Bricscad 3D
Anyone have any success in doing 3D work with Brics ver.9 or later? Trying to draw an angle frame supported by legs which extrude out at an angle (this is a deer hunting stand for the curious)
but having an uphill battle. The frame is easy but the legs are difficult due to the fact they angle out in 3D space and the ends have to be flush with what they weld to. Really need a command
that would will let you extrude a solid to another solid but there doesn't appear to be any. Is Bric's 3D capability on a par with Acad R14 or earlier? If so perhaps in the future they could add
something equal to some of the 3rd party apps that ran inside Acad for basic 3D work. I know of one that closed shop so how hard would be to buy the code and add it to Brics?
Comments
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Ok let me shoot out a couple more questions:
Are there any plans at all in the "near" future to add 3D features and etc. to Bricscad?
Anyone out there know of a way to array an object along a path that's at an angle? Far as I know rectangluar arrays 2d or 3d only work vertical or horizontal.
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I know BC isn't quite a general-purpose 3D modeling application (and I'm hardly the most knowledgeable user) but I've done quite a few "artist's concepts" for potential product designs where I work. Couple of examples done with Bricscad (although the rendering was done with version 7, which I think still handles shading better) http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/810/ussvl2.jpg and http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3008/ussvl3.jpg
For objects that are not in a major plane, it's often easier for me to construct them there -- adding necessary decorations, buttons, indicators, etc. -- and then do one rotation of the whole lot into the final orientation.
For the legs, I'd recommend building them the same way: Extrude the U-channel (for example) to the length needed. Create a "plug" for the holes and array that along the length then do a "subtract." When you're satisfied, move it to the corner of the stand and then do a 3D rotation (or two, if it seems more natural) to position it correctly. Extrude a rough rectangle that you'll use as the subtracter at the top and cut the extra part off. Tada!
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> ...array an object along a path that's at an angle?...
You can temporarily align the coordinate system with the path:
ucs > enity > click the line near one of the endpoints
And then perform a rectangular array.0 -
Thanks for the help fellas. Feel like a whiner talking about the lack of 3D in Brics when someone can model boat hulls with it. What I ended up doing on the legs was making it longer than it had to be and using the slice command to chop it off. Tricky but it worked. For the array problem I traced a ref. line down the length of the leg and used the measure command to plot points at equal increments and just copied point to point. Thanks for tips - it'll save alot of aggravation next time.
Saw on the AutoSolids website that they closed shop. I wonder what the chances are of Bricsys buying the code and adapting it to the "brx" format. It had a version for Acad 2000 which is about right for Bricscad. Anyone have any comments on this?
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"Is Bric's 3D capability on a par with Acad R14 or earlier?"
I haven't used 3D tools in AutoCAD much, but I think in this regard Bricscad is on par with AutoCAD 2006. They started adding more functionality in ACAD 2007 like dynamic editing. But Autodesk licences ACIS modeling from Spatial, as Bricsys, so basically they share the same toolset.
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Not that it's much help to the original poster, but I'd prefer Bricscad to put their efforts into making the 2D drafting, drawing and illustrating capabilities top notch and ignore the distraction that is 3D. There market is awash with excellent 3D modeling programs which play together very well in a work pipeline that is based on the DWG file format. However, the number of programs that really shine in 2D drafting are dwindling. 2D drafting still plays a huge role in a lot of industries from concept design to production information, yet it is now seen as somehow inferior by software developers and development work is being drawn away to areas which promise to have more curb appeal.
So the answer is, do the intial desing in Bricscad, from that information build the model in Rhino, Sketchup, Modo, etc and then export sections, elevations, 2D projections, isometrics, etc back into Bricscad for presentation and layout.
3D always was a waste of time in Autocad and Bricscad should not be going that way.
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>>Not that it's much help to the original poster, but I'd prefer Bricscad to put their efforts into making the 2D drafting, drawing and illustrating capabilities top notch and ignore the distraction that is 3D.
>> 3D always was a waste of time in Autocad and Bricscad should not be going that way.
I really hope the developersdo NOT take this direction. That willl be akin to going back to drafting with a 2B pencil ... great artistically but of questionable productively.
Not trying to start a war here, just trying to stay in the 20th Century.
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Personally I find that v10 and previously v9 work well in 3D, the only problem is actually thinking what you want to achieve with the drawing. Occassionaly you need to stand back and think ' how would I make this in the workshop (or joinery shop or what have you)?' and the answer to the drafting problem becomes obvious. The problem arises when trying to output to paper - hidden line removal doesn't work as well as ACAD 2004, the last version I used, and sections become difficult. My answer currently is to export the 3D model to SketchUp and the reimport 2D dwg's from SketchUp. Sketch doesn't plot very well, in my opinion.
