Drawin i drew outside of class for my drafting class

[CPRail]

hi everyone,
thought i'd show off my piece of work i did on inventor of an CNR SD50F. i drew it without knowing any exact dimensions just rough estimates from picts i found on the internet. This is an older version of my model that i printed off at school, (drawin 2 big 2 put on disc and don't have the network link up yet!) The newer version has a fuel tank and the trucks mounted on the underframe. Every part seen in drawing was drawn by hand by me and there are tons of parts making each component!!!!!!

 

[pdt]

It looks good. I take it Inventor is a solid modeling program? I've done loads of 3D work in AutoCAD, but the 3D commands are pretty limited. I have to break everything down to primitive objects that can be revolved or extruded, but a little Boolean magic works wonders... In fact, I got started doing 3D modeling by drawing a SD9043MAC

 

[N Gauger]

Great Drawing & I like the Avatar Too!!! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[CPRail]

thanxs for the nice comments!

ptd: i took autocad for 1 1/2 years at school, before my teacher introduced us inventor which is an autocad spin-off designed specailly for mechanical drafting, so it is alot easier 2 use and learn. Inventor is a smart program it can do all the dimesioning for u and countersinks and counterbores are really fast in inventor and it will dimension them for u, and the shading is top notch, as u can see in my drawin and my drawing shown is not even rendered yet, thats just shading!! I'll put it this way, in skills Manitoba for secondary and post secondary catagory, all the students that used inventor, kicked the College and universtiy students (which all used AutoCad) in ranking for gold! And my friend went 2 skills manitoba and got Gold, and i got a better mark then him in drafting!!!

pdt: I would love 2 some picts of ur SD90 :thumb: :thumb:

 

[pdt]

Your high marks are a direct result of your enthusiasm and interest in your studies. Keep it up! It also sounds like you use some pretty cool software. When I took drafting in high school (1991), it was board drafting. With technical pens. Not a computer in sight. Count yourself fortunate not to have spent months on lettering!

I work for a land surveying/civil engineering company, so I don't really get into design (unless you're talking about roads). But, it has come up a few times in my work to be able to show something under consideration in a more presentable format than blueprints. So, rendering and 3D modeling (especially animations) has been a skill that's proven to be quite an asset to me. I'm self-taught when it comes to AutoCAD, but I can get it to work for me most of the time. I sure have put a strain on my manuals!

Here's an image showing the screenshot from AutoCAD (wireframe only):

Here's a view of the model (this was still in progress at the time) rendered in Bryce 4:

A detail of the fans:

And one of the stepwell:

I have a version of the drawing file in .3ds format somewhere. I can't say how big it may be (probably huge) but if you'd like a copy of it, let me know. I'll see if it's even possible to send it to you (the .dwg file was something like 40MB last time I looked).

 

[Woodie]

Looks way kewl, CP. :thumb:

Does it do animation of mechanics as well?

 

[rcwatkins]

You guys can do all that while I can barely draw stick people. My works are more on maps.

 

[CPRail]

hi woodie, in inventor i can do animations where i can move the parts on my loco (something u cannot do in AutoCad, because autocad is not smart enough 2 do mechanical animations, it only does flyarounds)

pdt: nice SD90 :thumb: :thumb: , did u have some drawings 2 draw it off of? or did u do it all by eye like i did?
pdt: i also spent about a year learning how 2 draw, we were one of the last classes that they taught how 2 draw on the tables. We had 2 do alot of sketching, and lettering. Then also during that first year they introduced us 2 autocad but we were using 386 computers that had all the standard computer software installed like word, and pub (we never used those programs) as a result we spent the first half of the class waitin for our computers 2 boot up and load!!!

 

[pdt]

I used a set of drawings published in a modeling magazine (can't remember which one). I scanned the drawings, imported it into AutoCAD, drew a line along the longest dimension line I could find from endpoint to endpoint, drew another line in space at the length shown on the dimension then aligned the drawing to the line using the endpoints of both lines with the scale to fit option. That way the drawing was oriented orthographically and scaled 1 ft. = 1 ft. in AutoCAD. Then it was a matter of tracing the drawing, creating polylines and regions, extruding, revolving, slicing and performing Boolean operations to create the model.

