Materials showing in SS6, but were not in SS5

Hello

I have a project that I have just migrated to SS6.

Previously in SS5, I pretty much did all the modelling in Illustration Display Style. The materials that were applied, via the Dataset (only a handful actually) did not show up.

Now in SS6 they do. These are the elements in grey/painted steel in Image 1.

They should show up using the ByLevel colours (as shown in the 2nd image)

I can't seem to be able to turn the dispaly of materials OFF. Maybe the related Family and Part, P4, A-P414 Steel, protected steel, did not have a 'material' property set in SS5 (seem to think it did)

Related, the 'material' toggle has gone in SS6, ..... seems it wasn't there in SS5 either, ...... I'm losing track but when did that dissapear for the View Attributes Dialog box.

Is the intention that the materials (as set in the Dataset) are always ON, when using a shaded view Display Style? if so, this is very undesirable for reasons which I can expand on in due course

Image 1

Image 2

  • Elements with materials applied by the dataset show up in all illustration and smooth display styles in SS5 and SS6, this is the designed behaviour and has been for a long time.
    If you do not want this turn on the level override view attribute.
    Note that if levels have materials associated with their overrides, these materials will be displayed.

    Regards

    Marc

  • Marc
    Hello
    Oh, ..... I see, ..... this is 'bad news' and very undesirable, ... I shall expand on why in due course
    I assure you that in SS5 the materials did not show up. I worked on these files for about a year and a half solid, pretty much always in Illustration, .......
    I guess it's possible that the particualr Part in question does not have a material associated with it in SS5. Could you check this? I don't have SS5 installed anymore and must admit re-installing it all just for that is a bit .....
    This was the only Family+Part I used, ............ I didn't actually have any need for them and just applied one here and there as a bit of a tester. Maybe I got lucky (or unlucky) and indeed that Part did not have a material in SS5
    I'm afraid turning ON Level Overrides isn't really an acceptable solution, ..... it goes totally against what is the 'standard' way of modelling and has been for many years. The modelling is tupically done using By Level. Even if you are using Familys+Parts, the ystill typically have colour associated with them
    Where are Bentley getting this information from??????????????
    What made them decide that if you are working in a shaded Display Style, ..... YOU WILL HAVE THE MATERIALS DISPLAYED
    I'm sorry but this shows a quite shockign lack of awareness of real world usage
    Rant over for now
    But, ...... I'll be back!

    Regards

    Danny Cooley

    Freelance AEC CAD/BIM Technician Architecture, MEP & Structural  ..... (& ex Low Carbon Consultant, ..... because they weren't that bothered!)

    OBD Update 10, Windows 10 Pro, HP Z4-G4, 64Gb, Xeon 3.6GHz, Quadro M4000

  • Hi Danny,

    That part has had material 'Metal Painted (white)' attached to it since at least SS3 (which I do have installed, just in case), I expect it had the same in Bentley Architecture.

    I can't remember materials display being a view attribute, this screen grab is from 2004:

    and does not include it, maybe further back than that?

    This is the way it has been in Bentley Building products for quite a few years now, going back to Bentley Architecture, Structural etc.

    MicroStation does not do this because there is no family and part system to apply default materials.

    If you only use a small number of parts, one option is to copy them to your project dataset and untick the render toggle in the copies, they will then override the delivered parts and no materials will be displayed.

    If a material is present whether assigned, attached or from the dataset it will show up in the delivered shaded views.

    You could copy the Illustration display style to 'Illustration No Material', the tick the Material : No Material box:

    That will probably do what you want.

    Regards

    Marc

    Answer Verified By: Marc Thomas 

  • Ditto... I'm fairly certain using part assigned materials in shaded modes has always been the case, even pre-V8i before we had display styles.

    Danny,
    Any chance your Ss5 install had TF_PARTRENDER = 0?



  • Hello

    At work, .... for the last few years we have been using MS SS2 and Bentley Building SS1, ...... we nearly always work in Illustration, .... maybe there are no materials in the Dataset (very possible as this is provided by the client) .... I'll check

    I've just grabed this image of the internet

    I must give credit to

    www.cad-notes.com/exercise-working-with-microstation-views

    Looks like it's from MS V8i

    There is a 'Patterns/Bump Maps' icon above the 'Patterns' icon

    I'm pretty sure I used to use this to turn OFF any materials when I didn't want to see them (most of the time)

    The project I'm working on (the one I've posted the images of) started in MS SS1, then SS2, .....I only very occasionaly used BA SS1, as I didn't really need it

    About a year an half ago I migrated it to AECOSim SS5. I must have fairly early on amended the Display Style (in my own dgnlibs) to have the materials OFF. Apologies for not fully remembering and sounding off. I just got so used to it being that way, .... though it was some 'new development' in SS6

    So, ...... my problem is now resolved, I'll create a new Display Style, as mentioned and use that

    Thanks!

    Maybe our workflow at work is a bit 'dated', ..... however, I would still state that having the materials show be default is not desirable

    I'll expand on that in another post (sorry it's late), ...... AFAIK, ..... doing the modelling with some kind of colour coding is the standard/normal way of doing things. Having the materials ON is actually a lot less clear/understandable a lot of the time

    Try doing that on an MEP model were nearly everything is made of mild steel, galvanised steel, some aluminium here and there, ..... 3 quarters of your model will end up being a light, metallic grey colour, ..... you won't be able to tell what's what anymore!

    Thanks again, ... panic over

    Regards

    Danny Cooley

    Freelance AEC CAD/BIM Technician Architecture, MEP & Structural  ..... (& ex Low Carbon Consultant, ..... because they weren't that bothered!)

    OBD Update 10, Windows 10 Pro, HP Z4-G4, 64Gb, Xeon 3.6GHz, Quadro M4000