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Creating a model of the terrain


Tyke

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I have a survey of an area that I need to get into SolidWorks so that a model of the area can be made of it.

 

I have contours as polylines or points with X,Y,Z coordinates and I can create a surface or a collection of 3D faces. I can also create a 3D solid and export it from AutoCAD Civil 3D in STL format.

 

Does anybody have any idea how I can best get my data into SolidWorks so that it can worked up into a model?

 

I do not have SolidWorks, I must just give my data on to someone who does have SolidWorks, so that he can do something with it. I'm a pure AutoCAD/MAP/Civil man.

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Well if you can export a surface or solids he should be fine with that. SW can open dwg 3d files just fine. You can also export as other formats such as stl but you may be best to just leave it as a dwg. If he loaded it SW has a DWG editor program that is similar to Acad, well Acad 07. If you want to upload a small portion as a test im sure one of us could open it to make sure there are no problems.

 

If that is a problem the person with SW should be able to use the xyz data as an excel sheet

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Tyke,

 

I'm not a civil 3d man but this seems possibly and I would like to give it a try. Maybe we all can learn from the experience. In SolidWorks we have the option of creating curves through X,Y,Z points. This data can be imported in SolidWorks as a text file. We also have the ability to import STL files along with several other formats. So the question is.......which is the best approach? Matt suggested a 3d DWG, he has both Acad and Solidworks experience so that may be the best approach. Either way, If your willing to upload files, I'm sure we can help.

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Its super simple to run in Acad bill. You can take your excel text file and convert it a comma deliniated text file. Open that in word pad, type 3dpoly as the first line and then run the script in acad. It will create a polyline from each coordinate. It works great for plotting grid lines or paths from gps data. You can then loft between these plines in acad or export them to SW. Running this type of thing in SW would probably be a little more labor intensive honestly but do able. I was thinking on this some more and there is probably an add-in for SW that would make this a lot easier but ive never looked into. I had to plot some gps data for our test road and i used acad and made a text file as stated above.

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So here's a few extracts from the project.

 

A DWG with some contours as polylines as gernerated from a DTM (LW-Polylines, but they can be converted into either 2D-polylines or 3D-polylines if necessary).

 

A DWG with 3D faces as extracted from the TIN from the DTM.

 

An ASCII file with 1000 X,Y,Z coordinates as a comma delimited file.

 

Both the DWGs are in AutoCAD 2004 format. The origin of the files is the regional coordinate system, let me know if they need transforming to a local grid with smaller numbers.

 

Let's see if any of these formats are of any use in SW in creating a solid.

contours 5m grid 2004.dwg

3D faces 5m extract 2004.dwg

points_5mx5m_extract.txt

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Hi Bill,

 

Are both of them surfaces or solids, or do you have the contours just as lines?

 

Which of them were the easier to read in.

 

How can explain to my guy how he should read in the data, no doubt its dead simple, but I don' have SW and have no knowledge of the commands or import procedure.

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Matt is correct. The first image consist of curves and the second with surfaces. I did no manipulation to your files. Both of these models were generated as a direct import of said files.

 

Both are easy to read. The question is....what are you trying to accomplish? Does the model require a smooth finish? Is the image of the surface file above acceptable? Does model need to consist of a solid body? Both files can be manipulated to become a solid. Both will require some work. The contour file however will be much more involved, as the user will need to create each of the faces/surfaces to create the solid model. Either way........both should work.

 

When I get home I will make a video demonstrating how to import the files into SW. It's simply yes......but the video will clarify what selections need to be checked.

 

 

 

Hi Bill,

 

Are both of them surfaces or solids, or do you have the contours just as lines?

 

Which of them were the easier to read in.

 

How can explain to my guy how he should read in the data, no doubt its dead simple, but I don' have SW and have no knowledge of the commands or import procedure.

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Hi Bill,

 

The contour file would take forever in SW to do as there is a huge number of very complex contours. The contours have a 1 metre spacing amd there's almost 250 m level difference in the full job, this here was just a small part.

