Need help with Nvidia graphics settings

Joe Dunfee

 I have been given a new (used) computer by my company, and it has a Nvidia FX 530 graphics card.  It does great when I use any shaded mode, but any of the wireframe (either 2d or 3d) modes have all the lines faded in color, with the exception of black lines, which look as I would expect them to be.

I am guessing that this is something to do with anti aliasing or some other setting in the graphics card's settings.  When I look at the Nvidia's Global Settings tab and look at the Global Presets, there is no profile for BricsCAD. The profiles that may be comparable to a CAD program include the generic 3D App, Autodesk Motion Builder, Autodesk Mudbox.  I tried them, and all the other ones that were available, with out any success. 

Any suggestions?

Joe Dunfee

 I have been trying to get my CAD work transfered from my laptop to a desktop system.  Recently, after installing the open-source modeling program called Blender, the faded colors went away... well at least they went a way for a while. Now they are back.

The fact that some DWG files have the problem relatively consistently  and some are rather consistently without the problem suggests that the problem somehow lays inside the DWG file.

I think I finally found one of the triggers.  One of the problem DWG files consists of mostly Xrefs, with a few regular block insertions.  The Xrefs are the ones that are attached.  If I convert the Xref to a block insertion, the problem goes away.

The Xref block layers are not altered in any way.  The colors and lineweights are not changed.  So, is there some sort of global setting that can cause Xrefs to be faded out?

Joe Dunfee

 Here are some screen shots that show the problem.

Joe Dunfee

Trying again with the attachment. It seems you can't select separate attachments. 

 Note that these are pictures taken with my camera.  They show the colors bolder than they really are to my eye.

-Joe

BricsCAD Bold and Faded Objects.jpg

Jason Bourhill

Joe,

V15 introduced fade control for xrefs. Its a feature!! :-)

Fading can be adjusted in SETTINGS by changing XDWGFADECTL. Setting to non-positive values disable fading.

BTW you can do screen grabs on your PC by pressing the Print Screen button to captures the whole screen, or Alt + Print Screen to capture the current window. The screen grab gets copied to the clipboard, you then paste into a graphics application such as Paint.

Regards,

Jason Bourhill

CAD Concepts 

David Waight

BTW you can do screen grabs on your PC by pressing the Print Screen button to captures the whole screen, or Alt + Print Screen to capture the current window. The screen grab gets copied to the clipboard, you then paste into a graphics application such as Paint.

Apropos nothing, but there is the Windows Snipping Tool for screen grabs which could make things easier still if you want to be able to do grabs without using any other program.

Cheers,

David Waight

Joe Dunfee

The fade Xref seems to have been the issue!  

Though I am frustrated that Bricssys did not inform me of this in my support query.  I have spent hours on this issue over the period of a few months.

I can't figure out how some drawings have Xrefs set to be faded, and other's don't.  This problem first appeared before I ever even downloaded the version 15.  Perhaps they were testing the idea out on an earlier release of 14 and that introduced some sort of instability with this value?

-Joe

Joe Dunfee

Mr. Waight,  I forgot to say thank you.  My next step would have been to buy a new graphics card, thinking that it was the problem. I would have wated several hundred dollars if you had not responded, and still be without a solution.

-Joe

Hans De Backer

Please be informed that in V15 also support for the LAYLOCKFADECTL setting has been added.
Similar to XDWGFADECTL it controls the fading percentage of content on locked layers.
The LAYISO command can be configured to lock all layers except the selected one(s), resulting in a context where layers that are currently being worked on, clearly stand out from the other content of the drawing.

Scott McKenzie

 I use the shades of grey visual style, I have tweaked it slightly in regards to the colors, I have found it to be the most efficient display style for a large model.

Robt Deans

@Scott McKenzie:

 I use the shades of grey..

Yea, I use 50 Shades of Grey.
Apologies, couldn't resist...

Scott McKenzie

 Haha!

Jim Canale

 I have the same problem with V15 on both my business and home machines.  Lines are so faint I can't see them.  That is why I have not made the switch to V15 yet.   I filed a support request, and they told me to set ANTIALIASSCREEN >"1".    Worked on the business machine, but not the home computer.   I have now tried setting XDWGFADECTL to -90, but lines are still very hard to see.    If this was a video card problem wouldn't it also affect V14, which I use, without problems, on this machine?

Jason Bourhill

@Jim Canale:

 I have the same problem with V15 on both my business and home machines.  Lines are so faint I can't see them.

