Tip of the month! October: Hardware recommendations

Lots of you will be investing in new hardware in the next few months, so we decided to give you some guidance with our recommendations. It is very important to distinguish between three major applications of Palette CAD, 3D design, visualisation and high-end VR implications. It can get a little confusing, so we'll break it down into a very simple example, like buying a car.

If your only concern is to get from A to B, and you never plan to travel over 200 kph, then almost any new car will do the job, and even plenty of older, second hand cars, keeping your buget at a minimum. Same applies for using Palette CAD if you do not wish to use the photo realistic visualisation, and use it purely for classical design purposes. It could look something like this:

Processor: Pentium Core 2 / i3

RAM: 4 GB

Hard drive: at least 30 GB free space

DVD drive

Graphics card: NVIdia with 1GB or more

Display: 1280 x 900

USB 2.0 or higher

Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10

If, on the other hand, your needs involve regular trips on the Autobahn, and you wish to cruise at high speeds, and in comfort, then, you need to invest in a mid-high range model. The better the engine/hp and nicer the interior, the more comftable and faster you will be able to travel. In this scenario the engine represents the graphics card, as it is the key to achieving better photo-realistic visualisations. Comfort can be seen in terms of better processor, RAM and monitor resolution. Below are our new purchase recommendations.

Desktop:

Processor: Intel Core i7

Graphics card: NVIDIA with 2 GB GDDR5 or more, ideally GTX series, e.g. GTX 950-1080

Display: 24“ or larger (Full HD 1920x1080 px)

RAM: min. 8 GB

Hard drive: min. 128 GB (recommended: SSD with 256 GB+, for operating system and Palette CAD)

Drives: DVD drive or Blu-ray drive

Internet connection

USB 2.0 (for program protector plug)

Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 (64-bit)

Notebook:

Processor: Intel Core i7

Display: 15.6“ or larger (Full HD 1920x1080 px)

Graphics card: NVIDIA with min. 2GB or more, ideally GTX series, e.g. GTX 850M-1080M

RAM: 8 GB or larger (ideally: 16 GB)

Hard drive: min. 128 GB (recommended: SSD with 256 GB+, for operating system and Palette CAD)

Drives: DVD or Blu-ray drive

Internet connection

USB 2.0 (for program protector plug)

Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 (64-bit) 

And then, we have the Nürburgring racing track enthusiasts, who are actually looking for a full-blooded racing car that is also street legal. Very simple solution, get the best engine available and complement it with equally good performance parts. That is what high-end VR requires. High-end meaning the use of the latest VR goggles, HTC Vive and Oculus in particular at the moment. At this point the hardware requirments switch to that of the VR equipment, and not for the use of Palette CAD. Here is what you need:

VR Headsets: HTC Vive, Occulus Rift

Graphics cards: min. NVIDIA GTX 980 / 1070 / 1080 with 4GB RAM

CPU: Intel i7-6700 central memory (RAM): 16GB

Video Output: compatible with HDMI 1.3

USB ports: 4 USB ports, at least 3 USB ports with Standard 3.0., at least 1 USB port with Standard 2.0

Operating System: Windows 10

Make sure you don't get this confused with the mid to low level end VR, such as goggles using mobile phones as screens, or Google cardboard.

In the end if all else fails, and you are still not sure on how to proceed, you can always contact our car tuning specialsts, I mean support team, and they will be happy to help out.

Happy Halloween!

Your Palette CAD Blog Team

Tip of the month! September: v9.05-07 release notes

Feels like only a few weeks have gone by since we last wrote about the latest release notes, and it has already ammounted up to three version releases. It means a typing challenge for us, in order to bring you up to date, and a good reading and scrolling exercise for you. Ready, steady, scroll!

Palette CAD 9.05

• When creating rooms, there is now the option of creating a room according to the measurements by entering the wall lengths and internal angles
• The catalogue update manager indicates the size of the catalogues which can be downloaded
• The catalogue update manager is resumed automatically if it is interrupted by an energy saving setting
• There are catalogues with info links which make documentation on the catalogues available via the Internet
• Panorama files that have been uploaded to the Palette Cloud can be given an expiration date for the customer
• The storage time for files in the Cloud is no longer restricted automatically
• The new Palette Move 3 app can also be used with 3D glasses (e.g. Google Cardboard, currently for Android and iOS)
• The functions for snapping, rounding and chamfering of intersection points in the Draw menu have been enhanced
• Defined line widths are now also displayed in the scene as a preview (This option can be disabled in the program settings)
• In the Draw menu, the default setting is for newly created 2D elements to now always be linked with the view in which they were created (until now, that was not the case in the axonometric view)
• The object controller for the extrusion has a slider control with which the height can be adjusted variably
• Interior walls and installation walls are no longer automatically given a front on the front side (this front sometimes caused automatic hiding of a wall during rotation in the axonometric view to be disabled)
• The intelligent frieze / border in the Lay menu can now automatically rotate corner pieces correctly so that corner pieces are aligned properly with the internal angle of right-angled friezes
• There is a new laying pattern for intelligent tiles called “Tile panel”. It can be used to create a 2x2 pattern in which a tile is rotated about its centre
• The interface to Blum Dynaplan (wood technology) has been converted to Collada import, making it more stable and faster
• The intelligent staircase can automatically insert a handrail with a profile cross-section