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I agree that the 2D needs to be refined but the 3D still needs to be addressed and not necessarily right away. I just thought with Autosolids closing shop that it might be possible to port it over from ARX format to the BRX that Bricscad uses. Certainly if it became an open source product how hard would it be that's the question. I'm not asking for the 3D capability of Inventor, Solidworks and the like but just enough of a command set so one can make a model of reasonable complexity without pulling their hair out.
Until then I guess the only recourse is like was mentioned previously - use Rhino, Mobo, Alibre and etc. for the 3D and export in dwg format to Bricscad. Buying any of those apps plus Brics would still be far cheaper than the alternatives. By the way I was able to model the platform (thanks to the tips offered here) but if I have to make any serious changes I'm up the creek!
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Kerry,
With 2D draughting I do not mean artistic sketches with a soft pencil, I am talking about technical drawings, or Rotring/Staedler if you want. If your client/subcontractor/manufacturer supports 3D models as production documents then at least there's the option of taking 3D modelling right through the production pipeline. However, more likely than not, you would then be working with a specialised package for your industry and not something like Autocad or Bricscad. And talking about productivity, on a job that only requires 2D drawings, it is definitely more productive to produce drawings in 2D and forego the 3D overhead.
Ralph,
That's exactly how I would do it. Do first draughts in 2D, transfer to 3D for modelling, and then transfer views from the model back to 2D (Bricscad) for plot layout and finished drawing. Afterall paper is 2D as well, and it's often the production of paper drawings that we get paid for.
Tim,
I can understand your frustration, with trying to get the job done. Sometimes you just have to switch packages and use the program that is best suited to the task, rather than trying to make the program you happen to be working with do things, it really can't do very well. There is always the temptation to want a package that can do 'everything', but unfortunately such thing does not exist. As engineers/designers we know of the perils of having a client, who doesn't know what he wants or who wants everything for little money. We should spare our software suppliers, where we are the customers, from this dismal fate.
Developer time spent on one feature will always be lost somewhere else. And rather than having a bolt on 3D feature that kinda works, I would rather see the time spent on making the core features of Bricscad, more user friendly, more stable and faster.
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By "ignoring the distraction" of 3D I guess is meant direct development resources towards the primary use of Icad - 2D, rather than drop 3D altogether.
I have never been able to make a success of drawing anything complicated in Acad/Icad 3D.
I have been told by a 3D CAD supplier that my area (mechanical services) is one of the few which doesn't benefit much from 3D.
The continued sales of Acad/Icad suggest many others don't have much use for 3D, but to lose support for it would be a drastic move.
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3D is no distraction. AutoCAD's implementation of 3D, such as it is, is there for a reason. AutoCAD's admittedly limited abilities have been adequate to my needs for many years. I am not alone. The folks that need more 3D, buy more 3D.
Bricscad's stated goal has always been to provide 100% AutoCAD compatability, including the attendant feature set. Bricsys has been busy rewriting the entire Bricscad program, and is chasing the associated bugs that come with a rewrite. Those problems are lessened with each incremental release and I anticipate Bricsys to redirect their programming resouces to address the newer "core" features of AutoCAD to become part of the Bricscad feature set; i.e., Dynamic Blocks, Tables, etc...
I'm hoping that the 3D aspects of Bricscad will enjoy some attention as well, since it could certainly use it. ACIS gets better over the years, but the Bricscad interface has not. Some commands have actually regressed since V7 as part of the rewrite, while a number of AutoCAD commands have never been implemented. Bricscad's inadequate Rtrot tool continues to be as rudimentary as it's Intellicad implementation of a dozen years ago.
Now that Bricscad has it's new legs under it, I am very hopeful that it's 3D aspects will receive it's due attention.
It's the ONLY reason I can't remove AutoCAD from my computer.
And I really, really want to be done with Autodesk forever.
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Bonjour,
I jump on this thread as a reaction to the nice boat posted 2 weeks ago on this forum.
The designer said: I managed to model this boat. Nice, OK, but for maintaining (altering/modifying) the model, it will be heavy.
I think Bricscad-Architecturals would help nicely, even in such a project.
Because the Architecturals data model built on forms - materials -appearances, and all the parametric featuring, even if geared towards buiding is really wonderfull.
It can help to keep model-maintenance much easier.
But ...
This is leading to a major thread of Bricsys's Forum: The Architecturals Roadmap .....
From an enthusiastic but impatient user of Architecturals ...
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I'm with Greg on this, while it probably shouldn't be a priority now eventually it has to be if they're wanting to keep up with the others in their niche. I only use 3D here and there but when I do things need to get done in a hurry and right now with the current command set that's not possible. I wonder if Bricsys will care to chime in and tell us what their long range goals are in regards to 3D or solid modeling.
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Agree with Tim.
Solid modeling is not perfect. Especially in making revold, extrude and ruled surface. Stright lines are OK, but polylines with arcs are about on acad10 level. Im looking forvard for correection of this. I hope it will be soon.
Have a nice day
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