is obviously absolutely necessary to choose the tiles respecting the
methods that allow the modular structure of the laying itself (see “How
to create a Laying Plan” at page).

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Creation of vertical tilings

Concerning the vertical laying concept, it is possible to place vertical

lines of tiles inside, that means in the middle of an existing layer. It is
not a simple overlapping existing layers with a new one, but a real split
of the tiled wall in order to host the new section. This command splits,
anyway, only the main wall layer, while it moves already existing inner
layers, depending on the side you decided to move them to.
In order to place vertical
laying, you can select the
command Vertical tiling into
Tiling group of the Modify
Tiling window. As the related mask opens, you can specify dimensions
referred to the new area you want to create; then you will decide
whether to use a
single tile or a
panel in order to
fill in the new
section.
If you select a
tile, you can also
specify grout
dimension and
color, as well as
the rotation (if
any) for the new scheme: if you want to place, for example, a vertical
line made of listellos, and those
listellos have been scanned
horizontally, you need to specify
90° rotation in the vertical tiling
mask. Tile origin section (left or
right) allows you to decide if the
split area will have to move one
side or the other.

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In this example we have a tiling made of 4 30x60 tiles lines: we want to
place in the middle (vertically) 4 strips 10 x 60. Hence the area we
need to define is 10 x 240 wide, and we need to rotate 90° the strips.
As we have selected the item and close the mask with OK button, 2
blue lines will let us see where to place the new vertical section; once
we snap with the left mouse button to an existing tile corner, we’ll split
the existing layer, placing the new one inside it.

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The result you have is to obtain three distinct areas than can be
managed separately as any tiling layer, as you already know.
As we selected the left origin position for the vertical tiling, it is the left
corner of the new column that really split the existing tiles; part labeled
as n. 1 has remained the same, part n. 3 has been right shifted by 10
cm. in order to leave enough space for the new column made by the
strips (area 2).
Differently, if you choose right origin, part n. 1 would have been moved
left by 10 cm., while part n. 3 would have been remained the same; it is
evident, now, as with such options you have the maximum flexibility in
order to customize your walls (pay attention, this command is available
just on walls) as you need.
Move tiling area check allows you to move also already existing
layers, if any on the wall; in this case their reference with the main wall
tiles downside would remain the same, and you wouldn’t have to cope
with any other alignment for them. In the next example, in fact, we’ll
place a vertical tiling made of 2 lines of tiles, right origin based; in this
way the wall tiles (and with them the inner frame made up by the Italy,
tiled, shape) will split and move left.

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Italy will be always aligned in the same way to overlapped tiles.

Now we can place a similar vertical layer on the left too: this time we’ll
not ask the system to move tiling areas, as we do not have any in the
left side of the wall.
Here is final result:

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In case you need to remove a vertical tiling in order to get back to the
original situation (a single wall of tiles), and you cannot use UNDO
command because you made, in the meantime, other modifications to
the project, you have to do as follows:

4 delete the area related to the vertical layer: right click on it, and select
command Delete tiling from the following context menu;

4 hence you have a tiled section on the left, another one on the right; in
the middle, the space left by the vertical layer just gone. We suggest
you to delete one of the 2 side areas, using the same command as
before;

4 as you already saw (previously in this manual) how to change

rectangular layers dimension, you also know how to extend the left
layer in order to be as wide as the wall itself.

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Dynamic Tiling in Advanced navigation

All the techniques discussed so far have something in common: they

all operate in 2D mode. In later versions we tried to make some of
them more intuitive, by introducing an important innovation that is,
making them available in the navigation window. The ambitious goal to
transform the navigation window from a purely explorative to purely
operational, is expressed in a number of dynamic tools that greatly
eases the user.
When we talk about these functions in navigation, we refer exclusively
to Advanced Navigation (see “Advanced navigation” at page 100).

Tyle by Dragging&Dropping panels in navigation window

Drag&Drop feature related to panels in the project benefits from a new,

small selector which enables to obtain a more accurate list of the
selected panels by category.

Using the controls seen in this image, it is possible in fact, to list only
floor panels, instead of wall ones, instead of all of the panels for the
component-tree selected collection.
If you drag a wall panel while you are in the navigation window, it will
be applied to all the walls of the active room; if you do the same while
you are in the front-view window of a wall, the panel will be applied to
the SINGLE wall visible at that time.
If, while in the advanced navigation window, you check Select
destination area button before dragging, the panel will be applied only
on the wall/area that will be selected while moving the mouse, keeping
pressed the left mouse button until the needed area is yellow-
highlighted (new function).

Tile by Dragging&Dropping single tiles in navigation window

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At the top left position of the preview toolbar, you can see if you’re
going to tile floor or walls (the red button means that this is the active
configuration).
Click the other one in order to switch from floor to walls and
vice versa.
Let’s see the available buttons, starting from left to right, using wall
covering configuration:

First 3 controls are dedicated to grout dimension, colour and tile

rotation (usually 0°, 45°, 90°); then you can specify how many tile lines
to place in the next wall section you’re going to drag and drop. Next 3
buttons refer to:
4 UNDO button. Be careful: this UNDO only refers to the dynamic
panel you’re building up in memory, while dragging and dropping tiles
one by one. It does NOT refer to the UNDO project operation, and
vice versa. This means that, if you’re tiling walls by using single tiles
drag&drop, you do have to use this UNDO button in order to rollback
from the last section you have designed;

4 section (bands) button allows you to provide different dimensions to

existing sections, delete them or creating new ones;

4 save button, in order to add this panel (remember: it is only in

memory, hence you discard it as soon as you close the current
project) to the panels database. In this case you’ll have it available
from now on by picking it up from the internal panels catalogue.
Apply to line allows you to drop the panel in a new section, instead of
placing it inside an existing one (in this case previous tiles will be
automatically deleted, so don’t care about them).
Regarding the floor tiling, there are the following option:

The Destination checkbox allows you to apply the tiling on a surface

to be specified: it can also be a vertical surface such as wall or partition
wall or an object surface.

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The menu Align to, associated to Destination functionality, allows to
define the origin of tiling inside the specified
surface: the available alignments are: left, right,
centre, tile center. The differences,
between the last two options, are:

4 centre: the origin of tiling is in the

middle point of the horizontal bottom line of the
surface;

4 tile center: compared to previous option the

origin is shifted by half a tile, so that the middle
point of the bottom horizontal side of the tile
coincides with the middle point of the horizontal
bottom line of the surface.

It is important to specify that in the “tile origin

point” is always positioned the lower left corner of
the tile (belonging to the first section of tiling
starting from the floor up to the ceiling, if it
concerns a wall tiling).
Finally, while covering the floor, you have a button
called: Automatic laying: when dragging and
dropping a tile, in fact, the floor will be covered with a solid scheme
made of that tile, in case rotated as you specified in the related field.
What about if you need a more complex scheme?

Automatic laying button allows you to get to this mask. It is the same
logic you already know from within the panel maker module: with it you
can select a neutral scheme deciding first if to choose it from the single
format schemes, double formats schemes, 3-format…
Then you’ll specify which grout dimension and colour for the scheme,
and which items you’d like to apply to the neutral locations available.
It’s a very easy and useful tool in order to tile the floor with more
complex solutions.

Drag& Drop of tiles on a single area

This feature allows you to lay single tiles inside single bands or over
single surfaces using the drag&drop method.

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Let’s see, for example, how we can select a single wall and add
another row of tiles to those already available, leaving the other
walls as they are. Once choosen the collection of tiles in the
components and preview section, and see their list in the preview
section, select the button that allows you to cover the walls;
Right click the right mouse button over the wall/area you’d like to refer
to (alternatively you can enable the Destination flag, in order to decide
which wall to cover by dropping/releasing the tile over the correct wall).
and select the Activate laying command.
As we can see in this image, the program will show you the different
sections of the wall you’ve
chosen.

Each single band is highlighted

by stripes of green colour, while
the selected wall is highlighted
by a red rectangle.
Now you can use, as you
already know, covering
techniques using single tiles
through drag&drop, specifying
how many lines you want to place in the new section, or how many
degrees to rotate tiles, which grout and which colour.

It is also
possible to
modify
already
available bands (sections) by indicating the band number in the “Apply
to line” field, as highlighted in the previous image. That band will be
highlighted by the program through two yellow lines, indicating the
active band on which we can
apply the given product. We
can place a tile either by
dragging it in the indicated wall,
or by double clicking the left
mouse button over the tile
image preview.
Let’s add one row to the front
wall you can see in this
sample. Right click over it and
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select the Activate laying command: the existing bands will be
highlighted, as indicated in the image.

If you want to add a new band at the top, be sure that you’re referring
to a new line instead of an existing one: ; then set the
other fields, such as the number of horizontal lines, the colour and size
of the grout and at the end select the product to drag&drop to the wall.
The next image lets you see the result of such operation.
As indicated in previous paragraphs too, in case you need it’s possible
save in the internal database the dynamic panel that we’re building,
using the button .
In this case the panel
will become available
for its dragging in
project inside the
Components
window, without
building it up again in
case we’ll need it
later on.

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 Shower corners automatic tiling procedure

With new trends for items, it is

usual to tile the corner referred by
a shower-tray with a different tiles
solution. In this case a new, useful
command quickly solves this
problem.
It can be launched both in the
layout or navigation window, right
clicking the reference corner,
then selecting the Tile shower-
box corner command.
(The first image refers to navigation window, while the second refers to
layout window
context menu).
You will have
access to the
following dialog
box which gives
you the
opportunity of
specifying area
dimensions
(height, width,
how much to
start from the
floor…),
choosing the
laying material.
While placing the
mouse inside the
dimensions fields of the mask, the image
on the left shows the user which
dimension he is typing, making easier for
him understanding what part of the area
he’s working on.
Finally, you can decide whether or not
drawing the right area the same
dimension as the left one, or making it
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different (enable or disable check button: Same as left).

Modify the alignment of grouts

This new feature allows to the user to modify the position of grouts or
of covering’s origin, in order to align cuts as needed.
You can use this new features directly working within the Navigation
Window.
In order to align
the grout of the
floor to the one
of the wall, you
need to move
the mouse
cursor on the
floor, right click
on it, and select
command
Modify tiling
position.
The selected
area is
highlighted with red coloured border. The red colour vector, available in
one of the corners of that area, represents the current origin of
covering.
More
accurately,
the origin point
of the vector
indicated by red
mark,
represents the
current origin of
the selected
covering; the
arrow’s
direction
represents the
direction of the
covering
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application.
Moving the cursor inside the navigation window, you will be able to
snap the moving scheme to the available corners made by tile and/or
objects. The green colour allows you to understand the destination
position (specifically the green circle). Left click if you want to confirm
this new
alignment.
If you move the
cursor over
another wall, this
one will be
yellow-
highlighted;
green target will
be available
again, in order to
find the new
position (see the
next image).
If you want to
align the floor, as
shown in the
next image, it’s
sufficient clicking
the left mouse
button in any
corner of wall
tiles.
The program will
provide you the
green target
reference; you can reference to tiles of the wall even if you’re
considering moving the floor itself.
The same concept, as said before, can be applied also to already
existing objects and pieces of furniture. This means that the green
target reference will be available not only for tiles, but also referring to
any given corner, if any, in the visible area of 3D Navigation.
Let’s see a practical example, starting from the situation pointed out in
the next image:

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Let’s select the
floor with the right
click of the mouse,
and choose the
command Modify
tiling position.
Then move the
cursor on the front
of the wall and the
program will
highlight (with a
yellow rectangle)
the area over which
we are and will
apply a green
target over the
applied tile (if any).
Move the cursor to
the right-bottom
corner of the wall
as shown in the
next image, where
we can see the
front of the object
highlighted and the
summit of the wall
indicated by the
green mark
highlighted too as a
linking point.
By clicking the left
mouse button in this
position you can align
the floor with the front
corner of the low-wall,
as you can see in the
next image.
We can repeat this
procedure for all walls
(or any area that has
already been tiled) that
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we want to align. Moreover it’s important to remember that during this
operation you can carry on navigating inside the room, both using
mouse buttons, and using Space Navigator (it is strongly suggested
this second option, because it allows higher speed, fluidity of
movement, more interaction with the application, as well as amaze the
final customer if he/she’s together with the designer in the showroom).
This allows us to easily change, in fact, the current point of view, while
placing with the mouse the new origin of the laid scheme.
Press ESC keyboard button if you want to quit from this mode.

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 STANDARD RENDERING

VIEWS AND IMAGES MANAGEMENT

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In this chapter we describe how to generate perspective views in a
realistic rendering mode, and how to do the virtual navigation in the
room.

The first part is dedicated to the assignment of textures to surfaces of

objects in order to make them seem more realistic, and to the
introduction of light sources into the room, that properly located and
calibrated, confer a more incisive scenic and perspective relevance to
the image.

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Materials

By selecting the Materials button, from the Virtual 3D command group

in the Layout window, automatically the dialog-box with the same
name opens. This
window is
composed by five
buttons, a list of
materials and a
small preview box.
In the list there are
the following two
materials: Texture
and Solid color.

Solid color allows to modify the surface features of the object

such as transparency,
reflection, brightness and
roughness.
Texture allows to cover an object
through a repeated application
of an image representing a decoration or a
material like wood, marble, metal, fabrics, etc. In
order to do this it is necessary to select an image
in .bmp format to be assigned to the desired
object.

How to create a new material

From the Materials dialog-box, press

the New button with the LH Mouse:
indicate the name of the material and
then activate the Optical parameters
button.
By selecting Solid color, the program

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allows to set the following parameters:

Roughness enter a numeric value

between 0 and 1 that
determines the
roughness degree of
the surface that you are
going to select.

Optical parameters they are constituted by

5 components:
Environment,
Diffusion, Reflection
(specularity),
Transparency and Brightness.
The Environment parameter sets the minimum
degree of brightness of the surface, covered with
the present material when it is not reached by
light sources. As concerns the Diffusion,
Reflection, Transparency and Brightness
parameters, they are somehow linked each other:
set the value of each one through the scrolling
bar, after activation of the box if the material
requires it, keeping in mind that the sum of the
values of the first three coefficients must be equal
to 100: in case the sum is higher than 100, the
program will make a proportional distribution
among the above-said values, so that the total
amount becomes equal to 100. We strongly
recommend setting the value of a non-activated
parameter to 0 as, even if boxes are not
activated, their value is always kept into account
in the total amount. An example: in order to make
an object transparent, it is suggested to set the
following coefficients: Diffusion=10,
Reflection=10, Transparency=80; if you want to
assign to the object the specularity effect too you
should increase the Reflection coefficient and
reduce the Transparency one.
Finally, the Brightness coefficient allows to give
an object a brighter or less bright effect: this
parameter is totally independent from the others.
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By selecting Texture, the program allows to set, in addition to the
parameters said for the Solid color, the following additional values too:

Scale this value identifies the size expressed in mm. of

the texture bitmap and it determines the mode
and the frequency the texture is repeated to fully
cover the surface. By increasing the scale value,
the texture dimension increases, consequently
the frequency of repeating decreases.

File texture the selection of the file related to the bitmap you
want to apply to the object, is made through the
opening of another dialog-box where it is also
possible to display the preview of the selected
file.
The graphic files with bitmaps must be in the
…\bitmap\textures directory or in one of its sub-
directories.

Preview by enabling the selection box, it is possible to

display the texture bitmap after having selected it.

How to modify a material

After having selected the material to be modified from the list, press
the Modify button with the LH Mouse. Now, depending on the type of

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material, the relative Material Parameters dialog-box will be
displayed, in this box it is possible to modify any value previously set
and confirm changes by pressing the OK button. Modification of the
material involves an automatic updating of all the objects it has been
assigned to.

How to delete a material

After having selected the material to be deleted from the list, press the
Delete button with the LH Mouse: at this point, upon confirmation, the
selected material will be deleted.
If a project including elements assigned
with the material to be deleted is open,
the deleting operation cannot be carried
out: first you have to remove this material
from these elements. The message
shown aside notifies this problem. To solve it, just click on each object
through Ctrl + LH Mouse and select the Delete materials function of
the contextual menu, then go on deleting the material from the current
object.

How to assign a material

After having selected the material to be

assigned from the list, press the Assign
button with the LH Mouse: at this point,
the program closes the active dialog box
and requires to select the object you want
to assign the material to.
When selecting the object with the LH
Mouse, the program shows the Object classes dialog-box where all
the sub-parts forming the selected object are listed. Select one or more
classes by means of the LH Mouse (aided by the Shift and Ctrl keys
as usual selection mode in Windows) and confirm with the OK button.
Another way to assign materials to object occurs by clicking random
either with the LH Mouse or the RH Mouse: in this way the Object
classes dialog-box appears and it will display the list of classes of all
objects in the project. So doing it is possible to assign, with only one

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operation, the material to several classes belonging to different
objects.
If you don’t want to do the assignment, press the Cancel button in the
Object classes dialog-box.
After having made an assignment, the program queries if you want to
go on assigning the same material: by answering YES, proceed as
above said, by answering NO, the program goes back to the Materials
dialogue box.

How to add a material to the library

All materials created in a project can be stored in the Materials

database to be used afterwards in other projects. After having selected
from the list the material to add to the library, press the Add to library
button with the LH Mouse.

How to load a material from the library

All materials that are in the library can be recalled from the Materials
mask by pressing the Load button with the LH Mouse. In this way the
dialog-box for selecting the existing materials appears. Do the
selection and confirm it by clicking on the OK button with the LH
Mouse. The selected material will be added to the list of materials and
could be assigned to objects that are in the project.

How to modify the optical parameters of a tile

In addition to assigning texture images or optical effects to objects

surfaces, it is also possible to assign the reflection, diffusion,
brightness and transparency parameters to tiles (of course,
transparency has little sense for tiles, except for specific cases of
surfaces in reinforced concrete and glass blocks composed of blocks
of decorated glass).
It is possible to assign these parameters either at the time of creating
the panel or during the tiling modification.
If the modification is made at a panel level, it remains active from that
moment in all the future laying of that panel. On the contrary, if it is

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made within a project in the framework of a Modify Tiling window, it is
applied locally only to the surface that is worked out.
4 If the command has been activated from the Modify tiling # xx
working window, the function to be run is Modify à Tile à Change
Material…. Then the program queries to select the tile which
parameters have to be modified and finally the usual Material
Parameters window appears for the setting of these parameters.

4 If the command has been activated from the Modify Panel # xx

working window, the function to be run is Advanced Graphics à
Photo-realistic Rendering à Change tile parameters…. Then the
program queries to select the tile which parameters have to be
modified and finally the usual Material Parameters window appears
for the setting of these parameters.

How to trace back the informative data of a laid tile

In order to trace back the informative data of a tile laid in a room, first
of all you have, from the Layout window, to go to the Modify Tiling
related to the surface containing the above said tile. From the Modify
tiling # xx working window you must
activate the Modify à Tile à
Information Data… command that
queries to select the tile.
Alternatively, you can click the Right
mouse button on the tile whose
master data you want to know and
from the context menu appearing,
the Master data command must be
selected.

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 After having selected the tile, the window containing all the information
about that tile appears. The command is recursive, so it is possible to
select in sequence more than one tile, and it closes in the selection
phase, by a click of the RH Mouse.

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Lights

Lights, meant as light sources able to highlight and soften, to mould

chromatic effects, to give relief to objects and surfaces, to make lively
a picture that otherwise would result flat, represent a basic point in
creating a photo-realistic image. For this reason then, we speak about
photo-realism, as problems are the same as in a photographic set.
And, exactly as it happens in the reality, the program enables to
operate with two kinds of lights:

4 omni directional light (electric bulb)

4 directional light (spot light).

Lights can be changed at any time and it is possible to determine, at

the moment of the image creation, if they must be used or not. A very
sparing use of light sources is recommended in order to avoid the
burdening of the work and the creation of surreal effects, and because
too many lights tend to annul each other.

How to insert lights

To insert a new light source, activate the Insert

command in the Layout window from the
Advanced graphics è Photo-realistic rendering
è Lights menu: select the type of light source:
Electric bulb or Spot light from the Light type
dialog box.

Positioning an electric bulb

When selecting the Electric bulb type of light, the program requires to
define, by means of the LH Mouse, the point where the light source
must be positioned; once this point has been fixed, you get a dotted
circle at cursor, that, with the center in this point, has a diameter
variable in relation to the mouse movement: this circle represents the
amplitude of the light beam (and its power) which is determined by
pressing the LH Mouse when the amplitude desired is reached.
The amplitude of the light beam also identifies the attenuation distance
of the light, that is the distance from which the light power starts
decreasing.
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At this point the Electric bulb dialog box appears and there it is
possible to set:

Light color by pressing the button it is possible to select the

light color from the Windows palette.

Light elevation by moving the scrolling bar, or by inserting the

numeric value in the Light box (the height of the
highest wall of the room is proposed as standard
elevation), it is possible to set the height from
ground of the light source.

Position in plan it displays the coordinates in plan (dx, dy) of the

light source (the coordinates can be modified by
inserting new coherent numeric values).
Characteristics it contains the Attenuation distance and
Amplitude features (both can not be changed,
but in the layout); finally it is possible to activate
the Shadows box which allows to determine if
the light generates shadow or not on the objects
touched by the light. The possibility to deactivate
this function allows to generate the trial images in
a faster manner during the setting-up of the
image: shadows management is actually a hard
loading for the working process of the photo-
realistic rendering image. The “Soft” Shadows
check allows to generate a more lighting effect
during the rendering phase. ATTENTION: such

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 an effect needs an increase of calculation time for
the rendering images, though the graphic quantity
of the given images increases evidently.

Positioning a Spot light

When selecting the Spot light type of light, the program requires to
define, by means of the LH Mouse, the point where it must be
positioned, as well as the direction and amplitude of the light beam:
this last one is represented by a dotted triangle which shows the plane
projection of the light cone. The amplitude of the cone (and then the
dimension of the triangle base) varies in relation to the mouse
movement: it is fixed by pressing the LH Mouse when the amplitude
desired is reached.
The distance between the light source and the point identifying its
direction represents the light attenuation distance, that is the distance
from the light source after which the power of the light begins
decreasing.
At this point the Spot light dialog box appears; there it is possible to
set:

Light color by pressing the related button it is possible to

select the light color from the Windows palette.

Light elevation by moving the scrolling bar, or by inserting the

numeric value in the Light box (the height of the
highest wall of the room is proposed as standard
elevation), it is possible to set the height from the
ground of the light source.
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Focus elevation by moving the scrolling bar, or by inserting the
numeric value in the Focus box (Zero is
proposed as standard elevation), it is possible to
set the height from the ground of the point
determining the light beam direction.

Positioning in the Layout display the plane coordinates (dx, dy of the

light source and of the focus (these coordinates
can be modified by inserting new numeric values)

Characteristics of the Light It allows to modify the Attenuation

distance and Amplitude of the light and have the
same characteristics of the bulb light. Finally it is
possible to activate the Shadows and ‘Soft’
Shadow box which has the same characteristics
described in the previous paragraph about the
bulb-light.

How to duplicate a light

In order to duplicate a light, from the layout window, select the

Advanced graphics ® Photo realistic rendering ® Lights ® Copy
command.

Click with the left button of the mouse on the construction line of the
lamp, and select with a new left click the position of the new light. This
will have the same characteristics of the light it has been copied from.

How to modify lights

There are two commands to modify lights: Features and Modify.

Features

Activate the Features command in the Layout window from the

Advanced Graphics è Photo-realistic rendering è Lights menu
and select the light source whose features must be changed. To select
a light of the Electric bulb type, do the selection by clicking with the
LH Mouse on the circle or in the center represented by an icon. To
select a light of the Spot light type, do the selection by clicking with
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LH Mouse on the light directrix or on the vertex where the light source
is positioned.
After having selected a light source, the related dialog-box is displayed
and there, it is possible to do the modifications.

Modify

Activate the Modify command in the Layout window from the

Advanced Graphics è Photo-realistic rendering è Lights menu
and select the light source for the graphic modification of it. To select a
light of the Electric bulb type, make the selection by clicking with the
LH Mouse on the circle or in the center represented by an icon. To
select a light of the Spot light type, make the selection by clicking with
the LH Mouse on the light directrix or on the vertex where the light
source is positioned.
After having selected a light source, the characteristic points of the
light are highlighted. They are:
4 for the Electric bulb, the center and a point in the circle. By selecting
the center with the LH Mouse it is possible to redefine the position in
plan of the light source; by selecting the point on the circumference it
is possible to redefine the amplitude as well as the attenuation
distance of the light.
4 for the Spot light, the three vertices of the triangle and the point
indicating the direction. By selecting the vertex identified by an icon
with the LH Mouse, it is possible to redefine the position in plan of
the light source. By selecting the point identifying the direction, it is
possible to redefine the direction and the attenuation distance. By
selecting one of the other vertices it is possible to redefine the
amplitude.

In addition to the lights just described above, there is another type of

light called Environment Light that represents the standard luminosity
of the environment in absence of light sources. This value is initially set
by the program at a neutral color of mean power: RGB (165,165,165)
that makes the room enough-lit. This color, and then its brightness, can
be modified by selecting the Environment light color... command and
using the Windows standard palette. The Environment Light cannot
be deleted.

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 How to delete lights

In order to delete a light, it is necessary to activate the Delete

command in the Layout window from the Advanced Graphics è
Photo-realistic rendering è Lights menu: select a light through the
above said procedure, and confirm deletion.

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Creating a photo-realistic rendering image

After having assigned materials to objects and positioned

lights, you are ready to create a photo-realistic image.
Starting from a perspective view, or from a navigable view select the
Create image command from the Advanced graphics ® Photo-
realistic rendering menu: two options are available:

In foreground

The image, after its parameters have been set, is generated at the
center of the screen with the maximum processing priority, this prevent
any other operation.

In background

After having indicated the file name to be generated and the storing
directory and after having set parameters, the image is generated in
background, without being visible for the user and without a high
processing priority; this allows to continue working with the program.
During all the creation phase of the image, in the bottom part of the
program window, the RND term will stay active: it indicates that the
rendering process is in progress. When this word is not displayed
anymore, it means that the image in the background has been created.
Please pay attention to not quit the program during the generation
phase in
background,
otherwise the
creation of the
image would be
aborted. Further on,
if in the meantime
you are working with
other programs too,
do not press the
ESC key for any
reason, as
otherwise the image
would be aborted.
Select the size in pixel (width x height) of the image to be created: if it
is a temporary trial image, it would be better to set low values (e.g. 480

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x 360): the processing time is mainly in function of the size the image
is generated with. In order to generate the definitive image, the
suggested values are 1280 x 1024 up to 2400 x 1800. Setting higher
values would only mean wasting time and, to print this images at full
page on A4 format the values we have indicated are more than enough
to achieve a very good graphic rendering.
The same is for the parameters hereafter: in order to make the
processing faster, in the trial images, they can be deactivated, whereas
in the definitive images it is necessary to activate them. Each one of
the indicated parameters requires a processing loading, so it is
advisable to activate only those parameters that are useful for the
image: if, for instance, there are not transparent images, it is useless to
activate the Transparency parameter. The parameters to be selected
are:

4 Reflection

4 Shadows

4 Transparency

4 AntiAliasing

4 Background color

As the activation of Reflection, Transparency, Shadows fields is

totally intuitive, hereafter we will explain the other parameters:

AntiAliasing

Antialiasing is a parameter allowing to noticeably improve the quality of

the image to the detriment of processing time that could extend up to 4
times: it is then recommended to activate it only at the moment of the
definitive image creation.

