Rendering in the background
In some circumstances, design layers, viewports, and render bitmaps can be rendered in the background, so you can continue to work. When rendering begins, the Vectorworks program processes the drawing geometry first, as indicated on the Status bar. If multiple viewports are selected, the geometry of each one is processed first before background rendering starts. During this time, actions other than canceling the render are blocked.
A hidden line render cannot be canceled until the geometry has been processed.
Once the geometry has been processed, background rendering begins and you can resume working.
There are multiple ways to monitor the background rendering progress:
An animated icon at the bottom right of the drawing window indicates that background rendering is queued or is in progress. This icon displays even when you switch to another layer, as a reminder that background rendering is occurring. When all background rendering is complete, the icon no longer displays
A wireframe icon (left) indicates rendering is queued; an icon with an animated rotating fill (right) indicates rendering is in progress
When viewports and render bitmaps are being rendered in the background, the icon also displays in the bottom right corner of each viewport or render bitmap to indicate its individual status.
The Viewports tab of the Navigation palette (Vectorworks Design Suite product required) displays information about the rendering status of each listed viewport.
The Status bar indicates the name of each sheet layer viewport as it is rendered; For Renderworks render modes, select a viewport with rendering in progress to display a more detailed status.
Rendering in the background is available under the following circumstances:
Design layers
Design layers in Hidden Line or Dashed Hidden Line render modes begin rendering in the background as soon as they are created.
Non-section and/or uncropped design layer viewports (Vectorworks Design Suite product required) in Hidden Line or Dashed Hidden line render mode also render in the background.
Design layers that reference a section viewport (Design Suite product required) or a cropped viewport cannot render in the background.
Sheet layer viewports
When you update an out of date viewport (see Viewport status and Updating viewports), the viewport renders with the render mode and settings specified for the Background Render, and optionally Foreground Render, settings in the Object Info palette. Sheet layer viewports can render in the background if they are set to a Renderworks, Hidden Line, or Dashed Hidden line render mode. When a hidden line render mode is in use, an image preview displays until the rendering is complete. If Fullscreen preview is enabled for Custom Renderworks options or a Renderworks style, an immediate full-screen preview displays at a very low resolution that is slow to resolve to final resolution.
During background rendering, the rendering viewports are locked, and only the Cancel Update option is available from the Object Info palette; however, other drawing processes are available, including switching to another layer, editing objects, adding annotations, and changing the viewport crop. If you edit a design layer that affects a current or queued background render of a viewport, the render continues, but the viewport is out of date when the render is complete.
If a viewport references a section viewport (Vectorworks Design Suite product required) or a cropped viewport, the viewport cannot render in the background.
Render bitmaps
A bitmap created with the Render Bitmap tool renders with the tool preferences settings in effect when it is created; (see Rendering a selected area).
Render bitmaps in a Renderworks, Hidden Line, or Dashed Hidden Line render mode can render in the background. Hidden Line and Dashed Hidden Line renderings begin to render in the background as soon as they are created.
During background rendering, the rendering bitmaps are locked, and only the Cancel Update option is available from the Object Info palette; however, other drawing processes are available, including switching to another layer, editing objects, and even moving render bitmaps to another layer.
