Poly In 3D

Autodesk 123D Catch

2012-01-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

Ifinally created a 3D model using Autodesk’s 123D Catch software. It was trial and error at first when taking the photos. There was toomuch white and reflections on the object and the lens. I was sitting at my desklooking over at a post hanging on the wall. While looking at it, I wondered ifit would make for a good 123D Catch background. I asked a co-worked to helpwith the project.

1. Find a good background to take the photos. Thiswill allow the software to do a better job at stitching the photos.

2. Take a few dozen photos on the upper, strait onand lower areas of a person’s head.

3. Make sure to overlap the photos as shown in theimage below.

4. Copy the photos to the project folder.

5. Launch the Autodesk 123D Catch Software.

6. Click Create a new Photo Scene.

7. Select the photos in the project folder.

8. Click Compute Photo Scene. (If you need to addadditional photos, click Add More Images.)

9. Type your email and a Project Scene Name orleave the name default then click Wait. If the scene is large and are not ableto wait, click Email Me. The software will send an email when the process iscomplete.

10. If this is your first time using the software,you’ll need to agree to the Terms of Services.

11. The images are uploaded to Autodesk’s servers toprocess the model.

12. The scene has finished processing.

13. Save the scene to the project folder.

14. Clean up the areas as needed using the toolbarat the top.

15. The Toolbar contains tools such as:

a. Rectangular Selection

b. Lasso Selection

c. Pan

d. Dolly

e. Orbit

f. Photo Lock

g. Export Video

h. Send the Photoscene by email.

i. Export to Youtube.

j. Creation Tools

k. Synchronize Scene with Server.

l. Generate Mesh

m. Display Settings

16. The scene can be exported to other softwareformats such as Autodesk Drawing (dwg), Autodesk FBX (fbx), RZI (rzi), OBJ (obj), IMP (imp), LAS (las).

17. I created a YouTube video of the scene.

Download Autodesk 123D Catch

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays

2011-12-23T07:26:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Years.

Autodesk University 2011

2011-12-03T10:10:00.001-08:00

I’m homefrom Autodesk University 2011. It was a hit. First off, I want to give a bigthanks to Shaan Hurley and team for assembling the Crowd Sourced Legal Disclaimer.Two of my renderings were chosen for the project using the words “decisions”and “plans”. The video can be seen on the AU Virtual 2011 site.

I startedMonday by updating my AutoCAD and Civil 3D certifications followed by theSocial Media Event later that afternoon. Classes started Tuesday and ranged in subjectsfrom AutoCAD, Civil 3D, 3DS Max, Navisworks and Survey Point Clouds. They were ahit as I learned a lot of tips, tricks and techniques. I also enjoyed walkingaround the exhibit hall talking to vendors and looking at the latest products.

As AU 2011came to a close with the Mixer, I was happy to leave with new skills in my toolbox, seeing old friends and meeting new friends from around the world.

I hope tosee everyone at AU 2012.

Exporting a Civil 3D model to Navisworks

2011-10-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

1. Start a new Civil3D drawing using your company’s standard template then save the drawing to theproject folder.

2. Data reference pipes,proposed and existing surfaces into the new drawing file.

3. Set the ExistingGrade surface to a No Display style.

4. Create a newexisting surface and name it Existing Surface for Navisworks and set the display style to a TIN (Triangular Irregular Network).

5. Paste theExisting Ground surface into the Existing Surface for Navisworks. (This willallow a hide boundary to be added to the surface.)

6. Set proposed surfaceto display as a TIN (Triangular Irregular Network).

7. As you can seethe existing surface TIN overlaps the proposed TIN in the cut areas.

8. Extract theboundary from the proposed surface by

1) Clicking on a proposed surface.

2) Click Extract Objects from the Surface Tool Panel ofthe Ribbon.

3) Uncheck everything except the Border objects.

4) Depending on Civil 3D drawing styles, the border willbe extracted to a designated layer.

5) Repeat steps 1-3 for each proposed surfaces.

Note: The boundary will have to be re- extract when the proposed gradeis updated.

9. Add the extractedborders to the Existing Surface for Navisworks as Hide boundaries.

10. Repeat step 9 foreach proposed surface.

11. As you can see, theexisting surface is no longer overlapping the proposed surface.

12. Export themodel to Navisworks by typing NWCOUT. Save the file to the project location. Inamed the file Export to Navisworks.nwc.

