Convert from "General Solid" to "Extrude"

[SanderNOR]

Hello.

When working on complex constructions, there are times when I need to use Blender for part of the job.
When I send the file back to Vectorworks, I export it in .obj format. The objects are now recognized as "Mesh" or "General solid" in VW.

If the files are to be sent to a CNC machine, I need the objects to be recognized as "Extrude." My solution so far has been to redraw all the objects in Vectorworks.

This work takes a long time.

Therefore, I'm wondering if there's a simpler way to convert 'general solid' to 'extrude'?

[EAlexander]

I believe the answer to this is No - since you are going from a polygonal modeler (Blender) to a NURBS based program (Vectorworks)....but I'd love to be proven wrong about this.

[Tim C.]

Just to clarify, you want each face of the solid to be its own Extrude with a 0" thickness? There's no way to automatically do this but if you use the Extract tool it should speed up the conversion process a lot (you may know this already). Try the tool's Extract Surface Mode mode and enable the "Create Planar Objects" option in the tool prefs, then you can just click on every face in succession and quickly create a series of 2D polys. Then select each poly and CMD+E with a 0" thickness to create Extrudes. Hope this helps!

[zoomer]

And any "Extrude" I have ever seen in 3D or CAD is usually just a 2.5 D object.

A 2D shape that is pulled up for a 3D appearance from an initial profile.

 

I can't imagine the shown geometry to be created by a simple extrude anywhere ....

 

I can see it as a "Mesh" object in a 3D App or a Solid in a Volume Modeler like CAD

or Mechanical CAD.

 

I do not really understand why the CNC program insists of "Extrudes" - other than that

the CNC is limited to a 2 or 3 axis movement and not able to move or rotate to cut the

insets shown in the screen shot (?)

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

Blender is a Mesh modular or Polygon modular as EAlexander has stated and I think he is correct.  

 

Are the objects shown redraws from Blender?  Which brings up another question in why not just build them in Vectorworks?

 

 

[frv]

I always thought that Blender is specifically a nurbs modeller as stated In their docs:

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/surfaces/introduction.html

[zoomer]

Looks like Blender uses NURBS internally for all curvy things, which is not bad.

But in general Blender is a typical Mesh Modeler, not a Volume Modeler like most CADs.

Meshes like a group of Surfaces, with useful Tools to generate and manipulate to

get a similar result and appearance as a solid model.

(SubDs, soft selections, modifiers, ....)

 

But I would much more see e.g. Rhino more as a typical NURBS Modeler.

But there is some overlapping in Apps like with FormZ, kind of a Jack of all trades ....

[Cascon]

Hello, hello.

 

I’m not yet an expert of any kind but I’m starting to try this pipeline where my main 3D modeling tool is Rhino 3D. Mainly because it does a great job communicating between programs/formats (and therefore collaborators)

 

For example, you can try import high polygon 3D meshes (from Blender) into Rhino and apply the QuadRemesh tool, getting some really CAD friendly objects.

 

And as Vectorworks can import native .3DM Rhino files, this is working fine for me as a quick and acceptable solution to manage the introduction of meshes objects into Vectorworks.

 

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

22 hours ago, SanderNOR said:

I need to use Blender for part of the job.

 

3 hours ago, Cascon said:

main 3D modeling tool is Rhino 3D.

Gentlemen,

I am curious about what type of models you build in either Blender or Rhino that you cannot build in Vectorworks.  Would you mind explaining the pipeline and perhaps posting an image or two of the models you build..

regards....Paul

[Jeff Prince]

12 hours ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

 

Gentlemen,

I am curious about what type of models you build in either Blender or Rhino that you cannot build in Vectorworks.  Would you mind explaining the pipeline and perhaps posting an image or two of the models you build..

regards....Paul

 

[Jeff Prince]

On 9/14/2023 at 5:54 AM, SanderNOR said:

Hello.

When working on complex constructions, there are times when I need to use Blender for part of the job.
When I send the file back to Vectorworks, I export it in .obj format. The objects are now recognized as "Mesh" or "General solid" in VW.

If the files are to be sent to a CNC machine, I need the objects to be recognized as "Extrude." My solution so far has been to redraw all the objects in Vectorworks.

This work takes a long time.

Therefore, I'm wondering if there's a simpler way to convert 'general solid' to 'extrude'?

 

There are workflows in Blender to get over to CNC, so why would you send the piece through Vectorworks?

Generally, the more programs you develop a CNC project in, the more risk of failure.  You could also address the workflow in a CNC software package suited for the equipment you intend on using.