Background color

It allows to set the color to be applied to everything is not part of the

project but is anyway present in the view being generated.

Switch off the computer automatically at the end of the operation

Activating the ticking in this field the program manage the automatic
self-switching off of the computer.

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By pressing the OK button the image generation starts.

Select the foreground generation mode, after a first initial preparing

phase, the image will be initially shown in summary way in progression
into a small area at the center of the screen to then be returned at full
screen at the end of the generation process.
Now the image can be printed (see “Printouts of images” at page
331) and saved. Using the Save image command in the File menu,
the Save as… dialog-box opens: enter the name of the file in it,
choose among the available formats the one to be given and the
directory where the file has to be stored in.
Anyway, if this has not been done yet, by closing the Modify Image
window, the program queries if you want to save the image, avoiding
the accidental loss of the result of the processing made.

ATTENTION:

Processing times for a photo-realistic image, are proportionate to the

complexity of calculations that have to be done and thus to the number
of parameters and entities that the program has to consider. More
precisely the following factors are relevant for the processing times:

4 Quantity of furnishing elements that are in the room

4 Presence of more than three light sources

4 Presence of lights with the shadows generation function activated

(eventually ‘Soft’ shadows)

4 Presence of reflective and transparent surfaces

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Creation of a movie from the virtual navigation

From the window of navigation it is possible to save a movie of the

virtual walk made by the user.
This functionality is available for both kinds of navigation, even if with
different modalities and graphical rendering.

Creation of a movie from the standard window of navigation

After selecting the Navigation

® Movie ® Register Movie
command the mask of the
parameters of configuration
management appears on the
screen. Through this
configuration it is possible to lay
down the parameters of the
steps of
movement.
At each
movement the
program will
save a frame
that will be
then used to
build the final
movie.
The number of
the registered
frames is
indicated in the
bar below. This
number will
then increase
at each
movement.
In order to set
the registration
in pause and

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then reactivate it again, you have to use the P key, while it is possible
to use the Esc key to end the registration.
As the registration is over the mask of the frame and quality of the final
movie management will appear.
Though it is possible to choose if realizing a movie with the quality of
the standard navigation or with the one of the rendering, it is
thoughtless to use the rendering one if you have not a performing
machine, because the times of calculation could be rather long.

Movie dimensions it allows the user to choose the dimensions of the

images that will build the movie, as a
consequence the movie itself.
Rendering only active if the Rendering settings has been
selected, it allows to choose if activating or not
the optical parameters of Reflection,
Transparency, etc… that are used even in the
creation of images in Photo realistic rendering.
(see “Creating a photo-realistic rendering
image” at page 200).

Num images/sec. it indicates the number of images used for each

second of movie. It is an indicator of fluidity and
quickness of the movie. Standard values are
between 15 and 30.

Num images it indicates the total of registered images during

the virtual navigation. It corresponds with the
number of the generated frames.

Movie quality with this scroll bar it is possible to choose the

final quality of the movie to be generated. The
quality of the movie is in inverse relation to its
own dimension: a bigger final file corresponds
with a better quality: but the size is also
proportional to the duration, so if you have to
generate a movie to be sent by internet or by e.
mail you have to find a right compromise between
quality and duration, so that the generated movie
is not too big.
Movie file name with the button on the right of the square it is
possible to specify the path and the name of the
file to be saved.
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Modify path it allows to modify the path saved during the
virtual navigation through the nearby mask
Navigation path.
The list of the
saved frames is
present in it; by
selecting one of
them the program
shows the position
related to the
selected frame in
the window of
navigation.
Through the
Delete button it is
possible to delete
the selected frame, while through the Up and
Down buttons it is possible to modify the order of
the frames of the movie that will be then
generated.

Save path it allows to save the path made during the virtual
navigation, in order to generate the movie
afterwards, modifying if necessary the above-
mentioned setting.

Confirming the settings with the OK button

the program starts the creating process of
the movie with the settings specified
before. The kind of compression to be
applied to the file will be then required.
The images used to create the movie can
be saved by indicating the
saving directory, or deleted to
tidy the disk and make place in
it.

At the end the user can see the mask that confirms the just happened
saving of the files and purpose to visualize the movie of the navigation
through the apposite Display movie button. A summary of the
information connected to the file of the movie is showed as well.

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From a path saved before, it is possible to generate the movie by
setting, and if necessary modifying, the number and order of the
frames saved along
the path during the
navigation. Once
the Navigation ®
Movie ® Register
movie from track
command has been
selected and the
path in the square
Images path
specified with the
button of selection,
the frames of the
inserted path are
automatically
inserted both in the
Images box and in
the Movie box.
The section Images has the total list of the frames of the path, while
the section on the right has the list of the only frames to be used in the
creation of the movie.
In the below section Images path three images of the selected frame
are showed: the selected one in the middle, the previous one on the
left, the following one on the right.
In order to modify the order of the frames, that is the order of the
images that contribute to create the movie, it is necessary to select the
frame to be moved and then make one or more clicks with the LH
Mouse on the Up or Down button with the aim of anticipating or
delaying the selected frame.
If you want to remove a frame from the movie it is necessary to select
the related image from the Movie box on the right and click once with
the LH Mouse on the button; while if you want to add one it is
necessary to select it from the list Images and click once with the LH
Mouse on the button.

It is easy to understand that the buttons ALL-> and <-ALL allow to

insert and remove respectively all the frames with one single click.
At the end you can find the following variables:
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Image dimension it indicates the dimension of the selected
image file.

Num. Frames it indicates the total number of the used

frames.

Selected frame interval it indicates the duration (in seconds) of

the selected frame.

Frames/sec. it indicates the number of frames/sec.; it

determines the speed during the
reproduction; to get a good fluidity it is
advised to use values between 15 and 30.

Creation of a movie from the realistic rendering window of

navigation (quick navigation).

Once the new type of Virtual navigation in photorealistic rendering has

been activated and that window for the actual project has been
opened, select the Navigation ® Movie ® Register Movie…
command.

On the upper corner on the left of the screen a green lightening symbol
appears to indicate the state of pause, while in the bar downwards the
buttons that manage the start and stop are indicated:
4 F9 to start and suspend (pause) the registration of the movie.

4 F10 to stop the registration of the movie and carry on with its saving.

Minutes and seconds of the real duration of the

registration are as well indicated.
Such a functionality requires a large use of the
hardware resources of the computer in use:
that’s why a top registration limit of 10 minutes has been inserted.
Once the command has been selected the flags represented nearby
show the state of the registration. By pressing the functional key F9
you can start the registration of the movie: from now on every
movement, made according to the described ways, is punctually
registered.

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Once the path to be registered is
over, press F10: the following
window will appear in order to
manage in detail all the saving
operations:

Resolution it represents
the pixel dimension of the final movie: width x
height.

File name it allows the user to establish name and location

of the movie to save.
Codec it allows the user to choose the codec of
compression to use (codec are algorithms used
for the compression of the movies). We suggest
to make some tests to check the operative codec
among the available ones: not all the listed codec
in fact, could be correctly operative. Codec can
be found and installed as optional elements of the
operative system.

Save path it allows the user to save the path made during
the virtual walk. This way the user can generate
the movie later, and can be even able to make
more attempts as for example trying the different
codec.

Frames per second (FPS) It shows the number of frames per

second; it determines the speed during the
reproduction; for a good fluidity it is better use
values between 15 and 30.

Num. Registered seconds it shows the duration in seconds of

the registered movie

Estimated movie size it estimates the size of the file that will be
generated according to the parameters showed in
the mask.

Bit Rate it indicates the quantity of bits sent in one second

to show the image of the movie, the unit measure
of the bit rate is the Kilobit per second (kbps).
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 This parameter affects the quality and the
dimension of the final movie.

As the Bit Rate affects mostly the quality and dimension of the movie
we can represent different qualities of movies according to the value of
the inserted Bit Rate.
In the next pages some possible solutions are purposed according to
the quality that you want to obtain:

Low quality Movie

Value of Bit Rate variable

till 1000 kbps (typical for
the use in internet)

Middle quality movie

Value of Bit Rate variable

from 1000 till 3000 kbps
(typical for inside tests of
the quality of the movie).

Good quality movie

Value of Bit Rate variable from 3000 till 5000kbps (typical for
reproductions through Cd-Rom).

Very good quality movie

Value of Bit Rate variable from 5000 till 10000kbps (typical for
reproductions from the Hard Disk).
The values expressed in
the previous masks are
significant for the movie
management.
The quantity of time
required by the program
for the generation of the
movie is connected to the
characteristics of the
computer in use. That’s
why before starting the
processing it is better
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control the estimated dimension of the movie itself with the aim of
avoiding a too much demanding processing for the available
resources.

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Objects visibility

In order to make the program more effective and to enable the

operator to reduce the waiting times in image generation when they
are not definitive yet, the visibility management for objects and walls is
provided in the following views:

4 Modify Tiling

4 Navigation

4 Rendering

Starting from the layout window, select

the Visibility command from the View menu; now three choices are
available:
4 Walls

4 Objects

4 Display all

Walls

Select the walls you don’t want to be visualized. Selection is made

singly by selecting the single walls with the LH Mouse, to then end
selection with the RH Mouse

Objects

Select objects you don’t want to be visualized. Selection can be single,

multiple or per area. The selection per area is made by moving the
mouse keeping its LH key pressed so as to create a rectangular
selection area until releasing it: so doing, all elements included or even
only partially intersecting the selection area are selected; end selection
by pressing the RH Mouse.

After having selected the walls or objects, select, in the dialog-box, by

deactivating the special tick-box, the view where the items selected are
not to be displayed.

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Display all

It totally restores the visibility, without having to do any selection, both f

walls and objects

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 ADVANCED RENDERING

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Introduction

The program has two different rendering modules. The first one is the
same as the one contained in the previous version, and it is called
Standard Rendering, The second one is called Advanced
Rendering; it is not available in the base version of the program, as it
is an optional
module.
The first one has
been already fully
illustrated in
handbook manual.
So, in this section,
we’ll concentrate
just on the new
engine. Actually, it
is a very powerful and sophisticated module we tried to simplify by
synthesizing some groups of operating parameters in different
preferential presets.

Nevertheless, a parameter set is available for those preferring to use

similar tools: it can be configured manually. The following discussion is
intended to provide complete information on the subject. According to
your training and knowledge, we invite you to read the following pages
by dosing interest and curiosity, without being deterred by some
difficult concepts.

For those who already know Autodesk® 3DStudio Max® application, it

is useful to know that the Advanced Rendering allows to achieve the
SAME results of the foresaid program, with the advantage that you
have not to care about handling the assignation of effects to objects
and covering materials, provided that they come from properly made
catalogues: Maticad performs this operation in constant daily routine,
in order to provide its users catalogs always updated, optimized and
ready to be used.
For your information, the two images in the next page can show you
the real difference between the result achieved with the standard
engine and the one achieved with the advanced engine:

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 ▲▼ Images made using the ▲▼ Images made using the
Standard rendering engine Advanced rendering engine

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Lights management

Lights and illumination are so important when you record a movie in

real life; the same importance have lights when you render images of
your projects. In this section of the manual, we’ll see tips and tricks
regarding the way of using lights, the features they have, how their
properties reflect to the rendered image.

Natural light (sun light)

This light is available just within the advanced rendering engine. It

allows you to simulate sun light, creating images shot in the morning,
afternoon, evening, noon. This is possible thanks to a couple of
photometric lights:
4 Sun light, you really place the sun in the scene, somewhere;

4 Sky light, indirect, diffused light you have tanks to the presence of
the atmosphere.

Even if you can enable those components one at a time, our

suggestion is to combine them both, in order to have a more realistic
light in the room.
Inside the Virtual 3d ribbon group of Layout
window select the command Lights à Natural
light. You will open the following mask, containing
all effects regarding those lights.

Fields called “Activate” and “Active” allow you to enable/disable the

photometric light they refer to. We suggest you to disable those lights
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only if you have really closed rooms (without any hole in the walls, any
window or opened door); in this case, in fact, they would not affect the
rendering (as there is no space where to get inside the room) but
they’d still force the application to consider them while running the
rendering engine, which makes you waiting a longer time.
Anyway, 100% closed rooms are very unusual, hence we do strongly
suggest you to use these lights: remember to enable them, and to
provide them ‘ways’ to get inside: windows are ok, doors are ok if they
are opened. Sometimes you can even ‘hole’ the wall just for rendering
purposes, allowing the engine to use the sky/sun light effect: you’ll see
how warmer it is instead of ‘artificial’ lights. Even items surfaces,
combined with materials (we’ll see them later on this book) give more
realistic results if twinned with photometric lights.
That’s why it is very common for graphic designers to create a ‘hole’ in
the room (place it in one of the walls you’ll not see in the rendering)
and even if you already have doors and windows, so that you will
enhance the effect made by the diffuse (photometric) light.

In these images you can see different parameters setup using

photometric lights. In some cases sky light (which is, of course, blue
based) is very evident, as we’ve increased its typical values for
demonstration purposes.

Sun light

4 Multiplier (0.1-10): it is the level (intensity) of the light: 1 by default.

Increase/decrease it in order to have a brighter/darker scene. We
suggest you to have some practice on it just having simple rooms
and small renderings, in order to better understand how to use it.
4 Shadow softness (0.1-10): refers to the dimension of the area
where the shadows decreases to zero: 1 by default. Higher values
make shadows more soft; lower values make shadows more tough.

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4 Soft shadow quality (0-50): refers to the softness quality. A higher
value means a better quality of softness, even if the price to pay,
then, is more time to render.
4 Elevation (0-90): this value has to be provided in degrees, referring
to the vertical position of the sun at noon. In this image you can see
the sun placed at 45°.
This simulation represents the sky on your head, where the project
is placed right in the
middle of given space. If
you move the sun down
(nearer 0°) you have a
lower intensity, which is
typical of the
sunset/sunrise. Sun at
90° means you are at
noon, when the intensity/illumination is the maximum possible.
You can modify sun elevation by Left clicking the mouse over the
yellow circle; keep the mouse pressed and move it in the new
position. Cursor movement changes, at the same time, Elevation
and Azimuth.

4 Azimuth (-180,180): this value has

to be provided in degrees, and tells
the application where the sun is
referring to the horizontal line. You
can modify this value by Left
clicking the mouse over the yellow
circle; keep the mouse pressed and
move it in the new position. Cursor
movement changes, at the same
time, Azimuth and Elevation.

4 Photons (1.000-1.000.000): this value tells the application how many

light particles (so called, photons) will be emitted by the sun. The
higher number for them, the more light-bounces between objects you
will find inside the room (the higher will be the rendering time); this
effect makes the image more ‘realistic’ considering the sun
illumination in real life.
This is, indeed, also the effect we suggest you to enhance
(increasing photons number) in case you have dark sections in

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 your image, cause of arches, niches, objects, corners... which hide
the other light sources you have in the project.

This sequence shows you how photons affect the final rendering:
from left to right you can see that, increasing photons you discard
the ugly dark-shadowed corners, and even if the shadow will still
remain in the image (right) the way objects create shadows is more
realistic, fluid, and gradual.

Sky

When it’s been enabled you will see a blue

area in the rendering scene, as well as a
round, bright section in the sky (provided that
the point of view intersects the sun).
4 Multiplier (0.1-10): this value allows you to
specify the intensity of sky-light. Default
value is 1.
4 Horizon height (-10; 10): this value allows you to move upper
(greater than zero) or lower (less than zero) the height of the horizon
light. If you set -10, you will see just the sky (blue) and no more the
grey/brown color which refers to the ground.
4 Horizon blur (0-10): this is a reference in order to decide how to step
from the brown (earth) area to the blue (sky) one. Low values mean
tough change (strong division); high values mean a foggy horizon
area, typical of hot days.

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 Horizon blur: 0,10 Horizon blur: 0,50

Sun disk

4 Intensity (0.1-10): it is the intensity of the light used to simulate the

sun. 1 is the default value; if you increase the value you’ll see a
brighter sun disk.
4 Scale (0.1-10): it is the sun ‘dimension’, that’s to say the radius of the
sun disk. Default value is 4.
4 Glow (0.1-10): allows you to define the blur area all around the sun
disk. Default value is 1. Blur area can be increased just increasing
the value of this field.
Default button, in the previous mask, allows you to restore ALL
foresaid values to their standard.

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 Artificial light

Along with traditional artificial light

sources consisting of an omni-
directional light (bulb) and a spot
lamp, a new set of light sources
and parameters - designed
specifically to provide truly realistic
lighting effects - was introduced to
the exclusive use of an advanced
rendering engine. Physic lights
and photometric lights are two different kinds of lights customized for
an advanced rendering engine. Among the artificial lights we
recommend you to use photometric lights for lamps and spot lamps
(actually, this is the program standard setting when a new light is
created/inserted); as to neon light, you should select the physic light
type.
In addition to the traditional method to insert a new light in the project,
among the various pieces of furniture a new Furniture - Lamps with
Light type has been prepared. It is available online to those
possessing active download fees: it is a set of lamps and chandeliers
incorporating the light source (bulb or neon). As to these elements, it is
enough to focus on their environment position (just like all the other
pieces of furniture). A properly configured light source has already
been installed there.

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Advanced button available in the light properties window, allows you
to access a new mask where you can find further (and new) details to
work onto. (please, remember that such properties are referred just to
lights used within the advanced rendering engine projects).
4 Basic Light is the easiest type of light source commonly used with
the standard rendering engine. We recommend to use it if an
advanced engine is available.
4 Physical Light: if compared with basic light, the physical light gives
a high standard of realism, especially when the light faints and fades
as you move away from the source. From a physics standpoint
(optics), by activating this option, the fading occurs in proportion to
the square of the distance, i.e. with a more realistic accelerated
progression, whereas on basic light the fading takes a linear form,
i.e. more gradual and steady. We recommend you to enable this
option whenever you want to use a neon light. For other types of
lighting, we recommend the use of photometric lighting which
represents a qualitatively higher level and closer to reality.

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 Base Light Physical Light
4 Photometric light: several are the theories describing the light
behavior. Photometry faces the issue by taking into account many
different aspects, among them the psychophysical aspects of eyes
and human brains while perceiving light. This type of lighting
attempts to provide something similar to the perceived reality:
simulation is based on four values: the light flux, lighting, luminance
and light intensity. In general, you can say that the complexity of the
photometric light is much more complex than the previous two
mentioned above, where the level of details, accuracy and realism is
higher. You can give the light the value you can find within the
Preset menu: it contains a set of light bulbs commercially easy to
find and whose intensity is expressed in Watts. On equal Watt power
supplied you may notice that different types of light bulbs can
generate different lighting effects: to substantiate this, we can say
that on equal Watt power supplied, values may vary, by using other
units such as candles or lumens.

Actually, there is no match among these three units of

measurement, as they are not homogeneous: Watt is the unit of
measurement of power, Candle is the unit of measurement of
luminous intensity, whereas the lumen is the unit of measurement
of luminous flux.

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 Actually, there is no
match among these
three units of
measurement, as they
are not homogeneous:
Watt is the unit of
measurement of power,
Candle is the unit of
measurement of
luminous intensity,
whereas the lumen is
the unit of measurement
of luminous flux. A
further option is
available. It is an
alternative to the Preset
choice, that is the IES
lights: for these bulbs
manufacturers release
specific files (.ies) that describe widely the irradiation phenomena.
Compared to other types of bulbs, which radiate spherically 360
degrees in every direction, these light bulbs are regulated as to
their fluxes and intensities that may vary along each direction. By
choosing the right light source, that is for example bulbs that do not
radiate upward, you may solve the problem of halos on the ceiling.
In the following examples you can see four types IES lights.

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4 You can freely download IES files from the manufacturers’ sites. In
order to use the file in the program, just paste the downloaded file in
the folder ... \DomuS3D2010\Lights
4 Multiplier (1 - 1000): It shows the intensity of the light emission. This
is the only parameter on which you can operate in order to increase
or decrease the brightness of a light source as to basic and physical
light. As to photometric lights this parameter is still on but it is not the
only one: the Intensity field may be also used

4 Photons (0-1.000.000): you have already seen the meaning of

photons while talking about the sun light (see also related
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 paragraph). Here the same concept is applied to the artificial light
you’re considering. Default value is 100.000. If you increase this
value you’ll get a more consistent light beam, having a brighter scene
together with homogeneous illumination: of course you’ll pay this
quality waiting more time for the final rendering. The application, in
fact, needs to calculate path (inside the project’s scene) and bounces
for each of the photons of the light, in order to 100% simulate real
light.
4 % spot penumbra: this value is meant only for spot lights. Allows
you to configure a soft faint zone placed at the border of the bright
light. Percentage is meant referring to the angle you have specified
for the spot light.
If you want, indeed, a soft light effect (that’s to say a light creating a
soft shadow while encountering objects), you do not have to specify
No effect (as this would make the light as a single point); you have,
indeed, to give a ‘shape’ (rectangular, spherical, cylinder…) to the light
in the Soft Shadows section.
The following images will be able to show you the difference far more
than the previous description:

A ‘point’ light can Area lights can create

generate just linear a real shadow (penumbra)
shadows at the border of the light itself
4 ‘Soft’ shadows (area lights): if No effect is enabled, you have a
point light. Once you disable it, you’re creating an area light, which is
able to create more realistic shadows. If you enable ‘Visible’ flag you
will see the light emitter too, otherwise you will see just the light
beam. If you are processing an electric bulb, we suggest you to
choose the spherical shape, where you can specify its radius and

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 the quality referred to the soft shadows (quality, in this case, means
how detailed you want the shadows to be seen. More detailed =
more time for the image to be rendered). Default value is 8: we
suggest to switch from 16 to 32 if you want even more quality, always
keeping in mind the time you will have to wait for it.

Point light Area light

Linear shadow Soft shadow
If the light you are processing is a spot light, its shape can also be
rectangular, specifying its width and depth, as well as circular,
specifying its radius.

In order to place neon lights in the layout, you need to specify a couple
of points where the light starts from and ends to (basically the length of
the neon). Neon light has to be configured as a physical light, visible,
cylinder-shaped, and you need to specify its intensity and radius.
We suggest you to try using all those lights: the experience you’ll get
using them and changing their properties along your design activities,
in order to test them and feel their behavior, will let you improving more
and more your images realism.
During the first steps in lights-learning, we also suggest you to use one
single light at a time (if possible) so that it’ll be easier for you to see the
difference while changing properties, and also in order to minimize the
time you will need for the rendering.

Light diffused by doors and windows (Portal light)

Doors and windows of the project can be light emitters as well as

physical lights: this is why they are called Portal light. In case you

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have placed external lights (sun and/or sky), those lights will be able to
enter the room through doors and windows; and, really, such lights are
far more ‘realistic’ than artificial lights.
You can enable/disable such property (which is enabled by default) by
double clicking the left mouse button over the door/window or right
clicking and then selecting properties; in properties mask enable check
called Emit diffuse lighting.

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Managing materials, textures and effects

Materials for objects and furnishing elements

Materials and textures (hardwood, metal, marble, etc.) can be very

effective when correctly applied over the objects and furnishing
elements layers; they are as important as the lights we talked about in
the previous section.
DomuS3D® involves the use of materials such as ARCH&DESIGN,
that is an advanced material that can provide realism to the scene.
You can use predefined setups in order to be able to quickly create
new materials such as wood, glass, metal, steel, etc… With such
materials too you can use maps, if you need.
“Maps” are not only images applied to a layer in order to represent the
real material of the object, which is a global feature. They’re also able
to enhance the different parts of the object, where you have different
labor finishings, surfaces, etc (such as opacity, polished, levigated,
reflective…). Available maps are:
4 Diffuse map: image applied as a texture to the object. This is the
main image, that is the one referring to the type of material.
4 Roughness map (bump map): it is a grey-scale image, where you
can find the areas of the material being rough. Where bump is
brighter it means you have emboss sections, where the maximum
will be given by a white pixel; darker areas are areas where you have
a sort of low relief.
4 Reflection map: it is a grey-scale image, where you can find areas
of the material being reflective. Brighter areas are meant to be as
reflective as you move towards white color: fully white means fully
reflective. Darker areas are meant to be opaque.

Managing materials while inside a project

It is possible to manage the materials to use inside the

project by executing the command Materials available in
the Layout window inside the ribbon group Virtual 3D à
Materials.
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Whenever you
place a furnishing
element in the
project, in fact,
the application
automatically
loads the
materials needed
by the object in
the project
structure. You
can create a new
material even
from this mask
(New button, but it would be available only within the current project),
or you can create a new one in the application database (Database à
Materials à New) and load it inside the project through Load button in
the materials mask. When creating a new material, you can type the
material name and typology, hence decide if the material will be a
basic or an Arch&Design one. In this phase you can even load preset
configurations from the database, and modify them as you need.

ARCH&DESIGN Materials

Before talking about standard properties of Arch&Design materials,

we need to focus on the physics related to the light which is reflected
by a surface:

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Diffused reflection is regular and homogeneous in all directions
starting from a linear surface (spherical behaviour). Blurred reflection
creates a sort of ‘cone’, the axis of which is indicated by the specular
reflection of the light. Specular reflection is the mirrored ray of the
light, with the same angle between coming and leaving ray.

Main properties

Diffuse level: talks about the applied map intensity and color. This
effect is linked to the reflection and transparency effects.

Diffuse level: 50 Diffuse level: 100

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 Diffuse color: is the main color of the object.

Roughness: controls how quickly the diffuse component blends

into the ambient component. The diffuse component uses the
Oren-Nayar shading model. Typically, for a common rough material
this parameter can be 20, while a polished one can be 0.
Reflection level: is the parameter to be used in order to change
the way object reflects light. Increasing it will make the object more
reflecting. For example, mirrors could reach even 100 (maximum).
Reflection color: is the color of the reflected and/or diffused light.
Default is white.
Reflection glossiness (blur): allows you to get blur reflections. 100
(maximum) means good, total, reflection; lower values will give you
blur effects, depending on the value/material.
As an example, let’s see how this effect is referred to mirrors:

Refl. gloss. 100 Refl. gloss. 50 Refl. gloss. 10

Glossiness (blur) quality: scale of the quality you need to achieve
for blur effects. If you increase this parameter, results are more
accurate but time to render will increase too. Suggested value is
around 32.
Fast (interpolate): fast method to be used in order to get blur
reflections. Not to be used in case you do not have plane sections
on the objects.
Fast (no ray): if you enable this check, reflected rays are not 100%
real, as just the rays related to the light emitter will be seen;
weakened rays will be, indeed, given by indirect illumination (FG).

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 Metal material: if you enable this check you’re deciding that the
color of specular reflections will be the same as the diffused color.
Suggest to enable it only when facing metal materials.

