modifying furniture in TFP 2015

[JefDB]

If I want to modify a 3D object, I just double click on it in the floor plan, and there it appears in the 3D Custom Workshop...  but if I double click on a piece of furniture that I want to modify, nothing happens.... how do I go about that ?

[Patricia G.]

Hi there,

I am not sure if I understand the issue.
The furniture elements (chairs, tables, etc) are usually 3D objects that you can modify using the 3D Custom Workshop Power Tool. Can you provide an example with a screenshot?

Patricia

[JefDB]

Hi Patricia,

Maybe I created confusion because of bad word choice ( English is not my mother tongue )... I probably shouldn't have called the kitchen cabinet "furniture". Anyway, the cabinet I would like to modify in the 3D workshop  is the cupboard hanging above the kitchen sink. Am I running into problems because it is not free standing, but attached to a wall?

A second, non related question is this one : we are working on a design with clerestories to bring light to the back of the house, hoping that the rays, reflecting on the relatively steep roof at the back will fill the house with a beautiful diffuse light. However, as the screenshot shows, the sunlight entering through the clerestories is visible on the wall, but not on the ceiling/roof.
Is that a given in the program, or is it a question of settings ?

Regards,
Jef

[Patricia G.]

Hi Jef,

Nice design! 

No problem, the images solve the communication issue. I speak other languages: which is your mother tongue?

OK, some concepts for a better understanding:
- the elements that are in the 3D library like chairs, tables, etc are objects and you can edit them using the 3D Custom Workshop.
- the elements that are placed in the tabs menus (cabinets, doors, plugs, etc) are components => they have special properties. To edit a component, select it => Tool Options bar (right of the screen)
The cabinets can be edited in this way => you can edit the style and number of doors, backsplash, drawers, hardware, etc.

Sun light: Go to 3D => 3D rendering => Lighting => lighting => you can adjust the settings, specially the angle of the sunlight.
In addition,  go to 3D => 3D rendering => Lighting => Set Global Sun Position => you can determine the sun settings for a your exact location, day and time.

Patricia

[JefDB]

Hi Patricia,

1. Languages... yes, I thought I had read somewhere that you give lectures in Portuguese... I like the passion that's hidden ( or not so hidden ) in Latin languages... any other languages ?
My mother tongue is Flemish, second language was French, then came German, and then English... since we settled in  New Zealand, English moved up the ranks, but it is intriguing how, even when you are fluent in a foreign language, you seem to keep looking at the world in categories defined by your own language ( hence "furniture" for a kitchen cupboard ).
2. Yes, I now understand why I can't get the cupboard in the 3D workshop.
3.The lighting.... yes, I had found out how to set the global sun position. The attachments show a light rendering for 10 am and 11.30 am on 1 August ( winter in the southern hemisphere )... in each of them, you have sunlight coming through the clerestories showing on the western side wall and the southern back wall.... but no light is showing on the ceiling... Is this because of the coding of the software, in that normally a ceiling is horizontal and  thus will never be hit by direct sunlight ?

Regards,
Jef

[Patricia G.]

Hi Jef,

Yes, I provide training in different languages, including Spanish and Portuguese. I use also French (and this year I will release a French version of my e-book)

Don't worry about the furniture / cupboards issue. As a matter of fact, as the cabinet tool doesn't develop all the models, I have a library of objects / cupboards developed with the 3DCW, for example, cabinets with glass doors.

Regarding the sun light, I will check this issue in detail as well as the options. It works normally in horizontal ceilings (see attached).

Patricia

[Patricia G.]

Jef,

OK, I found a solution for this issue => go to the lighting control panel and set the shadow quality = 1
Don't worry, you won't notice a big difference in the shadows' quality 
See attached

Patricia

[JefDB]

Hi Patricia,

Thanks, merci, gracias, obrigado, bedankt, Danke...
However...I came to a variant conclusion...see the attachment. This brightness setting for the ambient light is the highest setting where the sunlight on the ceiling is visible. If you unclick "Adjust Background Brightness", only a higher sunlight brightnesssetting  makes the sunlight entering through the clerestories visible... which is logical.
I think that in the coding, there is an imbalance between the influence allocated to ambient light and direct light.  I have done a lot of interior photography, and the problem is always how direct  sunlight is exponentially stronger than ambient light.... here it is the ambient light "overpowering" the direct sunlight... that is physically impossible.
Having said that, I better put all this in perspective. I realize that TurboFloorPlan is not Photoshop... I now know how I can get an idea about what the sun will do at the back of the house, and for what I paid for TFP, it is doing an amazing job.

Jef

[Patricia G.]

Hi Jef,

You're welcome, de nada, etc 

OK, I am not sure if I understand because in your screenshot, the Adjust Background Brightness option is checked. Anyway, I tried with / without this option and I don't see any difference in the shadows. Did you create the screenshot with the settings in the lighting control panel?
Yesterday, I discussed this issue with one of the programmers and I got an explanation regarding the buffers, etc.
Anyway, if the second option works for you, you have now two options to visualize your project 

Patricia