Educate me... splines disappear when zoomed out

[c3ajeff]

Ok so here's my problem. I've drawn a large file with LOTS of splines, most of which I have converted to either arcs or lines. In spite of converting them, if the lines/curves were first created as splines, they won't render when zoomed out - some of them or even most of the lines/curves appear to be missing. As I zoom the view in, they slowly reappear.
When zoomed in very close, all the drawn lines show up.

If it was only the VIEW, I could live with that. The problem is, I need to be able to print (quite a LARGE printout 48" x 60") via PDF. When I send this to PDF all the lines I don't see on the screen also don't show up on the PDF. Of course if I zoom in, and the lines gradually reappear on the screen, they also reappear gradually on PDF output (doesn't matter which PDF renderer I use or the settings on it - if the lines are missing on the display, they're missing on the PDF.)

I really need everything I've drawn to show up. Some lines are 100% there, while others are like 30-50% there. Note the screen shots, from zoomed out to zoomed in:

                   

As you can clearly see, the lines appear as I zoom in. 

Any ideas?

[AlwMVMO]

I am having the same problem ( visible missing line segments ) when I convert text to lines.  

  DCUG-3DHeaders-2.dc (Size: 962.21 KB / Downloads: 1)

( See header of < DeltaCad User's Group home page > )

But when I convert them to BMP or JPEG it looks good with Windows Photo Viewer even zoomed out.
When I printed it to paper it looks good.
When I sent it to Foxit Reader PDF Printer driver and opened the PDF file it looks good.

How are you getting it from DeltaCad to PDF?

[c3ajeff]

(09-25-2017, 01:38 PM)AlwMVMO Wrote: I am having the same problem when I convert text to lines.  ( See header of < DeltaCad User's Group home page > )

But when I convert them to BMP or JPEG it looks OK with Windows Photo Viewer even zoomed out.

When I printed it to paper it looks good.

How are you getting it from DeltaCad to PDF?

I am printing to PDF using Adobe's PDF printer (not the free one, but the one I got with Acrobat which has a few more features.) I have tried other PDF 'printers' with identical results. Exporting to jpg/bmp causes an error (file's too large I think) unless I export at the lowest resolution which is unusable.

I loaded your dc file and it is EXACTLY the same behavior. I assumed it had something to do with the large amount of points/lines/splines etc.... hundreds of thousands in my case, but your drawing is simple and light and it's doing the same thing.

I hope this can get fixed. It is a show stopper for me.

[AlwMVMO]

Do you need the two side splines on each side of the road?  One spline per road would reduce the number of entities to 1/3.

Instead of splines where the road makes an arc use 'Circular Arc using Three Points' and use 'Draw a Parallel Circle' to create the sides of the road. And use straight lines for straight roads. The example below isn't perfect but it gives you an idea what I am saying.


  MapTest.dc (Size: 49.96 KB / Downloads: 2)

P.S.  The width of a WIDE line/spline can be adjusted in the Options - Drawing Data. . . settings, if you need a really wide road.

[c3ajeff]

(09-25-2017, 07:10 PM)AlwMVMO Wrote: Do you need the two side splines on each side of the road?  One spline per road would reduce the number of entities to 1/3.

Instead of splines where the road makes an arc use 'Circular Arc using Three Points' and use 'Draw a Parallel Circle' to create the sides of the road. And use straight lines for straight roads. The example below isn't perfect but it gives you an idea what I am saying.



P.S.  The width of a WIDE line/spline can be adjusted in the Options - Drawing Data. . . settings, if you need a really wide road.

Yes it needs to be the way it is. As there are different types of more developed roads, they are identified by the center color+borders and some smaller less developed roads are single lines. 

I think it's something that needs to work right - it could be that when splines are converted to arcs or lines, DeltaCAD renders some of the arcs/lines to very small bits which makes them not visible unless you zoom in. Makes me wonder. Of course, I draw straight lines wherever possible, that's just good practice. I don't use splines unless needed and when drawing ***lots of***  curvy roads, nothing really works better.

[c3ajeff]

(09-25-2017, 11:59 AM)c3ajeff Wrote: Ok so here's my problem. I've drawn a large file with LOTS of splines, most of which I have converted to either arcs or lines. In spite of converting them, if the lines/curves were first created as splines, they won't render when zoomed out - some of them or even most of the lines/curves appear to be missing. As I zoom the view in, they slowly reappear.
When zoomed in very close, all the drawn lines show up.

If it was only the VIEW, I could live with that. The problem is, I need to be able to print (quite a LARGE printout 48" x 60") via PDF. When I send this to PDF all the lines I don't see on the screen also don't show up on the PDF. Of course if I zoom in, and the lines gradually reappear on the screen, they also reappear gradually on PDF output (doesn't matter which PDF renderer I use or the settings on it - if the lines are missing on the display, they're missing on the PDF.)

I really need everything I've drawn to show up. Some lines are 100% there, while others are like 30-50% there. Note the screen shots, from zoomed out to zoomed in:



As you can clearly see, the lines appear as I zoom in. 

Any ideas?


UPDATE: Midnight Software released a patch for this problem (09/25/2017) and all I can say is WOW!! It works like a charm - the display of my drawing(s) are crisper and better now, not only do all the lines show (whether zoomed in or not) but the entire look is smoother. THANKS FOR THE QUICK ATTENTION ON THIS.  -Jeff