Quick Faces For Rendering

[a1harps]

I have taught myself to draw furniture designs with 3D solids. Moldings are drawn as a closed polyline and then extruded. Extruded moldings are then "mitered" using the slice command and set into position on the furniture model. The whole process is similar to actually building furniture except the cuts are made with slice instead of a saw and rectangular parts are simply extruded to final size with the box command. Other architectural components such as fluting are done by creating shaped objects and then subtracting them from other solids.

To get closer to my point and question....as much fun as it is to build this "virtual furniture" it is all very time consuming. Although I sometimes draw in solids to help myself understand a complex furniture making situation....most often I draw this way to convey the visual aspects to other parties. Although I can see 3D while looking at orthographic furniture drawings I need to draw solids for others to be able to really see the ideas.

While I am fairly sure that contoured objects like moldings need to be true solids I have a vague idea about "solid faces" and that is where I can use help.

Is there a way for me to cut down on drafting hours by not actually using extruded solids for certain flat surfaces?

I want to get these things drawn fast and then imported to Bryce for rendering.

As I say...these drawings are for rendering to convey a design and need not contain actual full bodied parts. I use orthographic views for my working drawings and i can generate those a lot faster.

Any and all help appreciated.

[Cad64]

Well, one thing that would help would be for you to upgrade to 2010. There have been many advancements in the 3D environment since 2004 and the new tools and techniques available would really help speed up your workflow.

Another thing that would help, and maybe you are already doing this, but having a library of pre-made pieces that you can re-use over and over again is very important. You talked about the mouldings you make. Are you saving those out so that you can use them again on other models or do you start from scratch every time? Having a good library would allow you to slap these models together very quickly.

[Pablo Ferral]

When I asked that question, eventually I found out the answer was to use Autodesk Inventor for my 3D modelling!

Here's a link to Steve Widom's web site, He's been doing some great work promoting Inventor as a tool for furniture makers:
http://thecadsetterout.wordpress.com...nce=5409f69ea2

There are also some links on that page to Steve's presentations on the AU site (This might require free registration, if you are not already a member).

[a1harps]

Thank you,
My profile is out of date and my version is 2007.

I do use "wblock" and all of the architectural elements I have created are saved in libraries as well as burned to CD's. I save anything that takes time to develop. I save my molding profiles as closed polylines and perhaps I could save a bit more time by including a length of extruded molding in those files too.

I don't save things like plain solid rectangles because unlike orthographic drawings were the stretch command can be used to tweak the design, solid objects cannot be stretched but must be sliced and unioned etc.

Hearing you say "slap together quickly" helps me to believe I have only scratched the surface of using 3D solids. I took a beginners online course to get started in orthographic drafting but have learned solids the hard way.

I am slowly learning to work in 3D space and keep things neater by creating a "junkyard" area where I store all the bits and pieces pertinent to the work at hand. When I first started I would have "stuff" floating all over the place at various X-Y&Z coordinates.

I am sure that the way I use the UCS needs work. I create saved views to move around quickly in large drawings and also use the various tool bar views a lot. I group parts in my models mostly manually by using 3D align or simply "move" picking points or picking points and "snap from" with X,Y or X,Y&Z coordinates.

I remember that the online course I studied for beginning drafting had some short videos in it where you could see the instructors screen and command line and every thing he was doing. Is there a source for more instructional videos out there?

[Patrick Hughes]

AutoCAD is indeed a little difficult to work with when it comes to 3d. Personally I am quite satisfied with my old r14 copy that I use and I might add quite efficiently. But the efficiency is a result of a lot of customization to the AutoCAD working environment. A lot of lisp, macros custom menues and a lot of experimentaion.

You hit the nail on the head regarding the use of the UCS - that is likely the most important element in work in 3D with AutoCAD. If you know how to iinstall and use a lisp file I've got a file called AutoUCS.lsp on my wesite you can download for free. It saves me a lot of time with my work, but it may take a while getting used to it. I also tend to always work in one isometric view so I'm pretty mush always seeing the model from the same vantage point and don't have to mentally reorient myself.

Like I said before though, experiment with different approaches.

[a1harps]

Again thanks to Cad 64.

@Pablo: Thank you for the link....good info there. Can't afford more software though.

@Patrick: Thanks for your no nonsense approach and advice which I admire. I know you have saved a lot of money but not constantly upgrading and buying the new latest programs. My software budget is limited so although I appreciate folks who point to newer versions and other programs as solutions to problems....its also good to to get advice on making due with what you have.

Yes, I do know how to load and run lisp files. I have one that was written by Fuccaro to transform an elipse into a polyline that I use constantly. I am interested in trying your lisp on the UCS.

@ All: As an update to the state of my cad ignorance I viewed some video tutorials right here on Cad tutor and I learned that I was incorrect about not being able to just stretch solid rectangles etc.

I saw in the tutorial how to use "grips" in nearly the same way that the stretch command can be used on orthographic objects.

In following the solid 2010 autocad tutorials the first difference I noticed (from my personal methods) is that the "Workspace Settings" are changed to 3D Modeling and then the template acadiso3D.dwt is loaded.

I have always just started out in model space and the first time I create a solid object a message says loading modeler ddl's or some such. Since I usually eventually create a floor to rest my models on it works out.

I am wondering if anyone can tell me what the benefits of using acadiso3D.dwt that may not be apparent to me at this stage of my learning curve. Do most of you draft solid models using that mode? I do like the color as I have been resistant to the common practice of drafting with a black background and I always keep mine set to white with black lines (white line color).

[Cad64]

As an update to the state of my cad ignorance I viewed some video tutorials right here on Cad tutor and I learned that I was incorrect about not being able to just stretch solid rectangles etc.

I saw in the tutorial how to use "grips" in nearly the same way that the stretch command can be used on orthographic objects.

It sounds like you may not be familiar with all of the features available to you in 2007. You should probably take a look at the free Autocad 2007 3D video tutorials at Cadclips.com.