Refraction

Transparency level: is the parameter to be used in order to

change the way object will use refraction. If you increase so much
this value, the object could become quite transparent.
Refraction color: is the refraction color. This is a fast way in order
to assign colors to transparent objects, like glasses.
Refraction glossiness (blur): is an index of object
transparency/refraction intensity. If you use 100, material will be
completely transparent, if 0 transparency will be blur affected.
Glossiness (blur) quality: scale of the quality you need to achieve
for blur effects. If you increase this parameter, results are more
accurate but time to render will increase too. Suggested value is
something around 32.
Index of refraction (IOR): this is a measure of the way a ray will
be refracted when going through a transparent material. IOR equal
1 allows you to have full transparency without deviation; suggested
when surface is thin (slim), and/or you want to accelerate rendering
time. Differently these are commonly used values for this field:

Material IOR
Water 1.33
Glass 1.5
Cristal 2.00
Diamond 2.42

Fast (interpolate): fast way in order to get blur transparencies. Not

to be used in case you do not have plane sections on the objects.

Maps

Diffuse map (texture)

Activate: if enabled, File field texture will be used, instead of

object diffuse color.

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 File: contains full path of the texture map
file to be used for the object. This button
allows you to browse your disk in order to
find out the needed file.
Scale: this value is a reference of the size
of the foresaid texture, hence the step with
which it’ll be replicated over the object
surface. Increasing scale, texture image
will be enlarged, hence step will be bigger.
If the scale is too high, you will face the risk of seeing a
distortion of the image; if it is too low, you’ll face the risk of a
tough repetition on the texture, like a ‘mosaic’. Which is the right
scale, then? Well, it depends on the image size and quality; if it
is big and good quality, you can even use a high scale,
obtaining a good graphic quality and effect. Default value is:
250.

Reflection map

Activate: if enabled, File field texture will be used, instead of

object Reflection level.

File: contains full path of the texture map file to be used for the
object. This button allows you to browse your disk in order to
find out the needed file. That file has to contain a grey-scale
image. You can use reflection map when object face has NOT
to reflect the same way all over the area, but you have more or
less reflective zones over it (even different pixel by pixel). If you
want, indeed, an area that reflects the same way all over, (i.e. a
mirror) you d not need to use reflection map, as you can work
around Reflection level in main properties.

Scale: same as in Diffuse map scale. Default is: 250

Bump map

Activate: if enabled, File field texture will be used for the

mapping (other fields are enabled just if this one is checked).
File: contains full path of the texture map file to be used for the
material. This button allows you to browse your disk in order
to find out the needed file (grey-scale image) to be used for the
bump.
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 Scale: same as in Diffuse map scale. Default is: 250.

Multiplier: adjusts bump intensity and bump direction (emboss,

positive or negative). The default value is -1. By setting this
value to - 3 or – 10, the influence of roughness map on the
same material is higher, and the result is better.
Do not apply it to diffuse shading: By using this parameter
the roughness map to the diffuse shading material will be not
applied.

Advanced parameters

Anisotropy: it is the ratio between width

and height referred to the area where
the light reflects. If this value is 1 you
are disabling this parameter.
Anisotropy Rotation: is the opportunity
of setting up a rotation in the area where
the light reflects: 0 means that you do
not have any rotation, 1 means that
rotation is 360°.
Traslucency: translucency is a kind of
peculiar effect linked to transparency. If
you use translucency, the application
automatically enables transparency too.
Traslucency Weight: it is the % of
transparency used within translucency.
You can use translucency with thin
objects, such as sheets of paper or
tents.
Translucency Color: is the color used
for translucency.

BRDF

In real life, reflection you have on a surface

always depends on the point of view where
you are. BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance
Distribution Function) is referred to this effect, and allows you to
define reflection behavior depending on the position you’re looking
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from. So many materials are linked to this effect, in real life: glass and
water, for example, influence reflection angle (IOR, refraction index,
which we talked about before in this chapter). In the same way, you
can setup the reflection angle through BRDF.

The most notable examples are composed of dielectric materials such

as glass and water: in this case the angle of reflection is closely related
to the refractive index (IOR). Materials such as lacquered wood,
plastic, etc. show very similar characteristics.
By IOR (fresnel): if this check is enabled, reflection mode is given
only by material IOR; differently it is possible to manually setup
reflection angle following up a diagram you can find in next page.
0 deg refl: about reflection made by surfaces which are
perpendicular to point of view.
90 deg refl: about reflection made by surfaces
which are parallel to point of view.
Curve shape: is the way the curve goes down
while following the angle.

Reflection made by polished lacquered wood depending on

view angle. Es. 0 deg refl = 10 e 90 deg refl = 100

For most of the materials correct 90 deg refl parameter is 1.

0 deg refl can be 0.8 for metals, while for floor and polished materials
can step between 0.1 and 0.3.

Ambient occlusion

For most of the materials correct 90 deg refl parameter is 1.

0 deg refl can be 0.8 for metals, while for floor and polished materials
can step between 0.1 and 0.3.

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 Ambient occlusion: OFF Ambient occlusion: ON

Here follows a list of related parameters for such effect:

On: enables/disables Ambient occlusion.
Samples: number of rays used in order to get such effect. If you
increase this value you have a much more faded, real and non
dithered image, even if time to render will increase. We suggest
you to use 16, as this is probably the best compromise between
rendering speed and quality.
Max Distance: is the distance (radius) from which you can start
evaluating the shadow all around the object. Low values mean a
smaller shadow and a quicker rendering.
Do Details: allows you to get better Ambient occlusion effect
when applied to objects with small contact surface.
Shadow Color: allows you to setup the intensity of the Ambient
occlusion shadow. Dark colors mean dark shadows, and vice
versa.
Ambient Color: is the color of the ambient light used by Ambient
occlusion. This is a very useful parameter, as it allows you to
enhance shadow portions if they are not strong enough, as well as
reduce the intensity of the shadow if you need brighter areas.

Fast Glossy Interpolation

Interpolation grid Density: you can use this option in order to

obtain blur reflection and refraction effects, reducing time to render.
This parameter, hence, represents the resolution/density of the grid
used in order to calculate reflection/refraction blur, in a way defining
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 blur quality. Low resolutions mean less time to render, but also less
quality and blur details.
Refl. neigh. points to look up: this is the number of points of the
scene, placed all around the position in which the application needs
to calculate the blur effect. These points will make the grid which is
the basis for the calculation procedure.
Use high detail distance: this parameter allows you to use a
higher number of rays in order to get more detailed effects.
Single Sample from Environment: when you want to create
render images containing blurred reflections, you usually use a lot
of rays (samples) coming from outdoor. If you enable this check,
you ask the application to use just one single ray. This tip can be
useful in order to prevent environment, generic blur.
Refr. neigh. points to look up: this is the number of points of the
scene placed around the specific point where you want to calculate
blur reflection. These points will make the grid which is the basis for
the calculation procedure.

Advanced Reflection options

Use max distance: this parameter allows you to specify if material

reflection will manifest up to a certain distance.
Max Distance: from this distance on (referred to the current unit
measure you selected in the application options) you’ll not see
anymore the effect.
Fade to End Color: if you enable this check, reflection will fade
assuming a particular color; if disabled, reflection will manifest
environment you have around.
Color to Fade to: this is the color reflection will fade to, starting
from Max Distance.
Max Trace Depth: allows you to reduce interaction between
reflection rays and the object. When you reach, for such interaction,
maximum limit, material will behave as if you have enabled the
options Highlights + Final Gather only.
Visible area lights no highlights: this options is exclusively
referred to area lights. Area lights are particular lights that are
represented in the scene by a flash light, that can be even too
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 strong if you empower the light
source: enabling this check
allows you to avoid tough
flashes with these lights.
Skip Reflection on inside:
most of reflection effects generated inside objects are so weak that
you even do not appreciate them. So you can save time on
rendering just avoiding their calculation. In this case enable this
check in order not to care about internal reflections (which is
enabled, by default).

Advanced Refraction Options

Thin-Walled: it allows you to specify if the object the material has

been assigned to is thin or not. Object thickness, in fact, can
interfere with reflection as well as refraction effects.
Use Max Distance: this parameter allows you to specify if material
refraction will manifest up to a certain distance.
Max Distance: from this distance on (referred to the current unit
measure you selected in the application options) you’ll not see
anymore the effect.
Fade to End Color: if you enable this check, refraction will fade
assuming a particular color starting from Max Distance.
Color to Fade to: this is the color refraction will fade to starting
from Max Distance. This color has a linear increasing ratio: it
doubles as you double the distance from the object.
Max Trace Depth: allows you to reduce interaction between
refraction rays and the object.
Do Refractive Caustics: this option allows you to add to material
standard refraction effect, “caustics” effect too. Generated shadow
can be modified by this option.

Advanced parameters (last group)

Back Face Culling: when the parameter is enabled, the surface

viewing is disabled and its "normal vectors" are faced inwards, thus
making them invisible. While using this feature, the application that
makes the outer wall of the room transparent (just as it happens

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 automatically during navigation) without external light entering the
room is very important. Actually, if you hide an inner wall facing the
camera situated outside the room, you can render the interior of the
room. Yet, the external light (sunlight) passes through the
generated opening, modifying the room light balance To achieve
the same result without the external light enters, proceed as
follows:

4 make sure that there are no tiles laid on the wall you need to hide
(possibly eliminate installation);

4 apply material to an interior wall with this parameter enabled;

4 hide the outer wall (only the outer): click the Right Mouse button
on the outer wall and then select the Hide command on the pop-
up menu that appears.
Transparency propagates Alpha: saves object transparence
settings over the Alpha cannel of the image.

FG-GI Multiplier: Allows tweaking of how strongly the material

responds to indirect light.
FG Quality: is a multiplier referred to the number of Final Gather
rays emitted by the material.
Additional color: with this option, you can decide that the material
will be able to emit light by itself, specifying which color you want it
to emit.
Highlight Refl. Balance: 100 by default, allows you to balance the
effect of light reflection over the surface. Sometimes, in fact, lights
can be so strong to ‘burn’ objects, or create very bright areas:
decreasing such parameter, will let you reduce such effect.

Let’s go back, now, talking about the mask containing all materials
available (and loaded) in the project.

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If you click on you’ll be able to load in the project, from the
application database, one of the existing materials in order to assign
them to objects and furnishings. In order to choose among available
materials, you’ll step through
the Materials selection mask.
This is a sort of filter where you
can specify the name of the
material you’d like to load,
and/or the specified typology in
order to select one of the
woods, or marbles, etc…
In case you want to modify one of the materials loaded in the project
(this will NOT modify the original material available in the application
database), you can click on (or double click over the material
preview) in order to access Material parameters mask, where you can
change one or more parameters among available set. If you modify
such project-material, you do not have to assign it again to all objects,
as they will change automatically providing you the new effects you’ve
set up. button allows you to duplicate selected material in
order to keep the original
one in case you need it
in the future. As the
new/copied material is
available, you can assign
it to any object in the
layout selecting it and
clicking button:
you will be asked to
select the destination
object, then one or more
layers on which to apply

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the given material.
button, of course, allows you to remove the material from
the list of project-materials. This procedure will NOT delete also the
material in the internal database (if any). Also notice that if the material
is still assigned to one of the project objects, you’ll not be able to delete
it. In this case you have, first, to remove material from the objects you
formerly assigned it to.
In order to quickly use most common materials-features,
you can also right click the mouse button over their
previews, to get the context menu containing these
commands:

Managing materials from application database

In case you want to setup your own materials, we suggest you to do it

inside the application database. If you work over a material while inside
the project, in fact, this modification will not be available for further
projects. Database à Materials commands allow you to create,
modify, delete … existing materials in database.
Most of the features are really the same as described before, hence
we’ll not repeat them again; what’s new in this menu, is the
export/import procedure you can work with. They are useful in order to
transfer a group of materials from one location to another, or to backup
that portion of database in order to save your data. Database à
Materials à Export allows you to select a group of materials (all of
them if you leave empty all the fields of the first selection mask).
At the end of the procedure, you’ll find exported materials in the
\export directory of the application: several directories containing
images and text files (materialimr.txt and parametri.txt) containing
technical data and properties settings about materials.
In order to import them in a second location, copy all the content
referred to materials in the \Import directory of the destination
computer; hence select command Database à Materials à Import.
You’ll be asked to select the directory containing all files (txt files +
additional directories containing materials).

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 Materials for tiles

It is possible to
assign materials
(that’s to say
finishings,
surface
materials) to
tiles and
whichever
covering
material you
already have
loaded in the
application
database.
When you
select command
Database à Tiles à New/Modify, you get to this mask where you
can modify all details about that tile.
You can find Rendering Material section, where you can apply preset
or custom materials.
Preset materials button allows
you to select (see image on the
right) one of the available
finishings and borders among
those available in the application
database: it is also possible to
have a preview of the rendered
material applied to such item.
Text information on the left gives
you a summary about the tile, its
format … the format given to the border, which also depends on the
original size, in pixels, of the tile itself. If such image is not large
enough (talking about pixels) you could be alerted by the system about
this problem, as the application could not be ready to smooth the
original tile image in order to create the border. In this case increase
dimension of the border (tile image too big) or change the image tile
and make it bigger, if it’s too small.
Custom materials button allows you to create a customized material to
apply over the surface of the tile. You will get to the same mask you
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already saw regarding materials, previously in this manual, except for
diffuse mapping, which is enabled as it refers to the tile image.

Delete button allows, of course, deleting the material previously

applied to the tile itself.
Apply to entire collection button can be useful in case finishing
material can be applied to the rest of the tiles in the same collection.
This is the situation where you do not have a peculiar bump image, but
you can provide an effect all over the surface of the tile. In this case it
is useful to work on 1 tile only, then to replicate the same material to
the remaining tiles in the collection.
Once the tile has been saved with the new material, and used within a
project, you can modify the project tile material working in the Modify
tiling, by selecting command ModifyàTileàModify material …,
which will lead you through the well known mask related to Material
parameters.

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Rendering the scene

In order to render a project you can select (in the

navigation window) Full image button. Partial mage
sector can be useful while setting up materials and
light, in order to render just a small portion of the
project, saving
time.
Full image
will lead you
through the
mask you can
see on the
right. In it you
can setup the
rendering
options you
need.
Multiplier field allows you to indicate the resolution of the rendered
image depending on the current resolution of the scene: aspect ratio
will remain the same, and you can easily increase (for print options) or
decrease (for sample purposes) the final image. Pixel Resolution field
on the right will show you the final resolution value for the
rendered image.
È possibile impostare un valore di dimensione in pixel legato alle
risoluzioni del video o della stampa utilizzando i pulsanti
Personalizzata in corrispondenza dei campi Per il video e/o Per la
stampa.
In “Image quality” section you can choose the
level of accuracy you want to ask the application to
consider (blur, lights, shadows….). Selecting one
of the available levels, you are automatically
changing rendering properties following up pre-defined sets of values.
Of course high quality means longer time to render; that’s why while
you’re trying to setup your project we strongly suggest you to use low-
medium quality settings. At the beginning while testing, we recommend
you to use a low quality standard in order to have the whole scene,
lights, etc. under control. Then little by little as the scene gets clear, the
quality becomes higher and then the required image will appear.
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 Low quality Medium quality High quality

Low quality procedure allows you to render in just one step, with less
accuracy regarding lights setup: this is because in this procedure the
system does not use Indirect illumination, which is very important in
order to get a real scene, something very like a photograph. While
trying to setup the rendering, then, low quality is useful if you need to
understand if objects and tiles have been correctly placed. It is NOT
useful and correct while setting up lights, as the result would not be
real. For lights, we suggest you to step at least to medium quality,
which is the right compromise between time to render the sample, and
result you get. Finally, you’ll launch high quality rendering once
everything is correct in the scene, and you want to start creating the
final, effective image. You know, at this stage, that time to render will
take longer, depending on the computer’s hardware and the complexity
of the project.
Even if you select one of the preset quality settings you can modify,
anyway, its properties: really this can be useful in order to change the
setup just a bit, living the image the effects you want to get to.
Here’s a list of available properties you can work with (available in the
mask while selecting Photographic button).
“Exposure control” section allows you to
operate on typical values generally used by
photographers: exposure, in fact, talks about
the quantity of light arriving to the film through
a camera, in a given time.
If you know how to manually use a camera,
you also will probably understand at a glance
what we’re talking about; we will introduce,
anyway, all this parameters in order to explain
the way they affect the final rendering. It’ll be
easy to understand what’s going on, also thanks to a dynamic preview
button that allows you to immediately have a small preview of the
scene even without render it all.
We therefore recommend to use this setting which allows you to refine

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the correct "exposure" assessments. In this way the scene can be
more or less illuminated, more or less contrasted, according to your
needs.
So, when you click over Photographic button, you open the
Rendering Preview mask, where you can interact with each
photographic effect and see the scene preview clicking on button
“Generate preview”.
First preview
generation will take a
bit more time than the
following ones: after
first generation the
button text changes, in
fact, to “Update”:
Updating preview is
quite immediate, so it is
very useful to use such
method in order to
change values available in the Exposure control section, and see how
they affect the rendering of the scene. You can choose among 3
different preview resolutions, as you can see in this image.
Here’s a list of the parameters you can work with, together
with their explanation:
Exposure value: in the photography exposure
adjustment is aimed at obtaining an accurate
representation, neither too light (overexposed)
nor too dark (underexposed). The adjustment
takes place on three interacting parameters such as the aperture, the
time during which the camera shutter remains open to allow light to
reach the film or the sensor, and finally the ISO sensitivity of the film. A
proper calibration of these interrelated parameters lets the scene have
an adequate representation. The value, the rendering engine provides
the user, represents the synthesis of these three parameters. It is
therefore the most important instrument to calibrate the image quality
to be generated in a simple and effective way. By clicking on the
numeric field some arrows will appear enabling you to increase or
decrease the numeric value contained therein. At any induced variation
the preview image is updated in real time, thus making easier to find
the best . You can also type the numeric value in the field and in this
way you could insert values with decimal precision.

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Overexposed areas: allows you to manage the contrast between
overexposed areas (strong light) in the image. If it is less than 1 allows
you to weak “burn” portions of the image, if any. Control is disabled if
value is 1, differently if 0 you have maximum reduction.Shadows:
controls darker areas level. If you decrease this value you will light
darker portions of the image. Interval varies among 0.0 and 1.0.
Vignetting: is the photographic effect in order to have
less light at the borders of the image. If set to 0 you’re
disabling this effect.
Saturation: saturation is the intensity referred to a
peculiar color. A saturated color is very bright and tough; lowing down
saturation, color becomes weak and seems to get grey. If you use the
minimum for saturation, color becomes really grey. Default is 1.
White: white balancing value. Standard value is RGB 255;255;255,
real white. If you use a different white you get a different chromatic
image.
Gamma: gamma correction is a non linear operation used in order to
encode video luminescence. Default value is 1. Lowing down this
value, image will become darker and more contrast-based.
If you use Close button you confirm modifications (if any) and close
this mask in order to get back to Rendering parameters mask.

Options

In Rendering parameters mask you can find Options area, where you
can specify if and where you want to save the image you’ll render
(Save option) as well as decide whether or not you want to switch off
the computer at the end of the rendering process (useful while
rendering at night). When the system saves image file as per your
request, a. log file will be saved too in the same directory, containing
all technical information regarding the foresaid procedure (parameters
and options you used, time for rendering, etc.). It can be useful to save
such log file together with your image, in order to recall the parameters
you used if, in the next future, you’ll need to do again something
similar.

Advanced options

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If you click “Show advanced options” button you can see advanced
parameters. Here’s a list of them.
General

Antialiasing: reduces aliasing effect

(lines fragmentation)
in order to create
really better images,
even if time to render
will increase a lot.
Contrast: together with antialiasing, regulates
samples number while generating the rendered image; if you
decrease this value (i.e. 0,02) you have a better image quality. We
suggest you to change this value ONLY when antialiasing effect is
not enough.
Num. Riflections: maximum bounces on reflecting areas of the
scene, used by ray tracing engine.
Num. Refractions: similar as before, in this case you define
maximum transparent surfaces among which ray light can pass.
You can increase this value (as well as the previous one) if you
have more transparent surfaces, also considering glass geometry:

If glass is made of a single layer, you If glass is made of 2 layers, you need to
need to use no more than 2 refractions use 4 refractions

Num. max bounces: maximum total bounces made by ray lights

considering the previous 2 parameters.

Indirect illumination

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Indirect illumination represents light diffused by existing objects in the
scene.
Activate: enables/disables diffused light in the scene (very similar
to “Final Gather” feature in 3ds Max). When enabled rendering
procedure is made of 2 steps: first one, application calculates
indirect light, which will be applied in the second, final step. When
you select low quality image in the rendering mask, this option is
automatically disabled (enabled in medium/high quality).
Point density: A multiplier for the density of final gather points.
Increasing this value increases the density (and thus the quantity)
of final gather points in the image. The points will therefore be
closer together and more numerous. This parameter is useful for
solving geometry problems; for example, near edges or corners.
Rays per point: Sets how many rays are used to compute indirect
illumination in a final gather. Increasing this value makes global
illumination less noisy, but also increases rendering time.
Interpolated points: by this parameter the rendering algorithm
generation takes into account areas that the discretization points of
the light map do not manage. In order to do this, an interpolation
(i.e. averaging) within the range of a discrete set of known data
points is performed. When it happens that not justified halos may
be seen in the image, you can correct and improve these
abnormalities by increasing the parameter value. It is a good
method to intervene on this parameter in order to try to improve
some image details without having to do that in processing time.
Num. bounces: Sets the number of times rendering engine
calculates diffuse light bounces for each diffuse ray. Like Maximum
Reflections and Maximum Refractions, this value is subject to the
restriction of Max Depth. If you set Diffuse Bounces higher than
Max Depth, the latter setting is automatically raised to the Diffuse
Bounces value.
Photons: is the same as using “Global Illumination” in 3ds Max. If
you choose this option you decide to use an additional indirect
illumination method.
Note: when photons check is enabled, Num. bounces will be
ignored.
Photon density: Sets how many photons are used to compute the

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 intensity of the global illumination. Increasing this value makes
global illumination less noisy but also more blurry. Decreasing this
value makes global illumination more noisy but less blurry. The
larger the Samples value, the greater the rendering time.

Advanced

Log: if it is enabled application will create a

log file containing all details of the rendering.
This file could be useful also in order to send
Maticad support team the image + log, so
that the team will be able to understand the
way you created the image.
FG map prerender: if enabled application will generate an indirect
illumination map for the scene at a lower resolution, in order to get
quicker renderings.
FG map %: is the indirect light map quality (Final Gather), meant
on the percentage of the image dimension. 25% probably is the
best compromise between quality and time to render. This value
affects the first rendering step: low values allow you to have a
quicker first step, but getting less information regarding diffuse light
in the points of the scene.
Portal lights: allows you to enable/disable diffused light generation
property. Doors, windows, holes all around walls will become a sort
of natural light emitters towards inside the room. This is a very
good option in order to illuminate the scene with only natural light,
and without any artificial light. The former light, in fact, is really
better than the latter, as you have in real life too.
Portal l. multiplier: allows you to manage diffuse light intensity,
referred to portal lights.
Portal l. samples: allows you to manage light quality, referred to
portal light.
Portal l. white: if enabled, portal lights will be emitting white light.

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 Filter: this parameter allows you to choose between 3 different

1-Box 2-Gauss 3-Mitchell

antialiasing filter typologies, to be applied to the image in order to
reduce segmentation effects as well as Moire effects. Generally
speaking, this filter allows you to apply a sort of blur where you
have strong chromatic variations along curves or diagonal lines.
4 1: default value, is referred to Box Blur: simplest filter, hence the
quicker while rendering the scene;
4 2: referred to Gaussian Blur: is a filter
which optimizes the image for a better
visualization on video.
4 3: referred to Mitchell-Netravali Blur:
this filter optimizes image for a better
visualization on paper printouts.
Example of Moire effect

Referring to Portal lights parameter, please remember that, once

enabled, every aperture (door, window, hole…) can be
enabled/disabled too. So you can decide whether or not all the
apertures/openings of the scene will emit light or just a few of them. In
order to decide about their behavior, double click on the aperture, or
right click and select Properties. Once inside the properties mask, you
can enable/disable the related control,
which is called Emit diffuse lighting,
as you can see in this image.

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Render Job

It is possible to create jobs (render procedures on given projects +

points of view) to be rendered all together (for example at night or
when the PC will be available for a longer time) one after the other. In
Rendering Parameters mask, instead of launching the rendering
procedure using OK button, you can select Create job button.
Application
will ask you to
save an .rpk
file, which will
contain all
information
needed by the
application in
order to
render that
scene. You
can notice
that you can even generate the .rpk file on a first computer, and render
the job on a second one, provided that both are the same release and
advanced rendering enabled.
Once you have confirmed where to save .rpk file, application will let
you proceed working with the same/other projects. You can save more
.rpk files (from the same project or a different one), even if we suggest
you to group them in the same directory (i.e. …\DomuS3D\ImgJobs),
that you will select once starting the rendering job procedure.
In order to launch jobs, close opened project, and
launch command Home à Miscellaneous àStart
rendering job.
NOTE: The command is not available if a project is open.
Once you select the Run render job command, a window opens up
where you can select the folder containing the .rpk files to be
processed. All the files in the folder will be processed in sequence
according to the temporal order of entering the folder. For each file a
same name folder is created where the .rpk file on processing
operation will be moved.
When rendering will be complete you will find following files:
4 ….bmp: rendering image in BMP format (non compressed).

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4 ….jpg: rendering image in JPG format (slightly compressed).
….log: text file containing statistics referred to generated image
together with the list of used rendering parameters values, as you can
see in the next page.

If during job processing new .rpk files to be processed are added, the
program keeps on processing until all the files have been processed.
This is due to the fact that after each work processing, the folder - the
user indicates at the moment the command is enabled - is continuously
checked and as long as no .rpk files to be processed are left, the
program continues its operating cycle. The cycle will stop as soon as
no further .rpk files are detected. As this function is supposed be
executed in the downtime, when no one
operates at the computer (i.e. at night or
at lunch time) an automatic shutdown
timer will shut the computer down at the
end of processing.

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Each time the Run render job function is enabled, after choosing the
folder containing the .rpk files to be processed the aforesaid request
appears: on responding affirmatively at the end of the last rendering
processing, the program closes and at the same time the shutdown
command is sent to the operating system.

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Panorama 360°

The Panorama 360° function simulates the photographic technique

that creates an image covering a 360-degree field of view, through the
mosaic composition of adjacent photos, whose main aim is to view a
naturalistic
panorama or
a room as
close as
possible to
our live
perception.
Thanks to
this function,
the program
can generate
the six
rendering images necessary to have a panoramic view, just starting
from the user’s navigation point. If the room configuration is fairly
regular and the view shall has to be
generated from the centre of the
room, it is recommended to reach
the position by
using the Default
setting function
and then the rendering function
starting from the navigation window. The Panorama 360° function is
also available directly from the browser. In this mode, the image is
generated right away, but the graphics quality is much lower, as it is
the navigation and not the rendering image. As to generation in
navigation mode, you may notice that a session of the default browser
opens automatically (Internet Explorer or similar) showing a panoramic
video revolving automatically and interactively navigable by clicking the
Left Mouse
button inside
the window.
It may happen
that the browser will open a new window with a blank page and with
the usual message asking for further confirmation in order to proceed
uploading the content temporarily blocked for security reasons. By

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clicking the Right Mouse button on the message, you can enter the
pop-up menu where you can give your consent to proceed.

