[2011 BUG??] Duct obscures (not hides) air terminal

[matt__w]

Attached are two screen shots (2009 & 2011) of some simple ductwork going from left to right then rising up. Below the horizontal duct and rise is an air terminal. This was created in 2009, saved, then opened with 2011... nothing more. Just opened. Unless I'm missing something, I'd say this is a bug? Unless anyone can prove me wrong.

Matt

[jason.martin]

Hardware acceleration on or off?
tia
jason
(edit) Guessing hardware acceleration is on.

[matt__w]

Turning it off makes it visible on screen, however when printing, regardless of the hardware acceleration setting, it's still obscured. See attached PDFs. Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations?? The PDFs were created using Bluebeam 8.0.0 (64-bit).

Matt

[jason.martin]

Have you tried raster printing (or is this raster, I just assume people use vector by default).
jason

[matt__w]

It works with hardware acceleration turned OFF and raster printing turned ON. However, the graphics when printed using the raster option are fuzzy and pixely. :(

Matt

[Jrobker]

Matt,
Is the reason for the display/printing issues only because you upgraded the project?
You don't have this problem if you start a model in 2011...right?

Jason, while you're here. What does hardware acceleration really do?
With my experience it seems like turning it on/off doesn't effect anything.

The difference between raster and vector are pixels and paths. It would only make sense to print using vector from a 3D platform.

Do you know of any literature explaining the instances of when it would be best to mix and match these (hardware acceleration/ vector-raster) settings for printing, or is this a krap shoot depending on the model?

[matt__w]

Matt,
Is the reason for the display/printing issues only because you upgraded the project?
You don't have this problem if you start a model in 2011...right?

I haven't verified this (yet). I'm just trying to figure out why our current project (started in 2009) is now doing this in 2011.

And Jason, I'm ALSO interested in some detailed info about the hardware acceleration. Please?? :)

Matt

[jason.martin]

Matt,
Jason, while you're here. What does hardware acceleration really do?
With my experience it seems like turning it on/off doesn't effect anything.


Internally it actually does quite a lot.
Starting in the 2010 release Revit began implementing Direct3D as the "hardware" solution for displaying graphics. Prior to 2010 the two options were either software OpenGL or hardware OpenGL.
The 2011 release of Revit has "deepened" the Direct3D integration. When hardware acceleration is on we are using much more of the Direct3D "capabilities" of the graphics card on your system to actually generate the graphics you see. It is really hard to tell the difference, as switching it "on and off" as you work doesn't really do anything, as whatever projects you have open will use the mode that it was in when you opened the project, so many times "switching" it won't change what you see (and my definition about project vs. view could be confused as well).
Basically a larger part of the algorithms used to draw what you see on screen get "switched out" when you change modes. If there aren't any differences in what you see then hat's off to the developers and QA personnel working on this project, as it's a LOT to keep up with.
2011 is doing quite a bit more than 2010 did as far as graphics hardware utilization.
jason

[Jrobker]

Thanks,
So why would we ever want to turn it off or even have the option to?

[gvluisi]

Blah Blah Blah - Over my head...more blah blah blah ... way over my head... algorithim ... jason

So what you're saying is.... if I go 93 miles and hang a left at the Tastey Freeze, I'll get a better print?

I found this at Revit Clinic

http://revitclinic.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/04/revit-2011-graphics-qa.html


(the blah blah blah stuff was my interpretation and not to be confused with Jason's righteous input)

[jason.martin]

The real reasons for giving you the option to turn it off are
1. We don't support all graphics cards yet with hardware acceleration. For example the one that I have has been know to be problematic :-) Unfortunately it's a laptop, so a bit of a challenge to replace.
2. It's a safety net. We've had the software OGL implementation for some time and we know its limitations. If all else fails there's the option of using software OGL.

Unless you are experiencing specific problems related to using hardware acceleration you shouldn't turn it off.

I'd compare it more to driving 93 miles, then turning around and driving 93 miles back to where you started and that taking less time than if you hadn't driven at all :-)

As indicated on the support blog, it's not quite the same place as you started, as you are getting some additional capabilities like real time materials, ambient occlusion, and we're continuing to do more, but the initial goal was one of parity with the current display.
jason