13. Open the Exportto Navisworks.nwc file in Navisworks and use 3D Orbit to view the site, pipenetworks under the surface and other Navisworks tools.

Here is a quick animation from Autodesk Navisworks 2012 of the site.

Civil 3D Corridors for Civil View, Part 1 of 2.

2011-10-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial, I will create a road corridor in Civil 3D2012 and export to 3D Studio Max Design/Civil View 2012. The design of the corridorwill not be important for this tutorial and if you have an existing corridorproject, skip to step 19.

1. Locate an area via Google Earth. I’m going tozoom to an area of an existing road.

2. Save the Google Earth image to a folder forfuture use.

3. Launch AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012.

4. I’m using an Autodesk provided template called “_autocadcivil 3d (imperial) ncs.dwt”

5. Set the coordinate system to the zoomed GoogleEarth location. I’m in Virginia, USA so I’ll use a Coordinate System Code of VA83-SF.

6. Import the Google Earth Image and Surface of thearea zoomed to in step one by:

a. Clicking the Insert tab on the Ribbon.

b. Click Google Earth on the Import panel.

c. Then click Google Earth Image and Surface.

d. Right click or Enter to use current coordinatesystem.

e. The Google Earth and Surface is now importedinto Civil 3D.

f. Renamed the surface to Google Earth Surface andset the style to _No Display.

7. Create a new surface and call it Google EarthSurface for Max. (This surface will be used for 3D Studio Max Design and CivilView.)

8. Paste the Google Earth Surface into the GoogleEarth Surface for Max surface.

9. Draw a rough alignment with a polyline along thecenter of the two lanes.

10. Create an Alignment by:

a. Clicking the Home tab on the Ribbon.

b. Click Alignment then Create Alignment fromObject.

c. Enter the alignment name.

d. Use Site for Site.

e. Use Existing for Alignment Style.

f. Use Major and Minor for Alignment Label Set.

g. Click Ok to finish creating the alignment.

11. Save your work.

12. Create a profile by:

a. Clicking the Home tab on the Ribbon.

b. Click Profile then Create Surface Profile

c. Add the Google Earth Surface to the profile.

d. Click Draw Profile in View.

e. Enter a profile name. Ex. “Existing Road Profile”.

f. Use the default settings for this profile soclick Create Profile View.

g. Click a point off to the side of the GoogleEarth Surface.

13. Create a proposed grade by:

a. Clicking the Home tab on the Ribbon.

b. Click Profile then Profile Creation Tool.

c. Click the grid or border of the profile.

d. Enter the profile name

e. Use Design Profile for Profile Style

f. Use Complete Label Set for Profile Label Set.

g. Click OK to finish.

h. The Profile Layout Toolbar will appear.

i. Click Draw Tangents with Curves.

j. Start the proposed grade at station 0+00.00.

k. Draw the grade along the existing ground withcut and fill the entire alignment. The design is not important at this point sobe creative.

l. This is my finished profile.

14. If you already have an assembly made, skip this section.

15. Create an Assembly by:

a. Clicking the Home tab on the Ribbon.

b. Click Create Assembly.

c. Enter the assembly name

d. Use Basic for Assembly Style.

e. Use All Code for Code Set Style.

f. Pick a point in the drawing to place theassembly.

g. Click OK.

h. I’m going to create a divided highway assembly.

i. Open Tool Palettes if not already open.

j. Click the Medians tab then clickMedianDepressedShoulderExt.

k. Pick the Assembly.

l. Click the Lanes tab.

m. Click Basic Lane to add a 24’ left and rightlane at 2% slope towards the median.

n. Pick the top left and right code points of themedian.

o. Click the Shoulder tab.

p. Click Shoulder Extend Subbase to add a 4’ leftand right shoulder at 2% towards the median.

q. Pick the top left and right code points of thelane.

r. Click the Daylight tab on the Tool Palette.

s. Click Daylight General to add a daylightsubassembly to the shoulder code point.

t. Pick the top left and right code points of theshoulder.