It is also important to remember that the size of the generated images,

both in navigation and in rendering mode, is managed (and set) from
the Options window in the Navigation and Rendering folder.

As to the rendering mode of the Panorama 360° function, when the

command is enabled and a folder for the file generation is chosen, the
rendering images are not generated right away for operational
reasons, but a .zip file is saved containing all the necessary
information in order to be processed later on, once the project is
closed, by the Run render job function from the
Home menu à Miscellaneous. (See "Render Job"
on page 255).
Once the function is enabled and the folder containing the files to be
rendered is shown (both the render job .rpk files and the .zip 360-
degree View files can coexist and be listed together), a same name
folder is created where the .zip file is unpacked, a file containing 6 .rpk
files and 3 more files needed for a panoramic view, including a .html
file. You shall click on it in order to enable its visualization at the end of
processing.

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TalkImage

The TalkImage function is an optional module that allows you to

generate "talking" images, that is hover-sensitive, with a self-
explanatory reactivity of materials composing the scene
It represents
a new and
alternative
way to show
the graphical
result of a
project to
which the
detailed
technical
description of
a typical bill
of materials: Everything works in an interactive setting and can be
easily used within a web browser One of the typical targets for this kind
of image can be dedicated to fill in lists of project proposals within their
corporate website.
As already said talking about the Panorama 360° command, it is
possible to generate TalkImage images directly with the navigation
graphic quality, by using the same name function available in the
3DView ribbon commands.
In this mode, a session of the default browser (Internet Explorer or
similar) opens automatically with an image that may be used
interactively by moving inside the window with the Left Mouse button.
It may happen that the browser window opens with a blank page
showing the usual message asking for further confirmation in order to
proceed uploading the content momentarily blocked for security
reasons By
clicking the
Right Mouse
button on the
message you
will have the possibility to access the pop-up menu where you are
asked the permission to continue.

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As to the rendering TalkImage mode function when the command is
enabled, the program will create a .zip file in the folder you selected
containing everything you need in order to process it later on, once the
project is closed, through the Run render job function from the Home
Menu à Miscellaneous. (See "Render Job" on page
255).
Once the function is enabled and the folder containing
the files to be rendered (the render job .rpk files, the TalkImage and
360-degree view files can coexist and be queued) has been indicated,
a same name folder is created where the .zip file is unpacked. It
contains an articulated file and subdirectory structure needed for an
interactive image viewing, including the ImgMapper.html file. Click on
it in order to enable the viewing at the end of processing.

It can automatically receive detailed information about what the mouse

cursor touches both for covering materials and pieces of furniture. By
clicking the Left mouse button, you can enter an additional detail level
consistent with the database information. Here below you can see an
example of covering material.

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In the lower part of the image there are some functional buttons: they
allow you to zoom in and zoom out as well as to move the image in the
window due to a partial viewing after an enlargement.

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Surface finishings

Scheme of available tile finishings

In this section you can find all the available materials to obtain surface
finishing of wall elements (mostly tiles) by using an advanced
rendering engine.
These materials are available in the database application.
They can be assigned to tiles by selecting the Edit command
in the Tiles group of the Database ribbon. All’interno della
finestra di dialogo che appare, nella sezione Materiale
rendering, In the dialog
box that appears, in the
rendering Material section,
select the Default button,
that allow you to enter the
dialog box where you can
select the surface finishing
and edging to be assigned
to each tile, rather than the
whole series. Here below a
list of the available
finishing.

Opaco Opaco satinato Opaco riflettente

Opaque with low and

Opaque, slightly visible Soft and silky, with very
shaded reflections
and shaded reflections slight and shaded
reflections

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 Semilucido
Semilucido Spugnato
rugoso

Semi-polished Semi-polished with low Polished in glass paste

reflection shaded and with deformed reflection
rough effect with sponged surface
effect

Lucido Lucido ondulato Mosaico vetroso

Highly polished Polished with deformed Tiled mosaic with glass

reflection corrugated reflection effect
surface effect

Cotto Cotto rugoso Esterno ruvido

Cotto with very rough It recalls the natural

surface aspect of true stone.
Suitable for outside
areas both private &
public

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 How to manage the “advanced” materials

Supposing you want to store new material inside the database, get a
photographic image of a material portion. The image quality is
obviously important and it may influence upon the graphic resolution of
the elements that will be covered.
We recommend you to use jpeg format files whose sizes should not
exceed 1500 pixels. What’s more, images whose sizes are under 300
pixels are not to be taken into consideration. The above-mentioned
pixel sizes are to be referred to the longest side of the image rectangle.
A possible image oversizing would lead to a greater demand in
processing resources (that is, longer processing time), without any
supply improvement for the final realistic image rendering.
Besides size, other important features are to be considered in order to
achieve good results:

4 image replicability and alignment obtainable for specularity;

4 brightness and colour.

Replicability and alignment

Each texture must be made so that it may be applied over all the 4
sides repeatedly, as long as the whole application surface is covered.
It is, therefore, easy to perceive the great importance of the image
replicability. Any image can be made "repetitive" on all the 4 sides,
accomplishing it with the following guidelines:

4 Cut a square part of the image, knowing that this square area will be
¼ of the final texture area. So if you want to make a 800x800 pixel
texture, you should start from a 400x400 pixel image. In
this phase we use a schematic graphic example that will
helpful to better understand the concept.

4 Then, by using a graphic software (Photoshop or similar),

from the starting image you have to make a mirror image along one
of the two sides, for example along the vertical right one. Once the
image is ready, put it beside the first one (the alignment is ensured
by its specularity) exactly along the side where it
was obtained the specularity. The result is a
800x400 pixel image whose left and right
extremities may be placed side by side as they
are specular. In this way you have the horizontal repetitiveness.
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4 At this point, the last action to do is about
creating the specularity of the 800x400 image
along the longest side, for example along the
horizontal side below: once again, place the two
images along the specular side, thus reaching
the aim. The obtained image is specular on
each side and it can be easily pasted aside and
replicated.

Now do it again, taking the image of a skin

leather as an example of new material to be
included in the database. We start creating a
400x400 pixel square selection, depicted here
aside. In similar cases, when the image is made
up of repetitive signs and graphics, it is
necessary to cut the image out so that, by
recomposing it in 4
specular parts, graphic
situations similar to those of
the remaining part of the
image may be formed once
again.
Aside we may see the
result of the first operation
which is obtained from
specularity along the
vertical right side.
Proceed with the final stage
creating a mirror image
along the horizontal below
side, thus composing the
final image.
We have deliberately made
this image imperfect,
highlighting that, in the
central horizontal band the
skin leather height
dimension ribs are shorter
than the ones in other more

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peripheral areas: in this way, when cutting the first square part, it is
important to carefully calculate where the cuts must be made, in order
to have better quality results.

Brightness and colour

It may easily happen that visible light reflections may be seen in a

photo shot. It depends on how the picture was taken. As the image is
applied repeatedly, we can not afford to leave it this way or we would,
otherwise, obtain not very credible photorealistic images. In these
cases it is advisable to
adjust graphically the image
by removing the reflection
as much as possible.
Once the complete check
about the image quality is
done, you can proceed
analyzing both the bump
map and the reflection map.
Both maps (bump and
reflection) are made up of
“grey-Scale” graphic files
that can often be obtained
by the main image, setting
some parameters in order
to contrast more or less intensely the areas that have to represent the
bump and/or the most reflection areas. Let's try using a photo editing
program, change the image of the texture you created earlier to bring
in "Grayscale".
Let's try using a photo editing program, change the image of the
texture you created earlier to bring in "Grayscale". Alternatively, you
can work on saturation cleared (desaturation).
Using a photo editing software, try to change the image of the texture
created earlier by turning it in grey-scale mode. Alternatively, you can
work on eliminating saturation (desaturation).
When creating these images is essential to use the same size in pixel
of the image of the texture, otherwise the mapping of surface effects
do not correspond with the similar areas of the image.

Please, also remember that:

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4 The bump map is necessary to represent the roughness and relief
areas of the material. The clear areas appear in relief, while the
darker areas appear hollowed.

4 The reflection map is

essential to distinguish
the most reflective areas
of the material (clearest
areas) from the opaque
areas that are identified
by the darker color in the
map.
As you can understand,
both the graphical features
of the texture and the ones
of the map images (such as
shades, brightness and
contrast) have an influence
upon the result of the image
rendering. In the case of the map we are analyzing, we recommend to
change brightness and contrast, using the settings shown in the
picture.
This way the contrast is
extremely increased,
bringing it up to almost a
black and white image.
Then thinking how the
colors are interpreted in the
map of the material, we
realize it is necessary to
invert the colors black and
white to obtain the final
image.

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The spotted areas of the skin
should be in relief and therefore
should be lighter in color,
whereas all their gaps, here more
hollowed, should be represented
with a color fading to black. Once
the map is ready, the procedure
for material inclusion in the
database shall be analyzed. To
activate the procedure, select the
New button of the Operations on
materials control, in the Materials control section. On the screen the
following dialog box containing all the specifications of advanced
materials will appear. When possible, we suggest to start selecting a
material, already present in the database, that is more similar to the
requirements of the new material and from that then make the
necessary changes. Therefore, through the Preset menu, choose one
of the just existing materials in order to obtain, on the right side, all the
filled in parameters concerning the selected material. In this case we
choose a skin-like material, already present in the database. In order to
configure the material:
4 enter the Map section;

4 enable the option Widespread Map

4 Click the parameter under "File" and using the button select the
previously prepared skin material file

Using the same procedure, assign the image file relative to the
underlying maps of roughness and reflection.

Material used to hide the walls from the outside

Another type of material will be created. It will be useful for hiding the
internal walls when your viewpoint is external to the room.

4 Actually, it may happen in small rooms on positioning the viewpoint

inside the room that you cannot create a realistic rendering image by
zooming in a part of the room. In these cases it is necessary to place
the viewpoint outside and hide the opposite wall. In order to have
transparency, you need to assign the wall a material with a very
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 specific feature. Here below some hints showing how to make the
material.
4 In order to enable the procedure, select the New button
from the Operations on materials command of the
Materials command group

4 Select "Plaster" in the preset field from the material

manager window. In this way the parameter values with material
specifications are drawn.
4 Open the Advanced Parameters section and
enable the Back Face Culling parameter (except
for the back faces). By enabling this option, only
the geometries facing the observer’s view point
are processed and displayed. This will only involve
the items such materials will be given to.
Therefore, this parameter allows us to hide the
wall behind which we are at rendering phase.

4 Now all you have to do is inserting the name of the material (if youare
creating a new one, this allows you to "save" it) and confirm saving
by pushing the key

Material with the only color parameter

If you want to add a new color,

use the first two parameters
Diffuse Color and Diffuse Level
to specify the color and the
intensity the material must be
displayed with. It is not
necessary to associate any
widespread map to the material.
Once the shade has been set,
the reflection level must be adjusted in order to determine the opacity
of the material or not.
By adjusting the parameters Reflection Level and Nuance Reflection
the desired result may be reached by displaying the image preview. It
should however be pointed out that the final effect may vary depending
on the settings of the lights of the stage in which you use the material.
An even faster method for creating a new color is the one that starts
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operating with a material already present in the database, then
changing only its Diffuse Color. This will let you avoid the operation of
calibration of the reflection parameters.

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 Colored glass material

Now we see how to create a

blue color glass starting from
the set of parameters
concerning a material already
existing in the database (bottle
glass). Even if the first thing you
would set is Diffuse Color,
actually this is not the
parameter that has an influence
upon the color of the material.
The parameter to set is Refraction Color, or rather the color produced
by the passage of light through the material. In order to better explain
this concept, we see an example in which Diffuse Color has been
awarded the blue color and the Refraction Color has been given the
green color. As you can see in the preview, the color of the glass is
green, not blue. By applying this material to a furniture element, this
will result blue (Diffuse Color) in the virtual navigation and green
(diffused color) in the rendering image. Obviously, the geometry of the
element makes some areas less transparent than others, such as the
edges. In these areas, where the level of transparency is lower, the
color of the object is stronger.

Diffused color Refraction color Diffused + refraction color

Material for tiles

Let’s see an example of two tiles for which

the realization of the finish required the use of
Bump Map and Reflection Map. In the image
aside the source of light, present at the time
of the shot, significantly highlights the feature

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of the relief. This implies that some edges of
the decoration will be more enlightened while
others remain in shadow. The relief effect will
be automatically generated by the Bump Map,
so you must adjust the image by removing it
as much as possible.

The result of the correction of the texture is

shown on the right: the edges of the relief are
no longer visible and you can only distinguish
the design of the decoration.
The image on the right shows the Bump Map
that is necessary in order to create the relief
effect in the rendering phase. The passage
from the dark areas (more sunken) to the clear
ones (more in relief) is characterized by a
shade.
This image is rather uniform, with no particular
light effect. If obvious overexposed areas had
appeared, it would have been necessary to
modify them in order to make them more
uniform. The characteristic of the tile is the
most polished finish in the decoration area for
which you must create a proper Reflection Map.
You must add the Bump Map to this one, in
order to give a slight edge to the tile.
Finally, here is the rendering image where a
spotlight with grazing light from the point of
view in addition to the room’s openings was
used in order to make the tiles more evident.

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Practical example of calibration of the rendering

Two types of projects are taken into account among those considered
the most common in design planning.

4 The first project concerns a m. 3,4 x m. 3,0 kitchen with a window: it

allows us to widely speak about the natural light entering the room.
Actually, the natural light is the best light source that can radiate into
the environment with a softness that no other artificial lights possess.

4 In the second project the construction of a small bathroom with no

window is planned where only an artificial light source is possible

Even though leaving out, for obvious reasons, the introductory part of
the construction of the room, anyway it is important to point out that the
choice of furniture with a good aesthetic impact about design and 3D
model is essential to obtain a good photorealistic image. Like a chain
whose strength coincides with the one of the weakest ring, in the same
way, in a furnishing scenery the overall quality suffers a significant
reduction, if just a particular is not up to the other ones.
Another aspect that should not be underestimated is the choice of
framing and the focal opening (FOV), taking particular care to avoid
perspective and wide-angle distortions.

By comparing the two images, you can see a classic example of

perspective distortion (on the left) that can be easily avoided by
“normalizing” the view within the browser window using the key N ,
thus obtaining a much more realistic effect, with straight vertical walls
(on the right).
The management of the overall lightning in the scene occupies an
important position in the process of calibration with the rendering

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engine, significantly affecting the final rendering. For this reason it is
essential to know the following aspects related to this feature:

4 the use of direct light sources;

4 the use of exposure controls;

4 the settings of rendering parameters and algorithms used for the

calculation of overall lighting (indirect light).

In this field the best thing to do is to get inspiration from reality: it is

from real situations you can better understand how to operate in order
to obtain the desired exposure.
In general you can consider two types of light sources: direct light and
indirect light.

The direct light is the one generated from a light source present in the
room whether natural (emitted by the sun) or artificial (given off by
lamps and spotlights).

The indirect light is the one spreading on the rebound, that is the light
the surfaces of the objects struck by direct light can spread.
Actually, the light that strikes a surface may be partially absorbed,
diffused, reflected or refracted depending on the color and the
structural features of the surface and the material itself (for example,
fluids such as water and high viscosity fluids such as glass).

The spreading is a type of propagation that induces the generation of

indirect light bounces: the light behavior in the visible spectrum is such
that a black surface tends to absorb all the incident light, while a white
surface tends to reflect it fully.
In fact, the visible color of any surface depends on the surface capacity
to absorb a portion of the light the room can receive and to send back
to the observer the not absorbed part, in the form of reflected light.

If a surface illuminated by a white light appears yellow, this happens

because that surface has a reflection curve absorbing the radiation in
the blue spectrum coming from the white light reflecting to the observer
only the radiations belonging to the green and red spectrums which, by
combining in the retina, produce the perception of yellow. Generally
speaking, the diffused light coming from rebound, brings the coloring of
the surface itself with it; this phenomenon, known as Radiance,

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causes a behavior that, if you have a room with a colored floor and the
other walls are white, the color of the floor generates a chromatic
dominion that spreads all over the room. This is also one of the
reasons why the ceilings of the rooms, even if they are formally
associated with the same white color of the walls, tend to appear
greyer than the walls. In order to better understand it, perform two
different tests with a light colour floor and a dark one, on equal terms.

Global illumination must be referred to all the techniques governing

the simulation of the effects produced by the light and by the
interaction with the room surfaces.
In this chapter we will deal with the technical variations in order to
achieve a high quality rendering and then focus attention on the
optimization of resources to obtain acceptable quality images,
minimizing the rendering processing time. Actually, it is easy to
understand that the complexity of the scene, the number of objects in
the project and the number of light sources, are all elements giving a
significant encumbering factor in the processing work; so, since there
is no processing cluster that can fragment the processing load,
operating in parallel, it is important to dose the values of the
parameters that determine the final result.

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Kitchen project: use of natural light

Now we are going to examine the results obtained using the simplified
three different settings that the program
offers: Low / Medium / High.
Here below the images obtained using
these preset with default values are
shown.

Low quality Medium quality High quality

The different settings of the three above-mentioned types have an
influence not only upon the graphic quality of the image but also upon
the intensity of the indirect light present in the scene. In case of low
quality, the indirect light is not taken into consideration, so the image
brightness is lower than the other two cases’. Now let’s check the
behavior of scene illumination only turning on the direct light (not using,
therefore, indirect lighting and
photons). In order to analyze the
influence of sunlight, let’s try to
produce several images by
varying the sun position: actually,
according to the position, you can
get different effects of lighting,
reflections, etc...

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Placing the sun towards more decentralized directions than the window
opening, the light enters the room in a less intense and direct way
creating more attenuated effects of light.
Let’s analyze now the behavior of the single bulb, temporarily disabling
the sunlight and the light coming from the sky. The following image
was obtained with the standard parameters of the artificial light (bulb)
automatically included in the project and without the indirect lighting
contribution.

It is clear that the standard settings generate too clear-cut shadows

thus achieving an unrealistic result. So let’ try to change only the
artificial light parameters settings, as shown in the following image.

First, verify that the option Physic light is active, this is essential for a
better management of the light diffusion by the rendering engine. In
order to obtain nuanced shadows, that is more realistic, it is necessary
that the light source has real shape and a real size: in the case of a
bulb, the only available form is the spherical one and you must choose
the value ≥ 1 cm as size of the radius: in our example, we use a cm 3
radius. The parameter Soft Shadows Quality influences the quality of
the shadow nuance. We suggest to set this parameter at 16, which is a
fair compromise between final quality and processing times. In fact,
higher values would significantly increase the processing times, with a
not always perceptible realistic gain.

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In the two cases about artificial light just described we did not make
use of the indirect light contribution which surely brings a higher level
of realism. The example on the right differs from the previous one only
in the activation of indirect light. This image may be a good starting
point for the simulation of the room at night. After separately analyzing
these two light sources (sun and bulb), let’s try to use both of them,
obviously using the settings and the feed-back obtained from the tests
so far carried out. The two images below show the result obtained
without (left) and with (right) the indirect light contributions.

As you can see, the overall lighting of the scene on the right is
excessive, so, between the two available light sources we choose to
use only the natural sunlight.
In fact, if possible, we recommend to always use the most natural
light before resorting to the artificial light contribution. Quality
and realism are undoubtedly higher.
Then, proceed with the decommissioning of the artificial light bulb,
focusing attention only on the sunlight and the beneficial contribution of
indirect light: in this way, we have exactly the same situation of the
reality that surrounds us. The image on the right is the obtained result.
We can see that the light entering the window is excessive, creating a
strong back lighting effect that annihilates the display of the window
frame. In order to mitigate the sunlight we can act in two different ways
at least, without considering a third option which is to move the position
of the light source in a decentralized point from which it can not radiate
the room in such a direct way. Then, keeping the position fixed, first
operate on the parameter Portal Light by halving it from 1.0 to 0.5 and
getting the result on the right.
In the second attempt we operate a reduction of the parameter that
manages the sunlight intensity, by decreasing it from 1,0 to 0,4.

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This latter image has a lower overall brightness which shows that the
modification of the multiplier of the sunlight intensity has a bigger
influence. In order to avoid an excessive decrease of this value, we
adopt the solution to mix both modifications. This will allow you to
obtain a more contrasted image. From the images so far produced, it is
evident that the window area is too illuminated. To decrease the back
lighting effect, you can interact with the photographic exposure
parameters. To access to these parameters you must click on the
button Photographic, in the Rendering Parameters browser.

The parameter on which we are going to operate is Overexposed

Areas that allows to soften (or to emphasize)
the areas most exposed to the light.
By lowering the value we can correct the
"burned" areas, decreasing the light intensity
only in those areas.
The reduction of this parameter, however,
also induces a compression that the algorithm
performs on the range of colors, causing a slight decrease in the
contrast of the image: this effect can be compensated with a small
increase in the value of saturation.
We decrease the parameter
Overexposed Areas from 0,10 to
0,05, obtaining the image on the
right. We can consider this picture
as an acceptable result which can
mediate the difficult condition of
back lighting with the need to give
proper emphasis to the coatings
and the furnishings, the primary
objective of the project.

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Then, proceed to the generation of the high-quality image by choosing
an average size because the processing time depends mostly on this
parameter.

In the final stage, at the moment of the final generation, if the

processing power of computers in use allows it, we can try to improve
the gradation of colors produced by the room light. By increasing the
rays per point at 2000 and the photon density at 2000, we put many
more operating cycles in the calculation algorithm (see in the next
paragraph, the detailed explanation of these parameters). Obviously,
the more you care, the more you get realistic results, but this means a
longer processing time and not always worth of it: so we invite the user
to make some tests and to think about the use. Finally, we can say that
increasing these parameters, the global lighting of the scene softly
increases, especially in the darker areas, thanks to its more detailed
analysis of the light particles passing through the environment. If you
want to offer a further opportunity to improve the environment
brightness, by uniformly increasing it, we suggest you a very functional
trick, by introducing one or more provisional openings in the walls
behind the shot (anyway in not-framed areas).

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Since this is the same light that softly enters behind the observer, the
resulting effect is to reduce the contrast caused by the back lighting.
Since this is
the same light
that softly
enters behind
the observer,
the resulting
effect is to
reduce the
contrast
caused by the
back lighting.
Finally,
remember
that when you
introduce the openings you must verify that the option Generate
diffused light is active, otherwise the light would not enter. After the
generation of the rendering, the provisional opening can be easily
eliminated without any effect on the lining of the wall, with any type of
installation.

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Management of the INDIRECT LIGHT parameters

The indirect light is the light source generated by the bounces of the
light particles moving within the scene. In this section we analyze the
parameters that allow us to manage this important rendering
component. In
order to
calculate the
indirect lighting
we use an
algorithm
(technically
defined Final
Gather) that
allows you to
create a kind of
discrete map of points (shown in green below) for each of which is
collected detailed information on the brightness. From every point we
simulate the tracing of light rays on the scene, to determine the
interpolation of the average brightness with the neighboring points. The
parameter that rules this point map is Point Density.

wDensità punti = 0,8x wDensità punti = 4,0x

The density of this map is linked to the amount of information that is

collected; the higher the number of points analyzed, the more the
information acquired which help to achieve a better quality retail
rendering.

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Anyway, however much the Density Point value may be increased,
this is not the only parameter on which to intervene to try to collect the
information on all the point of the scene; furthermore, by increasing this
parameter, the image will show a higher contrast, so we suggest you
not to exceed by setting too high values: values between 1,0 and 2,0
may represent a fair compromise in the relationship between quality
and processing time.
Now we must face a typical problem about rendering: the presence of
spots inside the images, especially in the most dim light areas,
typically near the corner of the walls. These unaesthetic irregular
presences depend on the low approximation of the rays and on the low
density of the points, because of which the are too marked brightness
jumps between neighboring areas. In order to overcome this problem,
it is important to increase the Interpolated Points parameter value
which allows to reduce the contrast of light from one point to another,
then removing the unaesthetic artifacts generated by the Final Gather
map. Besides this parameter, it can be useful to increase the value of
Rays per point which regulates the amount of light rays that are
radiated from each point on the map. Let’s see how these two
parameters, for their own relevance, influence the achievement of the
image quality. Let’s begin to see how much does impact the parameter
Rays per point by varying the introduced value.

Rays per point 250 Rays per point 500 Rays per point 1000
We suggest you not to use, even to produce top quality images,
excessively high values (do not use values higher than 2000, knowing
that 1000 is a very good fair value) because there is a critical point
beyond which you cannot obtain any appreciable visual effect, even if
you pay heavily duty in terms of processing time duration. Lower
values, as 500 or 250 obviously allow to obtain rendering much faster.
Now, let’s turn to the parameter Interpolated Points. By increasing
the value of this parameter, you obtain an softer image whose contrast
between clear and dark areas is lower. Also in this case we suggest
not to exaggerate, because well as incurring a significant increase in
rendering time, you may obtain a too flat image since a further

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consequent effect of increasing this value, is to have an image with
less contrast.

Interpolated point 30 Interpolated point 150 Interpolated point 250

From these results we suggest 80, as average value for this

parameter.
Summing up what has been discussed on these latest three
parameters, we can certainly draw the following conclusions:
4 To increase the Point Density parameter is to increase the detail
sharpness of the image;
4 To increase the Rays per point parameter, makes the scene more
evenly illuminated, therefore contributing to increase the detail;
4 By increasing the Interpolated Point parameter you can remove any
possible “noise” of the image, removing the present artifacts. All the
incidental chromatic leaps are nuanced and standardized, somehow
obtaining a “flatter” image. Anyway, this is the most significative
parameter to eliminate the presence of incidental spots from the
scene. We suggest you to do some tests with low values; the
problem of the spots will remain, because it depends on many
situations and on how the scene is illuminated. So, if the scene has
not such problems, it will be sufficient to use lower values, except to
increase the more the problem could clearly appear.
We advise you NOT to increase over both the parameters Rays per
point and Interpolated points, because this involves a significant
increase in rendering time.

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 Density point 1.5 – Ray per point 500 – Interpolated point 250
Another parameter worth analyzing is Rebounds Number. In fact, in
the image there are still some dim light areas. This is because the
sunlight rays cannot reach all the parts of the room, especially edges
and corners, as it normally happens in reality. The standard value of
this parameter for the medium resolution is 0, while for the high
resolution is 1: this means contemplating only one bounce of the light
source from one object to another one. To have a larger and more
uniform distribution of brightness, it might be useful to increase the
value of this parameter. Try to bring this value to 3 and then to 5 in
order to see what you get. We recommend not to exceed these values
in order not to overload the processing work. We can see that by
increasing the number of bounces, the overall brightness of the scene
increases.

