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ludesign

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  1. ludesign

    3D to 2D

    TouchCAD can model and unfold pretty much anything, and it does it quickly. The sample model took just three days to free form model from scratch, to nested ready to machine cut files. 212 unfolded panels over 493 square meters of fabrics. TouchCAD also does high resolution image unfolds. Last week I finished a 208 square meter dome completely covered by a unfolded image at 40 DPI. Half of the dome generated a 348 megapixel image (my iPhone has five megapixels). http://www.touchcad.com/Resources/grafikevolution8.jpeg
  2. Many naval architects use Rhino for design and engineering - there are extra modules you can get - http://www.rhinomarine3d.com/ You can also get flattening and nesting modules for steel or wood construction - I know a company using Rhino in combination with Maxsurf and SolidWorks to design steel boats for which they supply the plasma cut kits for boatyard assembly. RhinoMarine's cross sectioning features are by far the slowest on the market, so I would recommend some other program. Check out TouchCAD instead, which offers far superior shape control, very fast dynamic cross sectioning, full push-pull modeling from any view, integrated marine calculations, automatic weight and center of gravity calculations, and integrated dynamic unfolding / nesting features. TouchCAD direct exports NURBS surfaces /solid NURBS surfaces directly to VW. Works on both Mac and Windows. TouchCAD costs less than Rhino Base costs, and if you add RhinoMarine it is nearly three times as expensive as TouchCAD. Quote from a professional marine designer and TouchCAD / VectorWorks user in Canada: "The TC demo has been great. Here's an example of a funky proa I played with yesterday. There was a round hulled version, but I tried rounded box sections for a change. I am truly amazed at how easy and fun TC is. This is what I got into boat design for in the first place! A recent small canoe project demonstrated how great TC is. What takes only about 7 minutes to model in TC, took almost 2 hours in MaxSurf! I couldn't believe how slow the process was." www.touchcad.com
  3. Neither VW or SolidWorks do a particularly good job in actual professional hull fairing. Not that it is anything wrong with these programs. It's just that marine design has special needs. Most professional designers therefore use dedicated programs, as they provide a much better shape control. Things like dynamic cross sectioning is an absolute must to see what you are doing. An example can be seen demonstrated at http://www.touchcad.com/tc3training.html
  4. TouchCAD is a stand alone free form modeling and unfolding program, being able to model, shape and unfold very complex shapes. Dynamic cross sectioning and all control points on the objects gives an excellent shape control. TouchCAD is also a true five dimensional program, where all panels have a set of parametric unfolding properties to provide an interaction between the 3D shape and the unfolded parts. Unfolded parts can also be nested for optimal use of material, without loosing the dynamic link to the 3D model. TouchCAD communicates with VW using DXF or VectorScript.
  5. I'm the developer of TouchCAD and have used VW for 20 years now, so they work well together. For the most part I personally prefer doing especially free form shaping in TouchCAD, so for me it's mostly modeling in TouchCAD and generating final drawings in VectorWorks. Exporting to VW can either be done using DXF of VectorScript. VectorScript has the advantage of being able to maintain shapes as NURBS surfaces or solid NURBS surfaces. Claes Lundstrom
  6. Perhaps www.touchcad.com would be worth a visit?
  7. I normally do both 3D modeling and unfolding directly in TouchCAD and export the respective results to VectorWorks The point of using TouchCAD for both 3D modeling and unfolding is that it is five-dimensional by nature. formZ is not. This gives the distinct advantage of instantly seeing changes done directly in the Unfold view. In this way, the unfolding becomes an integrated part of the design process. TouchCAD's unfolding features are also far more extensive, parametric and directly controllable than formZ's features. It is also designed to process very complex free-form shapes.
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