You could continue by adding and adjusting materials to the other parts of the model, but try dressing up your view by including a sky. To do so, you need to set up the background:
Open the Render dialog box, and then click the Background button to open the Background dialog box.
In the row of radio buttons across the top, find and click Image. Notice that several of the options near the bottom of the dialog box are now available.
Click the Find File button at the bottom left of the dialog box to open the Background Image dialog box.
Locate the Sky.tga file. If you are using Windows XP, it can be found in the C:\Documents and Settings\User Name \Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2005\R16.1\enu\textures folder.
Tip | To find the exact location of the textures folder on your system, choose Tools Options, select the Files tab, then expand the Texture Map Search Path item in the list box. The textures folder location is listed under this item. |
Once back in the Background dialog box, click Preview to see what the file looks like. Sky.tga is a bitmap image of a blue sky with clouds.
Click OK. Then, after you are back in the Render dialog box, click Render. The background appears behind the model, as shown in Figure 17.9.
Figure 17.9: The Facade model rendered with a sky bitmap image for a background
In this example, you added a bitmap image for a background, but you can use other methods to generate a background. For example, you might prefer to use a gradient shade or color for the background. This can help give a sense of depth to the image (see Figure 17.10). You can, of course, add a single color to the background if you prefer.
To create a gradient background, click the Gradient radio button at the top of the Background dialog box. You can then adjust the color for the top, middle, and bottom third of the background. AutoCAD automatically blends the three colors from top to bottom to create the gradient colors.