Density point 0.8 – Ray per point 250 – Interpolated point 80

Bounces Number 3 Bounces Number 5

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 Photon management

Now let’s analyze how a considered photon management may

influence the indirect lighting. First of all, it must be said that the use of
photons is alternative to the parameter Bounces
Number: more exactly, if the Photon Management
is enabled, this parameter is ignored. The Photon Map operation lies in
generating light rays that, once they have reached the shapes of the
objects, they record information about their brightness. Unlike the Final
Gather Map, this is three-
dimensional and independent
from the position of the point of
view set to the rendering. Its
operation can be well summed
up by the side image. It is taken
into account the sample of a
circular area with a certain
radius, represented in the figure by the grey ring. Inside this sample
area there are many small spheres that simulate the photons. Every
photon is represented by a different color, because it contains
information of different brightness. When, inside the sample area, there
are more photons than they are allowed (the parameter that indicates
the maximum limit is Photon Density), only the closest to the centre
will be taken into account, while the ones placed in the most external
positions will be excluded. The purpose and therefore the usefulness
of the Photon Map is to distribute evenly the energy released by the
photons in order to obtain a more nuanced contrast between the
shaded areas and more enlightened ones. A typical error that must be
avoided is to increase the value of this parameter in a scene where
there is a low light, that is a few photons emitted by light sources. In
these cases, it may be useful to increase the number of the photons
emitted by the light sources (whether the sun or artificial lamps)
bringing these values from 100 to 300 thousand, or even up to the
maximum value of one million.

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In the images below we can see that when the values of the Photon
Density parameter change, the Photon Map has a different behavior.

w Photon density 300x wPhoton density 1000x

The two images below represent the Photon Map where the colors
indicating the gradual transition from dark to light are: blue, green,
yellow and red. We can see how the most lit areas (in our scene the
ones with green and clear blue colors) present a gradual nuance
significantly larger in the right image, while in the left one there are
smaller and more jagged spots: in certain contrast conditions of the
scene, this situation may produce the presence of artifacts.
The value 500, recommended in the standard choice of High Quality
rendering, is usually sufficient to obtain a good image. We recommend
to increase this value and to set 1000 only when you have the chance
to make background rendering (that is using the render-job) or when
you have to do with scenes particularly prone to spots problems. If you
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like, you can go as far as the value 2000, but this is recommended only
to obtain very large images which can then be used also for printing. In
our test we have been generating also the Photon Map image with the
2000 density value, but the result, in a medium-small image (800 x 600
pixel) is really very similar to the one obtained with the 1000 value and
this is a further confirmation that above a certain threshold you cannot
obtain any improvement and you run the risk of wasting more time for
the processing. Obviously, if we were to generate a large image (for
example 4000 x 3000 pixel) for printing, the difference between the two
density values 1000 and 2000 would certainly be much more obvious
and appreciable. So you must be able to mediate between the need to
obtain a good image and the right size. Generally speaking, an
excellent medium-small image (for example 800 x 600 pixel) requires
less exasperation in setting the rendering parameters, because beyond
a certain threshold you cannot perceive any difference. Obviously, in
case of larger images, this threshold increases because, for example,
the number of the pixel that contribute to form a nuance are many
more and so they require a greater refinement in order to avoid spots
and too sharp chromatic changes.

This inevitably leads us to conclude that while it is true that,

under the same conditions, the processing time is proportional to
the size of the image (size means the area of the image, then the
total number of its pixels), when you aim to produce a larger
image, you must also take into account the further increase due
to the fact that this image needs higher parameters which are
more challenging and demanding in terms of time.

Therefore, it is not surprising if a good quality small image obtained in

a 10 minutes time, in a much larger size requires several hours of
processing: in fact, just tripling the size of the sides (for example from
800x600 to 2400x1800) the processing time increases by 9 times, in
addition to the possible improvement settings which may be
necessary.

For the treatment completeness we show below also the image of the
kitchen in the night version, where the only light source is a bulb,
generated at high quality with a 2506x1680 pixel resolution: the
processing time for this medium-large image was 2 hours and 50

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minutes. The two parameters set to 2000 (Rays per Point and Photon
Density) have a great influence upon this processing time.

It is the normal practice to apply a minimum of photo retouching to a

rendering image. There is no image, of any type and origin, however
perfect, that cannot be “tamed” and improved by a wise graphic
intervention. In the case of our kitchen in the night version, for
example, we can use photo retouching software programs, the most
celebrated and famous of which is Photoshop. We do not go into
details of the methodology to realize these improvements typically
belonging to every software program that you can use, but we just
show the resulting image.

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In the cases of indoor lighting by artificial light, the shadows produced
by the non-lighting are better defined and also a little darker, because
the intensity of the artificial light is lower and so even the pathways that
the photons cover bouncing among the surfaces are shorter, because
the decay of the brightness is faster.

The colors and the materials of the products that belong to the project,
influence the final resolution, including the brightness of the room. In
order to prove this, we show a variant which is exactly the same room
coated with different products.

In this case we have halved the two most significant values (Rays per
Point and Photon Density) and we have created a smaller image
1253x840 pixel (halving the sides, so as total number of pixels the
image is 4 times smaller) just in a 20 minutes time, that is 8,5 times
less than the time taken to create the previous image (considering
irrelevant the change of color of the room and with the variant of using
the natural light source instead of the bulb).

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Wishing to further reduce the waiting times and to create a non-high
resolution image, but still of good quality one, you can create a smaller
image, further decreasing the rendering parameters (Rays per Point
and Photon Density). In this case, the image size is 931x615 pixel
and the processing time is 10 minutes.

Then there is also a structural limit, so even halving these two values,
the time does not halve, but remains stable at around 8 minutes.

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The PHOTO EXPOSURE parameters

The path so far taken has led us to focus all our attention first on the
calibration of the lights incorporated into the project and then on the
settings of the rendering parameters. An alternative route may be the
one that does not start changing the position and the natural light
settings, but focusing on the exposure control. Obviously, once you
have gained a sufficient knowledge of both paths, you can choose your
own way to proceed. Certainly, both can be managed in parallel to
achieve a more refined calibration.

The settings of the photo controller allow us to make rather substantial

corrections on the room overall brightness. This method, on the one
hand might be more approximate (in the sense that the calibrations are
somehow "global" and do not allow specific interventions) on the other
hand it is more intuitive and immediate, and you can save time in the
stage of development.

The settings of the photo controller allow us to make rather substantial

corrections on the room overall brightness. This method, on the one
hand might be more approximate (in the sense that the calibrations are
somehow "global" and do not
allow specific interventions) on
the other hand it is more intuitive
and immediate, and you can
save time in the stage of
development. To operate this
way, just create the image
preview using the medium or
high quality standard parameters.
The parameters most influencing brightness are Aperture, Exposure
time and Sensitivity (ISO). These 3 parameters are closely
interlinked. We have already spoken about them in the opening
section.
Once the program has calculated the image preview, it is sufficient to
make a change to the parameters and click the Update button in order
to obtain an immediate representation of the scene with the applied
change.

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It is important to consider that the brightness increase may lead to a
flattening of the resulting image, so we also recommend to slightly
increase the Saturation in order to bring back the colors to an
optimum state. If we try to lower the Aperture parameter, just like in
photography, the amount of light travelling through the lens increases,
as well as the Exposure Time. It is necessary to bear in mind that the
exposure time is expressed as a fraction of a second, so 100 means a
hundredth of a second. In order to increase the exposure time and
have a more lighted scene, the parameter value shall be lowered (50
corresponds to one-fiftieth of a second and it is twice as long to one-
hundredth of a second).

Having increased the brightness, in the scene appear too light areas.
In order to avoid to “burn” too much some parts of the image, you may
decrease the value of the Overexposed Areas parameter, obtaining
the following image.

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At this point, we can say we have reached an acceptable balance
whereas we worked only with these parameters; in fact, having left the
same position and the same standard intensity of the sunlight, we can
certainly not obtain the same light effects present in the previously
seen renderings. But once we have made this calibration, we can
apply again some modifications of those discussed in the previous
pages, so that we can obtain a mix of effects, properly dosed, such
that the produced photorealistic resolution meets the need of the
moment. In fact, it will depend very much on the objective that we want
to pursue; more or less emphasizing certain areas by appropriately
positioning the lights, rather than some object or the scene in its overall
harmony.

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Tips & Tricks

In this paragraph we collect a summary of the recommendations

provided in the previous pages.

Insert the openings in the not-visible

Openings and lighting walls and move the position of the sun
so that it
Create a project containing a display
box. The size of this container
environment can be very large (like it
Display box
was a shed) and the necessary
openings will be inserted in it in order to
let enough soft light enter into the room
In the reality there are contrasts that are
Color and brightness real effects. Anyway, you can increase
indoor surfaces the bounces of indirect light or to
increase the photons of the Photon Map
Create a new material starting from the
plaster present in the database to
assign a different texture. You cannot
proceed as for previous versions in
Wall color
which you changed only the color using
the Color command. Also for the new
rendering engine there is a display
order: Color – Material - Coating
Increase, if possible, the walls height
and then the inserting point of the bulb.
Avoid overexposed areas
Or decrease its light intensity by the
of the bulbs
addition of natural light entering the
room also through provisional openings
Use a software program for photo
retouching of the textures and for
Photo retouching rendering image, for adding wallpapers
or for improving the saturation, the
brightness, the contrast
Lighting Analyze one single light source at a

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 time in order to better understand its
effect, turning off the other present light
sources
Insert a spotlight directed upwards to
further illuminate the ceiling, if it is too
dark. Use a rectangular shape whose
Lighting of the ceiling
size is at least half of the ceiling and
increase the Penumbra parameter until
values like 300%
Verify that the created point of view is
Completely white or black inside the project: in fact, it may be
image inside the thickness of the wall or just
outside
To create a rendering from above,
Images from above increase the height of the room walls.
Avoid hiding ceiling
Perform partial rendering to speed up
the process of calibration when you
Partial images analyze, for example, the result of the
light effect on a tile or of a material
applied on a 3d element
If the walls are dark, a first step may be
to assign an advanced material (for
Walls brightness example, plaster) to the walls of the
project. If this is not enough, you need
more light to reach the walls
Not deformed vertical Use the N button to normalize the
walls navigation view
Prepare a series of high resolution
Render Job render jobs to be performed at a later
time, for example at night
Increase the size of the light beam and
Shadows nuance increase the percentage of the
penumbra area

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 Place two spotlights inside the furniture
item. One of them will be pointing up
Abat-jour lamp simulation
while the other one will be pointing
down
Increase the Refraction Number
parameter for the transparency of
several consecutive surfaces
Transparencies (consequently, also increase the
Rebounds Maximum Number parameter
which usually is the sum of Refraction
Number + Reflection Number)
Assign to the tiles a material with the
Overexposed areas of
Highlight Reflection Balance
the tiles
parameter set to a low value

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 ESTIMATE

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Once the designing phase has been completed, after having tiled and
inserted the elements into the room, the program allows to obtain, in
automatic, the calculation of the material and the financial estimate of
the project.

This chapter describes how to:

4 obtain the estimate of the tile quantities as well as the list of

sanitaryware, accessories, furniture units, belonging to the planned
room;

4 associate, when necessary, the appropriate price list with each

product;

4 modify the estimate or supplement it with items not generated

automatically;

4 use discounts and/or burdens;

4 display the final estimate in a detailed or summary manner.

It is very important to remember that there is only one copy of the

estimate related to the current project, even though there may be
several View... windows open at the same time with different solutions
in them.

The displayed estimate is the one related to the state of the project at
the time when the Calculate command was run.
It follows that, if you are interested in comparing different solutions,
also from a financial point of view, it is necessary, for each variant
proposed, to request an updated calculation and the relative printout of
the new estimate.

Alternatively, if you wish to keep all the variants of the project stored
with the associated estimates, it would be sufficient to generate several
copies of the project by using the Save as command of the File menu
in the Project Management framework.

In order to access the estimate functions it is necessary to have a

project open (a new project being created or an existing project called
up from the database) and select the Estimate item from the File
menu.

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Criteria to calculate the quantity of material

By selecting the Estimate ® Estimate management ® Recalculate

command from the File menu, the program generates an updated bill
of materials with all the elements and products for tiling inserted up to
that time. If the calculation of the estimate concerns a Multi-room
project, the program queries if you want to subdivide the estimate per
rooms or not.

The automatic bill of materials is characterized by the list of products

broken down into two large groups:

a) furnishing elements, sanitaryware, furniture units, accessories, etc...

b) products for floor and wall tiling.

In the first case all the objects with a graphic symbol used in the
project and for which their inclusion in the estimate has been expressly
requested, automatically enter the bill, as well as all the elements
inserted in the project through the Element… command from the Draw
menu.

Whereas, with respect to the products for tiling walls and floor, the
necessary quantity is calculated in relation to:

17. the shape and size of the surfaces to be tiled;

18. formats and laying plans used for the tiling.

The surface of the object can be determined through the Room area
command from the Miscellaneous menu. If the project is a multiroom
the dimension of the active room in square meters is displayed, that is
the one we are working on.
More in detail, the criteria followed in determining the quantity of
product sold are as follows:

4 the origin or point of departure of the automatic laying plan is fixed at

the first corner inserted while designing the room. With respect to
this, it should be remembered that the choice of the origin of the
laying development direction (choice that the operator can set as he
wants) somehow affects also the final quantity of product to be used,
that is to say that, as it happens in the reality, waste and

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 compensation cuts near walls inevitably result different depending on
the development direction of laying: for floors, for example, the more
the out of square walls are, the higher the difference can be;

4 on completing one wall, the next one continues with the completion
of the tile that may have been split (you do not start again with a
whole tile)

4 if there are no other indications, the panel chosen for the walls is
used for all vertical surfaces, whereas the one chosen for the floor is
used for all horizontal surfaces;

4 the tiling is developed automatically for all the surfaces that can be
tiled; alternatively, it is possible to indicate the single surfaces to be
tiled, or rather the ones where tiling already applied is to be
eliminated; the possible choices concern:

4 single walls;

4 low walls;

4 belts in masonry (shelf for flush/semi-flush fitting washbasin)

4 floor;

4 flush-fitting bathtubs;

4 platforms;

4 objects and elements in masonry that can be tiled;

4 the following elements, if they are placed on the floor and/or adjacent
to walls, automatically remove from the estimate, the tiles of floor and
walls that they cover:

4 Low walls;

4 platforms;

4 bathtubs in masonry;
4 objects drawn by the Draw à Object… command;

4 all the furnishing elements that have been modified through the
Modify button from the Database à Furnishing elements
menu.

It is possible to modify every furnishing element by setting one

or more areas of the object a peculiarity that allows to remove
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 from the estimate those tiles that are covered with such areas
during the project phase;

4 the tiling of bathtubs and shower booths is automatically based upon

the following rule:

4 flush-fitting bathtub and shower base in ceramics: the program

tiles the sides of the bathtub and does not tile the covered
surfaces (floor and wall);

4 hydro-massage shower booths/bathtubs: the program tiles the

covered surfaces (floor and walls) but not the sides

4 the shelves in masonry are not tiled on the underside

4 the insertion of areas that can be tiled, or special compositions or

single tiles upon an existing tiling, through the Draw à Add Tiles…
command, causes the automatic deletion from the estimate of the
pre-existing material covered by the new insertion;

4 each wall is tiled considering it as a single wall, following the

calculation criterion for non-whole tiles hereafter: it counts each
portion less than half a tile as a half tile and each portion greater than
half a tile as a whole tile. If there is a half tile in the total it is then
rounded up to a whole tile;

4 the theoretical amount, calculated on the basis of the rules given

above, may be increased by means of a waste percentage,
indicated by the operator, to contemplate any breakage during
working process;

4 the quantity thus obtained is then rounded up to the whole pack of

product, in relation to the number of pieces in each pack, and thereby
determines the quantity sold given in the estimate.
4 All tiles inserted through a forced action by the I key (see “Forced
insertion of a tile” at page) do not remove the underlying tiles.

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Variable factors in the estimate: waste,
discounts, increases

The operator settings and subsequently the modifications brought to

certain parameters may affect the determination of the material
quantity and the evaluation of the estimate.

It is not obligatory to set these parameters at the project opening; at

any time it is always possible to establish their value and then request
a calculation of the estimate, by applying the active values at that
moment.

There are two types of parameters customization:

4 at a general project data level;

4 at a single lines of the estimate level.

Normally, except for product discount, the value set on the detail line of
the estimate is predominant and exclusive (in this case the value set at
a project level is not used in this line).

Project parameters

%_waste percentage of waste or increase in the calculation

of the quantity of material for any defect or
breakage that may occur during laying;

price_type it can take on values from 0 to 9 and it defines

the type of percentage of discount/burden (whose
values are obtained from the associated table of
the price list) to apply to the basic price of each
product: it is an alternative to the following
discount/burden fields

%_discount1 first discount percentage in cascade generally

applied to the basic price of all the estimate
items;

%_discount2 second discount percentage in cascade generally

applied to the basic price of all the estimate
items;

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%_discount3 third discount percentage in cascade generally
applied to the basic price of all the estimate
items;

discount_sum flat rate discount on the total estimate;

%_burden percentage of burden generally applied to all the

items of the estimate;

burden_sum flat rate burden on the total estimate;

choice it can take on the values "1", "2" or "3" and
identifies the quality of the material (“1” means
first grade material) determining, as a
consequence, also the related price table within
the price list

Estimate line parameters

% waste percentage of waste that can be diversified for

each tiling product, replacing the percentage set
at a project level;

% discount percentage of discount that can be diversified for

each product, in addition to the percentages set
at a project level; it is an alternative for the
following price type field;

price type it can take on the values from 0 to 9 and defines

the type of discount/burden percentage (whose
values are taken from the associated price list
table) to apply to the base price: it is the price
type that can be diversified for each product, in
place of the price type set at a project level;
choice it can take on the values "1", "2" or "3" and
identifies the quality of material (“1” means first
grade material) determining, as a consequence,
also the related price table within the price list; it
can be diversified for each product, it replaces
the choice set at a general estimate level. By
modifying this value, also the price value is
automatically updated and immediately displayed
in the box with the same name so that the user is
able to verify the exactness of the selection
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 made; whereas the Discounted price value is
updated only after closing the Estimate line
window. Modifying this value, affects the price
choice within the current price list only: if later on
the current price list is modified, this value must
be set again.;

N. pieces this is the number of pieces inside the project;

N. packs it allows to modify forcibly, in special cases, the

number of packs calculated automatically by the
program. Since automatic recalculation cancels
any manual setting, this operation is only
worthwhile after the automatic calculation
considered being the final one;

Price it automatically takes on the value found in the

price list, but it can be manually modified by
entering a new value in it: this last one remains
stored until when you decide to make an
initializing operation and a recalculation of the
whole estimate.

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Displaying and modifying the Estimate

Each line of the estimate identifies a different product, characterized by

the most significant information (see description of the content of each
database) and gives, for each product, the amount necessary for
realizing the project.

The automatic list price searching criterion that the program uses, is
set while entering the project information (see “New Project” at page
49) by selecting the type of price list to be used in the Estimate
calculation mode field. This choice can be changed at any time by
selecting the Project Data command from the File menu. If the current
price list type is modified, it is necessary to recalculate the estimate by
virtue of the fact that this operation involves initializing all the estimate
computational values. You are requested then, to pay particular
attention to all those values (Parameters of estimate line) manually
modified, as they are re-initialized at the moment of the price list
change.

It is besides possible to use the Miscellaneous à Room area

command from the Layout window to know the entity of the total area
of the layout or of the active room if it is about a multiroom project.

By virtue of the fact that the user can update the Internal Price list by
importing the Supplier Price list prices in it basing on a different
currency, the selection of a price list rather than the other one, also
determines the currency to be used in the project framework.

Among the lines of the estimate, the only ones automatically quoted
are those containing products identified by a precise article code (the
supplier's article code), which in database is associated both with a
graphic symbol and with a List Price.

For all other products, which the graphic symbol is not associated with
any specific product (neutral tiles, furnishing elements, etc.) it is
necessary to do the quotation through the special Modify function in
order to calculate them in the global amount of the project.

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 Highlight the desired line with the LH Mouse and then select the
Modify button to modify one of the estimate lines. The command
activates the Estimate line window, where all the characteristic data of
the product
automatically acquired
by the basic archives
are given.
For the lines relative to
products whose graphic
symbol is not
associated at origin
with any article code,
the generic product can be identified and replaced with the specific
product in two ways:

19. by searching, either in the Internal Price List (L.I.) or in the

Supplier Price List (L.F.), the product you wish to include in the
estimate. Confirmation of the product causes the automatic transfer
of all its data from the price list to the estimate;

20. By keying in directly, if the product has no reference in any price

list, all the descriptive and financial data needed to calculate and
print out the estimate.

Anyway, both for coded products (mainly tiles), automatically quoted,

and for products manually matched with the price list, the fields of the
generated estimate line that can be directly modified are those

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indicated in the previous paragraph (see “Variable factors in the
estimate: waste, discounts, increases“ at page).
Finally, there are two other functions that allow to complete and define
the project estimate:

4 by selecting the Delete button it is possible, upon confirmation, to

delete the selected lines from the estimate. Selection can be single,
single and sequential in a random order (one line by one line) or per
blocks. The single selection is made by keeping the Ctrl key pressed
and singly selecting each line. The selection per blocks is made by
keeping the Shift key pressed and selecting in sequence the first and
then the last line of the block: so doing, even all the lines in-between
are selected. The selected lines are highlighted with a different color.

4 by selecting the New button, the program allows to key in complete

new lines of estimate that can be used to insert all the items that are
not generated automatically as they are not associated with any
graphic symbol (e.g., plumbing fittings, glue, putty and other eventual
material for tiles laying, labour, etc..).

It should be stressed that the Project estimate window can be

modified in its dimensions by drugging its borders.

Besides it shows up four boxes of total amounts that respectively

contain:

Net total amount of the project net of all discounts

made at the various levels;

VAT total VAT amount applied to each product

according to the related rates;

Gross total amount of the project inclusive of V.A.T.

Value total amount including the lump sums of

discounts and increases.

These amounts, automatically calculated at the time of generating the

estimate, are also directly and immediately updated with every
modification brought both to the project parameters and to the single
lines of the estimate.

In the same Project estimate window there is also the fast Print quick
command that, in addition to the diversified printing functions (see
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“Printouts“ at page), already in this framework allows to obtain a first
detailed printout of the estimate.

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Fixed components of the estimate

It is possible to create some standard estimate items, so that they are

always automatically included each time a material calculation is
made.
Items such as Glue, Transport and Laying work can be pre-coded to
be always included in the estimates. These items, can be modified or
deleted at any time, exactly as any other item in the estimate: you can
therefore interpret this function as a “memorandum” helping in not
forgetting the insertion of collateral items not directly managed by the
program.
When the project is closed, activate the Automatic estimate function
from the Database à Application data menu.

The dialog window that appears has the same structure as the one for
the project estimate. It is possible to enter new items, modify or delete
the existing ones and finally enable/disable the automatic insertion
mechanism, thanks to the Enable automatic estimate check box that
is located in the bottom left side.

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Linked codes

When the project is closed, activate the Estimate by linked codes…

function from the Database à Application data menu in order to
check the possible presence of linked codes into the modular furniture
and furnishing elements catalog.
Linked codes are NOT graphic elements that only appear in the
estimate, following up to the insertion of the parent code: it is then an
“explosion” of the structural components of a furnishing element.
By way of example, when inserting a kitchen wall unit in the project,
the Estimate by linked codes function allows to let appear in the bill,
more than the wall unit itself, also possible codes of its components
such as fixing screws, internal shelves, closing caps, etc…: of course,
these structural elements are not usually managed at a graphic level,
so the only way to see them in detail is the so-said “linked codes”
mode.

ATTENTION:

This function is disabled in normal installations that do not include price

lists for modular furniture or accessories provided by manufacturer
companies, therefore, if when activating the function, nothing happens,
this means that in the project there are not furnishing elements with
linked codes.

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Exporting the estimate

By selecting the Export... command it is possible to create and save a

text file with any name through the Save dialog-box: this file contains
the information about all the products included in the estimate. The file
can be imported into the company's management system in order, for
example, to automate the warehouse management or for other specific
needs.
The exportation function has got the possibility to export the Exit file
both in ASCII text Format (TXT) and in Excel Format (XLS).
Finally if the manufacturer firm has got a B2B system (Business to
Business) it is possible the estimate of the realized project with the
program direct to the Business Intelligence system of the firm. For
these kind of programs please contact the manufacturer of the
program to receive further and updated information.

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 PRINTOUTS

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The program allows to obtain, in very easy and flexible way, various
printouts of projects and archive contents: single, partial or global
printouts in various sequences. Print command are available into
“Tools” ribbon from the “Layout” window.

This chapter describes how to obtain:

4 graphic printouts of a project;

4 printouts, in various forms, of the project estimate;

4 printouts of basic archives;

4 printouts of images.

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Create on paper

This command allows you to create a file containing a

complete documentation of a project from the layout to the
perspective views as well as image rendering and estimate.
The
command
uses print
models in
.docx
format of
Microsoft
Office
2007
and/or
higher.
The document filled out automatically is then opened in the program by
using Microsoft Office 2007, if installed on your computer, or by using
an internal editor, according to the choice you can make in the
Options window.

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Once the dialogue box is opened, you can
select the print template from the Model
menu. The models are .docx files that can
be edited and/or created ex-novo: they
must be placed inside the folder
…\DomuS3D2010\Stampe.
On the left side of the Layout options
folder, you can select the walls whose
tables are placed in the print file.
In the upper side
you can select the
image resolution
you want to lay out.
In the lower part you
can choose either to save the created
document as an attachment to the project or to export it as a .docx
external file which can then be managed and manipulated with
Microsoft Office 2007. Once you select a template, you can see the
preview on the same name folder.

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If this option is enabled, by confirming the document
generation, it will open automatically, immediately after being
generated, in a separate window.

Image above: an example of a .docx file opened into a DomuS3D

windows using Microsoft Word.
Immagine below: a document opened with a .docx internal editor.

The document can be customized with any manual changes you wish
to make.
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Create on web

This command allows you to create pages of technical

prints in html format available in a browser. Like the case
described in the previous paragraph, even in this mode it is
possible to use
suitably prepared
print templates
that the software
will fill out with
data from the
current project.
The prev_default
prev_default_img
models are used
to make estimate
prints.

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Graphic printout of the project

The Print command allows you directly print

the active window.
From the Layout window,
by enabling this command,
you can enter the dialogue
box in order to choose the
printing device, then you will
have
to
choose
the
scale
factor. If you do not know
what value to indicate, you
should enable the Maximum
size choice that optimizes
the image size according to
the size of the print media.

Printout Panels, Modify

Tiling, Navigation windows

The Print command allows to obtain

the graphic printing in high resolution of
the panel, from the Modify panel
window.
By selecting the command, the Image
Features dialog-box is activated. It

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allows to customize the features of the graphic image that will be
generated; in particular in the Image dimension boxes it is possible to
define the number of Pixels for printing in the horizontal (X) and in the
vertical (Y) directions. The quality of the printout is in function of the
number of pixels set: the higher is this number, the higher the printing
quality will be (in compatibility with the features of the printer and with
the desired response times)

Each printout, except for the graphic printout of the panel, includes an
informative sheet which position and contents can be customized.