16. Create a Corridor by:

a. Clicking the Home tab on the Ribbon.

b. Click Corridor then Create Simple Corridor

c. Enter the corridor

d. Use Basic for Corridor Style.

e. Click OK.

f. Select Existing Road as a Baseline Alignment.

g. Click OK.

h. Select Google Earth Surface as a Profile.

i. Click OK.

j. Select Proposed Road as an Assembly.

k. Click OK.

l. Select a Target Surface for the DaylightSubassembly.

m. Click OK.

17. Create a Corridor Surface by:

a. Modifying the Corridor Properties.

b. Click the Surface tab.

c. Click the Create a Corridor Surface button.

d. Add the top code by clicking the Add SurfaceItem.

e. Click the Boundary tab.

f. Right click the Proposed Road Surface

g. Click Add Automatically

h. Then click Daylight.

i. Use Outside Boundary.

j. Click the Codes tab.

k. Check the Render Materials for each Link. Adjustthe materials as needed.

l. Click OK to complete the road corridor.

18. Extract the new corridor surface boundary to aclosed polyline by:

a. Clicking the Proposed Road Surface object.

b. Click Extract Objects on the TIN Surface: ProposedRoad Surface ribbon panel.

c. Uncheck the Major Contour and Minor Contourboxes.

d. Click OK

e. A 3D Polyline has been created at the daylightline of the surface.

f. Add the 3D Polyline to the Google Earth Surfacefor Max as a Hide Boundary. This will clip the existing surface for theproposed road corridor. (Note: If the road designs changes, the hide boundarywill have to be updated for this surface.)

g. Click OK.

19. Export the road corridor to Civil View by:

a. Click the Output tab on the Ribbon.

b. Click Export to Civil View for 3DS Max Design onthe Export panel.

c. Check the Proposed Corridor and Google Earth forMax Surface. The other surfaces are not needed in 3D Studio Max Design andCivil View.

d. Save the file to the project folder. I’m goingto name the file Civil View.vsp3d. Depending on length of the corridor, theexport may take a few minutes.

20. Save the Civil 3D drawing then close.

In Part 2, we’ll import the CivilView.vsp3d file into 3DS Max Design using the Civil View plug-in.

Modeling a Wooden Box in 3D Studio Max 2011

2011-01-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

This is a low poly wooden box based on an image.

Creating the Box

1. Draw a box (10x10x10) from the Standard Primitives menu.

2. Apply the UVM Map modifier to the box.

3. Set the UVM Map mapping to Box then click Fit.

Creating the Material

1. Type M to open the Materials Editor dialog box.

2. Create a new Standard Multi/Sub-Object material.

3. Rename the new material to Wooden Box or any desired name.

4. Click the material button for ID #1.

5. Rename the material to Wooden Box Outer. (This is optional.)

6. Add the provided Wooden Box.jpg image as the Diffuse color. Leave the setting default.

7. Click the Go To Parent button twice to return to the main material.

8. Click and drag the Wooden Box Outer material from ID #1 to ID #2.

9. Make a Copy and then click OK.

10. Click the material button for ID #2.

11. Rename the material to Wooden Box Inner. (This is optional.)

12. Click the M button to the right of the Diffuse color.

13. Click the View Image button.

14. Crop the image so that the inner part of the wooden box is the image.

15. Click the Apply box to the left of View Image.

16. Click the Go To Parent button twice to return to the main material.

17. Drag the material over to the box.

18. Click Views > Show Materials in Viewport As > Standard Display with Maps. This will allow the material to display on the box in the view port.

Editing the Box

1. Apply the Edit Poly Modifier to the box.

2. Click the Polygon selection within the Poly modifier.

3. Select the entire box.

4. Set the Material ID to 1.

5. Click one side/face of the box.

6. Switch to the Front View of the box and set the view to Smooth + Highlights.

7. Click the Bevel setting button.

8. Keep the Height at 0 and adjust the Outline Amount so that the outline matches the outer boards of the image material. An Outline Amount value can be added. I used -0'8 36/64". Click the check mark to OK.

