Bernd Meißner

Yes, this has not been my question. My task is to *create* facetted parts from solids. And, using formats like VRML or 3DS, the surface subdivision/resolution of all exported files is controlled by the "surface smoothness" parameter of my parts. Thanks, I'll look at it. This sounds more like the answer I've been looking for... :-) Bernd

Yes, I knew that. My problem is I have to create facetted exports (from a finished file) in several resolutions... Ummm... that means I need a US$ 600.- extension for a basic funktion like this? Ouch. If I get this right, my only solution at the moment is a complete export/import of the whole file using an exchange format like X_T, in order to create parts at the resolution needed... Thanks anyway :-) Bernd

Sorry, if this is a stupid question that reveals my IC noob/block status ... How do I change the part/rendering parameter "surface smoothness" for all objects of a scene at once? Assemblies don't have this parameter and consequently can't apply it to linked children. Which obvious button did I overlook? Bernd

Well, Transmagic is based on ACIS and will screw up any assembly structures and hierarchies contained in a file. This could be done better... Yes, a native SW importer for IC would be nice :-) Bernd

Hi Tom, here's something to play with :-) Bernd Hip_Bone_100_2_10.ics

Tom, I'm using software that could do it. If you like you could send me an example, and I'll push the poly count… just to see if this is really the way to go. Bernd

Thanks, Tom, I know… but this is only the first step of the way. I'm dreaming about something like this: http://www.geomagic.com/en/products/studio/ Similar technologies could be made available via plugin… if not integrated into the main application (like e.g. in VX, although I really don't like this application) Bernd P.S. Does anybody else have problems with e-mail notifications? I -do- have them enabled, but I never receive any e-mail.

Well, adjusting smoothness requires a) a model to be parametric geometry or IC being a subdivision modeler (polygonal). Since both requirements aren't fulfilled, I'd suggest to add surface re-engineering (from scanned point clouds and polys) to the next version of IC :-) Rhino has it as a plugin, FormZ has it as a plugin, others have it… IC should have it as a standard tool, right? ;-) Bernd

Definitely. But one thing more should be considered: all anatomical models that I ever heard about are polygonal 3d objects, which could probably loaded in IC (*.3ds), but they are almost unusable there. In most cases they are made for rendering purposes using appropriate rendering software (which all use polygonal formats). I've never seen any 'parametric' anatomy models (IGES, STEP, SAT etc.)… but this must not necessarily mean they don't exist ;-) Bernd

Well, maybe it's a language issue, but... I don't understand the question above ;-) I don't have Rhino, so I can't help with this. All I can offer is checking the original DWG in one of my (3D DWG capable) applications, just to get an idea of what's in it... and what's possible to get out. Bernd

I can't believe that there isn't a better way of doing it... do you have 'true' 3D content in Rhino? Bernd

Tom, if you like you could send me the file. I could at least give it a try using either FormZ or Concepts Unlimited, which both read 3D DWG/DXF... if it's not newer than version 2004. Newer versions need additional conversion, which quite often fails. Thanks to AutoDesk for constantly maximizing incompatibility ;-) Bernd

These would be Bahman Dara (Sr. Product Marketing Manager) or maybe Joel Geraci (Acrobat 3D Evangelist). They gave me the impression of being very interested in user's opinions... of course it could be marketing talk as well ;-) Is this an equivalent to the 3D capturing Acrobat offers? Bernd

Dear forum members, today I've met all the leading persons behind Acrobat 3D (Marketing, Envangelist & Development) and asked them about support for the IronCad file format. Their answer was simple: "if users demand it, we'll do it". So there just need to be enough voices to ask for Acrobat 3D supporting your favourite 3D application. While I'm not sure if I can give away the mail adresses of the persons above, you can definitely ask for this feature here: Create a feature request for Acrobat 3D I think it's worth it, and IronCad is one of the few CAD apps that is NOT yet natively supported. Bernd

Cary, when opening this file in Reader (7.0.7 and newer required for full 3D support), the TOOLS menu should have additional entries for comments and markup. I just made a screenshot, but somehow I'm currently unable to upload this file (blank screen after "Add this Attachment"). OK, now I've uploaded it to our website... see the screenshot here: Adobe Reader Comments Bernd

Cary, here is an enabled 3D PDF to play with. Works with Reader 7 and newer :-) Bernd Palm_3d_mdt_comments.pdf