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Printout of the project estimate

Besides the quick command for the detailed printout of the estimate,
that can be activated with the Print command in the Estimate window,
it is also possible to request diversified printouts with the Print
command of the Estimate sub-menu in the File menu.

You should remind that, as in the case of visualization, the printed data
are the ones updated at the moment the Calculation command was
run for the last time: therefore, possible modifications made at a later
time are not included. So, it is very important to always recalculate the
estimate immediately before printing or displaying it.
The printout of the estimate includes all the information about the
customer the project is made out to. The printing options are:

Total printout detailed printout of the estimate, which lists, for

each item, the quantity, the unit price and the net
total amount.

Printout by category printout of the contents of the estimate

summarized by product category, with total
amounts at category level

Printout by supplier printout of the contents of the estimate

summarized by supplier, with total amounts at
supplier level

Materials printout detailed printout of the estimate without unit

prices and total amount

Summary detailed printout of the estimate without unit

prices but with total amount

Tiles printout of the contents of the estimate

concerning tiles only, with unit prices and total
amounts

Furnishing elements printout of the contents of the estimate

concerning furnishing elements, with unit prices
and total amounts.
Tiles graphics… It gives the printout of a graphic and information
note for each laying material in the estimate

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If the project is formed by a multi-room, and you have chosen to
calculate the estimate for each room, you will always get separate
printouts for each room.

Using the Print command from the Estimate window it is possible to

obtain a detailed graphic print as the one shown in the picture below.

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Project summarized printout

When you are in navigation mode (Navigate view window), you can
run a summarized printout of the project through the File à Project
summarized printout… command.
This function allows to obtain on a single page:

4 The image of the environment during navigation that is on the screen

at the moment the command is run (therefore it is suggested to find a
good shot before)

4 A summing up table with the both graphic and information detail of all
tiles employed in the project

4 An informative sheet with all general data of the project

The following image shows an example of printout obtain through this

command.

Though it is possible to print with both horizontal and vertical paper

orientations, in order to better exploit the printing area, we suggest to
set the horizontal option (LANDSCAPE).

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Printout of the basic archives

For some of the basic archives examined, among other functions,

there is also a function that enables to print out the contents, which
includes printing the image of the object associated with the
information data characterizing it.

This function is activated by selecting the Print command from the

sub-menus accessed from the Database menu.

The printing process is the same for all archives: the Print command
activates the Selection type dialog-box allowing, according to the
usual procedure, the selection and the choice of the elements to be
printed.
Confirmation of the choice automatically activates the standard Print
window and then, upon another confirmation, sends the file to be
printed to the associated printer.
The printing function arranges the paging up so as to dispose the
selected elements in groups of three per page.

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Panel sheet printout

Among possible printouts of basic archives, there is one concerning

the panels that deserves a particular notice for its practical utility.
Through the Database à Panels à Print panel informative sheet…
command, it is possible to print, for each panel, a detailed informative
sheet regarding its laying plan and the tile composing it.
The following image shows an example of the printout obtained
through this command.

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Printouts of images

The program is able to print images of any format.

These images may be generated by the program itself through the
specific Generate image, Create image functions, present in several
menus, or they can be directly acquired by a scanner or taken from
any magnetic support.

Select the Print image... command from the File menu to access the
printing function of the images. In this way it is possible:
4 in the Select image dialog-box, to select, with the LH Mouse, the
directory and the file related to the image to be printed

4 to display the selected image by activating the Preview selection box

4 to activate, with the OK button, the subsequent standard Printing
window and then, upon confirmation, send the file to be printed to the
associated printer.

Or, by selecting the Load image ... command from the File menu, it is
possible:
4 In the Open dialog box, to select the directory and the file related to
the image to be loaded and press the OK button with the LH Mouse.
4 To choose the Print command from the File menu which
automatically activates the standard Printing window and then, after
confirmation, sends the file to be printed to the associated printer.
4 To display, through the Update icons button in the area below, a
preview of all types of images indicated in the File type field
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In both cases, the image is printed together with its information, and
apart from the original dimension, it is re-scaled in proportion, by fully
exploiting the printing area available in relation to the defined format
and to the chosen printing orientation.

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 3D TILES

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The 3D Tiles module allows to design working tops and laying plans
by using tiles having composite 3-dimensional formats. The design of
the above said elements is not indeed much different with respect to
the normal designing method with plain tiles.

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Designing working tops

In order to design a tiled working top, you must first build the 3-
dimensional object (see “How to draw an object” at page 118)
representing the masonry element where the tiles will be laid on. Then,
while defining and building the object, it is extremely important to
exactly calculate its size and keep into account all the features of the
tiles and the grout so that, after having laid the first tiles, you will not
have to re-draw the object because its dimensions are wrong. If this
event happens, and you have to delete the object and re-draw it, all the
already inserted tiles will be inevitably deleted together with the object.
After having drawn and positioned the object, in order to go on with
laying the tiles it is necessary to do the following:
21. Create a perspective view (see “How to draw an object” at page
118) that includes the surface where tiles are to be laid on.
22. Select the Modify tiling command from the Modify menu, and
select the surface where tiles are to be laid on.

By doing so, the Modify tiling window opens and, in it, the outline of
the selected surface is displayed, with the same orientation of the
layout.

Creation of the insertion grid

After opening the Modify tiling window,

proceed with insertion of tiles. For an easy
and correct laying of the tiles on the
working top, you will use the Tile insertion
grid.
The insertion grid is a grating, with
dimension and direction that can be
customized, where it is easier to correctly lay tiles. It is a visual helping
tool that allows to design a working top in a fast and simple manner.

The pace of the grid can be customized, this can be done by selecting
the Set grid parameters command from the Draw menu. In the
dialog-box that follows, enter all the desired values for the grout and for
the X and Y pace (that is to say the tile dimensions).

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But the grout value cannot be always set prior: sometimes it could be
in function of the working top length and of the tile dimension. With
respect to this, the program provides a function to determine the
optimum value for the grout, given the length to be covered in the
working top and the tile dimension.

Select the Calculate grid

parameters command from the
Draw menu, set the length to be
covered and the dimension of the tile
to use, then push the Calculate
button.
Automatically, the dimension expressed in millimeters of the grout will
appear in the Grout value box, and the maximum number of tiles
needed to make a laying plan with the grout will be given in the Tile
number field. By activating the Change number box, it will be
possible to decrease the number of tiles to use and to recalculate (by
pressing the Calculate button again) the optimum value of the grout.

After having set the grid, go on by inserting it in the working window.

Select, from the Draw menu, the Create tile insertion grid command
and do the following steps:

4 Select the base point (Origin) of the grid. For precisely positioning the
base point, activate the usual Pick window with the RH Mouse (see
“Precise tile positioning by means of a reference system” at
page 138).

4 Define, by identifying two points, the line according to which the grid
has to develop

In this way, the grid will be created and it will remain visible on the
screen until the Modify tiling window will be closed: the grid is a
temporary apparent element that is not stored and no trace remains of
it.

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 Insertion of 3D tiles in the grid

After having
created the grid,
go on by laying
the 3D tiles on
the working top.
Select the Add
tile command
from the Draw
menu and press
the RH Mouse
so as to not
refer the tile to
any pre-existing
tile, and choose
the tiles from
the database.
Do the selection through the Tile selection window.
After the selection is done, the tile is made available at cursor and it is
ready to be positioned. When passing over the grid with the tile at
cursor, each box interested by the passage becomes sensitive (it takes
on a black color) and ready to receive it if clicked
with the LH Mouse. If the box already contains a
tile, it is red and passing over it with the mouse, it
takes on a blue color. The box highlighted also has
a square in one of its corners: the square represents the insertion point
where the cursor will converge.
During positioning always take into account the orientation of the tile at
cursor with respect to the grid.
For a correct positioning of the tile you can proceed either by moving
the position of the square on the grid or the position of the cursor along
the corners of the tile:
4 By pressing the G key, it is possible to move the square on the grid
to another vertex, the movement is anticlockwise at each pressure of
the key.

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4 By pressing the P key, it is possible to move the insertion point at
cursor, without giving any rotation, to another corner of the tile,
movement is clockwise at each pressure of the key.
4 By pressing the + key, it is possible to rotate the tile of 45°, rotation
is anticlockwise at each pressure of the key.
4 By pressing the - key, it is possible to rotate the tile of 45°, rotation
is clockwise at each pressure of the key.
4 By pressing the R key, it is possible to rotate the tile of the desired
degree by entering the value in the Rotation box.

After having set the position of the square on the grid and the
orientation of the tile, click in sequence into each box with the LH
Mouse, to select where to position the tile. Press the RH Mouse to
end insertion.
Repeat all operation explained since now for all types of 3D tiles
necessary to complete the working top.

In order to modify the positioned tiles, in the Modify ® Tile menu, only
the Delete and Copy commands are available.

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Laying 3D Tiles in a panel

All plain tiles having an irregular outline that is not included in the
standard formats provided may belong to the 3D tiles typology. Their
insertion in a panel is made in the same way as all other tiles (see
“How to create a new Panel“ at page 132) with, some more remarks
and attention.

For the insertion of a tile, you can use the I key to forcibly overlap the
tile over one already laid in the panel. This function is very useful for
the insertion of “Button” or “Decorated tiles” .

The laying of a 3D tile in the final part of the panel, sometimes leads to
display some empty areas in the belt containing the tile. This empty
area that wrongly appears in the panel, is displayed with the same
color of the grout but it is only a temporary apparent effect that doesn’t
affect the right application of the panel when generating the image of
the room.

The generation of a 3-dimensional image of the room where 3D tiles

have been laid, either in a panel or in a working top, is made with the
usual commands:

4 Navigate;

4 Create images in Photo-realistic Rendering mode.

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Aligning the working top grout to the one of the
wall tiling

The building of a working top often involves making its grouts align with
those of the tiling so achieving an optic effect of continuity between the
two perpendicular planes. After having built the working top and
applied tiling to walls, select the Modify tiling command from the
Modify menu indicating the wall adjacent to the working top.

In this way the Modify tiling window opens: in it the tiling of the
selected wall and the row of 3D tiles of the working top adjacent to
walls are displayed.

In order to transfer the wall tiling in such a way that the grout coincides
with the grout of the working top, select the Modify tiling position
command from the Modify ® Tiling menu (see “How to modify the
tiling of an area or a frame“ at page 155).

For this kind of modification, it is suggested to

use the Detailed positioning and select Origin on
X. By selecting the wall tiling and identifying, also
with the help of a Pick dialog-box that can be
activated with the RH Mouse, a corner of the 3D
tile located on the right of the grout, this corner is
automatically transferred in such a way that
grouts are perfectly aligned.

If there is more than one wall adjacent to the working top, repeat the
above said operations for each of them.

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 PHOTO-3D

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Before illustrating the commands related to this function, it is
necessary to explain what it is.
This function allows to work, interactively, on photographic pictures of
actual interiors to bring any king of modification to them, from the
replacement of floor or tiling, up to the introduction in the room of new
3-dimensional furnishing elements. Replacement of floors and wall
covering is not in any way bounded to the size of the existing tiles. Any
size of tile, as well as laying plan, may be applied.
In order to be able to carry out this function, it is necessary to have an
image in a bitmap format (.bmp) of the actual layout with related
dimensions of the room.
It is not necessary the image to be very big: the screen resolution
dimension is enough, or a little bigger, so that the image is easily
visible.
It is very important to know exactly the real dimensions or distances of
some elements in the room in order to re-construct the exact geometric
perspective of the room in 1:1 scale: this will obviously have a
significant consequence, not only in the graphic impact, but also in the
precision of the Estimate calculation.

Creation of a new Photo-3D project

In order to create a new Photo-3D project, first of all it is necessary to

start manually drawing a new Layout (see “Room layout drawing:
Manual drawing” at page 57) of the room which image has to be
processed: it is very important that the first point (the one having the
0,0,0 coordinates) corresponds to a vertex on the floor that can be
seen in the photographic picture. Once the construction of the room
layout has been completed, you can proceed by creating a new Photo-
3D Project.
By activating the New project command from the Advanced
Graphics è Photo-3D menu, the program shows the New Photo-
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3D project dialog window: enter the name of the project in the Name
field and select the image from the Select image dialog-box activated
through the special search buttons. After having selected the image, its
name is automatically inserted in the Image file field and the image
appears on the screen in preview.
Confirm with the OK key: at this point the program opens the Photo-
3D project (project name) work window, with the selected image.

Insertion of constraints

Constraints are nothing but points (pixels) of the image that somehow
identify some real reference points (as for example the coin of a
cabinet, of a wall, of the tiles). Coordinates of these points must be
taken from the actual room and it is important to know their real
distances with respect to the point of origin of the layout (0,0,0). It is
very important to know the exact coordinates of these points; otherwise
the final result will not be satisfactory, nor reliable.
The choice of points is simple: as the sense of the operation is to allow
the program re-building the 3-dimensional room according to the
photographic picture, it is obvious that all the points included in the
picture, that could be certain point of references (coins of walls, coins
of tiles which size is known, etc.) have to be identified: also the
coordinates and distances in the reality of these points must be known.
The insertion of a new constraint is made by selecting
the New constraint command from the View menu
and indicating a point of the image with the LH
Mouse. After selecting each point, the Constraint
Properties window automatically appears; in it you
have to enter the X, Y, Z, coordinates correspondent
to that point, always with respect to the origin (0,0,0)
of the layout.
To enter new constraints, repeat the operation just
described remembering that you have to set at least five
constraints, not more than three of them belonging to the same
surface.
Once a constraint has been inserted, it could be moved, deleted or it is
possible to modify its Room Coordinates.

In order to move a constraint, click with the RH Mouse on it, then

activate the Move command from the contextual menu, or the Move
constraint… command from the View menu and then select the

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constraint to be moved. Indicate with the LH Mouse the new point on
the image and re-enter the X, Y, Z coordinates related to that point,
into the Constraint Properties dialog-window.

In order to delete a constraint, click with the RH Mouse on it, then

activate the Delete command from the contextual menu, or the Delete
constraint… command from the View menu, then select the constraint
and confirm its deletion.

In order to re-define the Room Coordinates of a constraint, click with

the RH Mouse on it, then activate the Properties command from the
contextual menu, or the Constraint Properties… command from the
View menu, select the constraint and enter the new X, Y, Z
coordinates corresponding to that point in the Constraint Properties
dialog-box

During the constraints insertion and modification operation, the + and

- keys are always active and allows respectively Zoom In and Zoom
Out operations.

Constraints Identification

After having inserted all the necessary constraints, create a

perspective view as similar as possible to the perspective of the image
(for a better identification of constraints). Then select the Hook view
parameters from the View menu to associate the image constraints
with the room coordinates previously traced in the layout and select in
the Window Selection dialog-box the reference perspective view
previously created. At this point the processing phase starts: the
program tries, collecting all the information acquired, to re-build the
right perspective angle shot the picture has been taken with. If the
result of the processing is positive, the program passes to the next
phase, otherwise it is necessary to repeat the operation trying to give
more constraints or modifying the perspective view.

Selection of the surface to be modified

If the perspective view re-construction is successful, you can go on by

selecting the part or the parts of the image wanted to be modified.

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The operations hereafter described, must be done surface by surface
(e.g. first the floor, then a wall at a time, then a low wall and so on for
all the surfaces wanted to be covered with a new laying plan).

After having activated the Add

selection command from the
Selection menu, draw a polygon
with the LH Mouse going over the
perimeter of the surface intended
to be modified (this operation is
called, with a technical term,
“Outlining”): each time a point of
the polygon is indicated wrongly,
press the RH Mouse to go back to
the previous point. To end the
selection of surface to be modified
press two times in sequence the
LH Mouse. Once the selection
has been interrupted, it is possible
to go on selecting other surfaces,
by repeating the operations above.
For a better selection it is possible, during the operation, to enlarge the
image by using the + key and to reduce it, up to the original
dimension, by using the - key.

It could happen that, inside a surface to be modified, there is an object

that has not to be selected. To avoid selecting it, it is possible to act in
two ways:

4 making the selection in such a way that the object is not selected (for
example splitting the surfaces into a patchwork of several polygons
selected)

4 selecting the whole surface, and then deducting from the selection
the object in it. In this way the Deduct selection command from the
Selection menu is activated: this command allows to select a
surface that has not to be selected. To select the surface do the
“outlining” operation as above said.

In order to display everything that has been actually selected, there are
two possibilities.

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How to display the selected areas

Activate the Selected image command from the Selection è

Highlight selection menu. This command allows to display, within the
image, the selected areas in negative mode. To go back to the normal
image press the RH Mouse.

How to display the non-selected areas

Activate the Not selected image

command from the Selection è
Highlight selection menu. This
command allows to display, within
the image, the non-selected areas
in negative mode. To go back to
the normal image press the RH
Mouse.

Assigning the selected surface

After the selection of an area

within the photographic image has
been done, it is necessary to
associate this area with the related
surface of the room geometrically
re-created with the program.

By activating the Assign selection to surface command from the

Selection menu, the Window selection dialog-box appears, and it
proposes a list of stored perspective views: select a view containing
the surface and confirm it by pressing the OK button with the RH
Mouse: at this point you are required to indicated the surface of the
room.

If in the Window selection dialog-box there are no views stored, by

pressing the Cancel button with the LH Mouse it would be possible to
create a new view, through the dialog-box for the creation of a New
view.

After having indicated the surface, the program displays again the
Photo-3D project work window where it is possible to select other
surfaces by repeating the same process.

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 Selection Management

The program stores each selection associated with each surface and,
even if this one is deleted or cancelled, it could be recovered at any
time to be modified. If a selection is modified, it is always necessary to
associate it with the related surface.

The commands for the selection management are as follows:

How to modify the selection

Activate the Modify selection command from the Selection menu and
select the polygon or the selection area intended to be modified with
the LH Mouse. This command allows, by doing the same operations
made during the surface selection process, to continue the selection or
cancel the last points, since the selection polygon is hooked at the last
point previously inserted.

How to delete the selection

Activate the Delete selection command from the Selection menu and
select the selection area to be deleted with the LH Mouse. This
command allows to delete only one selection area at a time.

How to cancel the selection/s

By activating the Cancel selection command from the Selection

menu, all selections previously done will be automatically cancelled,
upon confirmation.

How to load a selection that has been already assigned to a

surface

Activate the Load surface selection from the Selection menu. This
command allows to recover a selection already assigned to a surface.
Select, into the Window selection dialog-box, a perspective view and,
through the LH Mouse, the surface which the selection to be
recovered has been previously assigned to.
Automatically the program goes back to the Photo-3D Project window
making the polygon of the selection available.
If in the Window Selection dialog-box there are no stored views, by
pressing the Cancel button with the LH Mouse, it would be possible to

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create a new view, through the dialogue box for the creation of a New
view.

Creation of a new image

In order to create a new image with the tiling modified, it is necessary,

if this has not been done before, to tile the room re-created with the
program.

Activate the New image command from the View menu to generate
the new image. At first, the image will be shown in a summary way into
a small area at the center of the screen, and then it will be shown at full
screen at the end of the generation process. The result is the initial
photographic picture with the tiling of the selected areas modified.

In order to obtain new images with different tiling solutions, it would be

enough, at this stage, to change the tiling to the room surfaces and
create again a new image without having to do any kind of selection
anymore.

It is also possible to build an image by using the photo-realistic

rendering functions. After having carried out all the necessary
operations, you can create the image using the New image command
in the Advanced Graphics è photo-realistic rendering menu..

All the images created are in a bitmap format and have the same
resolution as the initial photograph. These images can be printed (see
“Printouts of images”) and saved as well.
By using the Save image command in the File menu the Save as
dialog-box opens: enter the file name (with .bmp extension) and
choose the directory where this file has to be stored to.
Anyway, if this has not already been done, by closing the Modify
Image window, the program queries if you want to save the image,
avoiding, in this way, the accidental loss of the result of the process
made.

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 Visualization of the furnishing elements

As already said at the beginning of the paragraph, it is also possible to

insert, into the photographic picture, some furnishing elements of the
program with the right proportions and the right perspective. In order to
do this it is necessary, after having inserted the furnishing elements in
the room (see “How to insert furnishing elements into the room” at
page 119), to activate their visualization.

After having activated the Activate furnishing elements command

from the Selection menu and chosen in the Window selection dialog-
box, one of the existing views where to select the elements to be
displayed, select the elements by using the LH Mouse, or moving the
mouse keeping its LH button pressed so as to create a rectangular
area until releasing it: in this manner all the elements inside or even
only intersecting with the selection area are selected. Confirm the
choice and create a new image.

In order to not display the furnishing elements, select the Deactivate

furnishing elements command and do the above-mentioned
operations.

The program, in standard mode, is set up in such a way to not display

the furnishing elements.

Photo-3D projects management

After having finished the processing and quitted a project, it is possible

to load, delete or create a new Photo-3D project.

How to load a Photo-3D project

Activate the Load project command from the Advanced Graphics è

Photo-3D menu and select the project to be loaded in the Photo-3D
projects dialog-box.

How to delete a Photo-3D project

Activate the Delete project command from the Advanced Graphics

è Photo-3D menu and select the project to be deleted in the Photo-
3D projects dialog-box.
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How to create a new Photo-3D project

See “Creation of a new Photo-3D project” at page 329.

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 OTHER FEATURES

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To complete the different interior decoration functions already
described, the program provides some important functions, able to
solve, on request, particular specific requirements and problems.

This chapter describes how to:

4 export and import projects

4 export and import packages

4 generate and manage graphic images of various types

4 associate images of interior decorations with tiles or panels

4 insert dimensions and/or text into the drawing

4 apply bitmaps to objects and surfaces

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Exportation and importation of projects

The program is able to export and import projects provided they have
been created with the same release. What is exported is the geometric
structure of the environment and the references to the codes of the
elements in it, whatever they are tiles, panels or furnishing elements: if
the installation the importation is made to has the same elements
available, the project will be open complete of everything. Should some
elements not be into the project, the reason is why it is not present into
that installation. In order to remedy it, we suggest to use the more
efficient Export package(s)… function described in the next
paragraph.

How to export a project

On selecting the Export projects ... command from the File menu, the
screen shows a dialog-box to select the existing projects: do the
selection and confirm it by clicking the OK button with the LH Mouse.
The selected project can be also displayed by activating the Preview
box and by selecting the type of display (bi-dimensional or three-
dimensional); in order to display other projects, use the scrolling keys.
Through this operation the program generates the .prj export file in the
…\export\projects directory. The file generated in such a way can be
loaded, imported and processed by another installation having the
requirements indicated in the following paragraph.

How to export a project in DXF format

In order to export a project in DXF format, first of all you must open it
within the program. By selecting the Export in DXF format ...
command from the File menu, the Save as dialog-box automatically
appears on the screen. In it, in the special File name box, it is
necessary to enter the name you want to generate the file with. After
having chosen the destination directory too, confirm the operation by
clicking the Save button with the LH Mouse. The file generated in such
a way can be therefore loaded from any other program that is able to
manage the DXF formats.

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Exportation and importation of packages

Unlike the exportation/importation of projects, the function for

packages having the same name, generates a PKG-xxxxxx.pjp file
containing all the components of the project, from tiles to panels and
furnishing elements, with the purpose to be able to load them in
another installation of the program if they are not present. Indeed, by
importing the package to another computer (provided the program
version is the same), the missing components are taken from the
package and automatically installed, allowing to open, always and in
any case, the project complete with everything.

As concerns tiles only, the new components installed through the

package remain at every respect, available to be used in future
projects, just as if they were created or imported directly from there.

An alternative method, then, to quickly import tiles, from an installation

to another, can be therefore to create a project ad-hoc and insert all
components wanted to be exported, in it. Then export the package of
that project to import it to the other installation.

There is besides the possibility of creating a Cd-Rom that contains the

project package and the displayer to be able to display and navigate
them.
The command to be used is the File à Project package à Package
for CD (+Reader).
The program requires to select the projects you have a mind to supply
the customer with; it manages to export the projects and finally starts
the standard procedure Window XP to write the files on the CD through
wizard.
In order to use this functionality it is necessary to have:

4 Operative system window XP or superior.

4 Reader version correctly installed and working (contact the

manufacturer of the program to receive further information)

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Image management

The program is able to generate high quality images related to panels

and/or interior decorations and to store them in special archives for a
successive use.

With respect to this, we remind you the printing function activated with
the Print image... command and the Load image ... command, both in
the File menu.

There is no limit in exporting images that can be also re-used outside

of the program, in other frameworks by other applications.

Likewise, as for tiles, any other image acquired by a scanner can be

used within the program.

How to generate an image

The generation function of an image consists in creating a file

containing the image in realistic rendering of the perspective view on
the screen.
This function can be executed directly or, if preferred, it can be tagged
onto a JOB that can be processed at a later time in automatic mode if
there is not the operator. This allows to carry out operations that take
up quite some time, possibly grouped together with others, at times in
the day when the computer is being used less.

Immediate generation

Select the Generate image... command from the View menu of the
Modify view # xx window to immediately generate the file containing
the image in realistic rendering of the active perspective view; through
the Image features dialog-box it is possible to give the generation
parameters of the image:

4 define, in the related boxes, the value in Pixels of the image to be

generated. Remember that the higher the number of Pixels of the
image is, the higher its quality is, but also the larger the size of the
file containing the image will be.

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4 customize, if you prefer, with the Color button the color that will be
attributed to the background of the image generated
4 confirm the generation of the image with the OK button.

4 Once the generation of the image has been completed, it will be

possible, if wanted to store the image to the hard disk by selecting
the Save image command from the File menu.

Postponed Generation

Select the Create job... command

from the View menu of the
Perspective view # xx window to
prepare for postponed generation of
the file containing the image in
realistic rendering of the active
perspective view; through the Save
job dialog-box it is possible to set the operating parameters useful for
the generation of the image in future times:

4 press the ...File job [.job] button to attribute, through the following
Save as window, the name of the job containing the indications to be
able to build the image at a later time and the directory to put the job
in (the directory: …\imgjobs is automatically proposed)

4 in the Description box, identify the name or contents of the image

that the job will generate

4 press the ...image File [.BMP] button to attribute, through the

following Save as window, the name of the file containing the image
to be generated and the directory to put the file in

4 define, in the special boxes, the value in Pixels of the image to be

generated. Remember that the higher the number of Pixels of the
image is, the higher its quality is, but also the larger the size of the
file containing the image will be.

4 customize, if you want, with the Color button the color that will be
attributed to the background of the image generated

4 confirm the generation of the image with the OK button.

The job creation function is cumulative: this means that it can be

activated from within more than one project, thus allowing to accumulate
several image generation jobs.
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When considered appropriate, it will then be possible to execute the
selected jobs all together and then obtain their respective images
generated without interacting with the computer, which can then
process without the operator being present (for instance at night)

When the project is closed, by selecting the Do jobs... command from

the initial File menu of the program window, the processing of the
stored jobs starts; the list of jobs still to be executed will then appear in
the Image job execution window that is automatically activated:

4 with the LH Mouse, in the job Files [*.job] window, highlight the jobs
planned to be carried out
4 press the Add>> button to insert the selected jobs into the Job(s) to
do window

4 press the Info> button to display additional information about the job
selected with the LH Mouse, in the Job(s) to do window

4 press the Delete<< button to suspend the execution of the job

selected with the LH Mouse, in the Job(s) to do window

4 press the Run button to start processing all the jobs in the Job(s) to
do window

Having completed the execution of the jobs, they are automatically

deleted from the list of jobs waiting to be executed.