 
Palette CAD 9.06

• When a room is created using measurements, individual walls can now be inserted or deleted during the input.
• The Draw menu has an option which allows the colour display of a drawing derivation to be applied in the “2D Planning” view as a background
• This makes it possible to edit the edges as 2D elements in colour drawings
• There is a free panel in the tiling technology area consisting of n x m individual tiles which can be laid automatically (Free tile panel)
• The wood technology board saves changes in the order of the features
• It is possible to make a beta version of Palette CAD the main version so that when you double click on a project, the beta version is launched
• To do this, the desired version must be started as the Administrator one time
• It is possible to transfer program updates to a different computer without a download
• The input of the part coordinate system has been revised in the Object editor
• Many minor bug fixes and improvements 

Palette CAD 9.07

• The object controller for intelligent objects and the input area for operations on the left have been combined in a single input area to tidy up the screen layout
• If two objects have been selected, you can enter the distance between the objects in the input area
• Point and line input has been standardised and modernised
• If the camera is slightly inclined, Perspective view now has an option to correct aberrant lines to improve the display
• In the "Ambient Light" display mode, the display of transparent and reflective faces has been improved for cases where the project contains numerous reflective or transparent faces Because this option requires more processing time and memory, it must be enabled for the presentation in the settings
• In the "Ambient Light" display mode, the display has been improved for area light sources (illuminating materials)
• If you input walls based on measurements in the standard rooms dialog, you can now automatically close the room to create a rectangle
• The Insert menu includes a new operation to fill a container (a tub, a wash basin) with water
• There is an option to hide disabled catalogues in the catalogue update manager to improve visibility of new features in the catalogues
• Wood technology now has an option to redo the swap in nested distribution
• In the wood technology board you can edit dynamic operations generated, for example, by connectors
• In the wood technology board you can add a variable menu for parameters for features in order to control CNC production
• The wood technology board was converted from an Access database to an SQlite database. This was necessary because of introduction of the 64-bit version
• The 64-bit version is delivered
• Limitation of the 64-bit version: If you are using an old Office 2010 database on the computer, you cannot import any ARGE Neue Medien catalogues. In this case you must continue to use the 32-bit version

We will give you a little while to digest all that and recover. Pleanty of awesome stuff to try out, so get to it. Have fun!


Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD Blog Team

Tip of the month! August: Water fill feature

As the summer rages on, we here at Palette CAD are thinking of your well-being once again. To help you stay cool (if at least just virtually), now you can use the water fill feature to add that photo-realistic water finish in a matter of seconds, be it a cold glass of water, or an Olympic size swimming pool.

To start, select an appropriate object and then click on "Water", found under the "Insert" tab.

A new window will open up with a number of settings. A preview is also visible in the middle, and the water material is available in a number of options.

Some materials may look better in different presentation modes, Virtual Reality and Ambient Light, for example. Just choose how you wish to have it appear and select OK.

That's all there is to it! Now create and enjoy your own dream getaways.


Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD Blog Team

 

Tip of the month! July: Virtually cost-free VR setup

There is no getting away from it, VR is the next big thing, and is likely to be the next big opportunity for businesses to quickly impress and win over customers. Most people think that it is an expensive upgrade to their showrooms, but it really doesn't need to be.

Following the hype, it is really easy to get carried away, or discouraged by the price tags of some of the VR goggles on the market right now. Palette CAD to the rescue once again. 

You can go as far as your budget will stretch, but also if you want to get started, and get a taste, all that is needed is any VR glasses, including Google Cardboard (sometimes a free giveaway) and a smartphone. Really impressive results can be achieved with most 30-50€ goggles where the smartphone is inserted as a screen.

Now simply download our FREE app Palette Move on your smartphone and you are good to go. You can chose from a number of existing interior designs, as well as, use design codes from Palette CAD panoramas. We have gone a step further by adding an intuitive "gaze control" system to Palette Move, making it very easy to navigate through our VR world.

To start the VR mode tap the VR goggles symbol in your mobile app. This will load the user into our virtual chill out room. Now simply look at what you wish to load, or to exit, just gaze at the exit button in the designs.

Of course it is possible to take this to the next level, and by purchasing our 3D design software Palette CAD, you can make and show off your own designs.

Try it out and see the reactions from your audience!


Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD Blog Team

Tip of the month! June: Shopping basket feature

This month we bring you a very cool feature that has probably not been given the recognition it deserves. It also just happened to be my wife's favorite feature in our software, until I explained it in a little more detail and a realisation set in that it had no direct link to Internet retail.

Still for most interior designers it is a phenomenal time saver, as it allows a whole list of objects, such your favourite plants, for example, to be saved in one list, which you can then import into any design. No more searching necessary.

This little gem can be found under the "Design" tab. Simply click on the symbol and "Shopping basket" menu located on the right side of your screen will open.

 

To fill it with your own best-sellers simply open the object broswer "O" (or select "Object catalogues") and follow one of the two following options.

Option one: Find your desired object in the browser, right-click on it and select "Into the shopping basket".

 

Option two:  Follow the same steps as above but instead right-clicking, select your desired object by left-clicking on it once (this will highlight the object in blue) and then simply press the "+" symbol on your keyboard. 

Both options produce the same results. Far too easy! When done, just close the object catalogue browser. Now you can save your virtual goodies for future use. Under the shopping basket menu you can find the classic save symbol. Next to it is also the file symbol, which you can use in the future to find and open your saved objects. 

Objects from the shopping basket can be inserted into designs just like by using the catalogue browser, drag and drop or double-clicking on them. Once used they will disappear out of your basket, but worry not, if you wish to use the same object multiple times in one design, just use the copy feature.

Inspiration complete, now over to you to put to good us and show us what you got. Have fun and enjoy.

Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD Blog Team