Dave, this is not quite true. Since you have two different options of running Windows on a Mac, there are two different results you get. Running Windows in a VM (Parallels) within OSX limits the use of the hardware to one cpu and doesn't support 3d/hardware OGL, so using a CAD application would not be recommended in that configuration. Standard applications run as fast as usually. Running windows using bootcamp is just as running windows on a PC, there's no difference to any other PC... ignoring the fact, that there are still some Windows drivers missing for the Mac hardware. So being slower is only true using the Virtual Machine, and this isn't different from running a VM within Windows. Bernd

Just FYI, this seems to be the way one has to go in order to implement the feature into an application: Nemetschek and Acrobat 3D Bernd

Mike, it will be quite hard to convince a Mac user to work on Windows ;-) OTOH, CAD etc. is not necessarily tied to Windows, although there *is* definitely a large majority of apps on that platform. I'm working with FormZ (since 1996) in the first place, an ACIS based modeler, which is available on both platforms. I definitely *can* take measurements, handle 2d drafting, calculate volumes and share files with all CAD environments using STEP or SAT. There are some more applications (Ashlar Vellum Cobalt/Xenon, Vectorworks, CSI Concepts, SolidThinking), which are definitely good midrange CAD applications, and which have their userbase. Now, with Parasolid being ported also to Mac OSX (where ACIS has been available for a longer time), *I* would be the first one to get a Mac version of IronCad... the technology is already there :-) Bernd

Dave, working in borderland between engineering and media production (doing technical documentation and computer animation), I'm doing my main work on Macs... even 3D work (since 1996). Of course both platforms are living side by side in my office, but as long as I *can* do something on the Mac, I'll do it there. Now, with the Intel Macs and the option of using several OS platforms in ONE computer, I'll get the best of all worlds at once. I definitely DO know several engineers, who (after several years of just being fascinated by Apple's 'aura') consider getting a Mac now. So, I think it's a valid working environment meanwhile... with a QuadCore Mac Pro being less costly than a similarly equipped Dell box. Bernd

Mike, yes, this is exactly what I did in order to create the PDF file above. The list isn't any longer, the procedure is as simple as it looks. I just mentioned *.u3d as it is the "native" (not really) 3D format that Acrobat uses. If an application wants to create 3D PDFs on its own, I guess it has to do this via *.u3d AND needs to wrap this into a PDF by itself. Acrobat Distiller doesn't do this. So I just stated my (technical) opinion about direct 3D-PDF export from IronCad. Bernd

Well, not knowing what "too well" means... this question has been asked in EVERY forum of EACH 3D application I use, and there are some ;-) Basically it would mean the ability to export directly to *.u3d, but I don't know how to bridge the gap to PDF format output from *.u3d files. Distiller (PDF Printer) doesn't do that yet. Bernd

Peter, I successfully did this with v8, although I didn't go the 'capture' route. I exported my model to Parasolid/X_T format, which loaded fine into Acrobat (or the 3D Toolkit) including part names and hierarchy. Regards, Bernd palm_ic.pdf

Not quite. It just sounds like that. The correct terms, used e.g. for robotics, aeroplanes and (here comes the movie director!) camera control are: Roll (rotation around x-axis) Pitch (rotation around y-axis) Yaw (rotation around z-axis/vertical axis) "Pan" is usually a linear movement of the camera, parallel to the stage, i.e. up/down and left/right (z- and x-movement), without changing any of the above parameters. "Dolly" would be the missing movement, changing the distance between camera and target (by moving the camera towards or away from the target, y-movement). Just to have an opinion here, too: I prefer a terminology that says "z-rotation" (for shaking my head), "x-rotation" (for nodding) or "y-translation" (for moving towards/away from s.th.). Bernd

John, the AVI format itself isn't one... like QuickTime it's a container, and it's the codec used making the movie looking poor. I've used uncompressed AVIs as a source for encoding to WMV, without any problems. The only drawback is the file size of uncompressed formats (much more than DV). You'll definitely need some GBytes of spare HD space. OTOH, using image series is also a very professional method for creating movies. It's even better if you need to re-render just some parts of an animation. BTW, for creating good looking movies, the frame rate should be set to "Video" (24-30 fps) according to the IronCad GSG. For PAL playback, this would be 25 fps. Lower frame rates as typically used for computer playback look bad, too. Bernd