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Thread: Glass Stair Railing

  1. #1
    Active Member jkramer's Avatar
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    Question Glass Stair Railing

    I would like to create a railing for stairs with glass panels. Any ideas? I am trying to render an interior view of an ADT building with VIZ Render.

    Thanks,
    Jessica

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    Time Lord Steve_Bennett's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glass Stair Railing

    Well, VIZ Render can't do much that would make doing this easy. You would have to create any objects in ADT first & link them into VIZ. You could try creating solid railings in ADT & applying a glass material to the panels of the railing in ADT & it should come through into VIZ.
    Steve Bennett |BIM Manager
    Taylor Design | Adventures in BIM

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    I could stop if I wanted to de-co1's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glass Stair Railing

    Quote Originally Posted by jkramer

    . . . . . . with VIZ Render.
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve_Bennett

    Well, VIZ Render can't do much that would make doing this easy...
    Please excuse my ignorance, but are you talking about a product called VIZ Render (separate from Autodesk VIZ) or about Autodesk VIZ itself?

    If it is indeed A/desk VIZ, then modeling is definitely possible. If the handrail doesn't exist in ADT, and you don't have ADT to work it up with, then by all means use VIZ - it is after all, a powerful modeling and rendering off spin of MAX.

    The first, and possibly easiest method is to create a spline running along the edge of your stairs, offsetting this (OUTLINE in VIZ) the required distance away from the stair edge, and deleting the original spline. This can act as both your handrail and your glass panels.

    Are they panels in a steel balustrade, floating panels, or frame less glass fixed into your stairs. Frame less glass is the easiest. Simply offset your line again to give your glass thickness, if you intend using refraction, otherwise leave as a single line. Extrude to the desired height plus the height of your tread. Copy the same line to the top of the panels, and give it thickness - for your handrail. Adjust the balustrade vertically until it's in the right position. And there you have it. Glazed panels the entire run of your stairs. In your top view create rectangles to trim the line where you want panel breaks, and / or draw vertical lines (with thickness and transparency) on the extrusion to give the impression of silicon joints.

    Floating, side fixed panels will be the same, just offset in the opposite direction (away from the centre of your flight.

    Glass panels in a framework however, will require some extensive modeling to create (done in elevation, moved into place, and copied is the easiest) This is achievable if you know how to model, but if you're new to 3D, it can turn into a nightmare, and I would suggest modelling in the package that suits you.

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    Active Member jkramer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glass Stair Railing

    I am indeed talking about VIZ Render - it's a free renderer that comes with ADT these days.

    I did solve the problem by drawing in 3D planes in ADT, and rendering them in VR with the material "clear glass". They are not perfect, but it should work for this rough layout I'm doing.

    Thanks for the feedback.

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    I could stop if I wanted to de-co1's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glass Stair Railing

    Quote Originally Posted by jkramer

    I am indeed talking about VIZ Render - it's a free renderer that comes with ADT these days. . .

    Thanks for the feedback.
    No worries. Now I need to go and find out about this VIZ Render!

    Our work is never done...

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    Time Lord Steve_Bennett's Avatar
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    Arrow Re: Glass Stair Railing

    Quote Originally Posted by de-co1
    Please excuse my ignorance, but are you talking about a product called VIZ Render (separate from Autodesk VIZ) or about Autodesk VIZ itself?

    If it is indeed A/desk VIZ, then modeling is definitely possible. If the handrail doesn't exist in ADT, and you don't have ADT to work it up with, then by all means use VIZ - it is after all, a powerful modeling and rendering off spin of MAX.
    Well, in my field I'm using all 3 programs, I tend to get rather frustrated with VIZ Render when I'm forced to use it. If you already use VIZ & MAX (which from your nice explanation it sounds like you already do) I wouldn't worry about VIZ Render too much as you'll be disappointed coming from a VIZ/MAX background. MAX is the flagship, VIZ is the little brother & VIZ Render is the grunt that almost shouldn't be around. It simply has the rendering engine of MAX, the ability to create simple fly around animations & place lights/camera's in your scene. I wouldn't even attempt to create materials in VIZ Render due to the striped down Material Editor.

    Hope this helps clarify the differences.

    Steve Bennett |BIM Manager
    Taylor Design | Adventures in BIM

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    Super Moderator beegee's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glass Stair Railing

    Just to add further ....

    Viz and Max are both the same engine, each employing different plug-ins.

    Although you can model in each, neither is a CAD product, since you cannot accurately scale and align elements as you would need to do in a product environment. You can export a model from both Revit and ADT to Viz.

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    Time Lord Steve_Bennett's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glass Stair Railing

    Quote Originally Posted by beegee
    ...Although you can model in each, neither is a CAD product, since you cannot accurately scale and align elements as you would need to do in a product environment. You can export a model from both Revit and ADT to Viz.
    I would have to disagree on that point. You can set real-world units in the scene you are working with & you have transform boxes which allow you to enter specific distances - you also have align tools & 3D snaps & ortho/polar functions very similar to AutoCAD/Revit. Where the difference is, is how you think about your placement & sizing of objects. While you can be very precise, what you need to remember is that you have now entered a different world from drafting. A world where things don't have to be exact to within a 1/16". So while you can be very precise in your adjustments, it's important to not let this get in your way of the creative process. It is important to have basic sizes relative to their real world counterparts so that when it comes time to apply that flooring tile material to your scene, it's easy to figure how to scale the bitmap being used for the flooring.

    Just some things to think about.

    P.S. - I generally don't scale objects, I will resize them accordingly via their xyz properties. Otherwise, once you apply a scale transform to an object, it scales everything & can lead to unexpected or undesirable results.
    Steve Bennett |BIM Manager
    Taylor Design | Adventures in BIM

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    Super Moderator beegee's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glass Stair Railing

    Looking forward to seeing your next batch of working drawings produced in Viz, Steve.
    Last edited by beegee; 2005-11-05 at 10:38 PM.

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    Time Lord Steve_Bennett's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glass Stair Railing

    Quote Originally Posted by beegee
    Looking forward to seeing your next batch of working drawings produced in Viz, Steve.
    Hehe. Yeah right. Gotta use the right tool for the right job. There's no way I would attempt such a thing.

    Steve Bennett |BIM Manager
    Taylor Design | Adventures in BIM

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