Creation of a rendering job

The program allows to generate photo-realistic images by processing

them at a later time (for instance when the computer is not in use).
From the Perspective view #xx window, activate the Advanced
Graphics à Photo realistic rendering à Create job file …
command, or from the Navigation window the command is: Advanced
Graphics à Create image à Create job file…. The program queries
the name of the .rjb file to be stored: we recommend to save this file in
the ...\Imgjobs folder. Finally it is necessary to choose the parameters
of the image in the window with the same name.
When you want to run the so arranged jobs, when the project is close,
select the Run rendering jobs… command from the File menu. The

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program queries to select the .rjb file (you can select even more than
one file, provided they are all included in the same folder: the single
jobs are then processed in sequence). The result of processing is
constituted by .rjb.bmp and .rjb.jpg files containing the photo-realistic
image made.

How to use an image taken by scanner

In the program there is the possibility to insert into an interior layout, on

any of the surfaces shown, images of various nature (commercial
trademarks, persons, landscapes, paintings, etc.) taken by a scanner
and stored in a Bitmap format.

This function is accessed by selecting, from the Modify menu of the

Layout or Modify view # xx windows, the Modify wall tiling... or
Modify floor tiling... commands depending on the surface where you
want to affix the images; the image is affixed as follows:
4 select the Image... command from the Draw menu

4 choose the desired loading type with the appropriate button:

Polygon filling the image selected next will completely fill the
drawn polygon adapting its size to the
dimensions and shape of the polygon

Image dimensions the image selected next will be repeated several

times, adapting its size to the size of the
rectangular sub-areas which the internal area of
the designed polygon is divided into

4 draw the polygon destined to contain the image; this drawing may be
made, through the Pick window, with the same procedures
described for the tiling modification functions (see “Covering areas
and perimeters” at page). When drawing the polygon (generally a
rectangle) start from the down-right vertex and proceed drawing the
perimeter in clockwise direction.
4 in the Image loading window, choose with the appropriate button the
name of the file containing the image and possibly display it with the
Image button

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4 in the event of Loading type = Image dimension, define in the
appropriate boxes the dimension expressed in mm. X and Y of the
rectangles (divisions of the initial polygon) destined to contain the
copies of the image

4 confirm execution of the function with the OK button

Finally, in the Modify menu of the Modify tiling # xx window there are
other two commands to manage this type of image:
4 select the Move image command to modify the position of the image
on the surface displayed. After having chosen the image to be
moved with the LH Mouse, it is necessary to indicate a base point
and where this point must be moved to: the confirmation of the new
point identifies the new position of the image on the surface.
4 select the Delete image command to delete one or more images
chosen with the LH Mouse from the surface displayed.

In order to get a detailed example of this kind of applications see

“Application of images on surfaces” at page.

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Interior decorations: association with Tiles,
Panels, Projects

One function of the program that may turn out to be particularly useful
in certain circumstances is the one connected with the Interior
Decoration button, present in all dialog-boxes managing the files that
contain elements associated with graphic images. In the specific
instance, the archives are: Tiles, Panels, Project, Furnishing Elements.

This function achieves the twofold purpose of:

23. establishing a link between any element and the image of interior
decoration where this element is used and can be displayed

24. automatically calling up this link also in all the other circumstances
where this element is used.

So, by way of example, it is possible to establish an association

between a tile and a particular image that represents an interior
decoration where this tile has been used. Referring to the Tiles archive
and pressing the Interior Decoration button it is possible to show
directly to the customer, examples already made about the use of the
product.

An extension of the employ of this function can be found at a project

level, where this capacity is used to prepare beforehand and rapidly
display several images of the room the customer has asked to be
designed, avoiding to make them at the moment.

The interior decorations inserted refer to images in Bitmap format

present in the: …\bitmap directory; as already illustrated in the above
paragraph, these images can either be generated directly by the
program or acquired by scanner.

How to generate or display an Interior decoration

Select the Interior Decorations... button on the dialog-box managing

the files listed beforehand to obtain the Interior Decorations... # xx
window, where the names of the interior decorations associated with

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the element and the command buttons for their management are
displayed:

4 press the Add button to insert new interior decoration to be

associated with the element. Through the Interior Decoration
dialog-box it is possible to:

4 define the name of the new interior decoration to be added

4 choose the file containing the image with the appropriate Image file
[.bmp] button

4 press the Modify... button to change the name or the file of an

association previously created, using the same procedure described
to add interior decoration

4 press the Delete command to delete, upon confirmation, the interior

decoration selected through the LH Mouse in the Interior
Decoration window

4 press the Info... button to display additional information on the image

selected with the LH Mouse in the Interior Decoration window

4 press the Display button to display directly the image selected with
the LH Mouse in the Interior Decorations window; the image will
disappear when the LH Mouse is pressed again

4 press the Print button to send to the printer the interior decoration
selected with the LH Mouse in the Interior Decorations window

Finally, it should be remarked that the tile-interior decoration

association is generated at the time of saving the project or the panel.
This means it is possible to create this link also for projects and panels
generated prior to the creation of the association, provided they are
called up in modification and you then exit the function with the Save
command.

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Application of images on surfaces

This kind of operation finds its typical operating framework in at least

three practical works that contribute to furnish the environment in
significant way:

4 the application of a graphic image into a frame to form in this way a

picture to be hang on the wall;

4 the realization of a carpet (Persian type) for floor

4 the application of an image behind the glass of a window to simulate

an exterior landscape

How to assembly a picture with a frame

In order to insert an image into a frame, it is necessary to insert the

“frame” furnishing element into the room (see “How to insert
furnishing elements into the room” at page 114).
We suggest to not immediately lean the frame to the wall, but at the
end of the whole operation. Positioning the object at the center of the
room in an isolated site indeed helps the subsequent operation of
selecting the surface to apply the image upon.

From the Layout window, generate a new perspective view through

the View à New view… command. It is important to define a shot of
the perspective view where the surface of the frame is included. In fact,

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from the above said window it is necessary to start the Modify à
Modify Tiling… command and select with a left click of the mouse the
internal area of the frame. At the following query “Select the view
horizontal axis …” it is sufficient to click with the RH mouse button in
any point. Now a new Modify Tiling #xx window opens: it includes, at
full screen, the surface of the selected frame.

In order to activate the image insertion function,

run the Draw à Image… command, and select
the Polygon Filling option from the Loading
type window. At this point, the query “Select the
polygon containing the image…” appears:
select, with the LH Mouse, in sequence, the
corners of the area to be covered starting from the down-right side
corner (represented with the number 1) and proceed in clockwise
direction.
To indicate precisely the corner of the object, it is possible to use the 1
Point command that is in the Pick window opened through the RH
Mouse (see “How to draw a polygon” at page 151).
Of course, like for areas that can be covered, after having selected the
third point of the rectangle, it is necessary to close the selection using
the Close command of the Pick window opened through the RH
Mouse.
Once the selection is closed, the window for the image choice
automatically opens. If you want to choose among images of pictures
by famous authors, we suggest to search a suitable subject in the
…\Bitmap\Pictures directory and in its sub-directories, where there is a
library of famous pictures.
It is also important that the image chosen has a width/height proportion
quite similar to the dimension of the surface it is applied to: the image,
indeed, is extended to fill the whole surface, therefore, if the

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width/length proportion is quite different, the image will result distorted
accordingly.

The image chosen will appear applied to the whole surface. If the
result is not satisfying, you can delete it through the Modify à Image
à Delete image command and repeat the application of a new image.
On the contrary, if it is satisfying, you can close the Modify tiling #xx
window and check, in the navigation window, if the picture is really
complete.
At this point, the only thing to do is to come back to the Layout window
and move the picture from that temporary position to its definitive
position on the wall.

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The “frame” furnishing element with the image can now be handled as
any other element: the image applied is strictly lied to the frame and
follows all modifications brought to it. For example, if you want to
modify the size of the picture through the Modify à Element
dimension… command, the graphic image included is adjusted
accordingly, always granting a good visual impact.

How to create a carpet for floor (Persian type)

One of the possible ways to create a carpet, is to draw a rectangular

object with a small thickness representing the surface where to apply
the carpet image onto. For the drawing modes of the object refer to the
paragraph “How to draw an object” at
page.
Once the rectangle of the surface is traced,
we suggest to set the values in the Object
Parameters window shown here aside.
These values indicate that the object has a
10 mm. thickness and it is placed on the
floor. At this point, generate a new
perspective view from which it is possible to select the surface of the
carpet to apply the image onto.

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Through the Modify à Modify tiling… function, you can proceed
exactly as described in the previous paragraph for pictures. As
concerns the selection of the image to be applied, we suggest to refer
to the ..\Bitmap\Textures directory, where there are, more than images
of textures, also those of fabrics and carpets.

How to apply an image behind the glass of a window

In this case we have a “window” furnishing element already on the

wall. The target is to apply an image on the wall so that it stays visible
exactly behind the glasses in transparency. To start, it is then
necessary to go, contrary to the above-said cases, in the Modify tiling
window of the wall where the window is.
From the Layout window, select the Modify à Modify tiling…
command clicking on the wall where the window is.

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In order to activate the image insertion function, run the Draw à
Image… command, and select the Polygon Filling option from the
Loading type window.
At this point, the query “Select the polygon
containing the image…” appears: through the
LH Mouse, trace a rectangle that remains inside
the window frame and that anyway is a little
bigger than the glasses area: the first point must
be down right side, proceeding then in clockwise
direction.
Like for areas that can be covered, after having selected the third point
of the rectangle, it is necessary to close the selection using the Close
command of the Pick window opened through the RH Mouse.
Once the selection is closed, the window for the choice of the image,
automatically appears. After having chosen the image, the command
closes without displaying anything: this happens because the image is
behind the window and, in this framework, the transparency option is
not active. Anyway, if you move the window you would see the image
just inserted on the wall.
Transparency of glasses is not active neither in navigation window, so,
both in perspective and navigation views you cannot appreciate
visually the operation just carried out.
The only way to display all in a correct way, is by generating images in
photo-realistic rendering.

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 EDITING OF IMAGES

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The program is equipped with a module allowing photographic touch-
up of images that already exist in a digital format. The above
mentioned module doesn’t replace traditional and more specific photo-
editing programs, but is an easy-to-use tool for most part of routine
modifications that might be necessary in the kind of images (tiles) used
within the program.

The commands for modifying the image, are in the menus described
hereafter. During explanation of the commands the word “Clipboard”
is often mentioned. The clipboard is a “parking area” in the computer
memory where some information that can be used in other frameworks
is copied (more properly “pasted”).

Cut è Cut selection

It allows to select a rectangular area by removing it from the image and

saving it on the clipboard. After having selected the command, select
the area by moving the mouse keeping the LH button pressed until
releasing it: this selection will be included in the clipboard ready to be
used.

Cut whole image

It allows to select the whole image by saving it to the clipboard. After

having activated the command, the image will be totally included into
the clipboard ready to be used.

Copy è Copy selection

It allows to select a rectangular area by saving it to the clipboard. After

having selected the command, select the area by moving the mouse
keeping the LH button pressed so as to create a selection rectangular
area until releasing it: this selection will be included in the clipboard
ready to be used.

Copy whole image

It allows to select the whole image by saving it to the clipboard. After

having activated the command, the image will be totally included into
the clipboard ready to be used.

Paste è As selection
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It allows to insert, in the image being modified, the image included in
the clipboard. After having selected the command, the image in the
clipboard is temporarily introduced in the left high corner inside a
broken line area. By positioning the cursor inside it, this will take the
shape of a hand, in this mode it indicates the aptitude to move the
image just inserted, upon pressure of the LH Mouse. Once the image
has been positioned where you want to paste it, just click with the LH
Mouse in any point of the broken line area. With this click, the image is
pasted to the background and from that moment on it cannot be re-
positioned anymore.

Paste è In new image

It allows to create a new image with the content of the clipboard. After
having activated the command, a new image called Imagekk will be
created (kk is a progressive number).

Zoom è Zoom In

It allows to do a visual magnification of the image that can be also

activated by pressing the + key of the keyboard.

Zoom è Zoom Out

It allows to do a visual reduction of the image that can be also

activated by pressing the - key of the keyboard

Fit to window dimension

It allows to display the whole image into the working window.

Fit to window width

It allows to display the image into the working window by keeping, as

maximum width, the width of the image.

Fit to window height

It allows to display the image into the working window by taking, as

maximum height, the height of the image.

Original dimensions

It allows to display the image with its original dimensions in pixel.

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Information about Clipboard

It gives information about the content of the clipboard: it may be useful

in order to verify if the content of the above-mentioned memory area is
an image. In order to be sure of this, verify that the following CF_DIB
and CF_BITMAP formats appear in Formats in the Clipboard.

Background color

It allows to choose, through the Windows color palette, the color of the
background to be applied to the main window.

Rotate è 90° Rotation

It allows a 90° rotation of the image (Clockwise)

Rotate è 180° Rotation

It allows a 180° rotation of the image

Rotate è 270° Rotation

It allows a 270° rotation of the image, or a 90° anti-clockwise rotation.

Resize

It allows to modify the image dimensions either in pixel or in

percentage. If the Keep proportions box is activated, the image will
be re-sized keeping the original proportions (that is to say keeping the
relation between vertical and horizontal dimensions unchanged).

Cut out

It allows to cut a portion of the image. After having activated the

command, the cursor changes its shape: selection is made by clicking,
with the LH Mouse on any external point of the area to be cut: keep
the button pressed while moving the mouse and release it in the
desired point, that identifies, together with the previous one, the
rectangular area to be cut. This area may be modified afterwards by
pressing the LH Mouse on any of the squares located at the vertex of
it. To make this operation active, double click with the LH Mouse into
the selected area. This area may be de-selected by pressing the RH
Mouse.

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Copy

It allows to create a copy of the image that you are modifying keeping
all the modifications made. In this way, a new image called Imagekk
will be automatically opened (kk is a progressive number).

Information

It allows to display, into a box, a set of detailed information regarding

the image being displayed.

Bit color conversion

It allows to modify the number of colors

of the image (higher the number of
colors is, bigger the dimension in bytes
of the image will be). By converting an
image from 16 million colors to 256
colors, it is also necessary to set the
number of colors of the palette to be
used (from 16 to 256). Also, you must
decide whether to use the Fast re-mapping function or not: if it is used,
you can get a faster but less precise image conversion.

Brightness/Contrast

It allows to modify the brightness and

contrast of the image, provided it is at
16 million colors, and to insert the
desired value in each field on condition
that it is included within the minimum
and maximum values allowed. By
pressing the Apply button, it is
possible to verify directly the result on the image. If the result is
satisfactory, press the OK button. To go back to the initial values,
press the Default button.

Color contrast

It allows to modify the brightness and contrast of the image, provided it

is at 16 million colors, by acting separately on the three base colors
that are Red, Green and Blue (RGB). Insert the desired value in each
field on condition that it is included within the minimum and maximum

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values allowed. By pressing the Apply button, it is possible to verify
directly the result on the image. If the result is satisfactory, press the
OK button. To go back to the initial values, press the Default button.

Suggestions for a more correct usage of the photo-editing

module:

4 When, on the right of the image being displayed, there is an asterisk

(*), it means that the image has been modified and not stored yet: by
saving the image, the asterisk disappears

4 In order to get interior decorations with extremely realistic tiles, it is

suggested to work with images at 16 million colors. The JPEG (.jpg)
format is the most appropriate saving format, and it allows to make a
compression (20-40% suggested) of the image dimensions without
altering its quality at a visibly perceptible degree.

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 THE CLIENT / SERVER VERSION

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The Client-Server version is different from the Stand-alone version for
some operational features and data management:

4 You have a centralized database that can be hosted on any OS,

including Linux, Unix, AS400, keeping the client work on Windows
machines (GUI).

4 You can share panels, projects and catalogues among all users of
the program, by connecting from any workstation in the company
premises.

4 The system administrator has the possibility to make systematic and

regular backup of the platform, in this way preventing any disk failure
or accidental loss of data.

4 A single protection key of the program is used (which can also be on

a different machine from the server), which allows the administrator
to control the access of individual users.

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The Server is an operating station on which "server" engine of the
platform is installed. On the Server you can find:
4 database (it is a Sql Server, ODBC compliant)

4 data on projects, panels, tiles, furniture, etc.

4 an access and system security key.

4 services regulating the information exchange between the Server

and Client

The Client is a workstation in the corporate network (LAN, Intranet,

VPN) with either a Windows XP or a Vista operating system), which is
empowered to operate on the projects, and from which each user can
be connected to the project platform.
The Server should not necessarily be a machine set up in "special
way". Actually, sometimes the server can also be on the same
machine where an operating client has been installed: in this case you
will have not to turn the machine off if other clients are operating.
As for the hardware configuration the same considerations expressed
in the opening chapter for stand-alone licence apply to clients (see
"Hardware and Software System Requirements" on page 3).
As for the server (as a machine NOT intended as an operating client)
the only recommended requirements are to be equipped with an ample
storage space and a network connection as fast as possible (100 Mbps
or better 1 Gbps). The server need not have any particular
programming as concerns the graphics, because this is managed
locally by individual client
machines. Its main task is to
satisfy the data requests
coming from clients and to
provide recoveries in the
database, so the only
noteworthy feature is that it is
"database oriented".
The network deserves a further
consideration: the system can
work not only in a local area
network (LAN), where typical
speeds are 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps, but also in "WAN" situations
through VPN connection over Internet Protocol. They are companies
with branches located in different cities, interconnected via a network
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(VPN à Virtual Private Network). Requirements needed to ensure the
operation are as follows:

4 A prerequisite for working: computer in the different locations must

"see" one another and should be able to share files and directories
exactly as if they were in a local area network (LAN).

4 A prerequisite for operation: the bandwidth speed on the network

must not be inferior to 2 Mbps otherwise the waiting times at different
stages of operational planning would be such that they can not be
considered sustainable in order to reach an adequate productivity.

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Instructions for program installation

The program uses a

hardware protection (key) to
be inserted into a special
USB port at the back of the
computer. In order to
adequately perform the
installation, you must have
the Administrator user
rights.
Insert the installation DVD
and wait for the graphical
menu to start automatically
from which you can select the
installation option you want to
run.
The first step to be performed
is the server installation. Only
after the server has been
installed, you can install the
client. Actually, the client
installation decides to search
the available server on the
network, thus providing a
connection automatic
configuration.
In order to install both modules, it is recommended to disable
temporarily any firewall and antivirus systems that could take control of
certain processes and influence their activities.

Server Installation

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The installation of the
server module requires
the use and availability
of two TCP ports: a
port used by the SQL
Server database
module to interact and
exchange data with
clients (port 1433) and
the other port used by
Key hardware security
module (port 4000). If
the two ports were already occupied, that is used by other processes,
you can change these values. When you install the clients, if these
ports are not identified automatically, they must be set manually, so it
is good to write down the values appearing in this window. The Server
module makes available the online folder indicated in the Shared
Folder mask field, enabling its share to all users. This folder is used for
saving application files. The network administrator must set
appropriate routing strategies, any operations on firewalls and must
secure access rights to files so that all Clients have access to two TCP
ports and to the shared folder.

Tips for the system administrator

Through the standard procedure a service is installed allowing the

security key to operate in one of the USB ports installed in the same
server machine. However, if you want to install the hardware key on a
different machine (provided in the same network), you must perform
only the installation of the hardware key service on the machine that is
to host it. To do so you must install the key driver, by running the
following file on the installation DVD:
Server\Common\Maticad\Server\Eutron\Eutron_files\SDI.exe

Then you must install the service on the key by setting the right
networking port. Installation is available on DVD in the following folder:

Server\Common\Maticad\Server\Eutron\Eutron_files\Service_Windows

Through a DOS window ( )run the following

command:
askeyadd.exe –p: number_port –t:0
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Where number_port is the TCP port number (e.g. 1433) dedicated to
data transmission of the hardware key. When you install the individual
clients, you must verify that the following value of the Windows system
registry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Eutron\SmartKey Multilan
Client\Protocol2

contains the correct IP address of the machine on which the hardware

key has been installed, together with the TCP port number dedicated
to this service.
The system automatically installs a Microsoft SQL Server Express
2005 instance with the following parameters:
4 Instance name: MATICAD

4 Mixed Authentication (SQL) enabled

4 Administrator password (sa): maticad%2005

If you already have a full version of Microsoft SQL Server 2005, you
can use it by installing an instance with the same parameters listed
above just before installing the server module.
Once installation is completed, you can change the password of the
administrator (sa) in order to have a higher network security.

Client Installation

The client installation is

similar to the stand-alone
version. You must choose the
installation language - all
clients must be installed with
the same language - and then
proceed with the definition of
the additional required
parameters Particular
attention should be given to
the network configuration for
data synchronization. Generally, this dialogue box has already
collected data through the network from the server machine. If data are
not collected, it is necessary to introduce them manually:

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4 Server name and
address: Enter the
name or IP address
of the machine
where the server
module has been
installed.
4 TCP database
port: TCP port
number for client
interaction with the
database server. It
must match with the number set up during installation of the server
module.
4 Eutron Key TCP port: TCP port number through which the client
queries the dongle installed on the server to receive the authorization
to operate.

You can install the client module on more machines than the total
number of operating clients that were purchased. The rule that controls
the licence functionality provides that, having purchased a
configuration with a maximum umax number of users, the server
constantly checks and permits the simultaneous use of no more than
umax clients. Then the installed clients can be even more than the
permitted umax. Obviously not everyone can operate simultaneously
and if you reach the maximum number, if a new user wants to work
with the program he must wait for a colleague to log out.

Tips for the system administrator

You can intervene manually by defining folders for network file sharing
application different from those set automatically by the server
installation. In this case, once folders have been created and shared
and the necessary rights to enable users to access both reading and
writing have been assigned, it is appropriate to include the information
of the new pathname of the shared folder on each client.
On turning the key of the registry of each client

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Maticad\DomuS3D_CS_Server\10.0

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Edit the CSServerPath content, by writing the network path to the
folder of the application files.
Similarly to the folder (shared) of the file-saving panel, whose path is
shown in the PanelPath key.

Optimizing Clients connected over low-speed networks

Performance of Clients connected to Server at low speed networks can

be optimized as follows:
4 Open the
Client, log on
and select the
Cache
options
command.

4 In the Cache
options dialogue box,
select the Manually by
using the command
"update" option and
enable the Cache
database section. Once
the choices have been
confirmed, you must restart
the program on the client.

4 Once the program has

been
restarted, it is
important to
use Pre-
charge cache
and Refresh
cache
commands.
By the Pre-charge cache command, you can transfer the catalogues
locally from Server to Client, for a faster program access during the
design phase. Ideally, this command should be run whenever the
Server loads new catalogues.
The run command may take a few hours, so you should periodically
run at night or at weekends. In any case, if you run it, the only
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consequence is that program performances may be less performing. If
during routine design you should find some catalogue items (a tile or a
piece of furniture) have not been updated, the Update cache
command can be run.

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Operating Session Management

At the start of each operating session, the user

must log in by entering Username and
Password.
The system administrator should create profiles
for each user so they all will have their own
identity in the system. In this way the
administrator will be able to assign the
creator’s name, that is also the "owner", to each project. When you first
launch the program that has been just installed, the administrator can
enter it by using the default profile set by Maticad:
4 UserName: Administrator

4 Password: maticad

The group of commands allows the available Servers

to manage everything related to manage users and
operating session
4 On line users: a dialogue
box opens containing the list
of on line users. Through this
command, at any time the system
administrator can check how many and which
users are connected. In the User Session
window you may find the username and the
computer name you are working on. This
window can be left open during the
administrator work session (not affecting the normal program
operations): in this way you can verify at any time how the platform is
used. Whenever a variation of the list of users occurs, the
administrator will be alerted with a beep.
4 User Management: a dialogue box opens, usually
used by the system administrator to create user
profiles.

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 The New, Edit and Delete buttons allow respectively to create a
new user profile, to edit and delete an
existing profile.
By selecting the New button, you can
access the following dialogue box
where the new user data shall be
entered. The name must be unique
and different from the others, whereas
the password is case sensitive, i.e. the system distinguishes
uppercase from lowercase letters.
For both the username and the password alphanumeric characters
and numbers in any order can be used, for an extension up to 32
characters (username) and 64 characters (password).
Once your user profile has been created, it is listed among the
internal users. You do not have to do anything but select the user,
edit the information on your profile (in particular settings that will be
discussed shortly) and confirm the entry with the Edit button.
The user can be connected to the system only if the Enabled
checkbox is flagged.
The Setup Password button allows the administrator to change
the user's password at any time. Multiple Connections check box
allows the user to connect even from multiple workstations
simultaneously. If this flag is disabled, a user will be blocked if it
appears to be already connected to a different workstation.
It may happen (e.g. for a system crash, a blackout, or an incorrect
Logout), that a user is still connected to the system even if it is not
really. In order to avoid this, open the program once again on the

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 same machine that turns out to be "busy", with the same user
profile, then sign out (Logout) correctly.
The View only user projects option is enabled when you want to
assign a given profile the access only to the projects that has been
created. In this case the user cannot load projects created by
others, since they will not appear in the masks of research projects.
The system administrator can also verify user connections via the
User Log button. The lower part of the Users window contains
information about the licence:
4 Max number users: the maximum number of users (clients) that can
operate simultaneously. You can always buy new clients, by
receiving an unlock code that can be enabled via the Update Max
Number users button. This function is available only for the
administrator user.
4 Max number runs: of system accesses available. The value 65535
indicates an infinite number of accesses.
4 Disconnect: The (Logout) function allows you to
disconnect from the system. The disconnection
happens automatically any time you close the
program.

Three are the levels among the potential user profiles that can operate
in the system:
4 Normal user: it can create and edit panels, projects and customer
lists. It cannot make other changes to the database.
4 Administrator User: if compared with a regular user it can
individually insert tiles and pieces of furniture into database.
4 Super Administrator User: it is the higher default profile that has
been mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph. With this profile
you can create and manage users, upload entire database
catalogues, unlock projects.

Projects

Although operational processes (and the computing power required for

their implementation) are delegated to the computer clients, all projects
are on the server.
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In this way they are always available for other users of the system
(unless they can only 'read' their own projects), and can be loaded and
processed by any client computer.
When a user loads a project, it temporarily becomes the sole owner,
which means that no one else can make changes on this project until it
is not closed and released.
However, you can open the project in read-only mode, being able to
consult it completely and without altering the possibility that others will
open and edit it. In order to do this, select the Read Only option in the
Select projects window.

In this window you can immediately identify whether the project you
want to edit was blocked by another user. Actually, the information is in
the first column ( * means free project, otherwise the user's name
appears maintaining blocked the project).

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The Administrator user has the option to release a project that is at
the exclusive use of a user. By selecting the project in the previous
mask, the Release project button in the window lower part is
available.