It took me around 10 months of my free time to do it, but that's because I was pretty unfamiliar with AutoCAD back then. It was the best training I could have asked for (that and memorizing the list of AutoCAD command aliases) and it's helped me become the resident expert at the various places I've worked since creating the drawing.

You're correct about AutoCAD being pretty worthless for rendering. That's where programs like Bryce and Accurender come in handy. Bryce can do animations and has excellent terrain, tree, and environment modeling abilities. Accurender is more of an architect's tool and can create accurate lighting environments based on manufacturer and model number of light fixtures to accurate placement of the sun based on date, time and latitude/longitude.

Here's a shadow study of proposed (and some existing) structures at Purgy north of Durango, Colorado created to determine where not to put parking lots and sidewalks (I'm sure you know the snow and ice won't melt in the shadows). The shadows shown are based on a 3,000,000+ point topo survey and 3D models I created of the existing and proposed structures (talk about a computer going slow calculating something - this rendering took over 24 hours on a 1GHz machine). The time and date is noon on the winter solstice. This was specified in a dialog box in Accurender (making it sooo simple!).

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ryan.harris/3DBuildingShadowStudy.jpg

It's a good thing you've had a taste of board drafting. It helped me to know how to use AutoCAD as a draftsman. There are several guys I work with who only know drafting through using AutoCAD and have no idea of proper technique. Just because you can doesn't mean you should!

I'll see if I can render an image of the buildings in the image above from a better angle. This was the last 3D modeling project I did, though it won't be the last. I'm going to model my HO scale layout before I build it, so this was good practice for doing structures. Plus, I got paid for it, so you can't beat that.

Anyway, keep working on your model. Post more photos!

 

[pdt]

Here are the buildings. They appear to float because the terrain model that should be underneath them is enormous and I didn't want to wait all day to export it from AutoCAD. Rendered in Bryce

 

[CPRail]

pdt: nice buildings :thumb: ! what program did u use 2 draw them?

Also i won't be able 2 continue on wit my drawin of the CNR SD50F because it is on the draftin server at school, and the CD burner in draftin wouldn't work on the last day of my classes :curse: oh well i might try 2 make another drawin of a loco here at home, (i have AutoCad and inventor installed at home :cool )

It is possible 2 achieve some nice renderings in AutoCad, but u have 2 be very fimilar wit the program in order 2 achieve some nice results. We used VizRender at school for most of our renderins. U can do alot of neat effects with VizRender, and it is easier 2 use for renderin then AutoCad. Everybody in our class except for a few people used VizRender 2 render part of their house that they built in Architectural Desktop (Architectural AutoCad) The results were fanastic, the renderins were very realistic, and looked as if someone had taken an actual photo!!!

 

[pdt]

Drawn in AutoCAD. Actually, I used Land Development Desktop (the civil engineering version of AutoCAD, like Architectural Desktop is for architects), but it's essentially Release 15 with a bunch of whistles and bells.

You say you guys use VizRender. That must be the next generation of Discreet's rendering engine. Years ago, there was 3DSMax, then that was split into 3DSMax (for character modeling a la Pixar type stuff) and 3DSViz (for the architectural, professional side). So, I suppose the current incarnation is VizRender.

AccuRender is pretty much marketed to the same people 3DSViz was, i.e., design professionals, but it comes much cheaper than 3DSViz. It's definitely geared to architects, and I'd say the emphasis is on interiors.

Bryce has always been the entry level rendering engine (and that's why I have it - it cost me $200 back in '98), but it's always been the leader in rendering environments. So, even though it's cheap compared to other programs, it's the best in some ways.

If you have AutoCAD at home and want to do some 3D solid modeling, all you need to know are these commands:

rotate3d = rotates an object about a 3D axis
slice = defining a plane that intersects a solid breaks the solid into two separate parts
union = joins 2 or more solids into one
subtract = removes a solid area from an intersecting solid
region = defines a closed area
extrude = extrudes a closed area (region or polyline) along the z-axis
revolve = revolves a closed area about a user-defined axis to create a revolved solid

and for surface modeling:

revsurf = same as revolve but gives you a surface mesh instead of a solid

Those are the basic commands to use. You can pretty much do anything with those commands. Once you get a bit more involved in surface modeling, you can model irregular shapes with splines (NURBS).