Have you tried the REDSDKINFO command? This checks your installed graphics card, and will inform you if there are newer drivers available.

Is the issue present in all drawings, or just some? Potentially it could be something in your drawing/template. I assume you included a sample file with your support request.

Regards, Jason Bourhill CAD Concepts 

Jim Canale

@Jason Bourhill:

Have you tried the REDSDKINFO command? This checks your installed graphics card, and will inform you if there are newer drivers available.
Is the issue present in all drawings, or just some? Potentially it could be something in your drawing/template. I assume you included a sample file with your support request.

Regards, Jason Bourhill  CAD Concepts 

Jason,

Thanks for your reply.  Regarding the SR I submitted.   I pointed out two problems that occurred when I started using  V15.  The lines present in 2D or 3D models were displayed so wide, the object was difficult to visualize.   Also the lines and colors very muted and faint.  The problem occurred in all drawings, whether I started from a template or with the wizard.   I sent a sample file with the support request.  I was told to set ANTIALIASSCREEN >1.  I did that, and the muted colors looked a bit better, but still not not bright and sharp like it appeared in V14.2.17.    The fat lines, always present when the drawing was first loaded,  usually went away after I did a screen regenerate.   However, I am not happy with the visibility and color of the lines.  Too hard to see.  So much so that I am still using V14.2.17 for most of my drawings.

I ran the command you told me about, and got the following results.  I don't understand what all this means.  I see however that I have the latest driver.

: REDSDKINFO

RedSDK product version: 3.5 (build 10)

RenderUsingHardware: Hybrid hardware mode.

OpenGL window creation succeeded.

Operating system: Win_xp32

Local GPU:

    GPU information:

        name:     'NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT'

        chipset:  'G92'

        class:    'HW_NVIDIA_G80'

        asicID:   '0x0605'

        vendorID: '0x10de'

        recommended driver: 'NVIDIA Forceware 260.99'

    Installed driver:

        driver:      'NVIDIA Forceware 260.99'

        dll version: ''

        validation: 'Ok'

        Installed driver is up-to-date.

Selected GPU:

    Chipset: HW_NVIDIA_G80

    Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation ( IsNVidia )

