Colours have gone from crisp and sharp to dull and dirty

I'm sure no one has noticed my absence from the forums and I won't bore you with all the trials and tribulations I have been through since XP support ended, computer crashes etc. the end result of which was the arrival of a brand new unsullied and uncontaminated computer which has Windows 7 Professiona installedl.

Yesterday was the first chance I had to have a look and see if all my plans had survived. Indeed they had although, for some reason, some previous materials choices have been changed (i.e. wall colours) and it will take me quite some time to go through all the plans and correct these changes.

What really struck me though was the difference in colour from when using XP to what I see now in Windows 7. The title of the thread says it all. Where once there was crisp white there is now a dull light grey. Where wooden flooring gleamed it is now dull and lifeless. Dark(ish) colours like "Burnt" used to be warm and cheerful but now they are so dark all definition has been removed.

Is there some setting I should have a look at which will make the colours nice and bright again?

different video card? different monitor? there are some settings under Preferences>Render, not sure if they will help but turn off the software edge smoothing if you have a good videocard as it is all done in the videocard's hardware and is faster as well....

M.

Same monitor but I can't remember which video card I had in the old machine. The details of the current one are shown below. Whether or not this is a "good" one is quite beyond my knowledge of such things. :rolleyes:

But thank you for your suggestion. I have set the Final View render preference to 0% from the 80% that seems to have been the default and it has made quite a bit of difference except to the floors. The "natural oak plank" that I have used in some instances was much lighter in colour and clearer than what it is now.

I do realise that a lot of the differentiation is because of where the sun is (or some such) which is why one elevation is always sharper and brighter than the others. Can one turn off the sun?

Attachment 14644 Attachment 14645

I don't use Final view much but I leave the Software edge smooth on for it so the edges look smoother (straighter/less jaggies) but it takes longer to "draw" the final view if on. In Preview mode I normally turn it to 0 to speed things up ( my default was 60%) , having it on does make a nicer image but slows things down as does Shadows. Put it on 100% on preview mode and see if the "muddy" images cleanup for you....

Your video card has opengl installed , you could try newer drivers ,see if that helps ,Chief usually suggests Nvidia Videocards rather than ATI though, so if your old comp has a Nvidia card you may indeed see things differently especially if the 3D settings for the card as set differently than they were for the old computer, eg antialiasing FXAA etc may not be turned on in the ATI Control Panel.

M.

Hi Keith , had a quick look online , that ATI 5450 is a $30 videocard and NOT recommended for gaming ,which is what you need for any of the HD Products to accelerate the 3D views. You might want to see if the Computer Builder will swap it out for you since it is new , my guess is they weren't aware that you use 3D software , you may have said you don't do any Gaming if they asked ? so they put in a budget card good enough for the Net and watching movies etc only , a card like the NVidia 550ti would be ok I think. It may still be a settings issue and you can live with it ? perhaps your old card can be installed in the new Comp.? don't know how old it is though.

your current card
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages..._review,1.html

some 550ti pricing on Ebay
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/gtx-550-ti

Here is a great link to check out how your video card rates up to the minute.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

my videocard a 4yr old Nvidia GTX 470 is getting approx. 3600, the latest cards are getting 7-9000 points by comparison the ATI 5450 ,which doesn't make that chart , though it is on top of the low-mid range card chart and gets 230 points....(yes 230 not 2300) the 5450 was 1st available in 2010 by the looks.... but maybe ok ,depends on the user and the budget of course.

the is the chart
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/mi...ange_gpus.html

Forgot to mention about the Sun....off totally ? no it would be dark :) but in the 3D>3D Settings>Options Tab> in the DBX you can change the Lighting Options for Ambient light for indoors/outdoors and night time and turn off ceilings too if you want too ... putting In/Outdoors on 66% will make things brighter but may wash out colours somewhat depending on the 3D scene.... I find 45-50% is pretty good even on the shaded sided , you can also set the Sun Angle for your location in the Edit>Pref. Menu>CAD>sun angle.

M.

Gosh! So much to read and assimilate has appeared in the 24 hours since I last posted! :)

It looks as if you might have hit the nail firmly on the head, Mick. The video card in my old machine was indeed Nvidia. When I was choosing the specifications for my new machine (pretending to myself that I actually knew what I was doing) I was governed by a very strict budget and Nvidia took me over it and even more so when I added the shipping charges from the city of Nottingham towards the north of England to my county of Devon way down in the south west. I compared some reviews on Google of the video cards that the builder offered. Obviously the highly technical stuff went way over my head but the bottom line comments indicated that the AMD/ATI HD5450 would be suitable so I went for it.

The builder was aware that I did not do any gaming but was also aware that I did architectural stuff. Whether he realised that this included 3D I don't know. The old card is still in the old machine which I have not disposed of yet. I need to find someone who can take it out and stick it in the new computer (if, indeed, it fits) and then I'll use it for a while until I can afford a brand new virgin Nvidia.

Attachment 14657 Of course I knew that if you turned off the sun it would be dark - stoopid I may be but not dumb (is there a difference?) :D

I'll have a play with your setting and preference suggestions as an interim measure as well. I'm sure I'll find something to satisfy me in the short term.

Thank you both for your input.

No problem , was just joking about it being dark :)

If you own a screwdriver and are willing to open the case of your old Computer we can probably figure out if your old card will work in the new....

PM me your email address no need for that discussion on here I guess....

I took the old card out successfully. Yay me! :)

Yesterday evening I sent an e-mail to the builder of my new machine and they phoned me a short while ago. The removed video card as an Nvidia Asus Ranger 200 which he looked up and said that it was 10 generations old and was surprised that it was giving me better colour and definition than the one in my new machine. He added that I should probably invest in something more modern if I wanted Nvidia and said that all Nvidia cards would fit into the machine he built for me.

I have been looking on line and found this one at a price that I can afford (at today's exchange rate it is about $49): http://www.ebuyer.com/389761-asus-gt...s-gt610-1gd3-l

Your thoughts?

No I cant recommend it your old Ranger 200 is actually a NVidia 8400GS and rated 233 on the sites above the Asus 610 only rates 330 for 3d stuff , you would be better off looking 2nd hand then on Ebay.uk for a GTX 460 (rated 2200) or a 550Ti perhaps (rated 1900) and are both older gaming cards.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Palit-GeFo...item19ecde4c4b

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_fr...c&LH_PrefLoc=1

your old card and new are about the same in performance apparently but they didn't test for 3d Gaming which might tell ya something....

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-54...eForce-8400-GS

but it looks like your old card is PCIeX16 too so it may work on new computer if voltage is correct, your builder might know.... so if you are happy with it maybe save the money.... how ever if you can get a good deal on a GTX460 I think you'll notice the difference.

you can compare performance at this site , here you see your old card vs the GTX 460 I suggested above...

http://www.hwcompare.com/8334/geforc...e-gtx-460-1gb/