provelo.co.uk

Turbosquid, a popular storehouse of 3D content have just announced an exclusive deal to host user generated content for Autodesk’s CAD products. It sounds reminiscent of Google SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse which was launched in 2006. So three years later, Autodesk has decided that shared content, downloaded straight into the users CAD program, might be a desirable feature after all. So why the long wait?

Analysing the above graph of search terms Turbosquid and 3D Warehouse reveals that whilst Google’s 3D Warehouse set off from a standing start, Autodesk’s won’t have to. Turbosquid already has roughly a third of the interest 3DW has. This appears to be the reasoning behind Autodesk’s deal with Turbosquid, rather than going with their own technology. However, this appears to be a rather late attempt at copying something Google has been doing successfully for years and was able to launch to immediate popularity. Will Turbosquid’s blue line jump drastically upwards like 3D Warehouse did in 2006, or is it a case of too little too late?

Have you ever imported an AutoCAD drawing into SketchUp Pro and noticed lots of annoying extra lines? If so, you may have polylines with width in your original AutoCAD drawing. SketchUp imports these entities as offset lines, so if you have a polyline with 100mm width, SketchUp will draw two lines 100mm apart. To avoid this, either explode polylines in AutoCAD, or set width to zero as follows:

Select the polylines then key in the following:

pedit enter

w enter

0 enter

This function can actually be put to good use. For example you can draw blockwork walls with a simple polyline of 100mm wide, and SketchUp will import it as a 2D face ready to be Push-Pulled into 3D.

Revit Architecture 2009 is the latest release of Autodesk’s BIM application for architectural design that integrates elements, views, and annotations into a single, coordinated building information model.

Pros: New mental ray rendering engine and extensive library of predefined materials allows high-quality renderings to be generated within Revit Architecture; additional rendering aids include photometric lights and expanded library of RPC content; new Swept Blend massing tool allows more complex forms to be modeled; macros capability gives users direct access to the Revit API for developing useful aids and shortcuts; new navigation tools make it easier to view the model from any desired angle; ability to apply color fills to sections; many other enhancements in modeling, interface, display, document creation, and interoperability; continues to remain very intuitive and easy to use.

Cons: Interface for conceptual modeling lacks the fluidity of other 3D modeling applications; complex building elements still relatively difficult to model; the potential for better inferencing and smarts to cut down on modeling steps remains largely unexploited.

See the full review at the AECbytes website:

http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2008/RevitArch2009.html

Get the PDF brochure from Autodesk here

If you want to share data in both directions between Autocad and SketchUp, the Xref Manager plugin is a must. Without this tool there’s no easy way to refresh an xref within SketchUp once you’ve inserted it. You can download it free from the following link:

http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/em_fil_page.htm

To use it, place the files within your plugins directory. Then open SketchUp and click Plugins-Xref Tools to insert or refresh a dwg/dxf drawing. Thanks go to TIG for developing this essential time-saver!

Learning to set up dynamic blocks in AutoCad takes a couple of hours of trial and error, but the results are worth-it. For example, just assigning rotation parameters to your most used blocks allows you to rotate with a grip edit. This saves repeatedly using the “rotate” command.

When hatching in autocad, resist the urge to select areas using “pick point”. It might seem quicker now, but it will always give you pain when you come to modify the hatch area in the future. Create a closed polyline boundary and use “select objects” instead. Now whenever you modify the polyline boundary, the hatch will follow.

Deciding exactly where steel columns are going to go in multi storey buildings can be a real head-ache. Here’s a very quick way to do it in 3D with SketchUp.

1. Save the floorplan for each level as a single dwg file, making sure the origin (0,0) is set to the same point for each.
2. Open SU and use file/import to insert each level into the drawing.
3. Move each level in the blue axis to stack them at finished floor level height.
4. Create a flat steel column (or use a plugin) and insert it.
5. Make a component of this (edit/make component) and name it “203×203 46UB” or similar.
6. Hide all floor levels exept the ground floor.
7. Copy the component to all desired locations.
8. Now unhide the other levels.
9. Double click on the component and use push-pull to extrude it up through the levels.
10. You can now see at a glance where the colums are on each level!

Now to create a link back to your 2D plans:

1. Set up a section plane using tools/section plane and clicking anywhere on the base plane.
2. Now select the move tool, select the section plane, and move it up along the blue axis as shown.
3. Click the plan view and select camera/parallel projection
4. Select view/animation/add scene
5. file/export/section slice
6. In the dialog box select Export type: Dwg, type in a file name and save
7. Back in your CAD package, xref the column drawing onto each floor plan
8. Now every time you change the SU file, just click on the Scene you created and repeat the save operation using the same file name. Your 2D CAD will then update automatically!

Now if that doesn’t save you days worth of messing around, nothing will! And who said you needed 5000 pounds for parametric 3D CAD software?

When using “xref” in Autocad, always be aware that a drawing has a lifetime in which its usage changes. A drawing will usually go into an archive at some stage. This means that links to referenced drawings can easily be lost if you xref drawings using “full path”. Instead, always insert xrefs using “relative” path, and make sure the xref drawing is in the same folder or sub-folder. This means if you archive a whole folder of drawings, the links will never be broken.

Secondly, when saving a drawing to be used as an xref, always include the date in the filename. This way if a link gets broken, someone re-attaching the referenced drawing will never use an old version of the same file.

If you are working on a drawing which contains several areas not at right angles to one another, you’ll need a seperate UCS (User Coordinate System) for each. Try this quick and easy way of switching between UCS’s:

Type ucsfollow and make sure the number is set to 1.

Click on the UCS object button or type UCS followed by “O”

Now click on any line which is parallel to the new X axis you wish to establish.

The UCS and view will immediatly spin round to be at right angles to the line. Just like rotating your drawing paper.