NprTools

[Al Hart]

The trick is how to get the shadows.

One way is to compare two images and process the differences.

SketchUp gives 2 different results.

Here are two hidden line images (with and without shadows)
(I compare these two images to get the shadows)

Here are two monochrome images (with and without shadows)

I can compare these two images instead.

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I will probably make this an option. But what to call it? ("Use monochrome shadow effect" - I hate check boxes which even I don't understand, or "Use only full shadows")

[Al Hart]

Comparing the two monochrome images worked pretty well.

I wound up calling the new option: "Use only full shadows"

Image with option checked

Image with option unchecked

There are times when you will want to pattern all "non sunny" areas - especially for interiors.

[Al Hart]

Yes,

I'll keep NprTools discussions to the the NprTools topic.

But I felt that this was a more general question for any SketchUp users who were interested in what should be treated as a shadow. People might be interested in how Hidden line treats shadows one way, while colored and textured rendering treat them a different way.

[Al Hart]

@unknownuser said:

When I choose the Launch option, the default image viewer opens
without any image. It's blank.

Default image viewer associated with most images is Irfanview while
default image editor for SU is PS. Irfranview loads quick. That's
good to quickly view the plugin results.

Some options would be to choose default program to view images and
have a choice where to save final output.

I like having only one TemporaryImage folder. I suppose the user will
have the responsibility to clear it out. It is possible to direct
CCleaner to include user defined folders to clean out under Options.

I am copying this from another forum. I will respond to it later.

[Al Hart]

@richcat said:

Al just tried out latest IE19 version and soft shadows appears not to be working.
Reverted back to IE3 which produced first image below then next one with some PS filters applied.

Ps The average shadow image produced in temp file looks interesting as gives better shadows in my opinion, so I tried blending in PS with base image,and then adjusting in PS - which gave me that third image below (edges are wrong but look at the shadows on the wall - luv it)

Fourth one is just for fun

I am not sure what is wrong with IE19. (I wish you could have been more specific)

I appreciate seeing the PS images. You will always be able to do these same things, or better things, in PS. We are just trying to make it easier for SketchUp users. That is why we are adding more features to the "Save Image" section of NprTools - so you can save special image and take them to PS. (In the latest version, we added "Save shadows only")

The latest version also added "Mask to original shadow" which applies the soft shadows only to the original shadow area (rather than letting the shadows get bigger.) That may be what is failing in IE19. It looks like it might be aplying the mask all the time.

However, your last two images, with the soft sun on the wall, inspire me to have a similar feature called "Soft Sun". It will mask the soft shadows to the area not in shadow (for interiors this is where the sun appears on the wall). If it works well, you should be able to soften the sunlight rather than the shadows. (More to come)

[richcat]

Al
I re installed IE19.
Basically I could not get any soft shadows as images above, only as image below, also see setup image. Do I need to change anything as this is what gave me original soft images, tried various settings but no soft shadows appeared - may be I'm missing something simple.

Also imagine produced still does not open by itself.

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[richcat]

Al just tried out latest IE19 version and soft shadows appears not to be working.
Reverted back to IE3 which produced first image below then next one is this original image with some PS filters applied.

The average shadow image produced in temp file looks interesting as gives better shadows in my opinion, so I tried blending in PS with base image,and then adjusting in PS - which gave me that third image below (edges are wrong but look at the shadows on the wall - luv it)

Fourth one is just for fun

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[Al Hart]

richcat,

This new feature - "Soft Sun", is based on one or the images you have uploaded.

Here we restricted the Soft effect to the area already lit by the sun.

You get a sharp boundary, but a soft effect for the sunlight itself.

[Al Hart]

We have added a new dialog box to use to set the application to use to launch an image.

If you uncheck Launch When Complete, this dialog will be loaded. If you change the application to use to launch an image, the new application will be used in the future.

[Al Hart]

@richcat said:

Al
I re installed IE19.
Basically I could not get any soft shadows as images above, only as image below, also see setup image. Do I need to change anything as this is what gave me original soft images, tried various settings but no soft shadows appeared - may be I'm missing something simple.

we changed the time and day settings to be total time and total days. (It used to be the time and days per iteration). This make it easy to switch from 5 to 10 or 20 iterations without having to adjust the times. However, your setting of 5 minutes, should be changed to 60 minutes. And 5 to 10 days will work better as well.

[Al Hart]

May 24, 2009
* Added Soft Sun capability
* Added dialog to change application to Launch Files
* Added progress bar to display progress which saving and processing images.
* Added option to process only actual shadows, (Rather than surfaces which are in shadow because the surfaces faces away from the sun.)

See: New Version

[thomthom]

Do you have to uninstall previous versions when installing new ones?

