In AutoCAD 2008, new and improved visualization tools enable you to produce realistic renderings with minimal effort.
The Materials palette has been updated to provide faster, easier access to materials properties. It includes expandable panels that enable you to view and edit material settings without having to access multiple dialog boxes. You can specify the type of material and select from a wide range of pre-defined templates that include appropriate values for common materials. Additional procedural maps, such as Checker and Tiles, enable you to create a greater variety of materials. And you can adjust material lighting parameters using the advanced Lighting Overrides for increased flexibility and realism.
To further improve the realism of your AutoCAD models, you can produce lighting effects based on the photometric properties of light sources. Enter lamp data from manufacturer’s catalogs for real lighting fixtures. Or, better yet, assign an IES file containing detailed photometric data, which you download directly from the lighting manufacturer’s Website. AutoCAD automatically displays the photometric Web enabling you to visualize the lighting distribution.
For AutoCAD models that depend on the external effects of the sun and sky, you can apply the new Sun and Sky background option to named views. The Sun and Sky option enables you to easily create sky effects such as Haze and sun effects such as shadows. In these renderings you can see how the sun affected the shadows by simply changing the time of day on a specific date.
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