How to Configure Rendering Preferences in BricsCAD
Quick answer: Rendering preferences live in the Settings dialog, under Program Options > Rendering.
The Rendering Preferences
| Setting | Controls |
|---|---|
Current material (CMATERIAL) |
The material assigned to new entities; ByLayer (the default) uses the Global material |
Lighting units (LIGHTINGUNITS) |
0 disables lighting units (generic lighting), 1 uses American units (Foot-Candles), 2 uses International units (Lux). Web lights can only be created with this set to 1 or 2 |
Default lighting (DEFAULTLIGHTING) |
A distant light following the view direction, settable per viewport: 0 uses it only if no lights are switched on, 1 uses it instead of the drawing’s own defined light sources |
| Linear contrast | Deprecated. Sets ambient light intensity, from -10 (maximum ambient light) to 10 (no ambient light) |
| Linear brightness | Deprecated. A scaling factor for light intensity, from -10 to 10, default 0 (no scaling); negative values decrease intensity, positive values increase it, settable per viewport |
Render using hardware (RENDERUSINGHARDWARE) |
Choose software-only rendering (slower) if hardware rendering fails; a restart may be needed after changing it |
Real world scale (REALWORLDSCALE) |
Controls rendering of materials whose units are set to real-world scale |
Sky status (SKYSTATUS) |
Not implemented yet. Intended to control whether sky illumination is computed at render time |
Texture map path (TEXTUREMAPPATH) |
Sets the search path for texture map images. The BricsCAD program folder’s Textures directory has three subfolders with identically named files at different resolutions: folder 1 at 256×256 pixels, folder 2 at 512×512, folder 3 at 1024×1024. If a material’s Diffuse map setting uses just the image name (no path), point this setting at folder 1, 2, or 3 to control rendered image quality |
Tile mode light synch (TILEMODELIGHTSYNCH) |
Internal use only. Synchronizes lighting across all model space viewports |
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Linear contrast and Linear brightness still actively supported settings? No, both are marked deprecated in Octave’s own documentation.
Does BricsCAD currently support computing sky illumination at render time? No, Sky status is explicitly noted as not implemented yet.
How do I control the resolution of texture images in a rendered image? Set the Texture map path preference to folder 1, 2, or 3 in the Textures directory, corresponding to 256×256, 512×512, or 1024×1024 pixel images respectively, provided the material’s Diffuse map setting references the image by name only.
Why do web lights fail to create in my drawing? Check Lighting units, web lights only work when it’s set to American (Foot-Candles) or International (Lux) units, not the generic (0) setting.