When you decide to

close a project, the
operating system offers
the following choices:
4 Save on Server
and release so that
it can be edited by
other users: the project is saved on the Server and will be available
to all authorized users, both in reading and editing.
4 Save on the Server, but keep exclusive ownership: the project is
saved on the Server and will be available only to its author. This is
useful when you must still complete the project and you do not want
others to edit it.
4 Save on your local computer and do not update the Server
version (remain the owner): in this case you decide to save the
project only on the local computer and not to update any copy on the
server (assuming that you have already saved it). By opening the
project from the same computer system, you will notice the difference
in content between the version on the server and the local one on the
client. The user is prompted to choose which of the two versions

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 he/she would like to operate. This mode is useful when you are not
sure about the edits that have been made and therefore it is
preferred, even if temporarily, not to get the server with a version that
you do not really know completely. At the next opening you can
continue working on local version, by saving it on the Server only
when you are sure about this solution.
4 DO NOT save changes and release: in doing so you lose changes
you made. The version of the project on the Server will not be
changed.

Sometimes you need to edit a blocked project, developed by a

temporarily absent colleague. In this case, you can
duplicate the original project and then make the
necessary changes on that copy. This is possible by opening the
project blocked in read-only version and save a copy by using the
Save As command in the main menu. The generated copy is also free
access and can be edited.

Database Backup

One of the main activities of a system administrator is to ensure data

protection, so that they may be safe from possible risks of fire, theft,
hard disk and computer damages, etc. For a proper database backup
related to platform project, you must operate as follows:
4 Database Backup: The database contains information on project
record, panel, furniture, accounts, estimates, etc. As any ODBC
compliant database can be installed, the administrator will have to
evaluate the most appropriate backup procedure in relation to the
installed database. If a MSDE version (SQL Server runtime version)
was installed you must:

4 verify that no user is logged on;

4 stop the SQL-Server (available in the control panel of Server

services);

4 make a copy of the domus3d.mdf file on the server in the

directory specified during installation;

4 restart the service to allow users to return to their work.

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4 Backing up data files: together with the database backup, you must
save data files in the database records they refer to. To do so, simply
make a copy of the server structure folder.

WARNING: this backup method is NOT incremental, since it creates

an image of the entire server system. If you need to consider different
(and more advanced) techniques for saving and restoring data, you
should contact the program vendor for a complete and comprehensive
evaluation of your requests.

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Reference manual
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 APPENDIX

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A. Record-tracing to import INTERNAL PRICE
LIST data

If the user has his own management application and, specifically, a

database that he uses to manage the price list of the products on sale,
there is the possibility to export the data from his own database and
import them automatically. This appendix provides all the information
on the record-tracing in conformity with the program requirements

The file read after having activated the Database è Internal price list
è Import command, must be a text file, with fields marked by
quotation marks ["] and separated by commas [,], where every line
represents a record.

The sequence of fields is as follows:

"codice","cod_articolo","var_colore",”codice_produttore”,"tipo_listino",
"categoria","cod_valuta","descrizione","fornitore","collezione",
"desc_serie","in_produzione","tipo_formato","formato","peso_unitario",
"nrpz_confezione","unita_misura","data_genlist","data_declist0",
"cod_listino0","esente_iva0","aliquota_iva0","prezzo_base00",
"prezzo_base01","prezzo_base02"

codice

Item internal code, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 24

characters.

cod_articolo

Item code, alphanumerical, formed by a maximum of 24 characters.

var_colore

Color variant, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 12 characters.

Set to "0" if not used.

codice_produttore

Manufacturer’s code. It must be present in the Manufacturers table

tipo_listino *

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Price list type, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 4 characters.
Set to "STD" if not used.

categoria

Set to "PIAS" for tiles or "ARRE" for furnishing elements.

cod_valuta *

Currency code, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 4 characters.

Set to "LIT" if not used.

descrizione

Description of the item, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 80

characters.

fornitore

Item’s manufacturer, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 80

characters.

collezione

Collection the item belongs to, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of

40 characters.

desc_serie

Series the item belongs to, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 40

characters.

in_produzione

It indicates whether the item is still in production ("YES") or not ("NO"),

alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 4 characters.

tipo_formato

Geometrical description of the item shape, alphanumeric, formed by a

maximum of 8 characters. ("RETT", "ESAG", "OTTA", "TRIA", "TRAP",
"QTTO", ”ROMB”, "PENTDX", "PENTSX")

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 FORMAT TYPE DESCRIPTION
RETT Rectangol
ESAG Hexagon
OTTA Octagon
TRIA Triangle
TRAP Trapezium
QTTO Quadrilateral
ROMB Rhomb
PENTDX Pentagon RH
PENTSX Pentagon LH

formato

Item format expressed in millimeters, alphanumerical, formed by a

maximum of 32 characters.
Ex.: "200x200" ; "400x400x100"
For the "ESAG","OTTA","TRIA","TRAP","QTTO" format types, the third
dimension is the length of the oblique side

peso_unitario

Item unit weight expressed in kilograms, numerical, formed by a

maximum of 2 decimals separated by a point [.].

nrpz_confezione

Number of pieces per pack, integer.

unita_misura

Sale measure unit of the item, alphanumerical, formed by a maximum

of 4 characters. ("NR","PZ","MQ","ML")

MEASURE UNIT DESCRIPTION

NR Numer º PZ
PZ Piece º NR
MQ Square Meter
ML Linear Meter

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data_genlist

Price list generation date, format DD-MM-YYYY.

Ex.: "24-02-2002".

data_declist0

Date the price list runs from, format DD-MM-YYYY.

Ex.: "12-05-2002".

cod_listino0

Price list code, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 16 characters.

esente_iva0

Field of VAT exemption, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 2

characters..
("SI","NO")

aliquota_iva0

VAT rate, numerical, 1 decimal place maximum, separated by a point

[.].

prezzo_base00
a
1 grade price, integer.

prezzo_base01
nd
2 grade price, integer
Set to "0" if not used.

prezzo_base02

3rd grade price, integer

Set to "0" if not used.

tab_sco_agg0

Table of discounts and burdens, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum

of 80 characters.

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This field contains a list of discounts (burdens) the user can refer to
through the use of the "Price type" both at the project level and at the
level of a single line of the estimate.
The field can contain up to 10 values, each one separated by a semi-
colon [;]. Every value, even if it is integer, should be written as a real
number, that is to say with its integer and decimal components (e.g.
the whole number 15 should be written 15.0). The character separating
the decimal portion from the integer in every number is the point [.].
Burdens are distinguished from discounts as they are written as
negative numbers (with the minus sign). See the following example:
“0.0;5.0;10.0;15.0;20.0;-5.0;-10.0;”

TIPO PREZZO SCONTO O AGGRAVIO

0.0 No discount
5.0 5% discount
10.0 10% discount
15.0 15% discount
20.0 20% discount
-5.0 5% burden
-10.0 10% burden

If the user does not want to use this table, the value of the field must
be set to "0.0;".

(*):The fields marked with an asterisk have no effect on the program; it

is necessary to enter them for compatibility with the structure of the
record-tracing, but their contents are not used.

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B. Record-tracing to import CUSTOMER DATA

If the user has his own management application and, specifically, a

database that he uses to manage his customer information, there is
the possibility to export the data from his own database and import
them automatically. This appendix provides all the information on the
record-tracing in conformity with the program requirements.
The file read after having activated the Database è Customers è
Import command, must be a text file, with fields marked by quotation
marks ["] and separated by commas [,], where every line represents a
record.

The sequence of fields is as follows:

"nome_cliente","indirizzo","località","provincia","CAP","cod_fiscale",
"partita_IVA","tipo_attiv_1","tipo_attiv_2","telefono","fax"

nome_cliente

Customer’s name, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 80

characters.

indirizzo

Customer’s address, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 40

characters.

località

Customer’s town and location, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of

40 characters.

provincia

County abbreviation of the customer's domicile, alphanumeric, formed

by a maximum of 4 characters.

CAP

Postal code, numerical.

cod_fiscale

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Customer's tax code number, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of
16 characters.

partita_IVA

Customer's VAT registration number, alphanumeric, formed by a

maximum of 11 characters.

tipo_attiv_1

Customer's activity (short description), alphanumeric, formed by a

maximum of 4 characters.

tipo_attiv_2

Area, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 4 characters.

telefono

Phone number, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 32 characters.

fax

Fax number, alphanumeric, formed by a maximum of 32 characters.

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C. DXF Structure for the construction of new
furnishing elements

The furnishing elements are 3D geometrical figures made by modeler

CAD software. This objects could be made using two different
techniques: surface or solid entity.
DomuS3D® import object created by surface entity and not
solid entity.
You should keep in mind object’s feature while you’re drawing.
Usually, sanitaryware could be consider as a complex object because
contained many complex 3d surface. For this reason, we prefer to
make it directly drawing 3D Surface starting from 2D Nurbs entity. In
this case we prefer to use Rhinoceros because it’s a powerful and
easier modeller software. Anyway, you can use the program that you
prefer, but we suggest a modeller program where you can directly
draw 3D surface entity. For example you can use 3DS MAX or
AutoCAD too, as you want.
In any case, it’s important that you make it using SURFACE entity, as
finally step it’s necessary save it from AutoCAD for the reasons
explained into this documents.
Using AutoCAD it’s possible to use all the surface command, because
any kind of this surface are compatible with DomuS3D requirements.
Using Rhinoceros, we can use all the commands without any limits.
We can convert the object in Surface entity during export step by the
save command.
Keep in mind object’s destination. Keep in mind object’s destination. If
you’re drawing a taps, we suggest to make approximatevly 3D Surface
using a little number of face because this is a little object and could not
be necessary to make a complex and exactly 3d-surface.
If you’re making a washbasin, we suggest to make a better graphic
resolution drawing a bigger 3Dsurface including a bigger total number
of faces. To do this it’s necessary keep in mind some tips related to the
modeller software you’re using.
Using AutoCAD we can manage SURFTAB1 and SURFTAB2 system
variables, to set the number of tabulation generated by surface
command like “RULESURF” or TABSURF” exc.
Using Rhinoceros, we can set surface quality, by the 2D entity NURBS
curve used to make the object. For example when you make a new
surface starting from Nurbs curves, you can manage the number of
tabulation from the control point number of the original curves. We
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suggest to use Rhinoceros because you can manage the surface after
made it too. For instance, by the “Rebuild” command you can remake
3Dsurface setting X and Y number of tabulation as you prefer. Refer to
Rhinoceros reference manual for better explanation. Any object should
be made using 1:1 scale factor and millimetre units system. If you’re
drawing an object with different materials you should split it creating
different layer for any different kind of materials. In this way, it’s
possible to apply a different colour or material to any different layer
compositing the object. At the same way, you should create different
layer for the same material with different orientation. For instance, if
you’re drawing a kitchen module, we suggest to create two different
layer related to horizontal and vertical grain orientation. Any layers’
colour could be modified after inserted the object using “modify”
command.
The software use the SW-Isometric perspective view to save the
preview image of the object, so is necessary to save it using this
perspective view.
Is not important to assign a really color for the layers used to create the
AutoCAD 3d model. Could be useful, anyway, is possible to modify it
during the importation step directly into DomuS3D®.
If you’re making a tiling object like a low wall or expositor it’s very
important to make a unique rectangular 3Dface for the tiling surface.
For instance, if you’ drawing an expositor where you want to apply a
tiling. In this case there is a wood panel to apply tiling. This wood
surface should be created by a single rectangular surface. A unique
3Dface with a correct exactly
vertex sequence. The
direction of normals is
determined by the way a face
is drawn in a right-handed
coordinate system: if you draw
the face clockwise, the
normals point outward; if you
draw the face counter-
clockwise, the normals point
inward. You should draw
faces consistently.
For better explanation you can refer to the following image. This box
have meshes and normals correctly oriented, which can be an aid to
creating models for rendering.

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At the same way, it’s necessary to create a unique 3DFace if you need
to apply a factory image on it.
An other particular object is a low wall for the built in kitchen. In this
case you should use the same tips, creating a unique rectangular
3dface for the front-side surface of the object, without any hole on it.
It’s not necessary to make an hole into this surface because it’s
possible to directly apply a second object like a door on it. DomuS3D
will automatically remove the tiles above this door during estimate
step.
The last and important example is a built in washbasin. This object will
be apply on the low wall into your bathroom. In this case it’s necessary
to make a plan for the surface that will be put on the low wall objects.
This surface it’s necessary to make an automatically hole on the low
wall plan where you want to apply your object. We suggest to assign a
glass material to this surface, so will not be visible for rendering and
virtual navigation window.
Finally, we suggest, as soon as possible, to use Surface Entity.
Making an object containing glass or mirror features, we suggest don’t
explode 3D Suface use for it. Using a unique 3Dsurface for refraction
and reflection effects, it’s better that single exploded 3Dface. For this
reasons, we suggest don’t explode this 3D Surface entity.

Sometimes, could be easier to use solid entity to modelling an object.

As mentioned, it’s not possible to import solid entity, anyway, you can
use it, and convert to surface entity before to save dxf file.
For instance, using 3DS MAX, you can covert this object to “Editable
mesh” or “Editable Patch” entity. Using
Rhinoceros, you can use all the
command that you prefer because by the
“export” command will be automatically
saved using surface entity.
Using AutoCAD you can use the
following instruction to convert it.
First of all it’s necessary to export the
object to a 3DS format file (3DSOUT
command) . During this step you can
convert 3D Surface entity using
“Degree” parameters setting the quality.

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In a new document you can import it again using opposite command
“3DSIN”.
The following window
will be used to select
desired layer.
We suggest to use Add
all button and “Split by
material” option.
It’s very important keep
in mind all this features
specified during
modelling step.
After this, we suggest to
import it in 3DS MAX
and apply the following modifier.

VertexWeld

Apply a “VertexWeld” modifier for any

3Dsurface entity. “Vertex Weld” is very useful for
cleaning up meshes that have vertices that are
close or overlapping, but not welded.

MeshSmooth

The MeshSmooth modifier smoothes geometry

in your scene by means of several different
methods. It lets you subdivide the geometry while
interpolating the angles of new faces at corners
and edges, and apply a single smoothing group
to all faces in the object. The effect of
MeshSmooth is to round over corners and edges
as if they had been filed or planed smooth. Use
MeshSmooth parameters to control the size and
number of new faces, and how they affect the surface of the object.

Checking number of faces

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It’s very important to check the faces total number. We recommend
you don’t use more than 21000 faces or 65000 vertex.

Otherwise could be possible that you missing some reflection or

refraction features in virtual navigation window. If you’re using 3DS
MAX, we suggest you to use Optimize or MultiRes modifier to manage
it. The Optimize modifier lets you reduce the number of faces and
vertices in an object. This simplifies the geometry and speeds up
rendering while maintaining an acceptable image. A Before/After
readout gives you exact feedback on the reduction as you make each
change. Anyway, you can use MultiRes modifier : The MultiRes
modifier reduces the memory overhead needed to render models by
decreasing the number of vertices and polygons. This is useful not only
within 3ds Max but for game and Web content creators who export
models for use outside of the program. MultiRes offers several
advantages over the Optimize modifier, including faster operation and
the ability to specify reduction as an exact percentage or vertex count.
The MultiRes modifier supports the preservation of map channels
when face count is increased or reduced. Using Rhinoceros as
modeller software you can set this features during export file
command.

Original Point

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It’s very important to select the correct original point. This original point
is the same point using into layout window by the movement
command. So, we suggest, to move original point of the model on the
exactly point that you prefer to use as base point for movement
command.
For instance, regarding wall-hung washbasin or bidet, we suggest to
use the lower middle point of the object. Could be easier insert the
object into the plan and specify the elevation.
Finally is necessary to import the element into AutoCAD program for
the finally following settings.

Objects color

We suggest to assig white color to all the objects’ entity. Is very

important don’t use By Layer option.

Objects orientation

Is important to save objects using SW-

Isometric point of view for the correct
automatically orientation. This is the
same default orientation by the
software while inserting in DomuS3D®

Purge Object

It’s very important to purge the objects

by the “purge” command.
Using this command, you can remove
unused named objects, including block
definitions, dimension styles, layers, excetera.

Layers’ name & Block’s name

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Layers’ name are strictly related to the material of the object. We
suggest to split it by material. While inserting the object into layout
window, DomuS3D® automatically assign the material with the exactly
same name used for the layer.
For this reasons, regarding wood object, we suggest to split the layers’
name related the grain orientation. For instance, create two different
layers “Legno_0” & “Legno_90” to assign two wood material with
different grain orientation.
Remember to use the syntax “F-name materials”.
All the graphical object will be grouped by two different AutoCAD block
ARCOGRAF2D & ARCOGRAF3D, creating using Millimeter measure
unit.

ARCOGRAF2D Block

It must contain all and only the entities (only lines and arcs are
allowed; any polylines must be "exploded") that are displayed in the
layout both when inserting the element in a project and afterwards
every time the plan is displayed. All the entities must belong to levels
(or layers) whose name has the prefix "W-" and the suffix "2D" (for
instance, W-SINK2D or W-TAP2D). The origin of the block is decisive
to insert the element in a project correctly. The origin of the block
coincides, at the time of inserting the element, with the cross of the
cursor. All the entities must have any one color assigned, provided it is
not "BYLAYER."

ARCOGRAF3D Block

It must contain the surfaces that are displayed in the perspective and
in the navigation views.
All the entities must belong to levels (or layers) whose name has the
prefix "F-" (for instance F-SINK or F-TAP) and have any one colour
provided it is not "BYLAYER."
All the surfaces are built having UCS on WORLD.
In the triangular 3DFACES the last vertex must not be specified,
instead they must be closed by means of the ENTER ◄┘ key.
If there are surfaces that could come into contact with the floor or tiled
walls, they will have to belong to a level (or layer) whose name has the
prefix "FC-" (for instance FC-BATH): this allows the program to
subtract the tiled surfaces, covered by surfaces of type FC-, in the tile
calculation phase.
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Finally, we can save this 3D model as an AUTOCAD 2004 Dxf format
file.

Inserting step

The last step is the

insertion function
into DomuS3D®
database.
To do this, select
Database à
furnishing
elements à
management à
New command. Fill the
data into the window and
click on Import button.

Select the DXF file

previously saved, click
on Open button while
pressing the SHIFT
key.

Click on OK button to
conferm.

In this way, DomuS3D

don’t display the preview
window. Anyway, you can select again and check it by the command
Database à furnishing elements à Elements management à
Modify.

ATTENTION:

Furnishing elements made in a manner not in conformity with the

specifications given here may damage the correct running of the
program and the handling of the projects that include them.

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D. Hot-key summary table

Mouse reference
keys

Key combinations that can be activated from any framework

[CTRL] [F4] Closes the current window
[CTRL] z Deletes last operation done (Undo)
[CTRL] e Displays a window where are listed possible error
messages occurred during working. Send this
message to the supplier when the program shows
some anomalies in its running.
INFO System added to receive indications on one’s
own machine
[CTRL] n Activates the “New project” function
[CTRL] o Activates the “Load project” function
[CTRL] s Saves the current project
[CTRL] Scrolls and re-calls in foreground another window
[TAB] among those already open
[F1] Shows the Help-on-line
[F2] Activates the print command
[CTRL] r It opens the window of the registry keys

Key combinations in the elements’ and tiles’ insertion phase

+ Clockwise rotation with an incremental step of 45°
- Anticlockwise rotation with an incremental step of 45°
By clicking with the left-hand mouse button, the
Msx element is positioned at cursor in the point it is when
you click
By clicking the right-hand mouse button when you
Mdx have an element at cursor to be inserted, a dialog-box
appears in order to choose the insertion mode.
Modifies the insertion point by positioning the cursor
p on the vertices of the rectangle that circumscribes the
object or the tile

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 Places the cursor in the initial point of origin of the
o
object or of the tile

Key combination in LAYOUT view

Displays the dialog-window containing the informative
[Ctrl] d
data of the project
[Ctrl] p Activates the estimate calculation function
r Rotation + Elevation
a Object alignment with a wall
h Elevation with reference to an existing object
Activate / Deactivate the snap grid while inserting
s
furnishing elements
x Zoom IN centered in the point where the cursor is
v Zoom OUT centered in the point where the cursor is
[F3] Activates the “Views management” function
[F4] Activates the “New view” function
[SHIFT] [F6] Activates the “Navigate view” function
Msx Double
Zoom max
click
Opens a dialog-window for furnishing elements
[Ins]
insertion
[Ctrl] L It inserts a new light source in the layout
[Alt] L It deletes a light from the layout
ï ðñ ò Pan (movement of screen shot)
[Canc] Deleting elements

Key combination in STANDARD NAVIGATION view

[F3] Saves the current shot as “New view”
B Allow to increase the light intensity
D Allows to decrease the light intensity
Allow to “walk” into the room towards the direction
ï ðñ ò
indicated by the arrows
R Allows to move the observer to the right
L Allows to move the observer to the left
+ Allows to lift the view point on the vertical axis
- Allows to lower the view point on the vertical axis
[Pag] ñ Allows to orientate the view point upwards

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 [Pag] ò Allows to orientate the view point downwards
Allows to “normalize” the view point by resetting to the
N
initial value
O Allows to increase the aperture of the point of view
C Allows to decrease the aperture of the point of view
Activates / Deactivates the visualization of bitmaps
T
applied on the surfaces of furnishing elements

Key combinations in PANEL

[SHIFT] Msx By clicking on a tile, it is duplicated
a Activates the band where the cursor is
r Rotation
i Forced insertion, overlapping
Changes the point of insertion at cursor moving onto
p
the adjacent vertex
x Zoom In, with the center in the position of the cursor
v Zoom Out, with the center in the position of the cursor
Double click
Activates the belt where clicked
Msx
Activates / Deactivates the visualization of axis and
q
dimensions of the panel
[Ins] Inserting a new tile

Key combinations in MODIFY TILING

[SHIFT] Msx By clicking on a tile, it is duplicated
r Rotation
Changes the point of insertion at cursor moving onto
p
the adjacent vertex - available only for tiles
x Zoom IN centered in the point where the cursor is
v Zoom OUT centered in the point where the cursor is
ï ðñ ò Pan (movement of screen shot)

Key combination in LOAD IMAGES

+ Zoom IN (enlarges the area around the cursor
centering it on the screen)

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 - Zoom OUT (down to the original size of the image)

Key combination in PHOTO-3D

+ Zoom IN (enlarges the area around the cursor
centering it on the screen
- Zoom OUT (down to the original size of the image)

Key combination in 3D TILES

g Moves the hooking point of a working top grid

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E. Laying schemes library

Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – DA
COSTITUITE 1 Tile
1 PIASTRELLA

PIENO PIENO ORIZZONTALE 1/2 PIENO ORIZZONTALE 1/3 PIENO ORIZZONTALE 1/4

PIENO VERTICALE 1/2 PIENO VERTICALE 1/3 PIENO VERTICALE 1/4 ROMBO 1

ROMBO 2 ROMBO 3 ROMBO 4 ROMBO 5

SCHEMA 001 SCHEMA 002 SPINA DI PESCE 01

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 2DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
2 PIASTRELLE

CASSETTONE 4 LEGO 4 MAGLIA OTTAGONO CON TOZZETTO

QUADROTTO CON TOZZETTO SCACCO 1 SCACCO 2 SCHEMA 003

SCHEMA 004 SCHEMA 009 SCHEMA 013 SCHEMA 018

SCHEMA 024 SCHEMA 025 SCHEMA 026 SCHEMA 027

SCHEMA 029 SCHEMA 030 SCHEMA 031 SCHEMA 032

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 2DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
2 PIASTRELLE

SCHEMA 033 SCHEMA 034 SCHEMA 035 SCHEMA 036

SCHEMA 037 SCHEMA 039 SCHEMA 040 SCHEMA 041

SCHEMA 043 SCHEMA 044 SCHEMA 045 SCHEMA 046

SCHEMA 048 SCHEMA 050 SCHEMA 051 SCHEMA 053

SCHEMA 055 SCHEMA 067 SCHEMA 070 SCHEMA 071

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 2DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
2 PIASTRELLE

SCHEMA 076 SCHEMA 077 SCHEMA 078 SCHEMA 079

SCHEMA 080 SCHEMA 081 SCHEMA 083 SCHEMA 084

SCHEMA 088 SCHEMA 092 SCHEMA 093 SCHEMA 094

SCHEMA 097 SCHEMA 112 SCHEMA 113 SCHEMA 114

SCHEMA 133 SCHEMA 135 SCHEMA 138 SCHEMA 141

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 2DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
2 PIASTRELLE

SCHEMA 142 SCHEMA 143 SPINA DI PESCE 02 TRIANGOLO 01

TRIANGOLO 02 TRIANGOLO 03 TRIANGOLO 04 TRIANGOLO 05

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 3DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
3 PIASTRELLE

CASSETTONE 1 CASSETTONE 3 CASSETTONE 5 CASSETTONE 6

CASSETTONE 7 LEGO 1 LEGO 2 LEGO 3

PENTAGONO CON TOZZETTO SCHEMA 008 SCHEMA 010 SCHEMA 012

SCHEMA 014 SCHEMA 020 SCHEMA 021 SCHEMA 022

SCHEMA 023 SCHEMA 028 SCHEMA 042 SCHEMA 047

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 3DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
3 PIASTRELLE

SCHEMA 049 SCHEMA 054 SCHEMA 056 SCHEMA 057

SCHEMA 058 SCHEMA 060 SCHEMA 063 SCHEMA 066

SCHEMA 069 SCHEMA 072 SCHEMA 073 SCHEMA 074

SCHEMA 075 SCHEMA 085 SCHEMA 087 SCHEMA 090

SCHEMA 095 SCHEMA 096 SCHEMA 098 SCHEMA 099

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 3DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
3 PIASTRELLE

SCHEMA 100 SCHEMA 101 SCHEMA 102 SCHEMA 103

SCHEMA 104 SCHEMA 121 SCHEMA 123 SCHEMA 125

SCHEMA 126 SCHEMA 127 SCHEMA 128 SCHEMA 129

SCHEMA 130 SCHEMA 131 SCHEMA 136 SCHEMA 137

SCHEMA 139 SCHEMA 140 SCHEMA 144

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 4DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
4 PIASTRELLE

SCHEMA 005 SCHEMA 006 SCHEMA 007 SCHEMA 011

SCHEMA 015 SCHEMA 019 SCHEMA 038 SCHEMA 052

SCHEMA 059 SCHEMA 061 SCHEMA 062 SCHEMA 064

SCHEMA 065 SCHEMA 068 SCHEMA 082 SCHEMA 086

SCHEMA 089 SCHEMA 091 SCHEMA 105 SCHEMA 106

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 4DA
COSTITUITE Tiles
4 PIASTRELLE

SCHEMA 107 SCHEMA 108 SCHEMA 109 SCHEMA 110

SCHEMA 111 SCHEMA 115 SCHEMA 116 SCHEMA 117

SCHEMA 118 SCHEMA 119 SCHEMA 120 SCHEMA 122

SCHEMA 124 SCHEMA 132 SCHEMA 134 SCHEMA 145

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 Laying Schemes
POSE AUTOMATICHE – 5DATiles
COSTITUITE 5 PIASTRELLE

A
2A 3A 3A 2A

A B

CASSETTONE 2 SCHEMA 016 SCHEMA 017

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