I just tried to update and when I click on the OK button in the Sketchy Shadow window I get a messagebox;

@unknownuser said:

ERROR during toolbar command: #Proc:0x0ae3dd68@RpTools_toolbar.rb:205)
wrong number of arguments(5 for 7)

NprTools_image.rb:184:in 'dll_call_merge_shadows'

And the Ruby Console outputs:

Saving shadow image - Please wait
Saving sbase_image; C;\Documents and Settings\thm\Mine dokumenter\NprTools/NprTools_Images/SS_Base.png - please wait
Save no-shadow image
RESTORE  shadow_info["DisplayShadows"]=false old; true 
Saving shadow_image; C;\Documents and Settings\thm\Mine dokumenter\NprTools/NprTools_Images/SS_Shadow_mask.png - please wait
Save shadow image
RESTORE rendering_options["BackgroundColor"]=Color(255, 255, 255, 255) old; Color(204, 204, 201, 255)
RESTORE rendering_options["FaceBackColor"]=Color(255, 255, 255, 255) old; Color(164, 178, 187, 255)
RESTORE rendering_options["GroundColor"]=Color(255, 255, 255, 255) old; Color(210, 208, 185, 255)
RESTORE rendering_options["HideConstructionGeometry"]=true old; false
RESTORE rendering_options["RenderMode"]=1 old; 2
RESTORE rendering_options["Texture"]=false old; true
RESTORE  shadow_info["Dark"]=0 old; 45 
Saving edge_image; C;\Documents and Settings\thm\Mine dokumenter\NprTools/NprTools_Images/SS_Edges.png - please wait
Save edge image
RESTORE rendering_options["BackgroundColor"]=Color(255, 255, 255, 255) old; Color(204, 204, 201, 255)
RESTORE rendering_options["HideConstructionGeometry"]=true old; false
RESTORE rendering_options["RenderMode"]=1 old; 2
RESTORE rendering_options["Texture"]=false old; true
RESTORE  shadow_info["DisplayShadows"]=false old; true 
Creating shadow patterns - please wait
Setting material on entities; RPS Sketchy Shadows - please wait
ADDING COMPONENT; ARC Logo
COMPONENT LOOP length; 1
Processing component; ARC Logo (ents; 18)
End definition; ARC Logo
COMPONENT LOOP length; 1
Saving shadow pattern image - please wait
RESTORE rendering_options["EdgeDisplayMode"]=0 old; 1
RESTORE  shadow_info["Dark"]=100 old; 45 
Merging images - please wait
ERROR during toolbar command; #<Proc;0x0ae3dd68@RpTools_toolbar.rb;205>
wrong number of arguments(5 for 7)

NprTools_image.rb;184;in `dll_call_merge_shadows'

SU7 - XP Pro SP3

[Al Hart]

@thomthom said:

Do you have to uninstall previous versions when installing new ones?

No, you do not need to uninstall, but something is wrong here:

1. When you go to the downloads page, does it show version IE24b?

(If not click refresh in the web browser)

2. As you install it, does the zip file say: Click here to install NprTools_1_1_IE24npr.exe

3. After you install it, and click the first icon to bring up the about box, does it show version IE24npr?

[thomthom]

I had RpTools_1_1_IA07t.zip

when I went to the download page it says: "Version: IA07"

[Al Hart]

One other thing (and this may be the one!)

When you reinstall NprTools, make sure you select NprTools and not RpTools.

There is an old version of RpTools on the download page which is replacing the newer version of NprTools.

I'm sure that is the problem.

I will try to get it fixed. (1/2 or our staff is on vacation this week, so some things are getting a little delayed)

[thomthom]

Doh! Downloading "Version: IE24b" now... I didn't read properly...

[thomthom]

Why does it look like it's softing out the sketchy shadows?

And what is the Washout slider?

[Al Hart]

@thomthom said:

Why does it look like it's softing out the sketchy shadows?

And what is the Washout slider?

I worked hard to try to make the shadows soft.

Which part of "soft" didn't you want?
(If you don't want the 5 softer areas (see arrows), then set the number of iterations to 1 - so the soft shadow effect is not used for the Sketchy Shadows.

If you want the all the shadows darker (more white), then make sure that your "Shadow" material is solid black, since any lightness in the material will make the shadows softer.

Washout moves the original image more towards white, black or grey. This is helpful when you are using a fairly solid (50% or more) shadow pattern, and want the original drawing to be made darker by the shadows.

This is a normal image with dark shadow lines

Here the base image is washed out

Wash out may make more sense when you are using both sun and shadow lines, and want the base image to be close to grey.

[thomthom]

Sketchy shadows with soft shadows is a nice feature. I just couldn't work out what to do if I didn't want them. For the Blueprint type of sketch I'm trying to do I prefer them without.

Looking at the wiki, it seems to be possible to have the shadow texture aligned to the screen and not to the geometry?

[linea]

Al

NPR tools looks great I haven't tried it yet, but will get around to it soon. Just a thought, would it be possible for the sketchy shadows to display as a series of dots as opposed to lines?