9. While still in the Polygon selection, the inner square should be selected.

10. Click the Extrude settings button.

11. An extrude height of -2" to push the face into the box.

12. Click the check mark to OK.

13. Keep the inner square selected.

14. Set the Material ID to 2 for the extruded face.

15. Use the Quickslice tool under the Edit poly modifier to slice the face into three sections.

16. Slice the face along the diagonal wood as shown in yellow.

17. Click the Quickslice again to exit the tool.

18. Click the diagonal wood face.

19. Click the Extrude settings button.

20. An extrude height of 1" to pull the face.

21. Click the check mark to OK.

22. Repeat steps 5-23 on all sides of the box.

Below is the finished 3D wooden box.

I've provided the Max model file and texture.

Wooden Box in 3D Studio Max 2011

I'll post a video of the above tutorial in a few days.

Enjoy!

AU 2010!

2010-11-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

My wife and I arrived in Las Vegas a few days early. We visited a number of cool places such as the Hoover Dam and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Being new to the blogging world, I'm looking forward to meeting new people at the blogger social meet and the AU conference.

See everyone tomorrow.
Vince

Civil 3D Edit Geometry Tools For Everyday Drafting

2010-11-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

Most of the Edit Geometry Tools in Civil 3D can also be used for 3D Poly Lines and Poly Lines. The tools are

· Insert PI

· Delete PI

· Join

· Reverse

· Fillet

· Fit Curve

· Weed

· Stepped Offset

Insert PI

When adding a vertex to a 3D poly, you can specify an elevation or choose a reference Civil 3D surface to the newly added vertex. Since Poly Lines retain the same elevation throughout, the newly added vertex will be the same elevation as the rest of the poly.

Delete PI

Delete PI simply deletes the selected vertex along a 3D Poly and Poly Line.

Join

It will join two 3D Poly Lines into one continuous 3D Poly Line. This tool does not work on Poly Lines.

Reverse

The Reverse tool will simply reverse the direction of a Poly Line and 3D Poly Line. This will affect labeling and how a line type is displayed.

Fillet

The Fillet tool is like the AutoCAD fillet command. It works for both Poly Lines and 3D Poly Lines.

Fit Curve

The Fit Curve tool will fit a curve between two points along a line segment. This tool does not work on 3D Poly Lines.

Weed

The Weed tool will remove unnecessary points along a Poly Line and 3D Poly Line.

Stepped Offset

The Stepped Offset tool is like the AutoCAD offset but will also let the user specify a difference in elevation for the new Poly Line and 3D Poly Line.

These tools can be used in everyday non Civil 3D drafting. I find the tools make it easy editing hatch boundaries and other open or closed Poly Lines and 3D Poly Lines.

Revolve The Polys!

2010-10-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

Polylines can be used to create just about any 3D object. The polylines can either be open or closed. In this tip, I'm going to create a 1" wide by 5" in diameter pulley with groove and flanges.

1. Establish a center point of the pulley. This point is the center rotating point of the pulley.

2. Offset the center line to establish the center opening of the pulley. I'm going to create a 1/2" diameter opening so I'll offset the center line 1/4"

3. Establish a center cross section of the pulley.

4. Offset the center cross section line 1/2" to both sides to establish the width of the pulley.

5. Offset the rotating center line 2-1/2" to establish the diameter of the pulley.

6. As for the shape of the pulley, I'm going to leave it to your imagination or specification. This is what I came up with.

7. The shape of the pulley does not have to be closed polyline but I like for it to be.

8. Time to revolve the polyline.

There are a few settings for Revolve.

· ISOLINES = This sets the number of contour lines per surface on objects. I'm going to use the default number.

· MODE = This controls whether the revolve action creates a solid or a surface.

9. Type REVOLVE. I'm going to set the MODE to Solid.

10. Pick the closed polyline pulley shape.

11. Specify the axis start point. I'm going to use the center rotating point of the pulley.

12. Click both ends of the centerline.

13. Specify angle of revolution. I'm going to use 360. This will revolve the closed polyline 360 degrees around the centerline.

We have created a 3D solid pulley.

3D Pulley DWF

2010-10-02T09:12:00.001-07:00

Hi, I'm Vince Sheehan. In my new blog, I will be writing quick tips on creating 3D objects from line, splines, polylines, 3D polylines, Civil 3D Feature Lines and 3D Studio Max lines. I'll cover creating objects for Mechanical, Architectural and Civil Sites. I'll also cover non 3D tip and tricks.