If you'd like an AutoCAD drawing to work on taking from 2D to 3D, I can send you a set of plans I drew of a caboose. It's interesting teaching your mind to work in the world of 3D modeling. Quite a stretch sometimes...

Anyway, I'm sure this thread has gotten a bit too technical, but I'd like to point out to those who don't have any idea what CPRail and I are talking about that most CAD programs, such as those you might use for track planning, can be used to create your own plans for other things such as structures. The great thing about these programs is the ability to really work out your models in 3D and see how they'll actually look. The learning curve can be pretty steep, but in the end it's worth it. The sense of scale you get from seeing the rendered model vs. the flat plan view really makes a difference.

 

[CPRail]

pdt: one thing that u have 2 remeber when u are drawin more complex parts, in AutoCad that u always have 2 be aware of which UCS u are drawin in! UCS is defaulted 2 the regular x, y, z planes (world), but when u get more complex shapes, the UCS can be changed so the x, y, z axis are shifted (2points or 3points are required for this), example drawing on a slope or any odd surface!!!

pdt: Also VizRender is excellent for doin interiors and workin with lightin! u can break objects down 2 groups of faces or just individual faces!! this means that u can do some pretty sophisticated renderin!

everyone else: pdt is right workin in 3d is excellent for workin things out before u build them, so if u find a flaw in ur design, u can change it easier then if u had already built it!

 

[Matthyro]

Neat stuff guys. I have started trying to produce a 3D steam loco using software known as Carrara 3. Quite a challenge so I really admire the work you have done

 

[pdt]

Carrara looks very impressive. It has every feature I can think of in Bryce 4. Bryce 5 has a tree lab, where you can create dynamic trees, but that's the only thing that I can find Carrara doesn't have. Pretty amazing considering the extra features it has beyond what Bryce comes with. IIRC, Bryce was somehow associated with Kai (the Power Tools guy), and at the time it came out, it was way ahead of the competition.

CPRail, that's pretty interesting stuff about the UCS. I never messed with it (unless that means the snapang command, but I stay away from that usually). I have always just created the objects I need in the default plane and position them later. Sometimes that means I need my calculator handy, but it works.

What you say about breaking objects down to individual faces is pretty cool. I can see how that would come in handy. My experience has been mostly in civil engineering matters (designing roads, water and sewer lines, etc.), so lighting is never in the budget for our renderings! In fact, most of the modeling I do never gets rendered (it's mostly for calculating volumes).

Check out this site: http://www.accurender.com/features.htm for the features of Accurender. I've always preferred the Accurender engine to Discreet's Viz engine.

 

[Matthyro]

I do have an early version of Bryce 3D and while very interesting I find I have only used it to create backgrounds to use elsewhere. Another interesting program that I want to use in combination with Carrara is Poser 5 to create a fireman and engineer for the loco I am trying to draw. My new PC with a P4 and an ATI Radeon 9800 pro board sure speed up rendering time

 

[pdt]

I'm still dealing with old-school computers here at home for this sort of thing, but rendering time doesn't matter much to me anymore. I built a second computer specifically for the purpose of rendering, and I have a couple laptops ready to play the animations. I just don't have the four-to-six hours necessary to get started again... ah, kids.

I always wanted to get a newer version of Poser. Years ago I had Poser, but you couldn't do anything with it outside of Poser as far as animations are concerned. Lately I've gone more toward the line between abstract expressionism (don't tell my art professors - I was a pretty hardcore traditionalist!) and hyper-realism, which is made much easier with software like this.

I'm in charge of doing the visual side of the concerts my band puts on, so hopefully I'll have some animations to play during the show soon. I've got plenty of storyboards, and even most of the modeling done, but laying out the animations is always the tricky part. At least you guys have me thinking about it now, so maybe I'll get started again. Of course, that means I actually have to put my trains down for a night! Heavens, no!

By the way, Robin, I like your cerealboard methods. I got my start scratchbuilding with glue-soaked index cards. Once I had saturated them with Dad's super glue (for some reason, he had an endless supply) and let them dry, I had the "free" equivalent of sheet styrene. Necessity is the mother of invention...