 

The 3d faces would be acceptable (I think) and the 5 m grid has already been accepted. As the final model will be produced to a scale of between 1:500 and 1:1000 I don't think any smoothing will be necessary. If possible I would leave creating a solid to my client, if he really wants it as a solid. I've optimized the AutoCAD side a bit so the whole thing can now be completed in an acceptable time.

 

I looked at your video and it shows all the pertinent steps to get the job done in SW. Must it be done as a sheet metal part or would it work just as well as a surface?

 

If it's alright with you I would like to copy your video to CD and show it to my client.

 

I'll get back and let you know how it goes.

 

Many thanks to Bill and Matt for the all the help and advice.

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The part in video consist of 137 surfaces and is not a sheet metal part. Do what you like with video, it yours :). Would it help if I left link up for awhile? Your welcome...glad to help. Post here if you have any additional questions. Good luck.

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Hi Bill,

 

The contour file would take forever in SW to do as there is a huge number of very complex contours. The contours have a 1 metre spacing amd there's almost 250 m level difference in the full job, this here was just a small part.

 

The 3d faces would be acceptable (I think) and the 5 m grid has already been accepted. As the final model will be produced to a scale of between 1:500 and 1:1000 I don't think any smoothing will be necessary. If possible I would leave creating a solid to my client, if he really wants it as a solid. I've optimized the AutoCAD side a bit so the whole thing can now be completed in an acceptable time.

 

I looked at your video and it shows all the pertinent steps to get the job done in SW. Must it be done as a sheet metal part or would it work just as well as a surface?

 

If it's alright with you I would like to copy your video to CD and show it to my client.

 

I'll get back and let you know how it goes.

 

Many thanks to Bill and Matt for the all the help and advice.

 

 

Im sure you probably found one but there are lisp routines that will take your surface to solid in Acad depending on what version acad you are using. I dont know if the newest versions still support lisp or not. I believe the lisp(in the lisp forum here) is called Mesh 2 solid. For a one time job automating this in acad would probably be a lot faster than in SW. I also want to say(cant remember for sure) that inputting curves by xyz in SW is 2010-2011. Older versions I dont think have that feature fyi.

 

Now if someone was good with VBA they could probably whip up a macro to take care of all this in SW, i am not that person :).

 

Good luck with it.

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Hey Matt,

 

I'm not that person either but funny you mentioned API/VBA. I just purchased a tutorial on this very subject. I know the tutorial wont be enough but I plan on taking a VB course locally. You know I'm passionate about SW and this was my next field of study. Actually.....I wanted to study simulation but my version of SW only supports the basic simulation package (Simulation Wizard). It wont be easy but what API/VBA has to offer would be worth it. Do you have any recommendations for study?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im sure you probably found one but there are lisp routines that will take your surface to solid in Acad depending on what version acad you are using. I dont know if the newest versions still support lisp or not. I believe the lisp(in the lisp forum here) is called Mesh 2 solid. For a one time job automating this in acad would probably be a lot faster than in SW. I also want to say(cant remember for sure) that inputting curves by xyz in SW is 2010-2011. Older versions I dont think have that feature fyi.

 

Now if someone was good with VBA they could probably whip up a macro to take care of all this in SW, i am not that person :).

 

Good luck with it.

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Actually bill for most stuff using excel functionality and a design table will do it. Since there is tons of built in help in excel(including vba stuff) there is a lot more free info on it. Ive done a little VBA in SW and i have a little C++ experience but ive only barely scratched the surface. If you need any help with excel/design tables let me know and ill be glad. I would love to learn more about VBA but you really need a lot of programming to make use of anything. Thats why I like excel because you can do a lot with a little knowledge(sounds dangerous right:))

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks guys, we managed to import the 3d faces and also a sample from the contours and the man then achieved what he had intented to do.

 

It turns out this job was the biggest he has ever attempted and the normal ones are much smaller. He is happy with the results and will be coming back with other work, or so he says.

 

All the help is appreciated.

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  • 3 months later...

Hi, Tyke! I really need your help.

I have contours as polylines or points with X,Y,Z coordinates and I can create a surface in AutoCAD Civil.

But I need to create a 3d solid and export to stl.

How can I do this?

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