software and how to design using it

[dustey]

any recomendations on software for designing for a newbie possibly low cost with easy functionality and small tips on how to use it would be greatly apreciated.links if possable to both would help.
missy

note: not sure if this is were i should have posted this..

[Phil]

If you have a Windows operating system, you could use MS Paint to design.
I use Paint Shop Pro (PSP). I used versions 5, 6 and 8. You can download version 3 HERE. This page also has info on irfanview, an awesome free software.
Version 3 has very little tools compared to 6 or 8 but works just fine.

I found version 8 on amazon.com for about $40. US.

My method of design involves a point to point method using X/Y coordinates.
Simply Click on a spot, note the X and Y coordinates, move to the next point and hold shift and click again, you have just drawn a perfect straight line. If you matched the X or Y coordinate, you have drawn a perfect straight plumb or level line.

PSP also has shape drawing tools, square, rectangle, circle, ellipse...etc.
With a little practice, you can draw a masterpiece in very little time.

I wish I could offer more schooling on this subject, but I do not think I explain things well. Best of luck!

[Paperbeam]

You could try: http://www.getpaint.net/

It's a free paint program with many added bells and whistles that you could start out basic with and learn as you go along.

To make and fold out shapes without having to learn complicated 3D, you could also try GreMir Models' Siatki (basic version is free) at: http://www.gremirmodels.com/downloads.htm

Terry

Ping-Pong Ball Cannon on eBay at: http://cgi.ebay.com/Paper-Card-Model...QQcmdZViewItem

N/Z scale Old West paper models at: http://www.paperbeam.com

[B-Manic]

here are some that are free or have a freebee version that deserve a look


Inkscape
http://www.inkscape.org/download.php

Gimp
http://www.gimpshop.net/

SketchUp 3D
http://www.sketchup.com/

Old versions of software
http://www.oldversion.com/

cheers

[dustey]

thanks all i will try all these out

[wunwinglow]

wings3d.com and http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/ , plus a paint program. And buy the license version of Pepakura, the extra facilities (eps vector export for example) are definitely worth the fee.

Or....

www.rhino3d.com and Coreldraw. Which is what I use. But Rhino is not cheap I am afraid.

And don't ever think designing in 3D is going to be easy. WHATEVER programs you pick, expect to have to do some fairly serious learning to get the best out out if. No short cuts I am afraid! No pain, no gain. But when you assemble your first model, or even better, someone else assembles your first model, it will be worth the effort! I promise!

Tim

[wunwinglow]

Just a quick additional note, Pepakura will open a Google Earth kmz (v4) file, so if you download SketchUp from google, design and texture a few models, and save in kmz format, Pepakura will open out the model including all the textures. I have the full version of Pepakura, so this might not work for the free demo version, but like I said above, it is well worth paying for the full version anyway.

Demo to follow....

Tim

[wunwinglow]

Originally Posted by wunwinglow
OK, SketchUp to Pepakura; piece of cake!!!

Draw a rectangle in SketchUp



Extrude it to a block



Put some textures on it



Modify it, put some more textures on it,



Save it as a kmz file, making sure it is version 4,



Open the kmz file in Pepakura version 2,



Let Pepakura do its thing, print and assemble!



Now, go and practice with SketchUp to make all the fancy shapes you need, and experiment with Pepakura to understand the scaling, printing, cutting, tabbing controls.

If you want to export the file, eps works beautifully to Coreldraw, although no textures are carried over.

http://www.kipperboxes.co.uk/house_test.eps and http://www.kipperboxes.co.uk/house_test.kmz

This is, truly, a piece of cake!

The model isn't our house by the way; nearly, but not quite.....

Tim

[dustey]

sweet this is great i did download ther google shetchup but havent tried it yet but your walkthrew will help. thank you tim

missy

[outersketcher]

Pepakura looks like a great program... But, they have NO INTEREST in making a Mac version. I know, I've bugged them several times about it till I got a terse response out of them in the negative. Thier lack of interest in making a version for the mac surprises me. Since Macs are THE STANDARD machine for the graphic arts, advertising, and printing industry. Yeah, there are a few people out there using PC's in the print and graphic industry, but the VAST majority are Mac based. What I'm trying to point out is that this represents a LOT of artistic talent out there that use Macs almost exclusively.

That being said, I guess I have to forget about Pepakura. My options are to use Blender or Sketchup and hopefully find a plugin unfolder. It looks like there are plugins to do this for either program. Have any of you tried them? I'm teaching myself both Blender and Sketchup and hope to be able to start unfolding objects soon.

If there are any Mac designers out there, please let me know what YOU use to unfold your files and (in your opinion) what works best.

I refuse to believe that I'm the ONLY one out here designing models on a Mac...

Thanks for your advice,

David