    OpenGL version: 3.3.0

    Renderer: GeForce 9800 GT/PCI/SSE2

    OpenGL extensions: GL_ARB_blend_func_extended GL_ARB_color_buffer_float GL_ARB_compatibility GL_ARB_copy_buffer GL_ARB_depth_buffer_float GL_ARB_depth_clamp GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_draw_buffers GL_ARB_draw_elements_base_vertex GL_ARB_draw_instanced GL_ARB_ES2_compatibility GL_ARB_explicit_attrib_location GL_ARB_fragment_coord_conventions GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow GL_ARB_fragment_shader GL_ARB_framebuffer_object GL_ARB_framebuffer_sRGB GL_ARB_geometry_shader4 GL_ARB_get_program_binary GL_ARB_half_float_pixel GL_ARB_half_float_vertex GL_ARB_imaging GL_ARB_instanced_arrays GL_ARB_map_buffer_range GL_ARB_multisample GL_ARB_multitexture GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_occlusion_query2 GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_ARB_point_parameters GL_ARB_point_sprite GL_ARB_provoking_vertex GL_ARB_robustness GL_ARB_sampler_objects GL_ARB_seamless_cube_map GL_ARB_separate_shader_objects GL_ARB_shader_bit_encoding GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shading_language_100 GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_sync GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_texture_buffer_object GL_ARB_texture_compression GL_ARB_texture_compression_rgtc GL_ARB_texture_cube_map GL_ARB_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 GL_ARB_texture_float GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_ARB_texture_multisample GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_texture_rg GL_ARB_texture_rgb10_a2ui GL_ARB_texture_swizzle GL_ARB_timer_query GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_uniform_buffer_object GL_ARB_vertex_array_bgra GL_ARB_vertex_array_object GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_ARB_vertex_shader GL_ARB_vertex_type_2_10_10_10_rev GL_ARB_viewport_array GL_ARB_window_pos GL_ATI_draw_buffers GL_ATI_texture_float GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once GL_S3_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_bindable_uniform GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array GL_EXT_Cg_shader GL_EXT_depth_bounds_test GL_EXT_direct_state_access GL_EXT_draw_buffers2 GL_EXT_draw_instanced GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_framebuffer_blit GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample GL_EXTX_framebuffer_mixed_formats GL_EXT_framebuffer_object GL_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB GL_EXT_geometry_shader4 GL_EXT_gpu_program_parameters GL_EXT_gpu_shader4 GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays GL_EXT_packed_depth_stencil GL_EXT_packed_float GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_pixel_buffer_object GL_EXT_point_parameters GL_EXT_provoking_vertex GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_separate_shader_objects GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_EXT_shadow_funcs GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_EXT_texture3D GL_EXT_texture_array GL_EXT_texture_buffer_object GL_EXT_texture_compression_latc GL_EXT_texture_compression_rgtc GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_cube_map GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_EXT_texture_integer GL_EXT_texture_lod GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp GL_EXT_texture_object GL_EXT_texture_shared_exponent GL_EXT_texture_sRGB GL_EXT_texture_swizzle GL_EXT_timer_query GL_EXT_vertex_array GL_EXT_vertex_array_bgra GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_KTX_buffer_region GL_NV_blend_square GL_NV_conditional_render GL_NV_copy_depth_to_color GL_NV_copy_image GL_NV_depth_buffer_float GL_NV_depth_clamp GL_NV_explicit_multisample GL_NV_fence GL_NV_float_buffer GL_NV_fog_distance GL_NV_fragment_program GL_NV_fragment_program_option GL_NV_fragment_program2 GL_NV_framebuffer_multisample_coverage GL_NV_geometry_shader4 GL_NV_gpu_program4 GL_NV_half_float GL_NV_light_max_exponent GL_NV_multisample_coverage GL_NV_multisample_filter_hint GL_NV_occlusion_query GL_NV_packed_depth_stencil GL_NV_parameter_buffer_object GL_NV_parameter_buffer_object2 GL_NV_pixel_data_range GL_NV_point_sprite GL_NV_primitive_restart GL_NV_register_combiners GL_NV_register_combiners2 GL_NV_shader_buffer_load GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_NV_texture_barrier GL_NV_texture_compression_vtc GL_NV_texture_env_combine4 GL_NV_texture_expand_normal GL_NV_texture_multisample GL_NV_texture_rectangle GL_NV_texture_shader GL_NV_texture_shader2 GL_NV_texture_shader3 GL_NV_transform_feedback GL_NV_vertex_array_range GL_NV_vertex_array_range2 GL_NV_vertex_buffer_unified_memory GL_NV_vertex_program GL_NV_vertex_program1_1 GL_NV_vertex_program2 GL_NV_vertex_program2_option GL_NV_vertex_program3 GL_NVX_conditional_render GL_NVX_gpu_memory_info GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_SGIX_depth_texture GL_SGIX_shadow GL_SUN_slice_accum GL_WIN_swap_hint WGL_EXT_swap_control 

Jason Bourhill

Hi Jim,

yes, key information  is that 'Installed driver is up-to-date'. If it wasn't, then a message would show to that effect, and a link offered to download the latest driver.

Perhaps lineweight display? This can be toggled on/off by pick LWT on the status bar. I assume from the SR that they didn't have the same issue when viewing your drawing?

Regards, Jason Bourhill CAD Concepts 

Jim Canale

@Jason Bourhill:

.....Perhaps lineweight display? This can be toggled on/off by pick LWT on the status bar. I assume from the SR that they didn't have the same issue when viewing 

Jason,

Thanks. The support people never told me if they saw the problem or not.  All they did was tell me to change ANTIALIASSCREEN .   I never thought of LWT.  I will try that, next time I see the problem.   Right now, though, I am busy doing a project in 14.2.17    

Jim Canale

Jason,

I blew this troubleshooting, and have to apologize for wasting  your time.   When I first started seeing the problem (muted colors in V15), I thought it was a  settings issue rather than a bug.  I sent Bricsys screenshots, but failed to send the *.DWG.   Their suggestions did not fix the problem, so I finished the drawing with V14, and moved on.   I much prefer the interface in V14.   The only time I use V15 is when I have to import models with Communicator.   I've seen the problem occur 5 or 6 times over the past year, but my go to response has been to quit V15 and finish the drawing with V14.   I should have noted which drawings exhibited the problem, but I failed to do that.    I'm still using V15 and Communicator to import models, but have not seen the problem in several months.  We updated V15.  Maybe the bug was fixed.   My SR has been marked "Investigating" while Bricsys is waiting for me to upload an example.