Topic: 3d to 2d

[Cavediver]

Did anybody tried the programm I made a link to ?

Yep.  Looks like it will make reasonably quick work of sections, etc.  I won't get a chance to use it in production for another week or two, but I'll be playing around with it a bit in the interrum.  We don't do a lot of sectional views, and we stick with viewports and the 3D model whenever possible.  It never hurts to have another cool tool though.
Thanks for the link!

[Tramber]

We don't do a lot of sectional views, and we stick with viewports and the 3D model whenever possible.  It never hurts to have another cool tool though.
Thanks for the link!

Your're welcome.
If I read well you seem to understand that it only does section-views.
This is not true. I use it my self for flatten views, with Hidden-line.
It is exactly the same as SOLPROF with 2 more benefits :

• no obligation to do it in paper sapce
• works on blocks and surfaces !!!

[Cavediver]

We do a lot of flattening & boundary outlines for our production process: sheet material layout for the CNC router.  BOUNDARY polylines generally work well, but I'm going to try this as well.

Good point with the hiden line idea!  We generally dumb down the hidded lines, shoing the imortant items and leaving out stuff that will confuse the issue.  I'll have to try this as well.

[MickD]

I was using my 3d-2d engine recently for a current job, the model is reasonably large (8.5mb) and contains both 2d and 3d geometry, it went through without a hitch but others have had some trouble with much larger models though.
With a bit of work I could get it relating back to a model for auto updates updates etc (as long as paths were maintained) so you could keep a 1-1 relationship with the model. Also remember that any xdata stored on the original entities can be stored on the new 2d line work for what ever purposes (such as item balloons etc).
I will do a bit more work with it to get it a bit more stable and faster then I'll update the download. I also have a 'snapshot' tool in development that takes a snapshot from what ever view you like and projects it to wcs but I have some insert point issues to work out it before release.

(p.s. the time for processing was in milliseconds (~23 seconds) )

[Cavediver]

Sounds neat, and a bit over my head...
Any chance you could post up a sample file with it?

I had a couple of problems running it yesterday, I could not get it to prosduce any lines on a particular model.  After rotating the model 90deg. around the x axis, it worked fine.  Rotating the model back to the original position, no lines.  I never did figure out what I was doing wrong, but I'll look at it again later today or sometime tomorrow.

[MickD]

Ok, there's a demo avi (self exe) zip with the arx. It shows a simple beam ready to detail and a way you might approach it. Note the 'projected' end view on the angled end plate and the points picked.
Basically, the 2 point picked using the section tool set up clipping planes for section depth whereas the view tool doesn't. You could use the view tool for iso images also by setting the view to an iso and setting the ucs to 'plan->current ucs' and it will project the lines to the current ucs. Solprof may be easier in this regard as it creates a block out of the linework which is easy to take out and use.
Cheers,
Mick.

[CADaver]

Sorry guys, But i'm still at a loss to come up with a good reason to spend the time to make an intelligent 3D model, only to "step" on it to make dumb 2D drawings.

[MickD]

I'm happy just using viewports etc for layouts, sections and general arrangements but when you need to dissasemble the model for detailing each component individually there is no simple way t odo it. Even then you need to create multiple viewports for just one component assembly and then you must dissasemble it even further to individual items for detailing. Using tools such as mine make this a lot easier and faster, and I can keep my data attached without problems to keep them 'smart'. Updating is pretty simple too which I'm working on at the moment.
Then there is the end user, many who do not care for the 'features' of AutoCAD, they just want to open a single file with 2d linework that contains just one drawing and view or print it.
As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat and what may work quite well for some is not always 'the' solution for others

[CADaver]

Sorry Mick,  I've heard those excuses for years.  The "different strokes" concept stiil does not provide a good reason to divorce the drawings from the model, and doing so merely creates more work, not less.  For those very few clients that merely want a cartoon to print, PDFs work quite well.

[Cavediver]

Sorry guys, But i'm still at a loss to come up with a good reason to spend the time to make an intelligent 3D model, only to "step" on it to make dumb 2D drawings.

CNC routing.  We have a lower end software package that requires 2d input.

[CADaver]

Sorry guys, But i'm still at a loss to come up with a good reason to spend the time to make an intelligent 3D model, only to "step" on it to make dumb 2D drawings.

CNC routing.  We have a lower end software package that requires 2d input.

Setup a plotter to plot to the cnc machine code.  It's easier than solprof'ing, and keeps the model intact.  Or better yet, upgrade the CNC software and you'll get more than just a cut piece code.

[Cavediver]

Setup a plotter to plot to the cnc machine code.  It's easier than solprof'ing, and keeps the model intact.

The plotter idea is interesting, but I think there are a lot more situations and variables than I can account for.

Or better yet, upgrade the CNC software and you'll get more than just a cut piece code.

Now that's an idea.  Unfortunately, it's something like 10k per seat to get into serious CNC packages.  The boost in efficiency is not worth the cost and trouble yet.  I can barely get them to commit to software upgrades every year...