PaperModelers.com

Go Back   PaperModelers.com > Designers Corner > Software

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old 09-08-2016, 08:34 AM
John Bowden's Avatar
John Bowden John Bowden is offline
Eternal Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Madison, MS USA
Posts: 3,434
Total Downloaded: 223.07 MB
after you do that you will need to highlight all nodes in a part and then join all selected nodes to rid the part double nodes, and thus the ghosted internal lines that where removed

Here is page one showing what I was able to do. I also changed the lines from yellow to black and resized them .5
Attached Files
File Type: pdf test1.pdf (11.4 KB, 18 views)
__________________
www.dgapapermodels.com

My Drawings
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 09-08-2016, 09:32 AM
Kugelfang's Avatar
Kugelfang Kugelfang is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Silver Spring, MD, USA
Posts: 280
Total Downloaded: 37.97 MB
John, it all makes perfect sense. I assume once the shape has been imported into Inkscape that there will be a good amount of work to be done there. In fact, I think the Inkscape 'phase' will account for the majority of the time involved in the workflow. Hopefully, not a lot of retracing as much as breaking apart the polygons and converting them as paths as you have done here.

hmmm... now that I think about it, though, I suppose I can rewrite that part of my conversion script and have it write out SVG path segments rather than polygons. hmmm... that may save some time in the long run. I'll have to kick the idea around some more.

--jeff
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 09-08-2016, 10:11 AM
ShadowCory's Avatar
ShadowCory ShadowCory is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Florida
Posts: 877
Total Downloaded: 29.59 MB
Hi Kugelfang,
Nice work so far! I am a big fan of Inkscape, but don't count myself as an "expert". I wish I had this type of script many years ago I made an M1A1 tank in the 3d software "Imagine" once. Imagine is so old it never had UV system. I made the simple parts from faces and rotated/translated them into the template, then made the tabs by hand.
I seem to remember the open source 3D software Blender once had a plug in that would create templates from 3d models. Seems I used it many years ago. Since the script or plug in source would have been open source, it may hold some clues to help you out with your workflow.
__________________
My other life:http://rcorycollins.weebly.com/
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 09-08-2016, 10:46 AM
John Bowden's Avatar
John Bowden John Bowden is offline
Eternal Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Madison, MS USA
Posts: 3,434
Total Downloaded: 223.07 MB
Programming it would be great, but really it isn't very hard or tedious to convert using InkScape........... I'm just saying......... if the programming requires a lot of time to figure out, using the keystrokes will give you more time to design..

I mean we ALWAYS need new models

I've converted all the sheets(5) and combined the last three into 1 sheet.......... now I just might give this a build to see how things go together.
__________________
www.dgapapermodels.com

My Drawings
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 09-08-2016, 03:23 PM
Kugelfang's Avatar
Kugelfang Kugelfang is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Silver Spring, MD, USA
Posts: 280
Total Downloaded: 37.97 MB
That's ambitious. Here are some screen shots to show what the assembled thing looks like. Note that scale is not defined but all the parts should be in scale to each other. I haven't exported the prop assemblies as SVG yet so they are not included.

There are also some structural members not yet included but I'm sure you can figure out what needs what.

I found another more trustworthy source for some size information so I'm going to be reworking the beastie anyway.

--jeff
Attached Thumbnails
Wings3d => ??? => *.svg -- a software/project log-side_view.jpg   Wings3d => ??? => *.svg -- a software/project log-passenger_lounge.jpg   Wings3d => ??? => *.svg -- a software/project log-rear_gondola.jpg   Wings3d => ??? => *.svg -- a software/project log-empennage.jpg  
Reply With Quote
Google Adsense
  #16  
Old 09-09-2016, 03:05 PM
Kugelfang's Avatar
Kugelfang Kugelfang is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Silver Spring, MD, USA
Posts: 280
Total Downloaded: 37.97 MB
Somewhat bummed today. I found a workaround for the scaling issues. I'm currently within 0.05 of an inch between the 3d model and the final *.svg version. I think that can be refined to remove practically all sizing issues.

But... working at a larger scale I can see some real distortions in the UV maps generated in Wings. The UV maps just aren't accurate representations of the true shapes of the faces in the model. There's not much I can do from a scripting perspective to change that. At least not when using the UV coordinates. I was afraid this was going to end up being the case so I'm glad it's obvious on my second model and not further down the line. This could be a show stopper.

If I want to continue developing this project then I'm going to have to unfold the faces. For that, I don't see any way to avoid providing a 3d interface to allow users to define the seams in the model by clicking and marking edges in the model. On the up side I've been wanting to explore using WebGL to display 3d graphics in a web browser and this gives real motivation to do that. Most everything I've done code wise will still be applicable to converting faces to svg rather than UV coordinates. So it's not been wasted effort.

Hmmm.... I've got four or five weeks of downtime in the near future to deal with some health issues so I've got plenty to time to mull things over.

I guess it's time for my Summer hiatus.

--jeff
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 09-09-2016, 11:14 PM
Hazooka Hazooka is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Amersfoort
Posts: 32
Total Downloaded: 43.43 MB
Very good job Kugelfang. It's almost a tutorial, I say almost because it's far more. Never tried Wings as a production software, but maybe I shall try it some time. Inspite Wings being simpler, I always preferred Blender as a more suitable for me, and easier to use. But you has described it so well that I will give it a try.
At ShadowCory
Maybe you could save your model, import to Wings, or Blender, and continue. It may be the right time.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 09-10-2016, 02:48 AM
Kugelfang's Avatar
Kugelfang Kugelfang is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Silver Spring, MD, USA
Posts: 280
Total Downloaded: 37.97 MB
I may have been too hasty...

I remapped the zeppelin's hull in Wings by marking all edges as cut lines and then stitching the edges back together to form the developments. Much better. I do not see the previous distortions. That's what I get for disregarding what I learned previously! The process seems to be back on track.

Anybody want to do a test build? Attached is a pdf of the zeppelin envelope with formers. When assembled the envelope should be 24.821909 inches long by my calculations. Not a smidgen more nor a skosch less .

If it goes together well, and it's the right size...

--jeff

don't you just hate it when you wake up in the middle of the night with ideas buzzing around in your head?
Attached Files
File Type: pdf envelope_scale_20160910.pdf (27.3 KB, 15 views)
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 09-10-2016, 11:14 PM
Hazooka Hazooka is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Amersfoort
Posts: 32
Total Downloaded: 43.43 MB
There's no bad moment for good idea
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 09-11-2016, 03:00 AM
Kugelfang's Avatar
Kugelfang Kugelfang is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Silver Spring, MD, USA
Posts: 280
Total Downloaded: 37.97 MB
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazooka View Post
... Inspite Wings being simpler, I always preferred Blender as a more suitable for me, and easier to use. But you has described it so well that I will give it a try....
I think of Blender like my grandfather's workshop. It's full of tools collected over a lifetime. No matter what the job is, there's a tool in there for it. Somewhere.

Wings is a toolbox with just a couple, very specific tools. It's just for modeling, not for animation or making movies or games or professional level commercials. But its simplicity hides a lot of functionality.

Which you prefer, Wings or Blender, comes from whichever you're more familiar with. I started modeling with Nendo (Wings early commercial precursor) so its style of modeling is almost second nature for me. Blender is more in the tradition of 3DSMax or the CAD programs. I guess it all depends on where you start your learning curve.

--jeff
Reply With Quote
Google Adsense
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:10 PM.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

Parts of this site powered by vBulletin Mods & Addons from DragonByte Technologies Ltd. (Details)
Copyright © 2007-2023, PaperModelers.com