This week I elected to try new techniques in some programs I'm very comfortable with, and also venture into unknown territory with new programs.
My goal was to complete substation documentation for my final project. Much thought was given the actual design as well as how it will be built. Almost all the pieces will be cut on the ShopBot . Therefore, they should be considered 2 ½ D. Meaning, the Z axis is always 90 degrees.
You will notice that some parts are curved. Some “old school” descriptive geometry was employed to check the assembly. This was actually not easy to do!
My process used 5 major programs along with various other utility programs.
For a quick start, watch the video to see the project.
1 – Autodesk Architectural Desktop.
This was used to develop the actual geometry and to test fit the model. Certain modifications were made during the design process. I discovered the base cabinet was too small for a convention PC. The height and depth of the cabinet was increased. The Arm was also narrowed to properly fit the back of the cabinet. The original version was about an inch too wide.
Approximately 75 individual parts make up the model.
AutoCAD Architectural Desktop 2D Construction document from a 3D model.
AutoCAD Architectural Desktop Front Elevation
AutoCAD Architectural Desktop Side elevation.
AutoCAD Architectural Desktop Raw drawing tab layout
AutoCAD Architectural Desktop Model space parts construction. Duplicate your parts!
AutoCAD Architectural Structured layer naming is critical.
AutoCAD Architectural Desktop is very capable of creative image making.
2 – Autodesk Revit.
Revit was used to create some renderings in a realistic environment. This helped with better visioning what the kiosk will actually look like. I’m shooting for this to be an attractive, professional looking unit. Additionally, being able to insert a human figure next to it demonstrates its usability.
Materials were assigned to all the pieces in Revit. I’ve discovered that when making an effort to produce realistic renderings, it’s best to think like a photographer. My Revit model contained 8 light sources, both fluorescent and incandescent. Each rendering took about an hour to produce once layout was complete
AutoCAD Revit Rendering, No Photoshop used.
AutoCAD Revit Rendering, No Photoshop used.
AutoCAD Revit Rendering, Overhead camera placement.
AutoCAD Revit screen shot.
AutoCAD Revit "shade" method
AutoCAD Revit model enviroment in plan.
3 - Autodesk Fusion 360
Fusion 360 is a brand new extremely powerful 3d modeling package. It has some very useful tools to bring in flat raster images and sculpt a mass from them. Fusion 360 contains tools for animation, simulation, and toolpath development.
As the software is new, there are several bugs and improvements needed. I crashed several times.
My AutoCAD DWG file was imported into Fusion 360. Each part is brought into the program as an individual body. These bodies are the converted into components that are able to be assigned movement and material.
The 70 second animation I produced took about 12 hours. Now that I know the program better, the time would probably be cut in at least half. The final product is located at the top of this page.
AutoCAD Fusion 360 Model workspace
AutoCAD Fusion 360 Animation Workspace
4 – Microsoft Move Maker
The AVI generated by Fusion 360 was imported into Movie Maker. Stills and music was added. Some transition were made, and the video was converted into a smaller format.
Basically, the though behind using this was simplicity. Movie Maker is a strong, simple and stable product.
Microsoft Movie Maker work screen.
5- YouTube
For final presentation of the animation, the file was uploaded to Youtube and a link was exported for sharing.
AutoCAD Fusion 360 Model workspace
Future Plans
Although I believe I met my goals, I would like to pursue more advanced programs for other projects. I spent about two nights loading and examining several of the higher end programs listed in our notes. I quickly discovered that it would be impossible to give them much more than a cursory look in the timeframe I had. I elected to spend my time concentrating on Fusion 360 as it will be most likely for me to use professionally in the future.
I do intend to full investigate the gae engines and antimony in the coming weeks.
