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The RENDERENVIRONMENT command is used to set up fog or depth cue
parameters. The key parameters you’ll set are the color of the fog or depth
cueing, the near and far distances, and the near and far fog percentages.
Fog and depth cueing are based on the front or back clipping planes of your
camera coupled with the near and far distance settings on the Render
Environment dialog box. For example, the back clipping plane of a camera is
active and located 30 feet from the camera location. If you want fog to start
15 feet from the camera and spread away indefinitely, you set the Near Distance
to 50 and the Far Distance to 100.
The density of the fog or depth cueing is controlled by the Near and Far Fog
Percentages. These settings have a range of 0.0001 to 100. Higher values mean
the fog or depth cueing is more opaque.
TIP For smaller scale models, the Near and Far Fog Percentage setting may need
to be set below 1.0 to see the desired effect.
Basics of Rendering
While the final goal is to create a photorealistic, presentation-quality image
that illustrates your vision, you create many renderings before you reach that
goal.
At a basic level, you can use the RENDER command to render your model
without applying any materials, adding any lights, or setting up a scene. When
you render a new model, the renderer automatically uses a virtual
“over-the-shoulder” distant light. You cannot move or adjust this light.
Render Views
You render the view displayed in the current vewport.
When rendering, all objects in the current viewport are rendered. If you have
not set a named view current, the current view is rendered. While the rendering
process is faster when you render smaller portions of a view, rendering the
entire view lets you see how all objects are oriented to one another.
If your current drawing contains named views, you can quickly display them
by using the VIEW command.
The following example shows a rendering of a named view.
748 | Chapter 13 Render Drawings