30 April 2014

Fool me once



So, how do we sum up April? Sun, rain, sun, rain, sub-zero temperatures, first barbeques, shorts and back to winter jackets, with some pranks and Easter holidays. Yes, that will about do it.

In terms of Palette CAD it’s been another month of fairs, domestic as well as international and more and more version 8.2 developments. 

First of all, I found myself in Stockholm for four days at the Nordbygg fair. Described as offering range, quality and depth, it was also a hugely successful show. Some 52,000 visitors descended upon the stands from over 900 exhibitors.


Nordbygg 2014 was our Swedish debut fair.
It was our Nordbygg debut and the response from our visitors was very positive, especially since we offered much needed differentiation to the other software exhibitors. Being a leading interior design CAD provider was a clear advantage amongst many companies focused on construction.


Biggest noticeable trend was the demand for BIM integration. “Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition.” More and more architects need want to be able to create a project in one software, export it to another and then carry on working on the same project. A good example would be using software to create a new apartment building, and then exporting this project into Palette CAD and then working on interiors of each apartment. It gives the designer an opportunity to use best suited software for each stage of the project as well as being able to share this information with other parties.

Perfect getaway cottage for the little hobbitses.
 Domestically we were also present for four days at IFH2014 in Nuremberg. With around 46,000 visitors and 685 exhibitors from 20 countries, there was plenty of products on display and creative ideas to take away from this sanitation, heating, air conditioning and renewable energies showpiece.


Our own innovations in form of Palette@HOME received much praise, and the guys from ImmerSight were on hand once again to take our visitors on a virtual tour using their full 3D immersion technologies.


Any more information sharing and it would be easier for me to make a book out of it, so I will stop now. If you wish to see more photos please visit our Facebook page or visit the official homepages of the above mentioned fairs. Until next time then!



Greeting from Stuttgart,
Your Palette CAD-Blog Team






10 April 2014

Tip of the month! April: Daylight feature

This month, in line with the weather improvements, we will help you bring a little sunshine into your busy days. Feature "Daylight" is replacement for manually inserting sunlight objects. Also simplified is finding the correct positioning and angle, making beautiful renderings just that little easier.

To start the feature just look under the "View" tab and select "Daylight". A window will pop up allowing you to adjust a number of features. To use the new "Sunlight" system just tick the box. Now you will see the sun appear in your plan and using the "Axonometric" screen to adjust positioning is probably the easiest. Simply use drag and drop to either rotate the circle compass, to change the angle of the arc or move the sun along the arc. At the same time set the presentation mode of your desired camera view in "Perspective" screen to "Virtual Reality" so that you can see the shadow effects of your changes. When you are happy with the settings, simply close the "Daylight" window to proceed.


 When you are ready, render your desired image and feel free to go back and experiment with different "Daylight" settings.


Now you can turn even the rainiest day into a BBQ opportunity. Have a go yourselves!

Greeting from Stuttgart,
Your Palette CAD-Blog Team