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Newsletter – November 2014
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In this issue…
- Create Your Own RPCs with RPC Creator!
- Presentation Styles (new blog profiling notable work, tips & tricks)
- RPC Spotlight – Metro with Vespa
- Photoshop Workflow With Viewport
- Cloud Rendering
- Tips & Tricks: Tagging RPCs in Dashboard
Create Your Own RPCs with RPC Creator!
More than a year in the making, the new RPC Creator is now available! The RPC Creator is a new feature of Dashboard. It will remain labeled as a “beta” feature for a little longer even though hundreds of you have tested it and helped us make improvements over the past several months.
The new and improved RPC Creator for Dashboard lets you convert any alpha-masked 32-bit PNG or TIFF image into an RPC in seconds complete with custom preview and icon. After dropping your own PNG or TIFF image onto the RPC Creator all you’ll need to add is a name and real-world height. That’s all there is to it! Within seconds you’ll have an RPC file of your custom image ready to drag & drop into your favorite applications such as Revit, 3ds Max, Rhino, FormZ or Microstation.
If you have any commercial texture collections you’ve purchased over the years from companies such as Imagecels or TurboSquid you can drag & drop the entire collection onto the RPC Creator and convert to RPC making them infinitely easier to use in Revit, 3ds Max and other applications.
You’ll need to install a new version of Dashboard to access the RPC Creator feature. This release also includes the ability to add your own custom Tags to any RPC! See the Tips & Tricks section below for more details.
Presentation Styles – Christopher Dutton
Welcome to Presentation Styles, a new section of the ArchVision blog devoted to showcasing great work that we run across along with any tips & tricks the artists can pass along.
This month we’re showcasing the work of Christopher Dutton
View the Presentation Styles of Christopher Dutton »
(image courtesy of Christopher Dutton – Ocean Designs)
RPC Spotlight – Metro with Vespa
We’re continuing to add some great new RPCs to the collection. You’ll need to grab the new Dashboard with RPC Creator to get access to them.
We’ve been focusing recently on getting some new transportation-related RPCs ready for you. Check out this new Vespa, complete with controls to turn the kick-stand on and off! You’ll find 3 different colors of this new RPC by searching for Vespa on the Automobiles Channel in Dashboard.
There are also 32 additional new vehicles providing a variety of new color options for some of the most popular vehicles.
Photoshop Workflow With Viewport
Previewing RPCs and using them in Photoshop just got easier! We’ve added a new viewing mode within Dashboard called Viewport. Not only can you preview and spin around any 3D or 3D+ RPC but you can also drag & drop directly from Viewport into applications like Photoshop! Just hit the Render button and drag the thumbnail into Photoshop.
Watch the video »
RPC Cloud Rendering
ArchVision and Autodesk teamed up once again to make life easier for you by natively supporting RPCs in Autodesk Revit’s Render in Cloud service. There are no RPCs to upload! Just place them in your Revit model and hit Render in Cloud! That’s all there is to it. The Autodesk cloud servers talk directly to ArchVision’s cloud-based content repository so you don’t have to transfer your RPCs for rendering!
Learn More »
Tips & Tricks: Tagging RPCs in Dashboard
The latest RPC Creator release of Dashboard also includes a new Tag Editor feature. Tags are a helpful way to make your RPCs searchable and drive the Filters interface in each Channel within Dashboard.
In the Browse / Organize menu in Dashboard you’ll now find a Tag Editor option. Clicking on this will open a new Tag Editor panel in the left column of Dashboard (shortcut… just double-click on the RPC thumbnail).
For each RPC that is selected you’ll see the Tags that are associated with that piece of content. You can then add a tag by clicking in the Add Tag box at the bottom of the Tag Editor. If you want to remove a Tag you can click on the “x” next to each Tag that is displayed and it will be removed from your view. The Undo button at the bottom of the Tag Editor will let you recover Tags that you remove accidentally but only while you’re still editing the same content.
You can also Add and Remove Tags from multiple RPCs at the same time. Select multiple RPCs by using the traditional Ctrl-click or Shift-click selection methods. When multiple RPCs are selected the Tag Editor will display only those Tags that are common to what is currently selected. You can then add Tags simultaneously to all of the selected content or remove a common Tag with one click.
Once Tags have been added the RPCs are fully search-able by that Tag. The Filters panel will also display all of the Tags that are available for content within each Channel.
Happy Tagging!
